TDL PROS Theatre Rooms...

This is Troy's Dad's new "project" or "business" that he's starting up...Theatre rooms. Here is the video that Troy and I made (very rough draft, still needs some work) to advertise for him:

Amazing that in 1960's they got it!

And today we are getting confused somehow...

Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox greeting

What will we GIVE this season?

Some catching up to do and Hooray pictures!

Much has happened in the last few months so I figured I'd do a break down of previous events from pictures I have on my camera (by the way, I was able to recover those pictures from my previous post!). For details of our past events, please see picture captions.

Anniversary-Halloween:

Nov 1st-Washington Trip:

Washington Trip (including Thanksgiving):

Sophy is showing us what it means to be two without being two yet...Let's just leave it at that. :) At the same time she is learning so much so fast that I can't even keep up with her. She sings "I am a Child of God" almost all by herself and can be found walking around the house in "stuck mode" singing "teach-ah-me, guide-ah-me, teach-ah-me, guide-ah-me" (my dad thinks she might be Italian) over and over again (Troy and I both say to each other, "We're trying, we're trying!"), she suprised us by counting to 10 on her own the other day. She sat down by me at Gma Anderson's house and counted 1-10 then said "Mommy, I count to 10!" to make sure I knew what she had done. We feel very lucky to have such a sweet and special girl.

We've had a great deal of fun lately and are very grateful for our family and friends. You mean so much to us!! Thank you for your great examples of strength, kindness, love and support.

What I'm Thankful For...

God, Food, Family, and Friends! :) Here's a very touching video that is perfect to remember this season about random people on the streets of New York City that share a variety of grateful responses to one simple question: What are you thankful for? :

I would have but..

I would have updated my blog with beautiful pictures of Halloween, our 4 year anniversary, my family's visit, the first snow at our home, a race that I placed 8th overall and 2nd in my age group, our sweet Sophronia (and the penciled mural she put on our brand new wall in less than 30 seconds)...but I deleted the pictures from the camera whilst I was catagorizing them into exceptional albums of which I had planned to space out with step-by-step descriptions of what we've been up to lately. I guess you'll just have to keep us in your prayers!! We've had that kind of a month so far. Hey, I saved myself some work I guess!

Sophy has been a bit wild (but as wild as she's been, she's been equally sweet later--God's plan for helping us to still love our children after they are so out of control you'd like to do something else). She is learning her boundaries, loves the word "no" and "I do it myself!" (including taking her pants and diaper off by herself during "nap time" and telling us when we come in to check on her "Mommy! Put diaper back on!"--like it's my fault?), not eating what she's told, when she's told, almost likes timeout (what do you do then?), and has so much energy that she chooses to spend her 2 our nap every other day just jumping in her crib. What will happen when we let her have a toddler bed?

Other than that, things have been great! We are loving life and are counting down the days till we win the lotto (incase we should ever enter it) and be able to go on a cruise to the Carribean, tour Europe, visit Japan (we miss you Sanae), or Brasil like our friends (but we're not envious)...even Disneyland would be nice...hey we're going to Washington in a few weeks to spend time with my family! There. We should get on a boat while there and imagine that we are on a cruise ship in the Carribean--although Alaska would be closer....I am rambling...must need more adult interaction...I think I'm getting a little too good at translating for Sophy. Love you all!

If only I could do this...

House Tour!

Well, we finally got a camera (by the way, that saga isn't over yet!), and so we took a bunch of pictures of our house to show everyone FINALLY!!! We have met quite a few neighbors and feel that we are here for a reason. We miss you all and hope you are doing well. Please let us know when you aren't busy and want to do something fun! :) I've also included some pictures from before we moved because I couldn't remember if I'd posted them yet. Enjoy!!

Good Times and Good Friends!!

Lately, I've been blessed with visits and fun "in-between" outings of some friends from Foxboro and College days. It is so much fun getting together with friends and watching our children play together. Lately, we've gone to the Zoo with Gretel and Anna, Wheeler Farm with Shannon and Jamie, had Heidi, Angalee and Wendy and their kids come and play at our house, and a Family Home evening to not be forgotten with Christy and her family. Oh the joys of GOOD FRIENDS! Thank you all for your support and love. We miss you so much! To those of you who haven't visited yet, please give us a call and let us know when you want to come! We miss you and hope you're doing well!

Here are some pictures that I was able to get other people to take and send since our camera is still out of commission:

Something we can all do better at...

I saw this video on TV the other day and can not watch it without feeling that I can do something more for those who are suffering everywhere...



Here's a devotional that Dallin H. Oaks gave at BYU-Idaho Oct. 13th, 2009. It covers the importance of Freedom of Religion and some on the deteriation of the Constitution by those that threaten the First Amendment:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/religious-freedom

Here's an interview regarding the devotional's topics:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/apostle-says-religious-freedom-is-being-threatened#current

Elder Oaks has had a front-row seat in observing what he calls the “significant deterioration in the respect accorded to religion” in public life. Prior to his appointment to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Oaks had an illustrious law career. He served as a justice on the Utah Supreme Court, was a professor at the University of Chicago Law School and Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School and clerked for Chief Justice Earl Warren of the United States Supreme Court.

Old Pics from August and half of Sept...

Here are some pics from our stay at the Gerbers. We had so much fun living with Gma and Gpa. It was a party almost every night and beautiful views during the day. We had pool parties, food parties, and fun parties. Now we live close enough to visit more than we did when we lived in NSL so we'll get to see them often still.

I know that many of you have said you want pics of our new house...well I will get some soon! The camera picked a bad time to break and I will get it back from Tyler on Sunday and be able to still use it if I "hit it just right." Until then, you'll just have to take my word for it. We love our new house. We have met 4 houses of neighbors so far and they are very nice. It's a good mixture of older and younger families in this area. Sophy already has some cute friends, Lucas and Mackenna. I've unpacked our boxes and after the flooring people came (to put a finish on the wood flooring they were supposed to do before we moved in) and gased us out for 2 days I was able to cook in the kitchen! The view is beautiful, the rooms are more than we could have dreamed of and the neighborhood is quaint. We've been for walks and I almost ran to the Oquihrr Hills temple but didn't have quite enough time before Sophy woke up (that's a goal for this Sat). Still NOT as fun as FOXBORO, but it will never be. There is a huge field in our backyard that is perfect for playing Ultimate Frisbee or having large gatherings and we are very excited to have visitors! Let us know when you want to come! We miss you!

Moved in...

Bought a house, bought a fridge, moving in right now (writing from Troy's parent's house), no internet until Fri, going well, loving life!! Thanks for your help everyone and your prayers everyone else! :)

August 2009 update

We've been doing well lately, living out of boxes in Troy's parents house. We've been working to get the landscaping done on our new house, having meals as a family, helping Troy's dad with his website, and his brother-in-law with his new start up business, having pool parties, watching plenty of Glenn Beck, and having fun. We miss our old neighbors so much. It is pretty far now, but it will be much closer soon. We want you to know that we don't have any friends and probably never will have such good friends and neighbors again (I'm not trying to get the sympathy vote-it's true). Thank you so much and please keep in touch! I broke the camera in the diaper bag the other day, so there may not be many pictures until we figure that out...

Sophy's been driving us crazy with love (and other things) lately. She's broken 2 dishes of LeAnn's, autographed all over Duane's "History of Joseph Smith," ripped up a singing card given to LeAnn to see how it works ("You are my Sunshine" she loves it and says "happy" every time that the card says it), climbs on everything (even climbed up and sat on the tall bar stool-chairs here!), tears the fake grass out of LeAnn's indoor decorative trees multiple times during the day (strewing the grass all over the house), and ate a bug (Troy I forgot to tell you that one). She has also hurt herself several times (though I can't remember where or what she was doing), and refuses to eat in the high chair and has to have her own place at the table which she gets up and down from about 30 million times not eating any of hers but some of mine/Troy's and smearing it everywhere. I'll be glad when it's only our house that she gets messy!

She seems to be a 2 year old in many ways already-a curse for the moms of gifted children (not all peaches and cream). She is very stern with me when I take her binky away and tell her it's only for "night night" and she tells me--"My BINKY!" and reasons with me that I can't take it away from her ever because it belongs to her. She's talking up a storm and has phone conversations with real and imaginary people saying "Hello...playing with the cat (what she's doing)...eating food(what I'm doing)...at work (what daddy's doing)...ok...yeah...buh-bye! and hangs up the phone. I've recently given her a purse (because she's been obsessed with mine)to carry around and feel that is very convenient as I put a diaper and her snacks and milk in it and I can go back to a purse myself. She puts an old cell phone in it and walks around all day putting things in and out of it and feeding herself her snacks and milk. Very independant. She can reach up and open the lever door handles at Troy's parent's house and now I can never shower or go to the bathroom while she's awake unless I put a chair infront of the door.

She is very sweet and has been VERY loving giving hugs and kisses (and trying to steal Trisha's boyfriend. That's been interesting! Look out world!). She's been getting used to the pool herself and the other day finally started LOVING it enough to walk off into the deep (with her lifejacket-suit on and us holding her) several times loving the "bobbing" feeling and also when down the slide into the pool where I caught her several times laughing hysterically. A HUGE change from not wanting to be in a "bathtub" she knew had WAY too much water to be safe. She is such a joy and I am loving the sweet (and SASSY) loving girl she is. I could NEVER replace her and I love her with all my heart.

The Role of Government...

I have been recently studying political issues (a first for me) and watching the things that are happening in our nation. It seems to me that the role of government is becoming too powerful and is forcing issues down to the people instead of the people sending their choice of what the government should do up to the government.

Here's a video of Ezra Taft Benson (previous Secretary of Agriculture) on the Proper Role of Government. Watch this video and see how true what he says is to our day:



Currently we see issues of health care including forced abortion (would that not give a person a choice?), rights or wealth being forced from one class of persons to another (are we not all equal?), religion is being taken out (doesn't that take away the right to worship that this country was founded on?), and I think that there are several issues that are being " all

I support the Constitution, I support the government when it is governed for the people and by the people, not the other way around. Look at the laws being created...look deeply into them, and not just listening to the fluffy words of the people who are presenting them. Look at what the laws and changes would mean for ALL people. For instance, a Cap on greenhouse gases, while this is a great idea, it should not be forced, but should be chosen. When forced all those who emit greenhouse gases will be put out of business. Many people do not have the investment money (especially while the economy is uncertain and people aren't buying as much as they used to in some areas) to fundamentally change his operation overnight. If the government wants to save a small fish that is becoming endangered that is good. But if, in the process, they reduce usable farm irrigation water by 90% and flush the rest out to the sea while people in California are in a drought, that is NOT GOOD. This is only one example I found when looking into the issues further.

Here is a talk by Dallin H. Oaks about the way that diversity actually divides us instead of Uniting us (that's wierd):

Dallin H. Oaks The Weightier Matters February 09, 1999 BYU Broadcasting

Shared via AddThis

Please look into issues! This is a call for ALL people to become involved in their country and support our rights (GOD-given and and not to be taken by man) and the Constitution. Stand up for what is right, not what you think other people would want. Please look at the leaders and advisors to the government and what they stand for. Please realize that if they are involved in pushing their own agendas which will give only them more power and oppress the mainstream of the United States (not Diverse States, as we are to be working for the same goals toward becoming Unified and not Different), and they will use words that we will relate to until we give them the power they desire.

Here's information that Glenn Beck has found disturbing about the Advisors (or "Czars") to the President:
Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Glenn Beck: Company He Keeps

Here are excerpts from a speech President Ezra Taft Benson gave at Temple Square called "Stand up for Freedom" Feb 11, 1966-but SO TRUE TODAY!:

Please don't just listen to the words, but realize the intent of what's behind the words. I am prayerful when I ask this of all that read my words. Please be prayerful about your opinions and Question with BOLDNESS what is going on in your country--this is every person's right. If we become too busy to care about politics then we will become servants of government ideals overnight and not our ideals.

"The States created the Federal Government, the Federal Government DID NOT create the States." -Ezra Taft Benson. It is right to support your government leaders when they support what you agree to be right. When they do not, you have the RIGHT to question and to FIGHT for what is right. Do not become like sheep following whatever leader is around to be listened to. Fighting for what is right is EVERY person's right.

Here is another talk from President Benson about the dangers of Socialism...listen and see if you think this might be happening now:

I am very grateful for the rights that we currently have in this United States of America that is upheld by the Constitution of these United States of America. I do not want to see these laws and processes becoming overstepped (or, as freedom of speech has been spoken of, as "a distraction") by government leaders for the processes that they want to put forward. Seek out for yourself the truth and once you find the truth, HOLD TO IT.

Glen Beck seems to be saying much that resonnates with what President Benson has said in the past. See if he does not resonnate with what you believe to be true too. Here is something really scary about a meeting Ezra Taft Benson had with Communist leader, Kruzchef about how Socialism would seep into American society...Has it?:

Nucea and the Gerbers on the News...

Well, here is a fun video. Troy's brother-in-law (who is also a twin that started the company with his twin) started a health clinic that also has a fitness center in it. The purpose is to promote a "whole health" lifestyle (so that you go to the doctor and then you train yourself to eat right and exercise like you are supposed to so that you won't have to go to the doctor as often) as well as a Nurse Practitioner (the twin) who can see patients at anytime. It especially helps people who don't have insurance because it's only $60/month for the whole family-which gives you access to the Nurse anytime and the gym (as well as access to a personal trainer, and personal health advisor, etc.). We've been working hard to help them get this place up and running (literally "running") as well as helping to be sure to be at the facility when the news came. This is the second time. Channel 4 news did a piece similar to this one a few weeks before it. It's such a great idea and they are working so hard to help people have a better lifestyle. Here's the video:

http://connect2utah.com/content/fulltext/?cid=47611

You will see my feet running on the treadmill and then me working out (finally!) on the treadmill shortly after. The close up of the beautiful lady is Troy's mom, and the baby is our little nephew, Malachai with mom Beccah holding him.

New House Pictures...& Sophy's locked car incident!

Well much is happening for us. Troy's been working hard to get the school year going technologically for the wonderful Westminster students and then going to our new house afterward and on Saturdays he's been working hard to put in the sprinkling system and get the landscaping done before we close. It's amazing that everything's looking good and we were blessed to be able to lock at a 5.13% interest rate. It's looking like we will move in a bit early on Sept. 17th. Here are some pictures of the house we took a couple weeks ago. Since these pictures, the granite countertops have been put into the kitchen.

I will try to get more pictures soon, but I broke our camera and today locked Sophy in the car with the keys on the front seat. We had some fun with 2 fire trucks, and 1 sheriff that were able to break in within 60 seconds (slow for them they say--Neil, maybe you could be a fireman??). They all made faces at Sophy and everything was fine. We were in a garage and the weather was cool, just starting to rain. The car was not running. I still stand by the fact that the car hates me and locked me out to prove something (it's trying to kill us off-sort of a computers taking over Tron/Big Brother/War Games, etc. thing). It would have been horrible, but cute Sophy had a sandwich (that she proudly ate all of while I was watching-moms, I would ALMOST recommend this to your picky eater), and her milk and was laughing at me come up with my inspirations for the new book I'm apparently doomed to write entitled "101 Things to Keep Your 18 Month Old Happy When You Lock Her In The Car: For Dummies". The rest of the day she seemed unaffected and was actually singing "happy happy happy happy" the whole ride home. Man was I blessed with laughter at a VERY necessary time!

Mov-ED-current state=messy and semi-homeless

Well, I can't find the cord to the camera, and maybe I'll convince Troy that it is important enough to go "dumpster diving" through our plethora of boxes to find when he gets home from his 1hr long drive from work in my non-air conditioned car (because I need the car to take a 30 min trip to Costco to get out of the house, maybe I'm a mean mom?)...but then again maybe not.

Things are going very well. We were able to move out quickly and get the whole house cleaned in 1 day with all the help we had...THANK-YOU VERY MUCH TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO SACRIFICED IN THE HEAT WITH US! (If you didn't get a doughnut, I'll mail one to you!) Joye (the new tenant) is OVER-JOYED (to say the least) about moving in and is seriously the sweetest and most upbeat lady I have met in a long time. It feels as if (though it was a very hard decision for us) she REALLY is meant for that house and needs the friendship and love of that neighborhood.

Our current plan is the following:

• Live with in-laws until Sept 30th (or a little before)
• Emily really try to learn how to cook and decorate because you have the BEST teacher at your finger tips during this time!
• Troy help his dad with building of his new Theatre Room
• Em & Troy help his dad & brother with website for his insulation business
• Emily help her mom with her Math & Reading educational website
• Hang out with Troy's Provo friends! (finally, Julie we saw you in your yard yelling at the kids yesterday. We will stop next time, we just didn't want to run into the BURM as we came down the driveway! ;))
• Emily play with new nephew-in-law Malachai as much as possible
• Get people into the Zoo for free as much as possible (any takers? I can take 1 adult and a child under the age of 2 with me for free anytime we go)
• Eat better: more healthier and more planned out meals-I am sharing cooking with Troy's mom 2 nights per week, which is more than I cooked before! :)
• Troy's dad and brother (and any other takers??) help us put our lawn in before we close
• Relax, lounge in the pool, watch movies and play games with family
• Emily train for a marathon occurring Sept 12th (swimming can count as cross-training!)
• Move into new house in Riverton, UT (around 126th S. and 49th W.) after the house is completed (should be in the next 2 weeks) and we have saved some more money (who knows how long that will take, but not to exceed Sept 30th)

We are doing well, but miss you neighbors! We had a chance to go to Elen's daughter Sophia's b-day celebration on Sunday and it was fantastic (the leftover cake you gave us was gone that day by the way! YUMMY!). Thank you for your love and prayers. More pictures soon!

Mom Anderson, Malachai, & House stuff...

We've been pretty busy lately, but we've been having so much fun. We've been able to play with our good neighbor Griffin, visit our old friends Nicole & Mike (and Mason), and Prince William again. I ran a 5K race in NSL with my friend Jamie (which went much better than last year where I was still recovering from being a new mom!), my mom and sister-in-law Megan visited for 3days (which are always jam-packed!), WE SOLD OUR HOUSE, and went to see a new Gerber baby (not ours) be blessed.

When my mom & Megan visited, we toured Temple Square, which proved to be more exciting than we imagined because the whole time we were walking around we were subjected to thunder and lightning and rain storms (that's why we look so good in those pics!). Then we went to the Oquirrh Hills Temple open house. The next day, we took Sophy to the Hogle Zoo where we met up with Troy's family, and Sophy had so much fun (and we didn't get a parking ticket on what had to be THE BUSIEST DAY of THE YEAR there). Then we went to the Mayan because Megan had never been there before. Saturday (4th of July) we went to a parade in Layton (tradition), and then to Troy's parents' home for lunch and POOL PARTY! My mom and Megan loved relaxing in the sun by the pool. We came home before the fireworks because Sophy was exhausted and my mom was driving that night. It was SOO much fun to get to know Megan (Jake's wife's sister) and spend time with my mom.

While my mom was here, our house sold. Good thing too because I'd shown our house about 10 times that week and I was NOT excited about showing it while my family was in town. We got a fair deal and the person buying it got a fair deal as well. We are very sad to leave our friend-family here, but are excited for our new adventure wherever that may be. We've recently put an offer on a house that we love in the Riverton area, so we'll see how that goes. Message to current neighbors: PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH AFTER WE MOVE! WE'RE NOT DEAD, JUST MOVING!! We'll miss you soo much! We're scheduled to move into Troy's parent's home Aug 3rd (THANK-YOU!!) while we figure out where we'll be after that.

Last weekend, we were able to see Tyler & Beccah's baby, Malachai Aiden, be blessed. He is such a sweet little boy. I'm sure he'll get into many things (and Sophy may be the cause of some of that), but for now, very sweet and calm. :)

BOSTON TRIP BABY!! (but without the baby!)

We had a great time enjoying the wonderfully blunt and spectacular people of Boston, the public transportation, and the amazing historical sites. We were lucky enough to be able to go without a toddler-THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED!! Before we left, we spent some time celebrating Troy's mom's b-day and playing with Sophy in here new "hotel" where she'd be staying for the next few days while we were gone. Here are some pictures of the pool party (she is still very nervous about the water, even with the super neat floating suit my mom sent her), but she's getting better.
During our trip, Troy enjoyed his conference and I enjoyed the super comfy Marriott bed, large screen flat screen, BBC movies on Netflix, room service, and the gym--you only have free time once as a mom, might as well use it! At 5pm the first 3 nights, we would venture out and discover the public transportation system. We did all but take a ferry while we were there. It took a cab ride to the commuter train to the subway to the other subway in order to get us downtown Boston which is why we ate dinner and then came back. We ate dinner at the Omni Parker House Hotel Thursday. It was there the very first Boston Cream Pie was created. Very very very much the best I've ever had (sorry Marie Calendars)! Friday we were able to check our bags in early and took the subway (which we knew very well how to use by that point!) into downtown and did almost everything we'd wanted to do the whole trip by just WALKING! Next time, I suggest staying in the city as close to downtown as possible.

Funny stories:

• When we first arrived in Boston, our limo driver (a black sedan) met us and was reaching out to take Troy's hand when he stepped off the curb and was 1" away from becoming hit by an on-coming car. Bostonian reaction: continued his conversation as if nothing happened while stepping back onto the sidewalk and taking Troy's bag.


• We got into the car and realized that the drivers were VERY MUCH worse than UT drivers and possibly crazier than (atleast they compete with) the Chinese ones I'd seen when I visited China. We were very grateful to the inventor of the seatbelt and that his invention was able to make it through to our day (and that very moment).


• Then (still our first 30 mins in Boston) the driver pointed out a black car to us (noting himself that Bostonian drivers are crazy) that was swerving in and out of each lane obviously trying to get somewhere very quickly and then it parked in the lane right next to us (on a highway) and the driver got out in a hurry to meet the parked car driver of another car just ahead and they pulled a gun out on someone in a parked minivan with a cop car behind them. My first reaction was that the two parked car drivers were very angry at the minivan person and wanted very badly to kill them before they even noticed (or even after they noticed) the cops. Troy's first reaction (sorry Troy, it's very cute) sounded like sheer amazement that he wasn't watching TV, "HE ACTUALLY HAS A GUN!!" The driver's reaction was, "Well, we should probably get out of here" and proceeded to speed up ahead. We never found out what happened, but the two parked car drivers could have been undercover. It occured to me later that they had parked infront of the green minivan and blocked the person in. That would be quite the sight in UT.


• LOVE the blunt-ness of Bostonians. Always trust them to tell you exactly how THEY see it, and not always how things really are. My favorite quote they ALL say in many situations: "Well, what you're gonna wanna do is..." They try to use it as often and frequently as possible and make sure you know that everyone else already knows this.


• There was a guy on the commuter train going back to our hotel one night that was calling up his "work associates" or "business partners" on some "Cigah" (as they say things) business he had just started up. He was telling them he needed them to be front and center because he had a 5 year old and had just pulled his arm out of the socket by lifting "kegs of be-ah" at his regular job. Each time he called a new person, he told different details of the "recent surgery" he'd undergone. We thought if we turned around we'd see a krippled man with no more left arm. When he got off of at his stop he threw his back over his shoulder and we saw nothing wrong at all. His stories were so funny that we couldn't help not believe them even before we saw the evidence. We bonded on the train with another lady that overheard him and worked in a hospital. She said that by the different shots he claimed to have had to have (to make the business partners understanding of his situation no doubt) the only thing she could think he'd have was Gonorrhea or Syphillus.

When we got home, we found out that Sophy had so much fun and was kept very safe up until the last day when her cute little cousin, Camdyn was chasing her to give her a hug and she was trying to get away and she tripped and landed on her face (biting halfway through her lip with a goose egg on her forehead). Trisha said that she cried quite a bit but once she asked if Sophy wanted to see the kitty, Sophy had forgotten all about it. Her lip is healing quite well, and she was never slowed down by it (part of me says "dang it!" about that). What a girl!

16 Months and LOVING LIFE!!

We've been having fun. Sophy has definitely been learning and growing (though not much hair has been produced yet). She is climbing and climbing and talking and talking. Her favorite game is to climb up on the table or up the back of the chair rails and look at us with her cutest face and laugh while doing her "crazy" dance. She loves people and lately at the grocery store when she used to get sad when people didn't react to her quiet and polite "hi", she says it louder and shouts until they turn around almost startled and then amazed at the pipes when they realize everything is okay and it was just a toddler trying to get their attention! We had so much fun playing during my cousin Jeff's bday party. Troy got to play yet another game of Ultimate Frisbee in the bottom of an old reservoir just behind the Provo Temple. It's really cool and no matter how much kids run, you can see them playing in the bottom of the old lake bed for quite a ways!

We recently put Sophy in a forward facing carseat (though Troy's "reliable car" has recently broke down again and we are down to my Honda Prelude '88 (280,000 miles, resembles a pile of bolts rushing down the freeway about to come loose at any moment, but because it's a Honda, it has a sacred pact to last longer than any other car alive.) for a short time) and she loves it! The night Troy put it in, she got to see her first real life thunder and lightning and rain storm and could not stop saying "WOW!!" (even inaudibly quite a bit too) the whole way back from the store. It's a new life now. Can't believe she is getting so old so fast!

Crazy is as Crazy does!

Well, the title says it all, I'm afraid. I've been guilty of making my poor family go crazy in support of me all over the place lately. I like to be busy, but I think this has been a bit much!-well maybe not-okay maybe. You'll see...a few weeks ago my parents, sister & roommate, and cousin came into town for a few days. It was fun, but also hard because we are trying to sell our house. My most spoken phrase to my dismay was: "We need to clean up the house right now!" I even made them put their luggage in the car in the garage so that if someone called to see the house it would be ready. Alas, no one called and as Troy mentions frequently, I should have relaxed instead. Well we had a fun visit, my parents staying until just after the first session of conference and my cousin leaving after the second session, and my sister and her roommate leaving after both of Sunday's sessions. It was a packed (but amazingly clean!) house.

After that, Troy and I studied our talks for church the next Sunday which would be Easter. It was funny because I spoke, sat down, stood up and sang in the choir, then sat down and listened to Troy's talk, then got Sophy from Troy's mom (THANK-GOODNESS for LeAnn! We had almost forgotten to ask someone to watch Sophy while we were talking!), then get the last bit prepared for my Easter Relief Society Lesson. It was such a good day, but not much rest happened.

That same week prior preparing my talk and lesson for Easter Sunday, I decided it would be a good (at this point I had so much going on, why not add more?) idea to prepare for a half marathon in two weeks. I've never run 13.3 miles as you can imagine. The day after Easter, I parked my car at the Bountiful temple and ran all the way home to our North Salt Lake City home. The fact that one has to run through 3 cities to get from point A to point B did not seem to matter much to the dissappointing distance of 7.5 miles when I was done. Then I took Sophy out and jogged 2.5miles more to get to my goal of 10miles. After that, I decided that I could sign up to run a half marathon. Then I didn't run any further that week because that Saturday was the race. I was able to run with a friend/neighbor who helped me to keep a good pace and luckily not die throughout the whole race. To my (and Troy's) astonishment I finished and was alive at the end! My time was beyond my goal of just finishing at a reasonable time of 2 hrs 20mins. What a rush(not timewise, but adrenalinewise)!

If anyone hasn't heard from me lately, I probably have actually died. Meanwhile, Sophy hasn't slowed down and we've had many fun and exciting "poop sagas" which I will spare the details on this blog. Once you've heard one, do you really need to hear any others? I will just mention that we are getting the carpet from the kitchen, diningroom and livingroom cleaned presently... Thank goodness for a loving and hardworking supportive husband, family and friends. I frequently pile too much on, but when I do I am frequently reminded of the wonderful support system I have and know that I would not be able to be so crazy if it weren't for them. Thanks to all!

Sophy is 13 Months!

Pictures for Gmas and Friends! (Video/s coming soon!)

Selling But Not Moving...

For those of you that don't know, we've put our house up for sale recently. It was a hard decision, and we aren't sure how it will work out in the end, but we are excited for the "adventure" of it all. We are very sad about the thought of leaving the Foxboro/North Salt Lake area, but we know that we will never forget it. We have been blessed to have the happiest times of our life so far here, and know that it wouldn't be without the amazing friends and neighbors we've met. While we do have a "For Sale" sign up in our front yard, we will NOT be giving up our friends in the move. Who knows, we may end up staying here for awhile! -sorry can't get rid of us! Thanks to all Foxboro/Bountiful-ites that we love so much! Here are some pics of our home for sale:

We Almost Owned a Pet

I had this great idea one day when I saw a neighborhood cat walking on our fence. Sophy was very excited and has been very interested in cats lately and it has been so cute that I almost wanted her to have a pet...almost (it's hard enough changing her diapers and cleaning up after her, to add more to that would be trouble!). But I had a *brilliant* idea. The neighborhood cat wanted milk, so I figured if I put a bowl of milk out, we could have a cat without owning one. My plan worked out a little differently than I anticipated. The a few days later, Prince William (Cori's son) came to visit and was playing in the backyard when he wandered over to a box (we should have thrown out last summer) with weeds in it and kept saying "Cat! Cat!" We didn't believe him because there is NO CAT living in our backyard...that we were aware of. We walked over to prove him wrong and saw our black cat friend hissing at us profusely. I told Troy about it when he came home and he scared her off. Until the next day we revisited the box and found out that she was hissing with a purpose...she'd just had 5 baby kittens and was protecting them. The next few days I was worried because the weather was cold and windy after nice warm weather. We checked and the mom was gone that whole cold day! The kittens had been left huddling together for warmth. The next day we checked and all except for 1 (the cutest one) were gone. We figured that she'd been so afraid when Troy scared her that she realized this was no place to raise kids (I wonder that all the time, he is quite vulgar, as anyone who has met Troy can vouch. :)) and uprooted her whole family--minus one. We waited for her to come back and get the last one and bet that she was just waiting for us to stop watching. Much to my dismay, she never came back to get the baby and by the time we checked again, the kitten was...no more shall we say. I was very sad. Now when Sophy says "kitty!" I think of the week that we almost had a family of cats and now ended up with a dead kitten instead. Sad!

Sophy's First B-day!!

Sophy has been learning so much. Here are a few of the things she's been up to lately:

• Calls to her toys like you would call to a cat or dog
• Makes bunny (nose noise), dog, and cat noises for each respectively
• Tells me if she wants "food," "milk," or "more" of it.
• Thinks she can feed herself everything on the menu and off
• Says "eye" and points to her eye, mom's eye, dad's eye, and any other eyes she finds

Random Funny Videos:

Random Pictures:

Dear Ms. Sophronia,


We love you so much! You have learned more than we can mention here, and taught us infinitely more than that! We are so grateful to have you in our family. You are a true SMILEY-FACE sent from above. Here is a tribute to you on your b-day!:

Some video of her a present from Aunt NickiBlair (awesome wrapping job by Phil):

CAKE VIDEO (SHE LOVED THE CAKE):

Introducing..the Extreme WiiExperience!!

Okay, so let me just first start off by saying that I am a typical wife, and Troy is an AMAZING husband. I have a great deal to learn from him. Okay, now the story...as the typical wife, when my husband began hinting that he wanted a game system for Christmas, I pretended not to pay attention, did some dishes, asked him about work, changed the subject, anything...including convincing myself that he was kidding and didn't really want one. Why would I go to this trouble? Because I assumed that the purchase of a "gaming system" for our home would mean the following:

1. Total inihilation of husband due to being sucked into game playing vortex, never to return again.


2. I would get upset and try to add many more unneccessary tasks to his "Honey-do" list in order to get him to not play it.


3. Our future children would grow up as zombies and want to massecre and randsack their school everyday to get more "points" than their brother or sister and would be convinced that baseball, beach volleyball, tennis, and soccer were indoor sports to be played with 1-2 other people at a time.


4. Troy would get fired because he thought he was still playing the video game and "accidentally" blew up the server room using Robert's Diet Coke as a hand grenade to escape the enemy's snare, etc.


5. We would run out of money and Sophy would finally be able to try out her hidden talent of pan-handling (might make alot on our street, lots of nice people :)).


6. If he would try to get me to play, I would obviously (given previous track record of not being able to pass level 2-or 1 most of the time-of prehistoric Mario Brothers, the Original) stink so bad that I would uncover a deep seeded video gaming complex and eventually die.


7. We would have no time for each other because one or the other was always playing video games (I imagined he would always be the one, but now that I assess it again, it was my fear of being left alone with it!), and never get to watch the movies that we pay $9.99 per month for on Netflix so that we can sit beside each other and "relax" (my choice of zombie-ism).


8. Troy would turn into a mass murderer or gangster or most likely end up in a high speed chase with the cops because his road rage combined with his new found gaming skills and new alter ego made him chase down an almost innocent "Utah Driver" and demand their Arbys Chicken Cordon Blue sandwich (very good by the way) and curly fries for cutting him off on the freeway. This would obviously result in a high-speed chase with the cops because he wouldn't want to give up the sandwich, and he would want to try out his new driving skills with his "Grandma Car" (as I call it, really Volkswagen Passat, not a race car though).


9. Sophy would have to feed herself, change her own diaper, and end up walking out the front door to find a family that would play with the glass dishes in our cabinet with her.


10. The world would end.

So, obviously, that would be reason enough for me to be right in not getting a "gaming system," right? Well, I did what any good, well intentioned wife would do in that situation. #1: I bought him a nice Christmas present, figuring that would be enough to make him forget for a while. When Christmas came, he opened his Digital Photoframe and loved it. Then a few minutes later (or the next day, I can't remember) he mentioned that he wanted to look into getting an X-box. #2: I told him we didn't have enough money (luckily that was true!). After looking through our Christmas presents from family members though, we had received a few checks and he said, "what about the Christmas money?" #3: I said I'd think about it and get back to him.(trick #3, my last one! I was running out of options!)

The next day I knew he'd ask, so I came up with a plan. I'd be okay with it and let it be his decision and trust him (which is what I should have done in the first place). So the next day we were at the store, and I suggested we look at these "gaming systems" he talked so much about. He was very excited and would have walked right out of the store with one, but he couldn't make up his mind between the X-box or the Wii. I said if I had a choice, I'd choose the Wii because I'd heard (but not believed) that it was more family centered, and interactive. The wierdest thing started to happen... I saw plenty of wholesome fun family games available on the Wii and started to get more excited about it. Troy's friends helped because they said, "hands down, Wii is the coolest technology"--which is what Troy cared the most about.

Then we started the research process. Troy brought out his spreadsheet of how affordable it could be, along with the other positive things we wanted to get out of the system. We compared both systems, ultimately choosing the Wii. Then started the process of buying one. I didn't know that I was so lucky. There were none available at any game stores from Provo to Centerville. Finally, after two weeks of looking and about 20-30 phone calls, a friend suggested that we look at SmithsMarketplace (a grocerystore much like Fred Meyers in Washington). Troy called and began shouting, "THEY ARE IN!!" --who would have thought?. I was out of luck again!--At the time he called, I was on the phone and he was almost out the door. "You forgot the baby!" I said. He came back and we all got in the car. We were about 2 blocks away when we remembered that we had a friend's carseat in our car and were supposed to give it back on the way. Soft hearted Troy said, "we should turn around and give them the carseat first." So we turned around and headed home again.

On our way, we saw a fire, and police vehicles everywhere. Apparently one of the refineries by our house caught on fire (not typical), and as we listened to the news we found that the neighborhood across Redwood road from our development was being evacuated. (For more info on the story, click here: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5300454) We got to the neighbors' house and silly us decided to venture out and buy our Wii anyway. We charted a different route back to the store past the fire, and hoping we wouldn't be stuck with only a "virtual house" when we came back to play the Wii. We got to the store and after being told that it was not possible to find a Wii anywhere so many times before, we found ourselves standing infront of an enclosed, locked cabinet full of them. Apparently no one was thinking to go to a grocery-type store for their "gaming systems."

Troy was a happy camper, and I was getting excited too (but nervous about the gaming complex hidden deep inside of me). We left the store with about everything that you need to start off including the WiiFit. We made it to our "Emergency Dining" meal--Cafe Rio (Troy's theory, "Since we can't go home, we have no choice but to spend money on food tonight."), then had a Wiimergency as one of Troy's friends that couldn't find the WiiFit asked him to pick one up for him. So with nothing but time on our hands, and a loopy baby (laughing and probably counting each time we got out of the car after her bedtime), we went back to Smiths and purchased another WiiFit (we were quickly and most gratefully reimbursed!).

As we drove home, we found the fire was contained, our neighborhood wasn't evacuated, and were able to hook up the Wii to our real tv and power (not virtual). We have played with it after Sophy goes to bed each night when there isn't other stuff going on, and it's been really fun so far. So far, no gaming complex is coming out, Sophy has been fed and happy with no thoughts (that we know) of mass destruction, and I don't think Troy will turn into a gangster, but only time will tell...

What's your wild WiiExperience? please let us know! :)

Christmas & New Years In Washington State

Christmas and New Years were a blast. We went and visited my parents in Tacoma, Washington. While we were there, we visited with friends, Sophy taught herself how to walk , we ate alot of food, played electronic Monopoly for too many hours, Sophy started saying "nonononono" and shaking her head and now does it while she does something that she knows (or we know) is bad. It was fun to be with my lovely and quirky family (they'd agree, and be proud of it!), and good to be back to the grind in our own home as well.

Here is a video of Sophy's first official day of walking (Dec 29th, 2008--not that we are proud parents or anything). She was getting "loopy" or tired, but was laughing the whole time. This girl loves attention and gets plenty!

Here are some pictures of the holidays where we visited with the "College Crew," flew to WA, had Christmas, toured the Microsoft Museum in Redmond, WA, and had New Years Eve: