In Memory of My Best Friend

I wish I had time to write everything I'm feeling, but that will have to wait until I get home. For now, I just want to thank everyone for their love and support. I feel so very blessed to have a wonderful family and a strong faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I miss my sweet John more than words can express, but I know that he is happily doing the work that he loves best (sharing the gospel) on the other side. I also know that our family is eternal. We have been sealed in the temple, and I find so much peace in knowing that it won't be long until we can be with him again.

I know that most of you are far away, but anyone is able to attend John's funeral is welcome to join us this Saturday at 11am. The service will be held at the Stansbury Park, UT stake center. The address is 417 Benson Rd. Stansbury Park, UT 84074. It's short notice, so please help us spread the word.

Thank you again for your love. We could use your prayers.

trick-or-treat

This has been Lizzie's first real Halloween. We didn't do anything last year since she was only a few weeks old, but this year we've been partying all week long. There was the ward trunk-or-treat, trick-or-treating on the lawn, and a couple of big parties. These pictures are from trick-or-treating on the lawn. The Lawn is the central part of UVA grounds right in front of the rotunda. It's lined by apartments reserved for honors students, apartments made famous by the former resident Edgar Allan Poe. The students pass out tons of candy, and just about every kid in Charlottesville goes to the lawn for the big event. We rode the bus from our apartment to the lawn, which Lizzie loved, and made our way through the crouds to get the loot. Lizzie was content with her first two pieces of candy but John and I quickly recognized the potential... a cute baby who could accept generous amounts of candy and not care a bit if her parents ate it all. So we made her press on, cutting in line and sweetly inserting comments like, "Ooo Lizzie, get the swedish fish. You're going to love those!" We had a really good time, and hopefully our little chicken didn't think it was too bad either.

Give Me Sweet Virginia for the Fireworks of Fall

First Birthday

Lizzie is ONE! I can't believe a year has gone by already. She’s not my little baby anymore. Part of me was dreading her birthday because being one sounded so grown up, but I was also excited. We invited a bunch of friends over for a BBQ including my dad (my mom was at David and Lauren’s house because Frieda was just born), Rachel Bailey, Heather and George Glass, The Garcias, The Vedomskys, Chad LuAnne and Emma Miller, Naomi and Polly Sloan and the Browns (Stephanie, Chip, and Cash). I made Lizzie a special cake that looked like a cow. It was just for her. Everyone else had a separate cake. I was so excited for Lizzie to dig in and make a mess of the cake, but she wasn’t interested. When we tried to stick her hands in it she just looked at us like we were crazy. And she wasn’t interested in eating it either. The one thing I actually want her to destroy is the only thing she’s not interested in. Figures. =) She loved opening presents though. All the other kids gathered around and helped her tear off the wrapping. She got a little toy piano, a play doctor’s set, a quiet book, hair clips, and a beautiful custom made tutu from her friends. But her favorite toy was a large box that her new car seat came in. As for the present from us, we wanted to give her a little baby doll because she was starting to show interest in babies and we wanted to help her get ready for her future siblings. I just wanted a simple doll. I searched every store, but most of them were hard plastic and made annoying noises. Some of them were even advertised as being able to cry like a real baby. Why anyone would pay to listen to more crying baby is beyond me. I finally found the perfect doll at Walmart. It was a soft bean bag, just the right size, and it only cost $5. The only thing was that the white babies were out of stock. Lizzie didn’t mind. She gave the little black baby a big hug and walked off with it, so I decided to get it. After spending lots of time with Mary, Kenya, and Jackie (three incredible black Young Women at church who are particularly good with Lizzie) Lizzie lights up every time she sees a black person. So, I guess it’s perfect that her fist baby doll is black. I also got her a toy stroller to go with it, but I think she spends more time in the stroller than the baby.

Pancake Breakfast

Lizzie isn't a super picky eater, but she does have a few favorite foods and buttermilk pancakes are pretty far up on the list. She's also a big fan of frozen peas, pizza, ice cream, mac and cheese, any kind of candy, lasagna, broccoli with cheese, plain cheese (especially cheddar). Of course, eating in the high chair puts a damper on things. Far better to make a mess on the rug!

Mischief

A couple mornings ago Lizzie was playing in the bedroom while I got ready. I went into the other room for just a few minutes, and when I came back the bedroom was destroyed. She had pulled most of the socks out of my sock drawer and had climbed up into the second drawer of the dresser so she could reach my jewelry box. When I came back she smiled really big at me and proceeded to throw necklaces all over the room.


Lizzie's first game of dress ups. She slipped into John's basketball shorts all by herself but needed a bit of assistance keeping them up.

Little Bandits

The other day my friend Stephanie and I had this great idea to take pictures of our kids at the train tracks. It was a long straight stretch and the idea that it might be dangerous didn't even cross my mind. Well, we hadn't been there very long when the first train came by. We had all the time in the world to move safely to the side, but as it passed the train conductor yelled angrily out the window. It sounded something like, "Don't you know you could get killed?" A little disconcerting, but I thought it was a serious over reaction. A few minutes later my camera battery died and we decided it was too hot to stick around anyway. Just as we crossed the street to head back to the car two police cars came around the corner. One pulled off the road and onto the tracks. It was pretty clear they were looking for us. I'm really not sure how they missed us because we were just a few feet away, but it's a good thing they did. Turns out if we had stayed just 10 seconds longer we could have been charged with a felony!

Thanks Rach!

My dearest friend Rach Rach is the master of selflessness. She is constantly sending me the world's best packages. This month she sent me 3...yes, that's right...THREE amazing packages! One was filled with a new fall wardrobe. The next was full of very cute jewelry and adorable bows, clips, and headbands for Lizzie, and the third was an order of 25 seasoning packets to make John's favorite dinner (Sesame seed chicken). Wow, she's amazing. Thanks Rach. I love you!

From Angst to Delight: All in a days work

Shocking First Do

Our first attempt at a hairdo...

Need we say more?

Mad Scientists

We realized yesterday that most of our friends and family have no idea what John's up to this summer. Fortunately, he's not doing summer sales. His summer is turning out to quite a bit less exciting and unbelievably less lucrative. He's slicing up pig brains! It's actually a pretty great research job studying which proteins are involved in diabetes, and since pigs become obese like humans, they make useful victims for my mad scientist husband.

Shenandoah - Beware of Bears

We recently found a little haven not far from our house - The Shenandoah National Forest. Our first trip there was just for a short evening hike. Lizzie was tired and grumpy for most of it, but we had fun anyway. The falls were beautiful and we were amazed by how close we could get to the deer. Oh, and John was also very blessed to come away alive after chasing a skunk to get his picture.














































































































































The second trip was a bit more of an adventure. We decided it was high time for Lizzie to experience the joys of camping. After setting up camp we set out on a little sunset hike on the Appalachian trail, which ran right by our site. About a mile down the trail John turned around so i could snap a picture of him with Lizzie on his shoulders, but when he turned he looked right past me with a look of shock (see second to last picture). All he could get out was, "Uh ems, turn around." About 10 feet away was a black bear (see last picture). He was standing up on his hind legs, just staring at us. We all stood there staring at each other for a good 15 to 20 seconds until John slowly said in a low voice, "ems, just take the picture." So, as crazy as it sounds, I did. It's not the best picture. My camera was on manual settings, and I didn't take the time to adjust to the light. But at least I was dumb enough to take it. The flash must have annoyed him because as soon as I took the picture he walked away. John and I were a little shaken, but Lizzie didn't seem to think any of it was a big deal. =)