HUANGWAY

Preschool Pic Fall 2011

2012-01-19T19:29:00.000-08:00

Away in a Manger

2012-01-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Brody's Preschool Christmas program: It was at noon on a Wed and Thurs. We attended on Wednesday and the small auditorium was packed so we stood in the back, which was a fine view... until the very end when Brody's class came on and several parents stood up right in front of the kids through the whole song. I didn't get a peek at one sheep. They even blocked the camera so I couldn't have seen him even if I bought the DVD. So rude! I wanted to cry and Justin was so hot that he left. It really was rediculous. I went to Brody's classroom afterwards and told him what a good job he did, and vowed to myself that the next day I'd turn into a crazy, over-protective parent and be ready to stand up and tell somebody off, if I must. Thursday I got there 2 hours early and held us seats in the 2nd & 3rd rows. What a relief when I saw him sing "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night" wonderfully. He even did actions that none of the other kids seemed to be doing - complete with a jazz-hands finale - and I wondered if he was making them up as he went along :) He had a huge bandaid under his chin from a scrape at the park the weekend before that re-opened just before the program.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-08T21:18:00.001-08:00

Brody is 2 today!

2011-05-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

All he wants for his birthday is Cake.

He’s a big talker. “Justin exclaimed under his breath the other day and Brody kept repeating it, Crap! Crap! Crap!” We can understand him almost all of the time.

His top and bottom teeth don’t meet in the middle. That’s probably why he’s not a very good chewer.

His imagination is growing every day. The other morning he ran up to me and excitedly exclaimed, “Bunnies!” while nodding his head up and down. He led me into the family room where he showed me how the shapes on the border of the rug look like bunnies.

He sometimes likes me to sing to him. But he sometimes protests, holding his hands to his ears and saying, "No way, singing."

He lives for trains, planes and autos. Grandpa often takes him down to the tracks looking for trains. On more than one occasion he has sat up from a dead sleep and said, “Thomas!” and then gone right back to sleep. “Thomas” and ‘Train” are often the first words out of his mouth in the morning. His favorite movie is ‘Queen’ (Cars) and he requests to watch it every day, although we only let him about once a week. He hears planes, helicopters and sirens from inside the house when I haven’t even noticed and he always wants to go outside to see.

He loves people. In public he often stretches out his arms to complete strangers asking to be held. He likes to make friends with other kids and he always makes sure to point out his mommy to them! Ah I love it.

He’s a little small for his age, wearing 18 month clothes. But he’s healthy so no complaints here.

He shows absolutely no interest in coloring or crafts.

He has an excellent sense of direction. He used to get upset every time we didn't take the turn off to grandpa's house.

His favorite place to play is on mom and dad’s bed.

He is really interested in hiding. A few times lately he’s been so quiet that I have looked for him for several minutes before he jumped out from behind his hiding place.

I don’t know why but he gets scared and runs to me every time a phone rings or someone knocks at the door.

He likes to climb on top of things and then get your attention and show off. It hasn’t occurred to him that he could climb out of his crib if he wanted to (my fingers are crossed).

HAWAII!!! (Week One)

2011-04-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

See all Hawaii pictures HERE.

We made great memories in November in Hawaii. Too bad Justin and I will have to do all the remembering for Brody since he's so little, but his littleness sure was to our advantage when it came to buying airfare. We stayed with Blake and Sara Dunn and their boys Jacob and Joshua in their home on the Army base in Oahu. Dunns, Thank You so much for making our trip possible!

We flew in on a Saturday and went for a drive to the nearest coast on Sunday evening to get a sneak peek at the ensuing fun. We stopped by the Laie temple grounds on the way home and also visited Katie who lives only a couple blocks from the temple.

On Monday Sara and I did major grocery shopping and by the time we got back in the early afternoon Justin was chomping at the bit to explore so we checked out the Dole Plantation which is only about 10 minutes from the Dunn's house. We did a little shopping, ate fresh pineapple soft serve and fed the huge fish in the coy pond. Brody often likes to be the center of attention. If there is music, he's moving to it. He climbed up on this table and busted a move and everyone was oogling over the dancing baby.

Then we took a drive out to the northwest corner of the island to see the beautiful but rugged coastline until the road stopped right before Ka'ena Point. By this point Justin was really eager to get on the beach so we stopped no where in particular and Justin put on his snorkeling gear and went for it. That random beach (I think it was Mokuleia) ended up being some of the best snorkeling of our whole trip. Right away we met two huge sea turtles - it was sooo cool just chillin with the turtles. There was also some huge, white and yellowish brain coral and lots of small, colorful fish. Brody got the hang of sand snorkeling on his very first attempt. He accidentally fell in the shallow surf while Justin and I were several feet away and it was a couple seconds before he was rescued. He was pretty shy from the water for the rest of the trip.

Blake had Tuesday off work so we all went to Malaekahana Bay and Justin and Blake swam for quite a while while Sara and I mostly stayed on the sand with the boys. Then we went over to Turtle Bay and took turns snorkeling. It wasn't the best snorkeling of the trip, but there was still lots to see. Jacob ate sand and was very upset about it.

I can't find any pictures of Wednesday so I can't remember what we did except that we bought a waterproof camera and Hawaiian shirts at Walmart and ate at a ramen restaurant. On Thursday Blake and Sara went to help out with the temple open house in the morning and in the afternoon we all went to the Polynesian Cultural Center which was lots of fun. Brody really enjoyed the Samoan hut because we got to bang the big sticks on the ground to make music. We ate at the luau and then took the kids over to Katie's apartment and she watched them while we went to the Night Show, which was very cool and different since I saw it in 2002.

We spent Friday on the north shore. We stopped by Waimea Bay which was one of my favorite beaches when I was at BYUH but the waves were so monstrous that day that it wasn't fun with a toddler. So we went to Shark's cove and swam around in the tide pools which was amazing. Justin and I took turns snorkeling while the other floated on Brody on a boogie board and the water was so clear that he really enjoyed seeing all of the fish. We played with hermit crabs and took a rest under the shade of the palm trees. Then later that night we celebrated Jacob's 2nd birthday with the Dunns.

Katie spent the night with us and then on Saturday morning Justin and Blake went back to Sharks Cove and snorkeled in the actual cove, not just the tide pools. They said it was so calm and tranquil and that the underwater sights were amazing. Huge, colorful fish, eels, Justin's favorite was the moorish idol (like Scar from Finding Nemo). Later in the trip we went back to the cove but the big waves never allowed us to go venture past the protection of the rocks into the cove. After the boys returned Katie, Sara and I hit the swap meet. I did nearly all of my Christmas shopping. The swap meet prices are so great that we spent way less on Christmas than we normally do. We even brought an extra duffel bag to take all back home in. I suggested to Justin that we plan a trip every year just for this purpose. Wouldn't that be the life :)

Well that's just one of 2 weeks. It's now more than 5 months later so let's face it - I may never get around posting the rest!

Trees

2011-01-01T23:37:00.000-08:00

We bought some trees in the fall and Justin has been planting them one by one. Brody loves to help by dad by hand shoveling dirt, playing king of the dirt hill, making dirt angels, sitting in the dirt hole, and refilling the hole with dirt. He even ate it a few times. Yes, more than once. I sometimes wonder if his taste buds work - for dinner the other night we had baked potatoes and the only thing he ate was the raw green onions!

I really like the trees, even though they are still small they already seem to add so much to the landscape. My favorite is the scarlet oak outside our back window; it has beautifully bright red leaves. There are 2 liquid ambers and a cara cara (pink) orange along the fence in back and 2 fantasy maples in front. We are hoping for vibrant fall colors next year.

Thanksgiving with Alton Brown

2010-12-31T23:36:00.000-08:00

We came home from Hawaii on the 20th and decided we'd better host Thanksgiving for Justin's siblings since his mom was out of town. It ended up just being us and Uncle Eddie and Jessica and Aaron. It was our first time cooking the bird and Justin studied up on it by watching Alton Brown's techniques. It was the best tasting and non-dry turkey I've had, and he didn't even baste. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. Brody dropped his fork during dinner and Uncle Eddie gave it back. Brody impressed everyone (including me) with "day doo" (Thank You), which he had apparently learned from being around his friend Jacob Dunn in Hawaii.

Sam and Jake's Wedding

2010-12-29T23:35:00.000-08:00

I have finally renewed my Flikr account and you can view all of the wedding photos HERE.

There was another photographer at the reception who got much better photos than I did, but of course I only uploaded what Justin and I took.

On Friday we took photos at the temple.

I like Jake, I think he's a good fit for Sam. More importantly Sam thinks he's a good fit for Sam. It is easy to take pics of two good looking people.

They wanted a picture in front of the Christus, what a perfect way to begin an eternal marriage.

After all the temple shots we went down to Santa Monica pier for some more spontaneous fun. But we found out that planned spontanaity is just as difficult to achieve as it sounds. The arcades wouldn't let us take pictures in their shops and I had to sign a release to take pictures on the boardwalk. Jake got cotton candy on his suit jacket (luckily it came out) and Sam couldn't sit down on the dirty rides in her crisp white dress (bad planning on my part, I should have brought a towel) so basically it was a lot of wandering and receiving funny looks.

The wedding and reception were both on Saturday. It was a loooong day. The reception was GORGEOUS. Props to Stephanie, it looked deceivingly like a million bucks.

and it was a lot of fun, too. Thriller!

Sam made a special dedication to her mom who then stole the show doing the Time Warp

My charming princes.

Halloween

2010-12-28T23:40:00.000-08:00

I went for easy this year and we bought Brody a Zookeeper getup from the LA Zoo. We went to my parent's ward Halloween party on Thursday night cause we had a family wedding planned for Saturday. It was low key... Brody practiced singing "Little Red Riding Hood" with my dad for weeks before and then they made my mom come up to the front of the cultural hall and wear a red cape and they sang to her. I say 'they', but it was my dad singing and playing the guitar and Brody just howled on cue. There were some pretty imaginitive pumpkins for the contest. The primary presidency (Sisters Elms, Giles, and Clemmons) were the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus and they were fabulously in character the whole time. Brody was so content to stay inside and play with the adults that we didn't even take him outside for trunk or treating. PLUS he turns into this crazy, hiper, shrieking wind-up toy when he eats candy so I thought it best to avoid the whole thing. I can't seem to find any of the pics from the party :(

We went to a pumpkin patch the week before Halloween but I was not very impressed. The pumpkins were slim pickins but Andrew and Alex did have fun in the kids zone. Andrew carved this sick jack o' lantern.

Knotts Berry Farm

2010-12-28T23:25:00.000-08:00

On October 16th Justin's cousin got married just south of LA but it was a classy no-kids type of event so we decided to take Alex and Andrew to Knott's that day as a birthday present. Alex was forced to go on the big rollercoasters which he LOVED and wanted more of. Brody threw a little tantrum every time he had to get off a ride to get back in line. Luckily the lines were short. Brody and I were cranky by mid-day so we caught the shuttle back to the hotel to take a nap and we made it back to the park just in time to hit a couple more rides. The park closed at 5 o'clock so they could prepare for Knotts Scary Farm later that evening. Good thing, I wouldn't have lasted much longer.

The next day we stopped by the grandparents hotel to visit with all of the family that had come down for the wedding. Brody made friends with Aunt Shelly and she took him out to her car to drive - an obsession that he picked up from his other grandpa. He tries to get everyone to take him to their car so he can drive (and reset all of your stereo/light/wiper settings).

October - a busy month

2010-12-26T23:17:00.000-08:00

I helped with Samantha's bridal shower (well, just food, really) which turned out to be very nice. Jessica made the cutest glasses with everyone's name on them and Sierra made pretty (and tasty) cupcakes. We played a few games and ate great food... it was fun. Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of Sam.

Then the family all rushed over to John's Incredible Pizza for Andrew and Alex's combined birthday party. Alex only wanted one specific friend there :) We all had a good time with the balloon animals. Here Brody began his obsession with kiddie rides.

Where to start? Conference weekend

2010-12-25T23:09:00.000-08:00

We needed some family time after Justin having been out of town all summer so we went to Ventura and stayed at Uncle Eddie's house. On Friday we visited the LA Zoo. That was fun but also a very looong day for Brody. Saturday in between sessions we attempted to hit the beach but we discovered we had a blown tire so we spent the entire time waiting around for it to be fixed and then we didn't make it to the beach until the early evening. Brody and Dad had lots of fun with this detached crab claw.

Summer Holiday

2010-07-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last Friday me, Brody, Katie and Jenna traveled to San Jose for a much needed getaway. We went to Merri's house and swam and ate dinner with my aunt and uncle Patty and Danny and cousin Emily. Katie and Jenna stayed with Merri and Justin, Brody and I drove up to stay at Justin's hotel in Richmond, CA. Justin is building a Burlington Coat Factory in Pinole this summer. We saw this indoor skydiving place on the way and Justin just had to stop and watch. I had no idea that was possible - it was pretty cool to see.

We mostly spent the weekend driving around exploring Marin County. We met up with Justin's aunt and uncle Crystal and Steven and had lunch at a Thai place in Fairfax, walked around the shops at Point Reyes Station, and went to a lighthouse that was pretty cool. Justin stayed in the car for that one cause Brody was napping.

Brody LOVED the beach. We went to Stinson's. He kept running back & forth between the dry sand and the waves - he couldn't decide which was more exciting. He stuck his face down and ate the sand. I cleaned his mouth out and then he did it again. And again. Hmmm... you'd think he'd learn? Nope, he liked it. He was sneezing sand for days. He discovered piggy back rides and ever since he has been trying to climb up on my back and then bouncing like he wants me to run around.

We saw a really great fireworks show on the lagoon at the Marin county fair. We got some great little deals at IKEA. Brody really got fed up with being in the car so much. On the way back we stopped at Casa de Fruta where we ate and let the kids play. Ever since we've been home he's been walking around happy to be free and he's been very interested in his toys.

Father's Day

2010-07-09T09:04:00.001-07:00

Justin has been working out of town for the last month (and will be for a couple more months) and he usually comes home on the weekends but he wasn't able to come home for Father's day so we celebrated one week late. So it was almost 2 whole weeks that he was away. Brody had been giving me grief for the whole week before Justin came home. He was throwing little fits where he would scream at me in defiance or impatience or for other reasons that I couldn't figure out and he was super-clingy and whiney. I think it's because he missed daddy and felt a little abandoned and was nervous about me leaving too, while at the same time he was probably getting a little sick of me. Brody clung to Justin the whole weekend while he was home. And then - when he left again, no more monster baby - yeah! What a relief, he was driving me crazy. Brody has been such a good little boy ever since. I think he just needed to know that Justin was coming back.

On Friday we went out to ice cream at Moo Creamery and Brody got his own baby cone. On Saturday we celebrated a late Father's day at Logan's Roadhouse with Steve and the whole Foulger/Huang clan. The kids all chipped in and we bought Steve a barbeque to replace his super-old one that had finally kicked the bucket. He was so excited - when he saw it he couldn't believe it and walked away and then came and looked again, just like on the TV shows when people win some huge prize. The man loves to BBQ. I made this cake which we took to the restaurant but everyone was so full after dinner that we ended up eating most of it at home over the next few days.

Grandpa's Day

2010-07-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

On Father's Day Brody and I went over to my parents house and had Katie's Hawaiian haystacks, homemade icecream, and this cake that Sierra helped me make. It was super-yummy: white/chocolate marble cake with strawberries and hazlenut-buttercream filling and then frosted in vanilla buttercream. I think I've found a new interest. Cakes take a lot of work but they're fun when they're done.

I framed some pics of Brody and grandpa for my dad. My dad is Brody's favorite person - even more than me or Justin. It's pretty cute. I think it's because grandpa is so silly all the time. Brody just can't get enough and it breaks his little heart whenever grandpa leaves. I'm glad that I have such a great dad and that Brody loves him so much. I remember respecting my dad a lot when I was a kid - I still do, of course - but I'm glad that Brody will get to know him in that way too one day.

for Daddy

2010-06-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

2010-06-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Look who's talking

2010-05-31T20:34:00.001-07:00

On Saturday Brody decided he'd try a few new words out and he's been copying sounds like crazy since then. He's said,
"Uh-oh"
"daddy"
"ga ga" (grandpa)
and
"bye bye"
Justin's convinced we have the smartest kid ever.

Birds

2010-05-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

We went to hart park to feed the ducks...
Brody loved the geese. He wanted to run up and tackle them and he was pretty upset that we wouldn't let him get close enough.

It's mating season and the peacocks were putting on a show. Alex, being the ladies man that he is, thought they could use a few pointers. A small crowd gathered to observe this strange phenomenon.

Brody's Birthday Bash

2010-05-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

Slip'n Slide always starts with smiles and ends in tears... Julie's foot got sliced open.Brody wasn't very into the water sports.. he preferred to

socialize with the adults and scavenge for food.

So happy to be feeding himself beans.

The other kids liked helping Brody unwrap gifts.

Sierra made this super-cute cake, and if it weren't for her help I'd have

spent the whole party cleaning and making cup cakes.

By the time we brought the cake out Brody was so full that he really wasn't interested. He's not a huge fan of cake, anyways.This video is long and mostly uneventful.

Brody update

2010-04-10T23:40:00.001-07:00

He'll be 11 months old this week... here are some recent accomplishments

He says ma ma, da da, no, go
barks at dogs

claps his hands

gives high fives

plays peek-a-boo
loves to stand and dance but just won't take that 1st step
waves bye-bye with both hands
kisses EVERYTHING with a face
blows kisses
still fascinated, I mean obsessed, with lights
loves baby einstein movies
played a mean trick on me by sleeping through the night for 2 weeks and then reverting to
multiple wakings again
has 4 teeth
not so much into baby food, prefers to self-feed

Easter morning

giving loves to the diaper baby

I was organizing my wrapping box and he decided he needed

attention so he climbed in and started to show off.

funny uncle Andrew

Pics

2010-03-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

Snow Trip #2

2010-03-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

In February we took an overnight trip with my family to Sugarloaf and rented this awesome cabin from one of Justin's work friends. It was my niece Jessie's 14th birthday and she was surprised with cake and gifts. We spent most of the time indoors playing games and stayed up too late and some people got a little too giggly, not to mention any names... We did get some snow fun in, too. It was a little rainy and overcast but we didn't mind. Brody acted completely indifferent to the whole snow concept. We're missing Katie!

Day Snow Trip

2010-03-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

In February Justin took his brothers on a day trip to play in the snow. Apparently they had fun.

Santa, Baby

2010-01-01T17:26:00.000-08:00

Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen sent the cutest Santa suit for Brody. Of couse he was excited about the wrapping paper and bows almost more than the gifts inside. It's so easy to please him these days. On Christmas Eve we had a huge lunch and then a gift exchange at Chrissy and Jay's home and they got a cute little Beagle puppy that the girls named Daisy. The next morning we had breakfast and exhanged gifts at Grammy Steph and Grandpa Foulger's. Brody got me a family portrait session with David Bunting that I'm way excited about - but I think we'll wait until April to do it - after our get-fit goals have hopefully been met. The best thing about the holidays is having all of this time off to spend at home with my favorite people.

Edwards AFB

2009-12-31T18:38:00.000-08:00

Back in October we took Andrew & Brody & went to the open house at Edwards. We only saw a few minutes of the air show, which ok because the noise was a little too intense for Brody. It was awesome. The jets hovered right over our heads. We only spent a couple hours there and the base is only 90 minutes from our house but we spent over 7 hours in the car because of the rediculous lines, lines, and more lines getting on & off the base. I would do it again. They only have it every few years.

a Hootin' Halloween

2009-11-22T18:05:00.001-08:00

Photo shoot! I got carried away. I couldn't decide on just one picture so I decided to show the best ones. He's an owl, not a bat or a turkey. I'll never sew another baby hat.

They were out of T-shirts so Justin used a bumper sticker.

No time...

2009-11-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

Need to post but I like sleeping more. Soon to come (well, no promises on timing):

Edwards AFB Air Show

Thanksgiving Feast

Food, glorious food (well, rice cereal, that is...)

Jenna's birthday and Disney on Ice

Rockin' & Rollin'

Here are some pictures to keep the grandparents from saying mean things about me.

watching Wall-E (3 months old)

learning to sit

loves books!

eating feet

Alex's birthday

at the soccer park

more feet

The Love of a Wife

2009-09-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

You know how much your wife loves you when in the course of a conversation about how much life insurance you should get she states, "You probably shouldn't get too much.... I wouldn't want to be tempted."

Now that's really Love.

4 months old

2009-09-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

Brody's growing so fast... here are a few fun facts

-15 lbs 8 oz, 26 inches long

-wearing 6 month clothes

-loves TV

-bites everything & drools like crazy

-sleeps with mom & dad

-loves being outside

-holds his own bottle

-rarely spits up

-loves the kid in the mirror

-has had grapes & watermelon juice (don't tell his Dr.)

-an easy smile

Quick Trip

2009-09-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

Justin took Andrew & Alex to 1st ward's overnighter & they had a blast. Before they went all Alex could talk about was marshmallows this, marshmallows that.

Walk of a hundred giants - on the way there Justin tried to describe how big the trees were & he said they were bigger than his truck but the boys thought he was fooling them. They were so amazed when they actually saw them.

At Dome Rock

At the fish hatchery

Grandma Bees

2009-08-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

Nita Jean Beesley, 1929 - 2009

This year on August 16th I didn't get to hear Gramda's sweet voice singing "Happy Birthday" over the phone. She always called on my birthday; in fact she never missed any of her 6 children's, 16 grandchildren's, or 12 great-grandchildren's birthdays. Instead my mom & dad showed up at my door after church to tell me what had happened. Our family's so big chances are that she would go on someone's birthday and she must have known I wouldn't take it personally! Grandma had sat down on the stand before church and put her head in her hands, waiting for the meeting to start. But when the music began, she didn't get up to lead it.

It's an odd feeling I have about the whole thing; I almost feel bad about how I don't really feel very sad. Grandma was always talking about Grandpa so much that as soon as I heard I immediately imagined her in a young, vibrant and spunky spirit body getting all giddy when she sees him again. Knowing how much she loves Grandpa makes me all sappy and sets an example for eternal marriage and what I should be doing now to strengthen mine. She would talk about how her body was getting old & slow but her mind was still young & active, always wanting to learn more. I think about how she's not limited by her slow body anymore and that she must be jumping at the chance to go to work with Grandpa. She's always worrying about everyone else & finally she's done something for herself (whether she meant to or not). She's a great example of the Atonement to me - she was humble & often admitted things that she could improve about herself. She knew she wasn't perfect but death didn't scare her. Yes, I'll miss her temporarily but I'm also so excited for her.

The funeral service on August 22nd was wonderful, filled with fond memories and stories from friends & family. One thing that I enjoyed hearing was that when Grandpa died 20 years ago someone offered sympathy to Grandma and that she said that she was not sorry - she was excited for Stan because it was "like he had graduated." I think that explains nicely how I feel about Grandma. She was good with words. Thank you to everyone who has sent their sympathy and encouragement to my family.

It was fun to catch up with many family members whom I hadn't seen in too long. We had fun singing together & playing games late into the night.

I had the opportunity to help make the program for the service. I had fun spending many hours scanning in all of the old pictures we had collected of Grandma. She seems to have had such an exciting life, but I think it was what she made of it. Here are some of my favorites.

a beauty at 13

scandalous!

this is how I'll remember her

Family Vacation 2009 - Part One

2009-07-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, July 22nd we left home at 7pm & drove to Las Vegas. There was rain & lightning all through the desert which looked spectacular over the city lights.

We stayed on the 29th floor (of 30) at the Luxor pyramid overlooking the Excalibur - good typical room, nothing to write home about.

Thursday morning we barely left the room by check-out time. We drove down the strip & headed for Grandma & Grandpa's house. We arrived around 8pm & visited for a while.

Friday morning we went on a drink run with Grandma & Grandpa - a 6 day per week ritual for them. We went to TJMaxx & picked out some footie pajamas for Brody ('cause I just had to have more - look how fun...)

& Great-grandma got him this super-cute book.

We had lunch with my friend Kathy at Cafe Rio (yum!)

and then went back to Grandma & Grandpa's where we took Brody swimming for the 1st time.

We could only find little swimmers in size 16 lbs & up so we had to improvise with duct tape. Here's our little sumo kid.

Brody didn't know quite what to think of the water. He loves bath time but this water wasn't as warm & it was twilight out so it wasn't even hot outside. He didn't cry for more than a second, though.

On Saturday we went with cousins Brooke & Brandon to Utah Olympic Park at Park City. They were having the Festival of Flight.

We saw the K120 Long Jump contest & my favorite was the Flying Ace All-Stars. We video taped the show. I love my little Canon point & shoot. Check it out:

Family Vacation 2009 - Part Two

2009-07-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went to church & then Grandma cooked a yummy dinner & had the cousins over. Brooke & Brandon announced they're prego!

Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen

Brody with 2nd cousin Auree

On Monday Justin, Brody & I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I really enjoyed all of the beautiful artwork depicting the life of the Savior, some of which I had never seen before. Watch: Why Mormons Build Temples.

Tuesday was a looong drive home. We brought Auree down to visit her dad. She likes to talk! We left at 12:45 pm & after eating at Cracker Barrel in St. George & several stops to calm Brody who was screaming, we got in at 1:30 am. From the experience Auree decided that she's not having kids.

Brody's Blessing

2009-07-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

Brody's baby blessing was July 5th. It was very nice. Justin blessed him & Grandpa Beesley, Neil Galyans Sr & Jr, & Don Stapp stood in the circle. Justin got teary & when he sat back down he said, 'I'm such a woos." After church Justin ran in & took off his church clothes before I could get a picture of him & Brody together so I waited one more week before I took any pics. Brody's growing so fast - I'm sure glad he still fit in his clothes. Later that evening we had my family over for burgers.

July 4th

2009-07-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

The 3rd & 4th felt like the last few hours of Extreme Home Makeover. We wanted to have a party but really didn't have the seating space so Justin ran around like crazy trying to finish some things around the house. He finished grouting the floor in the living room 2 hours before our guests arrived & had just enough time to move in the tv & some couches & call it good. I love the floor - it's so pretty! And I love having a distinct living room and dining room.

Justin made a slip & slide in the back yard & Alex, Andrew, Sam & Sierra had a blast with it. The next day Sam & Sierra decided that their bodies were much less forgiving than when they were 12 & that maybe they'd seen the end of their slip'n'sliding days. Since I haven't been photographing much these days I forget things when I get out my camera - really basic things like checking the film speed. So, these pics are horrible quality.

For dinner we had a Chinese potluck. Odd, yes? It was wonderful. Stephanie made wontons, Justin made Oriental beef, orange chicken and postickers, Sam brought Chinese sausage & long beans, & Jessica brought ice cream & fixings for dessert... yum! Our neigbor Don & some of Jessica's friends joined us & we had a great time.

Everyone walked down the street to the park to watch the BC fireworks. Before the show started some intelligent guy thought it would be a good idea to light a firework in the middle of the park... on the grass... that really heated things up. Just as the finale began the sprinklers came on & everone in the park was screaming & running around. As you can see the kids had fun lighting our own fireworks in front of our house. Here's Alex's fire dance.

I love this little guy

2009-07-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

This video was taken at 2am. I had been trying to get him to sleep for hours & I changed his diaper & he started smiling & cooing at me. He fights sleep to stay up & play. Last night every time he woke up to eat & I changed his diaper he made the biggest smiles at me. It was the hardest thing to keep a straight face, I wanted to bust up laughing. If he gets too excited it's a fight to try to get him back to sleep.

Brody's New Trick

2009-06-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

Family Pics

2009-06-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Greg & Stacy came down from Alaska for a couple weeks so we took some pics at the park 'cause the whole family was together.

Let's Ride

2009-06-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

We're excited about our friend's new motorcycle store that is opening. Justin spent lots of time working on this logo and helping with construction at the store. So if you're into this kind of stuff then go check it out & tell them Justin said to give you 10% off!

A Berry Good Time

2009-06-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last Sat we went to Murray Family Farms & picked fruit with some of both of our families. We spent several hours there and Brody was happy to sleep in his stroller as long as we kept moving him on the bumpy terrain. I made yummy blackberry cobbler and lots of pluot-nectarine, blackberry & strawberry freezer jam - so easy and delicious!

3 Weeks of Brody

2009-06-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

5/19/09/. 1st dotor visit. 7 lbs even, healthy & happy.

5/28/09. 2nd checkup. 7 lbs, 11 oz. Umbilical cord infection. The hospital staff had told us to not put anything on us. The doctor wanted to chew them out. She gave us some stuff that fixed it fast & it fell off 3 days later.

6/1/09. Eye infection so another visit to the doctor. 8 lbs, 7 oz. He's a good eater & putting it on fast.

Took some naked baby pics, only got a couple really cute ones. I'll try again soon now that his cord's gone.

His favorite past time. Sleeps with his arms up over his head just like his dad.

"I've got my eye on you..."

1st real bath. He likes bathtime.

Recap on Brody's Birth

2009-06-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Before I forget the details: (WARNING: this is the long version. Feel free to not read. Several people have asked me so I decided to just post it)

5/15/09 (My due date)
6 am - Up to use the bathroom, was having some minor back pain but ignored it & went back to bed.
7:30 am - Up getting ready for my last day of work which I was scheduled for at 8:30. Back pain getting worse and seems to be coming in waves. Hmmm - is this labor pains? It doesn't hurt anywhere except a dull ache in my lower back. Maybe I'm just sore from scrubbing the bathroom floor last night. Consider calling in to work but decide to hold off.
8:13 am - Begin writing down intervals. 8:16, 8:19, 8:21. Holy cow - they're coming 3 minutes apart - they had told me to come in when they were 5 minutes apart. Begin pacing, slightly panicked. Call Justin who 's is about 30 minutes away. Tell him to meet me at hospital. Call Mom, she leaves work & drove me to hospital. Call in sick to work.
9 am - At 1 cm (where I had been for 3 weeks). They decide to have me walk the halls for an hour & then recheck.
10:30 am - No real progress. Contractions 3-4 min apart & 40 seconds long. They send us home, tell me to come back when the contractions get bad.11 am - 2:30 pm. Justin runs into Vons on the way home. I'm craving bagels & cream cheese & sorbet. Stop by Hollywood Video. Watch Marley & Me - a good distraction at first but not doing it for my by the end.
3 pm - Go to scheduled 40 week OB appt. Dr says I'm about 3 cm & sends us back to the birthing center to be admitted.
5 pm - I'm hooked up to IV & they tell me I have to wait about 1 & 1/2 hours for the epidural. Contractions are getting stronger but I think I can wait that long. Justin helps me through contractions.
5:30 - I decide I can't wait that long. Too bad.
7:00 - Anesthesiologist administers the epidural while I try my hardest not to squirm & fail. Once it was in I ask if I'm still having contractions. It's amazing. Some of my family members came in & visit while I sleep off & on.
5/16/09
2 am - Not much progress. They decide they have to turn down the epidural to move things along. Doctor breaks my water. Over the next few hours contractions get pretty bad again. I don't know how people to it without drugs! I squeeze Justin's hand & my mom in-law helps distract me by rubbing my forehead, practically hypnotizing me. It was soooo much better once she started helping - she should be a doula.
5:30 am - Pushing. Not painful like I thought it would be. Very excited to meet my son. Nurse tells us he's got dark hair. Umbilical cord is around baby's head but he made it out just fine. He opens his eyes as soon as his head is out.
5:55 am - I meet baby Brody. He's so handsome!. I can't stop staring at him. The nurse suctions him & he resists, kicking, catches her stethiscope on his foot & pulls her into him. They try to make him cry. He's not interested. He's awake for the next 2 hours while he's passed around & everyone ooo's & ahhh's over him.

Brody's B-Day

2009-05-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome

Broderick Sanford Huang

5.16.2009, 5:55Am

7lbs 5oz

20 inches long

More pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29891596@N04/sets/72157618299708813/

Baby Shower

2009-04-23T21:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks so much everyone for the wonderful shower! Chrissy planned it & picked a perfect location and made the tables adorable and did the games. Sierra made an incredible cake. Mine & Justin's moms made a yummy summery menu. I didn't have to take a single picture because Paula photographed everything. And so many of my friends came, I had a ton of fun. We pretty much have everything we need now. I've really had to control myself from constantly wanting to buy cute things when I see them and no I'm glad I didn't cause we're bursting at the seams with baby paraphernalia! I'm really grateful that we have so much support... it helps when I get nervous thinking about actually having the baby here. The baby's dropped and now it's a waiting game.

2009-03-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

Justin just couldn't wait so see him again, so we did a 3d/4d ultrasound of baby Huang & the 1st time we went his hands were in front of his face the whole time, so they told us we could come back & try again. We went back another day & this time his feet were the problem...

yes his face is behind there

toes in eyes

chubby cheeks, round nose and apparently he has hair.

I didn't want to do it because the pictures look so funny but I'm so glad we did. Some say we're spoiling all the fun of being surprised but it still leaves enough for my imagination and only makes me even more excited!

Update

2009-02-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted in a while...

Justin's been working around the house a lot. He ground down, patched, stained & finished the concrete floor in the extra bedroom. I think it's pretty cool looking. He originally wanted to do it in the whole house but decided against it & we're going to tile the rest. Justin has re-done lots of the plumbing in the house. I finally realized it's ok for me to paint so we're both glad that there's at least one thing I can help with. Soon we'll start working on the baby's room.

We've been gardening a ton - can't wait until our efforts start to bloom. We've planted 295 bulbs (callas, ranunculus & anemones) & a cutting garden at the side yard of sweet peas, poppies & some unusual flower that I can't remember the name of & transplanted several of our potted plants to the garden & started new plants in the pots. We started some veggies inside in trays. Justin re-seeded the lawn in late fall. That's a funny story because his brother Zeb helped him & when Justin went inside for a break Zeb thought it would look nice to fill all the planters with grass seed, too. Seems like we have more grass in the planters than on the lawn. My muscle man wrastled this snaggle-tooth monster of a weed from the back yard yesterday.

On Valentine's day Justin took me to White Forest nursery & we picked out an Alexandria Saucer Magnolia tree & a red-leaf Japanese Maple & planted them in the front. I was very excited (still am). Here's what it should look like (ours is rather bare after the wind storm):

We love College Heights Ward. We got a long vacation from callings but they finally got around to putting us to work. Justin is the Cub Scout leader & I'm the RS Enrichment leader & Primary pianist. If you know me, you know I'm not an accomplished pianist so this one's a stretch for me - I even have trouble with primary songs & hymns but it forces me to practice & I am getting better.

Here I am at 6 1/2 months. I thought it was cool feeling the baby move - it's even better to look down & see my belly moving.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

profile

yawning

We got the best Christmas present this year. The last ultrasound lasted 2 minutes... just enough time to measure and say "we can't do this now". This one was so much better. The technician took time for us to look at our SON from every possible angle and we were able to watch him move around a lot. It's amazing how much he's grown just in the last 2 & 1/2 weeks...he's filled out and I'm already convinced he's the cutest baby to ever exist! At every stage of my pregnancy it gets so much more real, and this was a big one. I'm so excited & thinking about how blessed we are to have this little one straight from heaven to my belly and soon to our home.

Ultrasound

2008-12-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

So sorry I haven't posted... our internet has been down for a while. We had our 20-week ultrasound on Dec 5th. It was so cool to see our little baby... in fact, they said it was actually too little to tell much, but looks healthy! She started taking measurements right away and questioned me on my dates: apparently we were at 17 weeks, not 20...ooops. She tried to sneak a peak to see boy or girl but the cord was between the baby's legs. I'm kind of relieved because the books all said that I should have been feeling the baby by then, but I was just confused about whether it was gas or baby. Now the baby moves so much I sometimes wish it would know when it's naptime. My adjusted due date is May 15th. We're having another ultrasound this Wednesday, merry Christmas Eve to us!

Neutral Baby

2008-11-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

Grandma Sorensen wanted to be sure to give the very first gift to Baby Huang so she made this adorable cuddly blanket & we got it in the mail just a couple weeks after we announced the baby. Justin wanted to know how she knew it would be a boy; grandma thought blue was more neutral than pink, and of course she's right. She must think like me - I really can't stand all gender neutral baby stuff in yellows & greens (although green is by far my favorite color). This is probably the biggest reason I insist on finding out the baby's sex. Thank goodness for modern technology. I can't imagine letting the it be a surprise at birth; it will be just as surprising in a few weeks when we have the ultrasound. It will also help us focus when it comes to narrowing the baby names - we think we want to meet baby before we pick a for sure name.

Congrats to Blake & Sara! We visited with them and their darling little Jacob last night & it made me even more excited.

Cambria

2008-11-09T16:59:00.001-08:00

Justin & I made a last-minute trip to Cambria on Friday & stayed at the Cambria Pines Lodge. We liked the place a lot. We had a big room with a fireplace & ate a complimentary hot breakfast in the garden with the butterflies & bumblebees. We spent the morning roaming the gardens & nursery. We'll definitely stay there again. We also took Tour 2 at Hearst Castle, which we both thought was more interesting than #1. We walked the beach & collected green rocks; we don't really know how to tell Jade from anything else, either way we found some pretty pieces to polish up. It was a really fun & relaxing getaway.

2008-10-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

You guessed it... I'm about 13 1/2 weeks pregnant now, we just made the announcement to our parents & family on Sunday night. We found out at 7 weeks & it was really hard for me to keep quiet so long but you know how Justin is! On Oct 10th we went to our 1st OB visit & got to hear our baby's heart beat...that was very cool! We're really excited. How am I feeling? Well... I think I'll not write about that part in hopes that I'll have forgotten in a few years when we're considering baby #2. At least the nausea is beginning to lighten. I'm due April 24th.

I've had several people ask me if we actually got the house, I forgot that last time I'd posted we were only in escrow! Yes, we moved in on Conference weekend. Justin & my dad spent many long nights making the 3 bedrooms move-in ready. Thanks, dad! We also had lots of help from Justin's dad & Uncle Eddie. We moved everything else into the garage & Justin is now working on getting the kitchen useable. We set up a makeshift kitchen in the 3rd bedroom. We bought a big plasma from a friend for cheap & Zeb is enjoying having it in his room for now.

Melissa & Brady - August 13, 2008

2008-08-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

Click here to see photos via Flikr. Choose a set, then choose detail view.

We flew to Washington for Justin's cousin's wedding. He helped his uncle finish the beautiful deck & decorate for the backyard reception & I was the photographer. They are a cute couple. I'm so glad I got to meet Justin's cousins & get to know them a bit. I had fun hanging out with Charla & Bridgett. We also had fun picking blackberries & the aunts made all kinds of yummy jam which we flew back home with us. Seattle is pretty; there are trees everywhere. It actually started sprinkling when we were downtown taking photos but it didn't seem to phase anyone but me.

Eternal Marriage

2008-08-31T22:59:00.001-07:00

Justin & I spoke on this today in sacrament meeting. I was glad for the topic because we just had our 3rd wedding anniversary! I'm so grateful to be married to a faithful man who makes me want to be a better person. I'm glad we started out by making sacred temple covenants and that helps us to love each other even more as time passes and as we experience all things together. When studying for my talk I found the story of the silverware & loved it: if you want something to last forever, you treat it differently... it becomes special because you have made it so.

Coyote Lakes

2008-08-31T22:42:00.000-07:00

Justin, Blake, Steve Dunn, Kenny & Jarom went backpacking to Coyote Lakes for a whole week. They took 3 days to hike the 17 miles in & then hiked it out in one day. Apparently that's the last time many of them are doing that hike again. It was difficult & Justin was pretty tore up afterwards. One of the blisters on his big toe was the size of his next biggest toe.

Camping

2008-08-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of August Justin & I went camping with the Ricks: Karissa, Kenny & their daughter Maleah (not sure if I spelled that right). We just stayed one night at the Redwood Grove & went to the Walk of 100 Giants, Dome Rock, & drove/walked around a lot. It was tons of fun.

School Time

2008-08-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

Justin is taking an Auto-CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) class and I'm taking an online Abnormal Psych class & Cultural Anthropology in-classroom. When I showed up to Cultural Anth my sister Chrissy & I realized we were in the same class. That should maybe make the lectures more bearable, maybe? I think I might have to take a Mountain Dew to that class too; seems like it should be an interesting topic but sometimes all the interestingness does not sufficiently counter the dronings.

Zebedee

2008-08-31T22:02:00.001-07:00

Our family has grown, though not in the conventional way. Justin's 14-year old brother came to live with us and we're excited to have him. He's a freshman at Highland. I don't have a current picture of him; I'll have to take one. I like this one, though. He's experiencing lots of 1sts this year: high school, seminary, church, living with us of course, Bakersfield heat, the list goes on... but he seems to be adjusting well.

We're in escrow!

2008-08-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

Yea, after months of searching and lots of offers, we finally snatched one up! It's on Wenatchee St. I wouldn't be sharing before we actually closed the deal but somehow everyone seemed to know right away anyways, so I might as well tell. We're very sad to leave 1st ward but we hear there are lots of young couples in College Heights so maybe that will be good. The house reeks of smoke & it will take a couple weeks of scrubbing, painting, ceiling scraping & carpet ripping before we actually move in- probably early October-ish.

update

2008-07-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

My sister in-law is in town with the kids so we went to the beach & had loads of fun with the kiddies. I really enjoyed the street fair that I guess they have every Thursday during the summer in San Luis. Justin stayed home & worked like the wonderful husband that he is! Justin was released from the Young Men where he served for the last 3-1/2 years & is now the ward Exec Secretary. I was just released from Primary 1st counselor & now I'm the... Primary Chorister, not too far from what I was before. You'd think with all my choir experience & my family genes I'd be a natural, but actually I tend to freeze up & get nervous when I have to direct anyone, even kids. I'd rather do sharing time than singing time any day! ...And to think I actually thought at one time that I wanted to be a high school choir teacher, haha yeah right. Of course, it's typical for me to be a little nervouse when I'm first called to something. Katie is the Assistant Chorister so that should be fun!

Justin & I have been shopping for a home here in Bakersfield for several months... we've had several disappointments & our patience has been stretched to the limit & wow this is a tedious process! I was excited to go see houses for about the 1st 2 months but now after some experience we've learned to not get our hopes up prematurely. It's a miracle that we can even afford anything - a year ago we thought there was no way we'd be able to buy in California. I also used to think that being a real estate agent would be fun, think again... it seems like soooo much work; props to our agent Desi who is always so on top of things. The search continues...

San Jose

2008-07-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

happy couple

Last weekend we went to San Jose for Justin's uncle Steven's wedding. He and his wife Cristal knew how to throw a classy party. It was tons of fun and I really enjoyed spending time with his family, some of whom I met for the 1st time. I'm glad I seem to fit in with them so easily, or at least they made me feel that way. I guess I shouldn't worry about that after nearly 3 years of marriage, but you know I have tendencies toward reclusion.

grandpa & grandma Sorenson

We stayed with my aunt Patty & uncle Danny & then on Sunday night one of Justin's uncles had an extra room at the Mariott so we stayed in a luxurious room there. We visited the Tech museum on Monday, which would have been cooler if we had kids with us, and then stopped by the Gilroy outlets on the way home. All in all a relaxing weekend.

red-hot

Wii

2008-07-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

Grandpa & Grandma Isaacs had so much fun playing the wii that I had to post pictures (mostly of my dad being a poser). They came over for father's day & they usually leave around 30 min. after dinner is over but they stayed all night (until 9 or so) playing!

Wicked

2008-06-07T20:51:00.001-07:00

My mom took Chrissy, Katie and I. I had heard it was good but I had no idea... fantastic!

Blooms

2008-06-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Justin planted a potted flower garden for me this spring and the Dhalias are just starting to bloom - gorgeous! When I was outside taking this picture Justin and Andrew walked out outside, got in the car and drove away. After a minute or so I realized I was barefoot and locked out without my phone. It's a good thing we live so close to my parents. I burned my feet walking to their house and Justin had a hard time feeling bad for me because I walked outside on the sidewalk instead of "grass hopping", which I guess is a favorite past time of his or something. My excuse is that I didn't walk around the streets barefoot like a motherless child. No offense, Stephanie, I know how hard-headed he can be.

for Katie

2008-06-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

My little sister is not so little anymore. Everyone is asking me if it's a shock that she's 18 and graduated and my reply is not really. She's seemed pretty grown up to me for a while now. She has a part-time job, has realistic college goals, has made good choices in friends, and has always been the level-headed, no-drama girl in her peer group. I remember a while ago - maybe a year or so - my dad telling me he was impressed because she took notes during General Conference and then initiated an in-depth conversation about what had impressed her from it. I remember being pretty mean to her when we were children. She was scared of the movie Hook and so I'd curl my finger and chant, "Hook, Hook, Hook.." to her when we were home alone. When my friends were over we'd play hide and seek and Katie would hide and we would conveniently forget to seek. I'm glad she has forgotten some and forgiven a lot more. I'm proud of her - I love you, Katie!

You HAVE to check this out!

2008-04-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.reflectionsofchrist.org/index.html

It looks like an AMAZING exhibit. Megi, it's supposed to be showing in your temple visitor's center, I'm so jealous! On the Blog link on the site there is a cool slideshow where you can see more images from the collection. I've been watching it over and over all morning. Thanks Crystal for the tip!

Bakersfield Junior Miss

2008-04-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Bakersfield Junior Miss, class of 2009: Julia Berchtold

Jr Miss is finally over! Well, most of it anyways... I still have to sort through hundreds of pictures from the show & send proofs to all the girls. I took the portraits for the program book and displayed an 11x14 framed/matted grouping for each of the 18 girls at the show. I still hope to sell more than I did after the show, as of now I haven't even covered my costs. This has been taking up a considerable amount of my time lately & with school as well I've been just swamped. I had a pretty good guess at who would win (she got 1st runner up). Working with the girls is fun (the moms who think this is a pageant... not so fun). If you don't know what the Jr. Miss program is check out ajm.org.

Big Sur

2008-03-25T20:11:00.001-07:00

We took a long weekend & drove up highway 1. This little vacation was long overdue for Justin, who's been working so hard with no vacation for over a year and a half. I bought a new lens which I've been needing for a while now & it came just in time to take with us on the trip. I'm very happy with it. It's a good thing Justin is super into art/photography - he was awesome about me wanting to stop every 15 min. & take another picture. He even insisted on stopping several times when I said I was was too tired cause he knew I'd want the pictures later. Wow, this is a beautiful place. We took a tour of Hearst Castle & went to the Monterey Aquarium, and took a lot of short hikes off right off the road and were blown away by the stunning views. It was super cold/windy but completely worth it. After deleting tons of bad pictures I have exactly 700 left. Here are just a few:

Salmon Creek

Hearst Castle

Elephant Seals - very odd creatures in my opinion. Besides their looks (the little ones are cute but the adult males, VERY ugly) they have a distinct smell, which after a while we figured out must be coming from the mounds of decaying carcases which they indiscriminately cuddle up to. Gross! That's true love (or a bad olfactory system).

There was a cave right on the beach in San Simeon full of thousands of tide pool creatures. These anenomes were bigger than my hand.

17-Mile Drive - This image of this tree is actually owned by some company & you can't make a profit off of any pictures of it. How lame is that - they didn't even plant the tree & it's on national forest property. It's called 'The Lone Cypress'. The new Lexus Pebble Beach is named after the company...seen the commercial?

Monterey Aquarium - my new favorite animal is the sea otter... ok so I don't really like animals but sea otters are pretty darn cool. No matter what they're doing it looks like they're having a blast! The river otters were pretty cute too. The "living art" jellyfish were pretty cool - brainless, spineless, beautiful.

The Coastline

Strike!

2008-03-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

2008-03-02T23:11:00.001-08:00

57 words

This is pathetic. I type all day long. I feel like a loser. I've been hating my job lately so I paid to take this typing test and I won't even tell you what the horrible score was (this online test is way easier, of course) but it was so depressing, I could never get any sort of clerical job. I'll be stuck at the county dealing with whack-o's forever (I guess I can't complain about the pay, though).

Justin offered to make me feel better by posting his score. He should keep his day job:

34 words

Then Justin out-smarted the test - he may not be able to type fast but that's not what matters if you're good at cheating:

176 words

"Nervous Wreck"

2008-02-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

Justin had a gastroscopy yesterday. He started having severe chest pain a couple weeks ago and since then he's done a few other tests to rule out cardiac causes. Turns out he has a hiatal hernia. I couldn't find a good video of a gastroscopy. They wouldn't let me go into the lab room while they were doing it. Justin wanted to know what it looked like & was disappointed that there was no video. The doctor said he was a "nervous wreck". He hates medical stuff, especially needles. He was pretty funny under the anesthesia - actually, honery is a better description. He kept telling the med assistant that he could do everything on his own & she had to explain to him over & over that she was required to wheel him to the car, required to do this, that... After he got out of the wheelchair he faked a stumble & asked her how soon he could return to work. The funny thing is that he didn't realize that he really was pretty uncoordinated the whole time. Of course we had the same conversations several times. He kept telling me that he was fine so I thought he was coming out of it and I would explain something that happened to him, but then an hour or so later he would ask me the same exact thing. The med assistant said it was similar to being drunk. I'm glad we don't drink.

It's been a while

2008-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

I know I don't post very often but anyone who really knows me has got to expect that. Here's a little of what we've been up to:

We go to Hockey games almost every weekend. It's super fun, one of the few sports that both Justin and I enjoy watching. Go Condors!

We took Alex to the snow a couple weeks ago. In tehachapi the sherrif had lots of roads blocked off & once we found a good spot the po-po came & ran us off - they were being a little uptight. It was fun though. Alex made it very clear when he was ready to go when the cold became too much for him. Here's some pics from the last place we went where the snow wasn't very thick.

School started last month. Justin is taking a Drafting class and I'm taking Web Design with Flash (online), Personality Theory (online), and Health. All's great so far.

I'm first counselor in the Primary Presidency. Honestly, I was terrified when I was called last month; kids are cute individually but overwhelming in large groups. Luckily, our primary is kind of small. After just 2 weeks I found that I really enjoy it. I come home laughing every week over something I've seen/heard. (See the galyan's blog for examples). Kids are a crack up.

Snowboarding

2007-12-24T23:31:00.000-08:00

Chinese Peak, Sierra Summit

On Dec 22nd we went snowboarding and took Justin's siblings Katie & Andrew along as an early Christmas gift. It was tons of fun! It was my 3rd time snowboarding and we had bought me a board & the works a couple weeks earlier. It was quite a production seeing as how I'm not that great at it & it was Andrew's & Katie's first time at any snowsport. They both did amazing! 4 o'clock came around and while I was completely exhausted Andrew didn't want to stop.

Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

Justin & I took his brothers Andrew & Alex to the pumkin patch on oak street again this year. We didn't have much time to spend there but we had fun. Alex has been growing fast lately, I felt like I went away to Alaska and when I came back he was a big kid, at least he talked like one. I guess he hasn't matured that much seeing as how he's still afraid of the scarecrows. Justin also grew some facial hair while I was gone & I didn't think I would like it but I do. He's afraid to shave it because he thinks it will give me an excuse to cut my hair short.

More Alaska pics by request...

2007-11-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

Movin' Out - Not the best decision we've ever made...

2007-11-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to see this show for some time now so I was really excited when I heard it was showing. Justin & I are both big Billy Joel fans. We bought tickets & drove to Thousand Oaks to see it. We were impressed more by the architecture of the theater (which was very cool) than the show itself. We expected a musical. It's a ballet! No speaking, & the music is performed by a band above the dancers (who weren't really that impressive, or maybe it was the mediocre choreography, I don't know). I felt really bad for Justin, who would have been ok with it if he knew I was really enjoying it, but as much as I tried to pretend it really was disappointing. Well, you live & you learn; I guess it's not the worst decision either of us have made either.

Sharktooth Hill

2007-11-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

While I was in Alaska Justin & his friends Kenny & Brian went on a fossil hunt at Sharktooth Hill. They found enough shark teeth, petrified wood, bone parts & other ancient oddities that each of them filled a couple sandwich ziplocks. They had so much fun that they went back the very next night. I was a little worried about him contracting valley fever since they say that spot out there is abounding in coccidioidomycosis spores. Yes, SPORES. I know my friends who read this are laughing right now as they used to tease me when I talked about the harmful spores in the air. But valley fever is no joke around here. I got sick right after we went to the fair in 2005 & recovered after only 3 months, which is quick compared to others I know. Luckily Justin seems to be unaffected. Above is a pic of some findings.

Alaska Fun

2007-10-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

My mom & I had a ton of fun visiting Greg & Stacy, Kassie & baby Simon in Wasilla for 9 days! Although it wasn't a sight-seeing extravaganza, in hindsight I think it was just the kind of vacation I needed. We mostly stayed at home & played with Stacy & the munchkins. Simon Gregory Beesley was just a few days old & the most content baby. 2 yr-old Kassy needed some extra attention & she got it! I admit that by Monday (day 3) I was getting cabin fever & so I went for walks to expel some energy. I picked up some yarn & crochet patterns in town & quickly concluded I have not the patience nor the talent for this craft. On Greg's day off work he took us to the bishop's game ranch where where we drove around in the Caribou, Elk & Buffalo pens. He & I drove up the inlet & shot off his guns & looked for wildlife. We saw swans, ducks, 4-wheelers, wolf tracks & happened upon a gorgeous waterfall. Seeing how beautiful other places are makes me think of how I can't wait to live somewhere where I can actually see the mountains surrounding me. But, of course God made the valley for a reason & I will miss my family/friends when we eventually leave. When we arrived in AK all the trees were abounding in golden leaves, but by the time we left they were mostly bare. It was below freezing at night & we just missed the snow. It was a very relaxing trip & Im happy to be back home with my Justin!

Baby Simon, blue eyes & red hair.

Kassy doing tounge tricks & on her balance beam made by daddy.

It's a Boy!!!!

2007-09-13T21:46:00.001-07:00

...or so we think. Gordon B. (The Tortoise) joined our family as a surprise on Christmas Eve 2006. As a new hatchling, he was under 3 inches & he's now around 4.5 in. Justin redecorated the habitat he made him a few months ago. He now has his very own lookout, surrounded with a stunning succulent garden, his own place to burrow, & a coconut getaway for kicks. Justin is talking about visiting the Gates to adopt again, but I say Justin & Gordon B. are just about all the testosterone I can handle around here.