meet the lloyds

Winter at last....

2012-01-07T18:31:00.001-08:00

Christmas Morning

2012-01-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

We almost got these posted in the same year that they were taken, but hey, at least we're not as late as last year. Happy New Year!

The kids discovering what Santa brought:

The aftermath:

The Headless Santa

2011-12-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

Our (in)famous drumming Santa has met its end:

(2 Santa related posts in one day, must be some kind of record)

Meeting Santa

2011-12-12T08:46:00.001-08:00

Storm Damage

2011-12-02T22:55:00.001-08:00

I got a phone call and text yesterday morning as I was about to go out the door that the freeway was closed and that our office building was damaged and being evacuated, so I was to stay home for the day. We had barely any damage here in Clearfield, but this is how things looked around my office in Centerville this morning after things calmed down:

Even after being severely damaged by hurricane force winds, the golden arches are still as recognizable as ever:

We went to Farmington for lunch, there was a lot of damage to the area around the train station:

....and the apartments that were going up next to it:

There were only a few trees left around our building, but by the end of the day, they'd cut down and hauled off all of the trees, including, for some reason, the last few that weren't damaged by the wind:

This used to be a 6' tall x 9" thick granite sign:

The 7-11's canopy is pretty messed up, but the soda fountain inside still works fine:

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T17:34:00.001-08:00

November flew by in our house. First, we made sure to do our American duty of voting for the new Clearfield City Council. We took a bit of interest in this small town election since we decided to take our condo off the market and stay here for a while longer. Tori being called as the new Young Women's President helped make our decision.

Thanksgiving this year was with the Lloyd's. We started our day off at "Feast with the Beast" at the Zoo with the Miller's and the Griffin's.

Wesley adored the elephants. He is really interested in most animals, but the elephant is especially fascinating to him.

I really love the zoo, but to watch the little ones' eyes light up as they saw animal they mostly only read in books is quite enjoyable. Rachel and Corbin led us around the zoo with their maps.

Rachel really liked the monkey and giraffes.

We love these kids to pieces!

Later, we went to Tyler's parent's house for the feast, bingo, and board games. It was a relaxing day to enjoy family and reflect on ALL of our blessings!

Superkid

2011-11-17T09:53:00.001-08:00

And She Turns 5 Years Old

2011-10-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

How did this happen? My baby girl is now my little lady. She is really growing into a smart, spunky, and talented gal. We celebrated with a handful of friends and a party with a Princess theme (of course) despite the fact that ALL of the guests were boys. She may not mind that a few years down the road.
We decorated royal crowns and had a "Jester" for a mini magic show.

What is a princess party without slaying a dragon?

Later that evening, we went to Black Island Harvest Festival. The Mathesons and Griffins came too. It was a blast! It took a bit for Rachel to warm up to the slides, but Wesley left me behind. He could have stayed on the slides all night.

Tyler had a little fun too!

The mini hay rides was a hit for everyone.

The corn maze wasn't to hard this year. Ben was our leader. He did a great job navigating our way through the maze.

Wesley could care less about the maze and just walk in the mud all day.

Blue Men Group

2011-10-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

The projector was malfunctioning during the Priesthood Session of General Conference on Saturday:

Lowe's

2011-09-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you had this much fun shopping for a garbage disposal?

We bought the loudest (and cheapest) model.

Arkansas / Kentucky Trip

2011-09-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

This stone bridge is one of Arkansas' many natural pieces of art. We had to go down an incredibly steep, narrow road out of the way of our destination, but it was cool. I didn't know my home state had such creations.

We finally arrived at our rustic cabin in the Ozarks of Arkansas. My two nieces came with our family on our little adventure in Northern Arkansas. It was so great to have them with us. They were so fun. We stayed in a cabin built by the CCC in the 1930's. It was very quaint, but perhaps a little too rustic with the nest of red wasps and moldy shower. It was a stay to remember!

We were right by the Buffalo National River. It was so beautiful. If we didn't have so many little ones, we would have floated down it. Maybe next time.

We just couldn't resist a quick, cool swim. We were just going to skip rocks, but the water was too inviting. Who needs swimsuits when you have jean cut offs?

Wesley had a blast playing with the little fish by his feet with his stick. He didn't care his diaper was to his knees. He was just happy being a good ole boy.

As much fun as that was, we all had to take a bath after our "bath" in nature.

The next day, we headed to Arkansas' amazing caves. I had been before, but I couldn't wait to show my family the incredible hand of God in our neck of the woods.

I hope we post more of the pictures we took inside the cave. It truly was breathtaking. We traveled 216 feet down an elevator just to reach the upper level of the cave.

The cave is formed from a spring down the road. We went to see it. It was less impressive than what I thought.

Wesley could have stayed outside all day everyday if we let him. He is all boy. (I think Tyler likes that.)

Then, we were off to the Ozark Folk Center. It is a small village with craftsmen and women working their trades using old fashion equipment. This was Desarae's favorite part of our trip. Here Wesley is making buttons.

Tallin and Rachel loved dying their own candles. It was very fun to see how lucky I am to have modern technology!

Wesley was worn out by this time, and honestly, couldn't care less about candles.

And....he's out! However, the girls could not get enough of the candles. They wanted to do more, but time was ticking.

Rachel's favorite part of our trip was watching this nice lady tell us stories while she made the girls dolls from corn husks. This shop was full of elegant and beautiful dolls that were unbelievably made from simple corn husks. She had fairies and Christmas tree angles, and even Santa Claus. I was speechless in a Tori sort of way.

We saw how wool scarfs went from sheep, through the cleaning machine, to spools, and then woven into clothes.

Classic, right?

Then, we made our way to Kentucky to visit Mae and her new baby. Across the river is Indiana.

So, in total, we traveled through Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and saw Indiana. What a trip! It was a fantastic vacation with my little family to visit relatives and see another part of this great country. I can't wait until next year's reunion. Good Luck Dawn!

Traveling with children

2011-09-09T15:25:00.001-07:00

DJ Wesley

2011-08-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Wes lays down a beat and the kids have a dance party:

DJ Wesley from Tyler Lloyd on Vimeo.

Provo River Trail 1/2 Marathon

2011-08-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

My amazing friend Dana and I ran the Provo 1/2 marathon. It was a nice downhill run. I finished just 5 minutes after her at 2:11. This is my 5th race and I finished at nearly the same time as the other races. It's a little annoying to run the same speed all the time, but I guess I am just a 10 minute miler and that is that. As always, it was tons of fun and a good challenge to conquer. Who's up for the next one with me?
Tyler and the kids came to cheer me on. We stayed in a hotel in Provo. I had to be up at 4:15 in the morning. The kids loved the pool at the hotel and the pancake breakfast after the race. I always love to see them at the finish line. They are the best cheerleaders! FYI-I look like death crossing the finish line. I look like I'm about to fall over, because after nearly 13 miles of running downhill, my quads and knees were done. At least you get the idea of the excitement of finishing.

Provo River 1/2 Marathon from Tyler Lloyd on Vimeo.

Pictures of stuff we did:

2011-08-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Church History museum:

Carriage ride @ the Gateway:

Zoo in Logan:

Clarkston, UT Pageant:

Sunday mornings w/ the Lloyds

2011-07-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

Not much to report from the Lloyd home this week since Tori is in Idaho at girl's camp.

I had hoped to enjoy a week of not making the bed or doing the dishes, but we had another showing of our condo the other day, so that plan was over before it even started.

In the meantime, please enjoy this picture of Wes from last weekend. Our Sunday mornings usually consist newspapers scattered across the living room, and he loves to play in the mess. Since he was already dressed like a newspaper editor from the 1980's, I thought it deserved a picture. (It was not an intentional style choice- his top button was open and his sleeves were rolled because his church shirt doesn't fit anymore)

Who needs Baby Einstein? Our kid is already reading the New York Times.

Peanuts

2011-07-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Lately, Wesley has been working on a character study from the comic strip Peanuts. He's been carrying a blanket around everywhere, playing in the dirt a lot and banging on piano keys wherever they're within his reach.

Linus:

Pigpen:

Schroeder:

For Sale

2011-07-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

We've decided to take the plunge into home sellership and put our condo on the market.

Saturday morning, we cleaned and organized and took stuff to storage and generally got the place looking better than it ever has before so that our realtor could take photos for the listing.

That reminded me that we originally bought it, I saved a copy of the listing photos and it has been interesting to look back at them and realize that we've changed every square inch of this place in the 4.5 years that we've been here. We probably won't make back a penny of the money we've put into it thanks to the tanking economy, but we've had a lot of fun along the way and look forward to new adventures in a new house as soon as we find a new owner for our home.

2006:

2011:

2006:

2011:

2006:

2011:

2006:

2011:

2006:

2011:

2006:

2011:

2006:

2011:

2006:

2011:

Who wants to buy a condo?
http://www.utahrealestate.com/report/public.single.report/report/detailed/listno/1044518/

Diploma

2011-07-15T23:20:00.000-07:00

It's official:

24 Hours in Idaho

2011-07-06T07:29:00.001-07:00

Breakfast and entertainment on the way up to Tyler's family reunion. Maybe strawberries aren't the best choice for traveling foods for babies.

For some reason, although my children did not go to bed until way past bedtime, they managed to wake-up before anyone else. We ate bananas in the tent to keep them quiet.

When the bananas didn't work, we toured the great town of Melba where the reunion was held. It was small and quaint. Apparently, Melba is the "Seed Heart of the USA." I'm not sure what that means.

This was main street. Two bars, a pawn shop, and a game of horse shoes. Classic.

On, the way home we stopped by Tyler's great-grandparents' graves.

We also took a pit stop at Shoshone Falls. They were beautiful, but that was all that was there. We stayed a total of 15 minutes. Next time, we'll have to take a sack lunch.

Untitled from Tyler Lloyd on Vimeo.

He gets it from his mother

2011-06-28T12:24:00.001-07:00

Mixed Signals

2011-06-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

The new dishwasher includes strict instructions to use Cascade brand detergent and rinse aid, but the picture in the manual shows a woman's hand filling the dispenser with Jet-Dry. What are we supposed to do???

RIP, POS

2011-06-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Another one of our janky appliances has met its demise:

....and like the washing machine, it went out in spectacular, flood the kitchen and the lady downstairs, fashion!

15 Seconds of Fame

2011-06-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

In case you somehow missed this while watching the online videos on the website of Utah's 3rd most widely circulated newspaper, Rachel helped set a world record this morning. She, Tori and Wes were each shown for a few seconds in the video The Standard Examiner shot for their article. (at 1:35 and 2:35)

Everybody into the pool - Standard-Examiner

If you're still not completely starstruck, Tori's legs and the back of Rachel's head were also prominently featured in the Salt Lake Tribune's report of the event:

Swimmers in Utah join in record-setting effort

It's never too early....

2011-06-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

.... to start playing angry birds:

Ballet Recital 2011

2011-06-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

The ~~Clearfield Repertory Dance Company~~ Clearfield Rec. Center Ballet Class ended it's 2011 season with a recital at the junior high on Saturday:

I'd post the video too, but it's mostly just of the back of a Polynesian woman's head.

Phoenix Trip

2011-06-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

We visited the Griffins in AZ over the holiday weekend, and only managed to take three pictures on the whole trip. This one of Wes in a coonskin hat on the Navajo reservation:

This one to prove that it was hot:

....and this random picture of Rachel looking out the window before Tommy's birthday party:

We had a good time visiting and playing with cousins and we didn't see a drop of rain in five days, which is more than we've been able to say in Utah at all in the past month or two.

Fathers and Sons Camp

2011-05-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

Wes enjoying a s'more at our Stake's Fathers and Sons campout at Crystal Hot Springs. He ate the whole thing:

It was a lot of fun, until the projectile vomiting started at about 1AM.

(That S'more was pretty gross on its way back out)

Rachel's Concert

2011-05-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

Untitled from Tyler Lloyd on Vimeo.

Soccer

2011-05-23T21:33:00.001-07:00

Wesley's 1st Birthday

2011-05-02T15:13:00.001-07:00

What? A year has passed? This little man has been a part of our family for one year, and what a great addition he is. We love him so much!

His Aunt Melinda gave him a set of mini books. He loves them. He has handed them to me all day. I think his next word will be "book." Thanks Melinda!

His favorite things are balls, music, and cars/trucks. Grandma Lloyd gave his one of each. He couldn't be happier.

Wesley shares a birthday with his Uncle Caleb. Caleb wanted cookies for his birthday treat. Who really likes cake anymore? We got Wesley just enough cake to keep tradition. He loved it.

And loved it!

And LOVED it! Good job little man!

This was our picture moment of the evening. Rachel and her cousin Corbin had an impromptu picnic.

Food Truck Race

2011-05-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

How did you spend your Saturday? Doing what Tori and I did? Dragging your children around Salt Lake City chasing food trucks because you heard on twitter that the Food Network reality show "The Great Food Truck Race" was going to be in town filming for their upcoming season?:

The line at the first place was too long:

The line at the second place was moving much faster, and the food was excellent.

It tasted much better than this picture we took of our lunch on a barrel with a cell phone makes it look:

The last place we went had long lines and then ran out of food:

Easter Morning

2011-04-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Graduation

2011-04-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, that only took ten years.

I graduated from high school in 2001 and six jobs, three states, two years in Russia, a couple of associates degrees, a wife and two kids later I've finally got my bachelor's degree in construction management.

To experience the full effect of yesterday's festivities from your home, please play the youtube video below at least 15 times as you scroll through the pictures to simulate the number of times 'Pomp and Circumstance' was played by the band while all 3,633 graduates marched into the Dee Events Center:

It turns out that if you wear a hardhat to commencement, you stand out enough from the rest of the crowd that the Salt Lake Tribune will take a picture of you and put it on their website:

Since none of my classes this semester were on the Ogden campus, I've never actually seen the LEED team award that my team won this year in person, so we stopped by to take a look at it in the trophy case:

We did some bowling in the union building before the graduation banquet:

Afternoon convocation for the College of Applied Sciences:

The family:

It's out!

2011-04-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

Slightly discolored, but otherwise no worse for wear.

I SPY....

2011-04-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

....a paperclip:

It's currently making its way through our son's digestive system and should make an appearance on the other end in a day or so.

Kids!

2011-03-31T18:38:00.000-07:00

She's little miss diva here. We are so glad to have sun and warmth outside that we spend as much time outside as possible.

Wesley is all boy, and we love it. He loves the dirt, by the way. Daddy found a game to play with Wesley.

She is slow, but at least she is riding.

Grandpa Nash

2011-03-22T00:13:00.000-07:00

Baby me and my Grandpa Nash, who passed away Sunday afternoon:

When we'd visit he would talk about reading our blog and keeping up on his great-grandkids' lives.

So, wherever you're reading the blog from now, Rachel and Wesley love and miss you. Keep checking in on us--- we can't wait to see you again someday.

Sister's weekend in St. Louis / St. Charles

2011-03-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

We always stop at my Grandma's house in St. Charles. She passed away years and years ago, but we have great memories here. The house was in the family for a long time and is now a historical site, so it looks nearly exactly the same. My Mom was raised here. It is only about two blocks from the river. Although it is simple, I think it's beautiful.

This is the Catholic church next door that my Mom attended, and a few relatives were married here. It is beautiful. Across the street is the hospital where I was born.

I should have taken more pictures on the inside, but it felt irreverent.

St. Charles' main street is amazing. There are shops and cafes in original buildings. The shopping was fun, and the scenery was beautiful. The roads, sidewalks, and many of the floors of the shops all have the brick that is shown here. Quaint! This was my Mom's "stomping ground." Who wouldn't love that?

More of Main Street in St. Charles.

We stopped by the St. Louis temple. I was married here. It was neat to go back.

The Chicas: Tiffany, Robyn, Mae, Dawn, and Me. We giggled, shopped, argued a bit, but mostly we just had a blast being all together on this rare occasion as sisters. They are my best friends.

We had a family gathering at my cousin Caroline's home on Sunday. Her home was beautiful. It is a 100 year old home, and she did a fabulous job of decorating it.

We sat around while the Aunts and Uncles answered questions about my heritage and told stories. It was so fun, and I gained great insight into my Mom and myself. Can't beat an experience like that. Priceless!

As we get older, it is harder and harder to get everyone together. We only had three of the Aunts/Uncles and a handful of cousins.

Thanks for the wonderful weekend girls!

Eggs

2011-03-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

If Rachel ever doubts whether I love her, I'll remind her of the time in 2011 that her mother was out of town for the weekend, Rachel refused to take "daddy doesn't do eggs" for an answer, and I actually scrambled an egg for her to eat for breakfast:

As much as I hate eggs, I guess I love my kids even more.... that, and it's Sunday so I couldn't take her to McDonald's for an egg sandwich instead.

Green

2011-03-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

Because regular boxed macaroni and cheese isn't gross enough on its own....

....Rachel insisted that we add green food coloring.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A light at the end of the tunnel....

2011-03-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

A little bit of spring popped up outside this morning.

....I've probably just jinxed Utah into another snowstorm

Stop Motion Ballerina

2011-03-12T06:37:00.000-08:00

Why I didn't vote for Gary Herbert-

2011-03-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

SL Tribune: Herbert sells out

Standard Examiner: Herbert must veto HB477

Herald Journal: Utah open-records bill must be revisited

Deseret News: Citizens file for referendum on HB477

Utah is now the only state in the country that allows legislators and state officials to keep their electronic correspondence secret from the public. HB 477 Undermines the current Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA) by excluding emails, voicemails, instant messages and text messages from public disclosure.

Notably, it was a GRAMA request last fall that revealed a UDOT employee was involved in an extra-marital affair with the president of the contracting firm at the middle of the disputed I-15 bid which led to the agency paying an undisclosed $13 million dollar settlement to the losing bidder to keep them from suing the state. Under HB 477, none of the information about the affair or the subsequent payout and cover-up would have been made public.

What bothers me the most is the brazen attitude with which the legislature rushed the bill to passage in less than 48 hours from the time it was made public.

These are quotes from senate President Michael Waddoups last week:

“We want to pass the measure before leaving Friday. It will complicate matters if it has a weekend to fester,” he said, adding that he did not want senators subjected to pressure from the bill’s opponents over the next two days.

“We really don’t need to have a committee hearing. But we think this is one of those that has a high enough priority,” the Senate leader said. “We think we understand it very well.”

He said the issue has been studied for some time and that the bill contains much of the same language as legislation that surfaced briefly after a task force examined GRAMA three years ago. At that time, Waddoups said, the House wasn’t willing to pass changes to GRAMA. And last year was an election year for all House members, as well as half the Senate.

“Nobody likes to do this in an election year,” Waddoups said. “So now is the time.”

Daddy's treat!

2011-03-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

I wonder why Daddy was his favorite tonight. Could it be the vanilla whipped cream? He Loved IT!

Weekend Update

2011-03-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning - Savoring the last few moments before the framers put up the second floor walls and forever blocked our view of the warehouses at the Freeport Center:

Wes' morning ritual usually involves playing on our bed:

Happy birthday to me- a new grill:

Rachel always asks to take pictures on our phones when we're at Lowe's and always takes one of this ceiling fan which she wants:

Since cake is awful, we celebrated Tyler's 28th with a key lime pie:

Recently....

2011-02-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

....I spent 67 hours inside this Reno Hotel/Casino competing on Weber State's LEED team in the ASC Student Competition:

We turned one of our rooms into a makeshift conference room and spent 21 hours on the problem statements, slept for 3 hours, then presented to the judges:

We were competing against a number of great schools, and I was so confident that we wouldn't place, that I scheduled a flight out of town before the awards were even presented. I should have taken a later flight - I got a text while at the TSA checkpoint at Reno-Tahoe airport that we'd won first place.

I met Tori and the kids in St. George on Saturday. We planned a weekend of enjoying sunny weather and attending the parade of homes. The weather was slightly worse than we'd hoped for:

Have you ever heard of Jacob Hamblin? We went to the Jacob Hamblin home on Sunday and learned all about him.

After a day of touring homes, Rachel was spent and we went to a family "fun" center on Monday. Nearly half of the arcade machines were broken, but she did hit the jackpot on one and won 200 tickets.

We rode the bumper boats, but we were the only ones there, so there was nobody to bump into. There were a few more people in the go-karts:

It was a nice short trip, and the weather was much worse up north, so I suppose it was a comparative 'escape' from winter, just not quite as warm as we would have liked.

9 Months

2011-02-08T22:52:00.001-08:00

I dare you to think that this isn't the most adorable 9-month-old baby boy you've ever seen:

Rachel

2011-01-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

The ballet gear that Rachel got for Christmas in 2009 still fits. Should we be relieved, or concerned?

Threats from a 4-Year-Old

2011-01-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

So Rachel has this 9-Inch potted Cypress tree in her room that she picked up for 60 cents at Lowes on an after Christmas clearance. She loves the thing and has promised to "take good care of it". We let her buy it to help brunt the pain of the impending death of her 2+ year old pet fish. Do they have hospice for Betta fish? Because this thing has probably got less than a week left in him. He barely moves anymore and we often find him floating upside down but he always manages to spring back to life if you tap hard enough on the side of his bowl.
....Anyway, during a terrible, terrible, temper tantrum last night we took it away and said she could only have it back in the morning if she stopped screaming and went to sleep.

Her reply? "That tree reminds me of Jesus. If you get rid of it-

YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT JESUS!"

Finding Nemo

2011-01-11T23:05:00.000-08:00

Company Dinner

2011-01-11T22:43:00.000-08:00

As a point of comparison, the annual dinner at the company I was working for at this time a year ago was held in a meeting room at a community college.

So yeah, things seem to be going well at the new job.

Which reminds me, it's probably time to update the link under "Tyler's Work" below.

Pictures

2011-01-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

Tyler playing with a new camera while the Mathesons were over for Ben's birthday last week:

Rachel playing with my iPhone and her stuffed animals while Wesley wonders what in the world is going on:

Christmas Morning

2011-01-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

....only 18 days late this year!

Troublemaker

2010-12-28T19:19:00.001-08:00

Wesley pretty much spends every minute he is awake crawling and climbing around looking for things to put in his mouth....

....and today he discovered the refrigerator.

Traditions

2010-12-24T22:21:00.000-08:00

New Christmas Eve tradition?

Frying crab wontons on the balcony because Tori doesn't want the house to smell like oil.

No Better Sunday

2010-12-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

We love to visit downtown Salt Lake City, and this Sunday was a great time to go.
Rachel and Wesley loved seeing the lights at Temple Square and talking about our Savior. Lately, Rachel has asked me to tell her scripture stories particularly the Savior's birth and crucifixion and resurrection. It is really neat to share these moments with her.

The highlight for Rachel from Temple Square was the water.

Digital Nativity

2010-12-17T13:26:00.001-08:00

I love my children!

2010-12-16T06:25:00.000-08:00

picture by Sharon Johnson

They are so different from each other, yet I can see their sibling relationship growing. The sibling bond can be strong and a great tool for life. My relationships with each of my siblings is so valuable to me. I hope my children build similar friendships with each other. It is neat to see the personality mixture when they interact. Rachel already protects him, and Wesley adores Rachel's singing and dancing entertainment. I'm sure they will not always be cheery with each other, but that is part of the process. For now, I'll just enjoy their innocent and pure love and imaginations.

Salon

2010-12-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

What a good Daddy to sit and let Rachel "work her magic."

Gingerbread

2010-12-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

Not quite like the one on the box:

....but better than last time

Big Sister

2010-11-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Mermaid

2010-11-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

Miss Rachel started PSA swimming Level 3. Apparently this is the the level before actual swimming. She did really well and is becoming quite the mermaid. I have to say I love her instructor. Ms. Carol is great and pushes the students.

She loves the water which is a huge leap from the beginning of the summer when she was afraid to simply jump in the pool. Now, she is all over the pool and swimming well.
I only had my little camera to shoot two short videos and my batteries were running low, so this is all I have of her swimming.

Finished.

2010-11-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

I can finally move on with my life now that the AIC Exam is behind me.

I realize that nobody even knows what that is, but it took 7.5 hours to finish and just so you can all feel a little of my pain, this was the study guide that I've been lugging around for the last four months:

Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'm going to set it on fire.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Solid Food

2010-10-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

Rachel Birthday

2010-10-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Rachel turned 4 while we were in New York. Her Aunt Tiffany helped her celebrate without us with friends at the park. I bet Rachel didn't mind that we were absent as soon as she saw a cupcake. She is my sweet tooth girl.

Her cousins Tommy and Caleb even bought her a cute gift for her big 4 years on earth.

Although it was October, Arizona sun and heat allowed for her last chance in the water and sand.
We love our little girl so much. She is so smart and beautiful and makes us both very happy and proud to be parents. I wonder what we did right to be blessed with such a vibrant spirit. I hope we don't screw it up!

Can you guess which one is homemade?

2010-10-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

This:

is my interpretation of this: I'll never make fun of the people on Food Network Challenge again.

New York Trip #1

2010-10-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

We spent our first night of the trip at a cheap Casino in Mesquite. It cost nearly as much to send an email from their "business center" as we spent on the room. When they charge $0.49/minute for internet, there's little incentive to upgrade beyond dial up and it took almost 15 minutes to send an email.

We stopped at Hoover Dam on our way to AZ to drop the kids off at my brother's house. We thought Rachel would be terrified of the drop looking over the edge, but she loved it. Maybe she was just glad to be out of the van. It was a grand sight, and the new bridge they are building over it is HUGE.

The Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge in all its glory:
(worst bridge name ever)

We came very close to volunteering to be bumped from our original flight as we could have picked up $800 in future flight credits, but the delay would have cost us half a day in New York so we stuck to our original plan. An overnight flight to Philly and a 2-hour drive to NYC looked like a great idea on paper six months ago and saved us a lot of money over flying directly to New York, but it made for a very tiring start to the trip. The mayor of Philadelphia personally greeted us at baggage claim. How thoughtful:

We spent approximately 20 minutes sightseeing in Philly from the comfort of our rental car. City Hall:

We stayed in Jersey City to save even more money. The hotel was about 50 feet from a PATH station, so we could be in Manhattan in 10 minutes but paid less than half of what a similar hotel would cost on the other side of the Hudson:

Just seeing the skyline of Manhattan was very exciting. Here we are walking in a park on our way to the ferry for Ellis island and the Statue of Liberty. No one told us that the shuttle from the train station to the ferry doesn't run on Saturdays, so we walked about two miles. The sights were amazing from here.

The Statue of Liberty was beautiful! I loved the spirit of sailing up to the statue. Knowing that so many immigrants passed this lady with such aspirations for a better life was overwhelming.

This terrible picture taken by a fellow tourist is proof that we were there:

Some other random tourists on the ferry. This girl later fainted and we saved her life by giving her a bag of grape Jolly Ranchers (we'd already eaten all of the better flavors, but beggars can't be choosers)

HUGE city! I can't wait to return but with the kiddos next time. Tyler was in heaven with so many tall buildings to admire.

This is the piece that was in the plaza between the WTC towers. Seeing the damage was incredible.

The memorial is still several years from completion but we stopped at the small preview museum around the corner from the site. Surprisingly, the museum was very quiet and tranquil as videos of people recounting their experience that day played in the background. There was also a display of New York City's streets and views of them as they looked on 9/11. It was very eye opening. The building rising here is the new World Trade Center Tower:

Yumm-O! We didn't actually buy anything in the m&ms store, but we did buy some m&ms right outside from a street vendor for $1 (inside they were charging $13.99/lb.)

We didn't go inside Radio City, but the signs in themselves magnificent.

6th Avenue:

There's probably an explanation for this that I'm unaware of:

Rockefeller Center:

This is Central park from the Rockefeller Center observation deck. It is beautiful view, but it is even more beautiful eating lunch right in the middle of it next to a pond. Breath taking!

Empire State building from the Top of the Rock. The lines were too long for us to go to the top of it, but we saw the outside of it from all angles.

This is a view from the Brooklyn Bridge at night. We walked the bridge while we waited for our movie. It was awesome to see city lights.

After meeting in Times Square for the official 10-10-10 photo at 10:10AM, we spent Sunday with Tyler's high school friends. The next group meet-up is already scheduled for 4-3-21 at 12:34 PM:

So wish we had more time to see the art at the MET. It was a beautiful building and would take days to see and admire it all:

BEST PIZZA EVER!!! They don't take reservations and we waited in line for 2 hours for a table for 7, but after waiting ten years to have dinner together, it was worth it. I've never had such great pizza. Their host to seat people was entertainment in himself.

Here it is! Sweet thin crust---perfect sauce---perfect amount of cheese---best toppings. We ate the WHOLE thing.

The gang (-Jon) on the Brooklyn Bridge:

Here we are at the top of the Brooklyn Bridge. We actually walked over it twice. It was fantastic.

This would have been a better picture if we didn't have a crappy camera:

Because it was Columbus Day, the Manhattan Temple (normally closed on Mondays) was open and we got to attend a session:

We didn't have time to visit the Sea, Air and Space Museum. It's on the list for our next visit.

Entertainment at the Subway station:

We got tickets to a taping of the Late Show which will air tomorrow (Friday) night, so stay up late and watch for our network television debut. We were sitting behind the lady from Regina, Canada that they kept showing during the monologue.

We so wish we found this place sooner. The environment was very New York and the food was incredible. I ate the best Cheesecake ever right here.

Here it is. Yep, that is one piece, and I ate all $10 of it. Yum! The topping was divine. In the back you can see Tyler's borscht. Yes, he ordered Russian peasant food for dinner. It was delicious too.

The best part of the trip was seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway. We both had our jaws dropping throughout the show. It was just spectacular. The part we wished we skipped was eating at Bobby Flay's restaurant. It was good, but we'd rather have eaten more authentic New York cuisine. The part we wish we had more time for was the Museum of Natural History. Again, I could spend two days in that place. It was fascinating.

I missed Rachel and John Wesley terribly, but spending time with Tyler in a fascinating place that we both always dreamed of visiting was priceless. Thanks for a great vacation, Tyler.

Tori's going to hate this....

2010-10-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Cutest dam baby in the world:

We're back. The rest of the trip's pictures to follow soon.

And we're off....

2010-10-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

To Phoenix, then Philadelphia and New York, where, among other fun things, we'll be in Times Square this Sunday morning to participate in the fulfillment of a long-standing pact at 10:10 AM

Late Show

2010-10-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

All of my recent late night television "research" has paid off. I got a call this afternoon from David Letterman's staff. I answered the trivia question correctly and we're going to the Late Show!

The Office

2010-10-01T13:45:00.001-07:00

The Office hasn't been funny for years, but after seeing this last night, maybe there is still hope?:

Fall

2010-09-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

I guess this means that summer is officially over.

I did it!

2010-09-18T15:53:00.001-07:00

I took my 4 hour exam today and. . . . . PASSED. I am officially a Personal Trainer! Rock On!

If you were us. . . .

2010-09-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I will soon be on our way to New York City. We are extremely excited. It is so much fun to plan our trip. Actually, Tyler does most of the planning but usually around my preferences. (He's great!) We absolutely are going to see a Broadway show, but we are stuck on two shows and can't decide which to see. Basically, we don't know if we want to spend a lot of money on a show, because this will probably be our only trip to the Big Apple OR if we should stick to our frugal ways, because who doesn't need to be frugal these day?
Here are the options: We could see West Side Story in the balcony where all seats are at some point obstructed to the stage action, or we could spend bank on some good seats.

OR . . .

We could see Mary Poppins for the same price as the balcony seats for West Side Story but closer to the stage and no obstructions. Again, here, we could spend bank on some awesome floor seats, but. . .What would you do?

These are the two musicals that we are considering. Lion King and Wicked are too too pricey and neither of us are really interested in seeing them. A few others are just singing shows and we want a plot to our music. So, what would it be if you were us? West Side Story or Mary Poppins?

Multi-tasking....

2010-09-14T10:56:00.001-07:00

Some are better than others....

2010-08-30T16:31:00.003-07:00

Rachel really likes to take pictures with my phone. When I was deleting them this morning to make space for some new podcasts, I discovered that she'd taken over 150 last week. Here's a sample of her work:

It was a great Birthday!

2010-08-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

I had a really great birthday. I love birthdays. Some people say that will change, but for now, I enjoy celebrating my life. Rachel and Tyler were so nice to plan a dinner gathering and to buy this yummy cake. Yes-I ate some!
The best part was recieving this gift from Tyler. He bought me the new Kindle. It holds up to 3,500 books. It is perfect. I do like to read, but I also read a lot of research papers and text books to prepare for my wellness classes. This will be great to own these books now rather than running to the library and usually paying late fees for keeping too long. Plus, they wont overload my book shelf. I can keep them all in the palm of my hand. These Kindles are so new that they are just now shipping them out -hence the cardboard cutout below. I should be getting mine Tuesday. I can't wait!

Arkansas Family Reunion

2010-08-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Packed and ready to roll. Tyler took a picture to remind him how to put it all back together for the ride home. We had a ton of stuff to haul to the reunion.

We spent several hours stuck in traffic on I-70 in Colorado, but the scenery was amazing. I didn't mind a bit that we only drove about 10 miles an hour for 2 hours, because the mountains were breath taking. I kept wanting to sing, "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver.

Although the canyon was beautiful, I thought much less of downtown Denver. I still think Colorado would be a great place to live but outside Denver. This is the view from our hotel in Denver:

We spent nearly 15 miles driving on dirt through an area where the Colorado Dept. of Transportation decided to remove the entire road while widening the existing one. It annoyed Tyler like crazy which was a little funny.

Other than the hotel's waffles, Texas was mostly awful. It was just bland and hot.

Goodbye mountains:

Once we got to Arkansas, we stayed in this cabin built in the 1930's by the CCC. It housed our family and my sister's family as well as all the family reunion events. It was tight, but having the AC saved us all.

The lodge at Petit Jean State Park:

View from the lodge:

It was so HOT and HUMID, but the landscape on the trails was amazing. This is why Arkansas is the "Natural State."

Letterboxing:

Because it felt like we were in a forest fire (it was steamy hot), this was a fast S'more session.

Pinata:

On our drive back home we passed through Bentonville, AR.

This building that looks like a tin can factory is actually the headquarters for the largest corporation in the world:

Sam Walton's original 5 & dime:

We stopped at the LDS visitor's center in Independence, MO and drove by the Kansas City Temple site. We saw the Community Church of Christ's (formerly the RLDS church) temple and conference center. Their temple's structure was neat.

Wesley enjoying a few minutes out of his car seat while we ate lunch in Kansas City:

Rachel was pretty excited because a butterfly landed on her leg:

We spent our last night of travel in Lincoln, NE. We were pleasantly surprised at the place and it may find a spot on our list of 'places we won't refuse to someday live'

This is how Rachel spent much of the 5 days that we were on the road. She watched more TV than we want to think about:

Despite rationing miles all summer so that we'd be covered for our whole trip, just after we crossed back into Utah on the way home, the van had only 1 mile left on it's factory warranty. We told it that if it was going to explode on this trip, it had exactly one mile left to do so, but we made it home without any problems:

Family pictures from Valerie Keith Photography:

The reunion was great! It was special to have everyone together in one spot and to see how much we have grown. I love my family!

Bear Lake

2010-08-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

We spend Saturday at Bear Lake for the Lloyd family reunion.

Rachel played in the water for hours:

We also went to the Ice Cave in Paris, ID:

It was a nice quick getaway and a good primer for our 3000+ mile roadtrip next week.

Deer Valley Music Festival

2010-07-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband planned a fantastic vacation to Park City for our family. Although it was just an overnight trip, our van was nearly packed full. Tyler said he was embarrassed by all the stuff we hauled with us, but I reminded him that we have two children now. Plus, we didn't want to pass up the opportunity to bike some of the Park City trails which required our bikes and the trailer for the kids. We only biked about 7 miles, but the hills in Park City are a bit more extreme than down here in the valley. It was still fun.

We love to walk Main Street in Park City. It is neat see the expensive shops and art galleries and to stop at the candy store for a sweet treat. It is simply beautiful!

If you can see behind the building, there is a tram running up the mountain that carries people to an insanely beautiful hotel on top of the mountain. I think the rooms run about $700(+) a night, so we wont be staying there anytime soon. The funniest quote of the trip was when Rachel saw the tram and said, "Daddy, someday can we NOT ride on that thing?" Even with a magnificent resort at the top, Rachel's fear of heights would never allow her to stay there.

Rachel is barely visible in the "stroller" as we hauled all our stuff up to the concert on the hill. Tyler wasn't as embarrassed of all our stuff as we passed others with the same situation. With all of the stuff, Wesley couldn't fit, so we carried him.

Nearly 5,000 people attended the Utah Symphony's Disney night. The views were spectacular and the show was amazing. We think it is very important to expose our children to the arts, and this was a perfect opportunity.

We had a picnic before the concert began. Our cold cuts and watermelon were lame compared to many of our neighbors on the blankets around us. One had steamed salmon and asparagus with a nice green salad. The most extreme was a fancy couple with a table, glass ware, silverware, wine glasses, and sushi. I even saw a small buffet of cheese, crackers, olives, veggies, and more wine. I guess we weren't in Clearfield anymore!

Tyler bought Rachel a carrot cake cupcake which Rachel ate until the cake part of the cupcake. To her defense, the cupcake was tasteless compared to her Grandma Cindy's carrot cake.

Wesley was perfect throughout the whole week-end and concert. He is very mellow.

The weather was great! It was just warm enough during the day for shorts and sandals, but when the sun went down, we put on jackets and cuddled in blankets. We weren't freezing. It was just chilly. It was a great break form the high 90's we've had in Clearfield.

We loved watching Rachel at the concert. For the first hour, she turned to us every 5 minutes in excitement of hearing music she recognized from the Disney films. She wanted to make sure that we heard it too. She imitated each instrument that we saw on the screen. She really wanted to find a place to dance, but since there were 5,000 people attending, we made due with moving our shoulders to the music.

Thanks Tyler for creating memories for our family. We all had a blast!

Traveling Light

2010-07-23T08:22:00.003-07:00

We're taking a short, overnight trip to Park City for the 24th of July.

Rachel packed her own bag:

Kyiv Temple Open House

2010-07-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

Looking for something to do in Kyiv next month?

[in english]

Pictures

2010-07-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

We took some pictures while downtown this morning, and while looking at them on the computer at home, realized that we've taken a bunch of pictures on the phone lately and never posted them. We've posted them all below, including a few of the kids for our grandparental readers:

Farmer's Market this morning:

We rode our bikes downtown with Matt and were pretty proud of ourselves for having made the 21-mile trip. Then we saw this guy who apparently hauls his piano around WITH HIS BIKE and didn't feel quite so amazing:

By 9:30 it was already in the 90's. We rode the train home:

We went to a sidewalk chalk festival at Gateway a few weeks ago:

This one was pretty nice until Rachel knocked over the barrier and scattered the little jewels all over the place:

Evening walk along the trail behind our house:

We saw a deer:

Rachel fell asleep:

Movie in the park:

Fireworks:

Wesley now weighs about as much as his sister did when she turned one:

We saw this guy leaving Lowe's a while back with an oak tree sticking out of the sunroof on his Honda Accord:

Finally, a couple of photos that Rachel took while playing with my phone the other day:

Progress

2010-07-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

This morning's bike ride:

I'm up to a 22 inch TV so far.

Girl Time

2010-07-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Rachel received a little plastic make-up kit from our neighbor friend when John Wesley was born. This was her first opportunity to use the blow dryer with a battery in it. Daddy volunteered to sit in the hot sit for a new hair style!
We invited our friend Brielle over for a cupcake and "Doll Swim Party." Mostly Brielle liked the cupcake part of the party.

We also invited our upstairs neighbor Bently to join the fun. She and Rachel are good buds. They play so well together, and as you can tell, make a fabulous mess.

For the "Doll Swim Party" we just filled big bowls up with water and the girls brought their dolls out to "swim." It was perfect for a warm day.

Dead?

2010-06-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

We have a pretty sketchy history keeping houseplants alive:

Is it time to give up on this one?

For the Grandparents....

2010-06-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sharon Johnson took these wonderful photos of the kids a few weeks ago. We couldn't be happier with them:

Mish Mosh

2010-06-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Back to in the gym!

My doctor gave me the green light to start cardio workouts. Since I've been dreaming about hitting the gym, I wasted no time finding a treadmill. On Monday, Tyler and I went for the first time since the baby. I ran a whole mile in 14 minutes. Certianly, that is not my prime workout, but it felt great! Yesterday, I did two miles in 24 minutes. I was impressed with myself, but I do have a long way to go to get my VO2max back up to shape.

Photo Shoot!

Wesley and Rachel had a photo shoot last week. We just saw the pictures, and I have to say that I have the most beautiful children that I know. (Sorry to offend everyone I know!) Sharon Johnson was the photographer and was just amazing. We'll post some of the pictures soon. FYI- The more grown Wesley becomes the more he looks like his daddy.

PT Certification!

The personal training certifiaction that I was suppose to do the same day as Wesley's birthday is rescheduled for August. I'm excited! Studying is not difficult but time consuming. I just want the certification to say I have one, and then of course, work at the gym. I've got to pay off student loans somehow, and I'll have a blast!

Summer Ideas!

So, I love being with Rachel, and with the new baby time is short. I love to teach her, but I"m running out of ideas of how to teach. Also, I need more ideas of things to do that supplement that learning. Any suggestions? She starts pre-school in August which will give me ideas for home learning, but until then. . . We're memorizing the Articles of Faith. That has been really fun, because we're using the Children's Song book as our help. We learning #3 this week! Rachel is so smart, and she has a great singing ability. LOVE HER!

It's a Girl!

2010-06-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Rachel, that is:

Last week, she got her first Barbie doll, wore make-up for the first time, and went to her first dance recital.

Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more proud.

2010-05-30T22:28:00.001-07:00

Carnival

2010-05-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

Why did we do this?

The Layton Hill's Mall hosted a small Carnival run by some gypsies, and for some reason we thought we'd waste our money on a few rides and games that we haven't seen since our early teen years. It was a nice day, and Rachel needed to get out anyway.

Rachel only wanted to ride the Merry-go-round. We tried to get her to ride other rides, but being the sensitive girl she is, she stuck with familiar, slow, and low rides. She rode this one twice but also tried the Fun Slide (a huge slide) with daddy (hanging on to dear life) and the Strawberry Tilt-a-whirl with me.

Remember the Duck Pond game that is also popular at school and community carnivals? I'm sure you paid a $1 at most to choose a floating duck out of water to receive a prize. We actually paid $5 for Rachel to fish out three ducks and win this plastic Barbie rip off which soon fell apart at home. She did love it, though.

It was fun to see some of the rides we haven't seen for years. Tyler even went on the Graviton where you stand next to a wall and the ride swings you around so quickly that gravity glues you to the wall. He said the first few minutes were pure childhood-like giddiness, then his age hit. He wanted to vomit.

Salt Lake Temple

2010-05-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

I thought that this was pretty cool.

A new exhibit opened today on Temple Square that has a 1/32 scale model of the Salt Lake Temple with the sides cut away. Its a great way to show visitors what the inside of the building looks like while preserving the sanctity of the temple:

More info here.

Swinger

2010-05-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

How did parenting work before pacifiers and baby swings?

Resemblance

2010-05-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

Tyler:

Rachel:

Wesley:

Weird

2010-05-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

I rarely ever have memorable dreams of any sort, but last night I experienced one of the most realistic, vivid, and memorable dreams I've ever had. It went something like this:

Tori and I are participating as members of the US delegation to a United Nations conference being held in Salt Lake City. All of the member nations are participating in a game of duck, duck, gray duck at Liberty Park. The Mexican delegation is found to have been cheating, and a debate ensues about how to proceed as I have refused to participate further unless the cheaters are removed. During the heated discussion, a gunshot is heard and panic ensues. The sound is soon determined to have been a UTA bus backfiring nearby, then a rumor spreads that the sound was that of a plane crashing in Izmir, Turkey. The Shah of Iran was on board the flight and his apparent assassination leads to widespread chaos in the crowd as delegations from the various nations, believing that the event is the beginning of a new world war, rush toward the airport (on foot?) to return home to control the unfolding international crisis. In the panic, a number of world leaders are trampled to death and the situation escalates.

Meanwhile, lost somewhere in the crowd, Tori begins having contractions again. We meet up and are somehow able to hire a gypsy cab to take us to her OBGYN’s office in Ogden. Her doctor (our downstairs neighbor?) quickly does an ultrasound and determines that she must have been pregnant with twins and the second child was accidentally not delivered a week ago when Wesley was born! As my wife is prepped for surgery, I realize that I am late for work. Having used all of my remaining vacation time the week before, I leave Tori at the hospital and ride on horseback to my job on the set of a movie based on a non-existent John Steinbeck novel.

We’re shooting a scene where I, the villain, and my accomplice are locked inside of a mansion in which a bomb has been hidden. We hide under a bed (to prevent injury from the bomb) and jump out the windows just after the blast, hoping that the authorities will believe that we died in the explosion. We hide in a ditch and are quickly captured. I am taken to a (nearby?) castle and am put in the dungeon. I plan an escape down a tunnel that is located in my cell and emerge in a grocery store.

Tori calls me on my cell phone and tells me to bring her some hummus and crackers at the hospital. I arrive at the hospital and learn than the mystery twin baby was really just a bad case of indigestion. A nurse comes into the hospital room, and turns out to be one of the guards from the castle dungeon from which I had just escaped. I run and am chased through the corridors of the hospital. I burst through the doors of a restricted area and an alarm begins to sound. I become disoriented and soon wake up to the sound of my alarm clock.

TiVo

2010-05-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

The party's over:

TiVo kindly informed us this morning that our subscription has expired.

Wesley's Birthday

2010-05-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived at McKay-Dee at 5:30 a.m. for paper work and vitals.

Tyler was excited. At least with this c-section, he had time to get dressed before I was taken to the OR.

Wesley arrived at 8:09 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 13 oz

We were surprised and excited to see all his curly hair.

He only fusses for milk and a binky. Recovery is always annoying. For some reason, I couldn't feel my right leg for a long time.

Tyler spent the first night with me in a very uncomfortable chair. How nice!

At first, we thought Wesley looked a lot like my brother. However, after finding Tyler's blessing day picture, Wesley mirrors his daddy's image minus the dark curly hair.

Rachel stayed with her Grandparents and cousin Corbin over the week-end. She loved her first sleep over with the Miller family. She came to visit me on Mother's Day to sing the sweetest song and love on her new brother Wesley.

This was the first time she met Wesley. She did her own hair with several butterfly clips for the special occasion.

Hospital Food

2010-05-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Overall, my hospital stay after Wesley was really good. I asked a lot of questions and learned much. However, the food that I ate for four days was a hit or miss experience. Some of it was delish (veggie burger, malt-o-meal, sugar free hot chocolate, tapioca pudding) and others were a mystery (french dip, broccoli, toast, and tossed salad). I guess that is just how hospital food goes. What are your experiences with hospital food?
Now, I am super thankful for the meals my ward is providing for my family. It is so nice to have their support and thoughtfulness. I do have more pertinent pictures and stories from the hospital, but I have to download the pictures/videos first.