August 28, 2009 by Marlene.

For the past couple of months Stephen and I had been living out of suitcases and staying in very temporary settings so once we got our apartment we were so anxious to get settled for once. Luckily Stephen has ox-like strength, and a very high pain tolerance, so we were able to get a lot of stuff moved very quickly. It feels like we’ve been moving stuff for a week straight. First we moved ourselves, then we helped Laura and Shane move, and we helped move the POD and helping to move the POD stuff to the storage unit. I guess we won’t have to go to the gym for a while. We don’t mind.
The place is finally starting to feel like home. Stephen did a fantastic job cleaning EVERYTHING in our kitchen and organizing it while I washed our new sheets and met some of the Relief Society during an activity of theirs. I’m really looking forward to getting to know everyone. They seem nice. We even got a tube full of candy wishing us a beautiful day at our door- and yes it did improve our day. We almost got hit 3 times today by people not paying attention in conjunction with not signaling. I miss Eastern drivers…. Anyway… We’re working on getting frames for our pictures and looking forward to getting our wedding pictures so we can display them. It’s our own little place and I’m growing to like it quite a bit.

We’ve been meaning to get to the temple since we got to Provo and we finally were able to go yesterday. This was my first time doing a session since I got my own endowment and I was so excited to be in the temple again. I was a little lost as to what to do and where to go in the locker room- and was so kindly directed by the lovely sisters there, even though I was a little embarrassed. By the time I got to the Chapel where I would meet Stephen, the previous session has barely left. As we sat together reading and enjoying the stillness one of the workers asked us to be the witness couple. I was so nervous but it turned out to be such a wonderful experience. I really didn’t want to leave even though we needed to eat and sleep and get a few things done… you know the usual. I am so grateful to be so close to the temple and we plan on going often, plus now I have a better idea of how to navigate to where I need to go.

Well I still have a bit to do before Darren and Rachel come over for dinner so this will have to do for now.

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August 28, 2009 by Ashley.

At the end of July our friends the Fairbanks invited us to go on a hike. It’s a place called Horsetooth. We didn’t climb to the top of the “real” Horsetooth (Pat and Bryan had done that previously), but chose a much easier hike to a small waterfall because we had the kids.

Pat and I didn’t have a hiking backpack or anything, so I had an idea to use the infant carrier that we rarely used when Lydia was a baby – and it worked! We were glad to get good use out of it finally, and it really saved the day. (And FYI, just in case you didn’t know, you can click on each picture to see a larger version of it. I know they’re pretty tiny here).

So I take a cute pic of Pat and Lydia and Pat takes a picture of me… stuffing my face at the top… Nice.

Here you can kind of see the tiny waterfall and the pool of water at the bottom

Group shots by the waterfall (the last one is with our friends the Fairbanks with their kids, Weston and Kambria)

Lydia walking around our “dining room.” She looks extra short in these PJs (they are actually from when I was her age), which I think is really cute. She really likes playing with the sealer O ring from our Magic Bullet blender. And as the video shows, one of her favorite things to do is look at pictures – especially of herself.
CLICK HERE FOR MOVIE –> dscn2619_med.MOV

Lydia’s at the point now where she’s starting to get into EVERYTHING. I have a tin that is filled with dum-dums that I used to use for my Primary class. One day while she was just playing on her own I go to check on her and she had gotten the tin open all by herself… took out a lollipop…unwrapped it…and started eating it! What a little stink! But I had to laugh and take a picture of the episode.

Lydia decided to shake out her bag of pretzels one day. So she had to help pick them up as her “punishment.” She did pretty good.
CLICK HERE FOR MOVIE –> dscn2640_med.MOV

In July I went on 2 trips to Connecticut.
My sister’s kids, Anya and Kevin, REALLY wanted to play in the rain. So Mallory, willing to get wet (and at the same time making her the “fun and favorite auntie”) took them out to splash in the puddles while it was down pouring. I had her take Lydia out too to see how she’s like it. She didn’t like it so much as you can see in the 3rd picture.

At the luncheon after my Mom’s wedding. Lydia was wearing a bib that said, “Kisses 25c.” Auntie Rachie quickly sifted through her change purse for a quarter. Lydia’s already starting to make money on her charms

Having some fun after bath time

At the end of Marlene wedding reception. Lydia enjoying a little “Hawaiin spirit”

Mal, Marlene, and I outside the Washington DC temple after her marriage.

Lydia hanging out in the nightstand drawer at the hotel in DC

Hanging out in the hotel: CLICK HERE FOR MOVIE –> dscn2604_med.MOV

Chillin in the tire swing with Anya at Great-grandpa’s house in CT

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August 28, 2009 by Melanee.

Here I am and loving my new life. We got married August 1st in the Boston Temple. What was really nice was having my family and friends there at the ceremony and having my father marry us. He gave some good advice to two people who were married for at least 25 years and had raised good children. When I got dressed and ready before the ceremony, I was brought up to the celestial room of the the temple where I was to meet Randy. An over whelming feeling of joy and excitment was there. I knew this part of the life was going to be good and right. We were brought together so we can love and support each other as we care for our children and grandchilren. As for me I can’t get over what a difference there is now that I have someone there who cares for me and wants the best for me again.

The wedding weekend was spent with a good part of the time traveling back and forth from the airport picking up all 9 children and their spouses and grandchildren. Leah and Ed drove from New Jersey. We were so glad to have our family and friends with us to celebrate a happy time for both of us. Many friends and family wished us well at our open house held that evening. I hated to say good bye to so many people. We can still keep in touch, but as you know it is not the same when you are not in close proximity of each other.

My ward family and my daughter Leah banded together to get my house empty before I left on my honeymoon. I cannot express the gratitude I have for such good people in the Waterbury Ward. I gave away most everything in the home that I could not fit in the POD. Leah posted a free tag sale, so everyone all around CT came and took away all that was brought out of the house. Ward members were given the food, furniture, etc. My home teacher and visiting teacher was so helpful to me that day along with the bishop and others. Randy, Leah and I were totally exhausted from the move. I don’t know how I would have done the move without Leah- she was awesome in helping me. Poor Anya fell asleep in the middle of the empty living room floor as we cleaned and moved around her. Anya woke up and wanted to watch TV, but the television was gone so Anya wanted to go home. I cried hard once the house was emptied and it was time to leave. So many good memories of 28 years in CT.

Randy and I left for our cross country honeymoon. We had such a wonderful time. We stopped at Bushkill Falls, PA and saw the falls there while we walked through the woods on wooden paths and stairs. It was a beautiful setting. After that we sat in Adirondack chairs for about 30 minutes and people watched. Both of us have not had a chance to do this in a very long time and it was nice to sit and not do anything.
While we were driving- Randy noticed the map I had opened to Ohio and saw that we could stop at Kirtland-a church site. This was not planned, but so glad we did it. We went on a tour of the town of Kirtland and saw the Whitney Store where the school of the prophets was. We found out our missionary couple that gave us the tour were recently married two years ago themselves. (Through our whole trip we found a total of three missionary couples that had remarried.) We went on the tour of the Kirtland Temple that is owned by the Community of Christ church. We also found out some of my ancestors were living in Kirtland at the time.
Then we went to Nauvoo, Ill and stayed for about four days. We enjoyed seeing the church sights and going through a session in the Nauvoo temple. What a beautiful building! We found more information about my ancestors that had land in Nauvoo and got journal entries and other records of some of my ancestors. We actually found the exact plot of land that was owned by my great, great, great, grandfather and grandmother.
We stopped in Niobrare, Nebraska and to see a monument erected to one of Randy’s ancestors, a pioneer, that died on the trail.
We were so glad we went. We paid a price for it. A Nebraska trooper got us going 75 in the 60 mile an hour zone. We had just got off I-80 where the speed limit was 70. Then once you enter Nebraska the speed limit cuts to 60 which we did not notice. I think this trooper found a sweet spot to get his quota of tickets.
Then we went to Yellowstone National park for two days. The scenery was breath taking. We saw hundreds of buffalo. Some up close and personal–maybe too personal. I was getting nervous being so close to the buffalo. We saw deer, elk, and 2 bald eagles.
We saw Old Faithful spout and lots of hot pools. It is such a wonderous place to be.
To top off the trip Randy called an old missionary buddy while we were in Idaho. His friend was so excited to see us that he invited us to his home and his wife was so gracious to us while we visited. Randy’s friend gave us a private tour of the Rexburg Temple while it was being cleaned and fixed. He showed us the murals that he painted in the sessions rooms-full of wildlife, mountain scenery, and hill sides. We had a special time sharing spiritural experiences that he had trying to prepare to do the art work for the temple. Before we parted he also gave us one of his prints as a wedding gift. I don’t think I could have had a better honeymoon.
We are home now and adjusting well to the newness of the west. Randy’s two youngest daughters, Natalie and Michelle, have started school and college. I have enjoyed getting them ready. We are keeping busy putting things away. Today Randy and I converted one of the bedrooms downstairs to an “antique room” We combined our antique furniture, quilts, chairs, accessories. The room looks great. Marlene and Stephen has been over for dinner and she has gathered her boxes that were transported from the house. They helped alot with unloading the POD. They are coming Saturday to help put the rest of the stuff for my other daughters in a storage unit. The house is beautiful and I am loving trying to get used to it. Cooking is back in my daily schedule again. I still make too much, but the leftovers go to our children. The neighbors are very friendly and I am looking forward to serving in the ward. They already gave me a calling. I will let you know what it is later. Last Sunday we attended the dedication of the Oquirrah(sp?) Temple. I had also attended some of Education Week at BYU.

Wow, life is too good to be true.

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August 21, 2009 by Marlene.

Married life has been great. We’ve been going pretty non-stop for a while and it’s great to finally be settled in our own apartment. The people we’ve met so far are really nice including our community aide. I bet we’ll make some really nice friends once we start getting out and meeting them.
Since I’m a wife and everything I’ve started searching for the good deals and how to save money. I printed out some Target coupons and ended up saving about $15 on our grocery shopping list- including getting some Dove deodorant for $0.45!I’m just a beginner so I’m probably getting more excited than I should be but I thought I’d jump on the saving bandwagon. It’s pretty exciting.
There are some pictures below of our apartment. One is our awesome kitchen. It’s not too small but seeing as we’re still waiting for our table in the POD it’s pretty hard to cook or eat or do anything regarding flat surfaces. The window is our view from the living room. It’s pretty but trees also provide shade, which you can see in the next picture. That is how much sun I get during the daytime. It’s not exactly good for planting. Hopefully I can think of something to get my container garden working.

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August 20, 2009 by Ashley.

So there was this really good sale on Huggies wipes at Walgreens (using a combination of coupons and promos they were having). I was trying to convince myself it wasn’t worth it because I’d have to run around town and those other deal-seeking moms out there always grab the good sales right away so I figured the wipes would be out of stock everywhere. I called ahead to both to ask how many tubs of Huggies they had in stock (I wasn’t about to waste a trip dragging Lydia around). There’s a Walgreens 5 min from my house and another 10 min from my house so I can afford to do these deals. I went to one and got some wipes for a good deal, but then a new coupon came to my attention and I just couldn’t resist. And after both trips, I ended up getting 12 tubs of wipes for $4.67 after tax (that’s less than 1 cent per wipe, which is very good). It was funny because in both cases the tax was more than my actual total. On TOP of that I got $5 off my next purchase, so it’s almost like I got the wipes for free plus some. I was just so excited I had to share. Getting a really good deal gives me such a high. Score!!

PS. I stopped by the grocery store across the street from Walgreens to grab some celery and hope there was some lunch meat in the crash basket. Sadly, no lunch meat but in another crash basket there were a whole bunch of bags of chips for wicked cheap. I got a ton (Pat’s eats them for his lunch and it’s always good for BBQs - you can offer to bring chips!) Score #2!! Salute to Grandpa, the ultimate crash basket shopper

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August 5, 2009 by Ashley.

So recently I got back from my 2nd trip to Connecticut. Having Lydia on a plane by myself for that long for that many trips was a chore to say the least and let’s just say I’m glad I don’t have to do it again for a long time. At one point she was getting really fussy and I was losing my patience. Then suddenly… she did the sign for “more” “cracker.” I was completely elated! To think that all that time watching Baby Signing time and practicing I never knew if anything was actually getting through to her, and then one day it pays off! Now granted her communication is not 100% reliable. She may do “more” one day (you touch your finger tips together) and the next day just fuss and point to what she wants. But on that day when I was frazzled on the plane and probably would not have guessed she wanted a cracker, it was a MIRACLE to have her put 2 words together to communicate with me. So she happily snacked on her cracker while I felt quite proud of myself for a few minutes.

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