Toothless grins

Jake has his two front teeth missing and Carter lost his first tooth in Denver...not to be outdone, Bella and Malia wanted their pictures done too...

What my house really looks like...

So Adam, you like dirt huh? The first picture's for you...we're going to put in a gate in our back fence so the kids can play in the dirt. There is all kinds of dirt. Definitely come and visit and dig in the dirt. The second picture is our formal living room aka home teacher's room. It will eventually have the book case in it and that's it for now. The pile of boxes and reptiles add a nice look to the room, don't you think? Most of the rooms, with the exception of the kitchen and family room, currently look like this...ahhhh, isn't moving great? And moving twice in three months...just beautiful. I love our new house though. The dirt view is actually what I see outside my bedroom window when I'm going the treadmill in the morning. It's a nice change from packed in houses...

Success...

Okay folks, how do you like my kitchen? I have successfully unloaded one room's worth of boxes. Isn't this the most fabulous kitchen? I love it. I love the space...especially after our tiny apartment kitchen. The granite hides a lot and it is so easy to cook on. We got a dining room table after not having one for several months and that has been fun. We sit at it and eat like a real family. Some women from church came over and helped me paint the kitchen which was a big pain. It's a beige taupe kind of color. If you look in the top left hand corner, you'll notice the area that we could reach...it'll probably be white forever. And, please take note of the red table cloth. It wouldn't be my house if there wasn't red somewhere (or everywhere). Also, you can't see, but we got a refridgerator with ice and water in the door. My days of getting up every five seconds to get a different kid a drink are over. Anyway, later I'll post some pictures of the "not quite done rooms..."

Bombs away!

OK, so today was Brandon's first day of school. Steph and I decided that she would stay home with the girls and I would drop Brandon off at school. Little did I know that Steph had a conspiracy going with some as of that point unknown to me vicious conspirators. So, I get my stuff ready and Steph helps Brandon get his stuff ready and Brandon and I march on out the door. Steph said she'd be watching from the window. (I thought that was because she wanted to see Brandon off. Little did I know ...) So, Brandon goes around and gets in the car. As I open the door and get ready to get into the car, I felt a drop on my head. (In my case, it is unmistakeable when something hits you on the head because there is not really any buffer up there.) Anyway, on any given day that could be totally meaningless. A drop of rain from the beautiful clouds, right? Except there were no clouds. Dew falling from the leaves of the tree above, except there were no trees nearby. So, just to be sure that I really did get hit, I reached my hand up and touched my head. Oh yeah, you know where this is going. Some bird totally did a dive bomb out of the sky and nailed me right on the dome!!!! The nice white liquidy concoction that it left on my head was a REALLY NICE SURPRISE. I mean REALLY NICE!!!! So, guys beware when your spouse says they are going to watch you leave from inside the house. They may know something you don't. :)

Blessings

Hey Fam,

I just had to take a minute to tell you some of the O-mazing things that have happened in our lives in the last little while. It is hard for me to even put into words what we have been blessed with.

So, almost eight months ago Lisa and I got married. We got our own little apartment and were pretending to be responsible adult like people. We were learning how to be married peoples when all of the sudden we found out that Lisa was pregnant. Although it was a little bit of a surprise that it happened so quickly, I was very excited. I was going to have my own little baby running around this crazy world. I guess it didnt really hit me until one day all of the sudden I realized...I am going to be a daddy. I am still a kid, how in the world am I supposed to raise a child. I started thinking about all the things I was going to need to teach her. As time went on, I started to get a little more comfortable with the idea.

So a few months go by and it is time to move into our house. We had been attending the ward for a few months already, but now we were going to be officially in the ward. So the day of the move comes and not a single person from the ward shows up to help us move. Luckily one of the guys from the singles ward came and he was able to call one of his friends. We didnt have a lot of stuff so I knew it would not be a big deal. I was a little surprised that nobody from the ward came, but I did not think too much of it. Due to my calling, I was rarely in the ward, so I did not really get a chance to meet anyone. I was thinking to myself, at what point am I going to get to know the ward. Well, the Lord had his own little surpise for me...and let me tell you, it was a REALLY NICE SURPISE. So when Lisa was 20 weeks along, we find out that she is going to need to be on bed rest and that the baby could be coming very soon.

This altered our lives a little bit. The first few weeks were not bad. Lisa's mom helped us with dinner a few nights and her sisters helped take care of her during the day. A few weeks later, the Relief Society asks how they can help and offers to bring us dinner. Honestly, Lisa and I were doing OK. I am no gourmet chef or anything, but we felt like we were alright. So we compromised with them and asked them to bring dinner 2 nights a week. They have been bringing us dinner every Monday and Thursday night since. And I thought to myself, it might be nice to have a little help every once in a while to have them bring us some food. I can not tell you how amazing these people have been to us. They bring us dinner, but it is so much food. We end up eating the dinner from Monday until Wednesday sometimes because it is so much and then on Thursday, someone else brings us more food. I truly have been amazed and touched at the effort that some of these people have put into these meals for us. What amazing examples of service they have been to Lisa and I. While this was all great and truly special to me, something happened this last week that truly humbled me.

This last week, the woman in our ward were pretty much my Idols. I cannot believe the charity and the service and the generosity and everything else that they have shared with us. So here is what happened. One of the ladies from the ward decided that she wanted to plan Lisa a baby shower. Well, in Lisa's current condition, she did not feel very enthusiastic about the idea of having a million people over here. Something about not being able to sit up and only being able to shower once a week did not excite her about the idea of having a million people here in the house. So this amazing lady decided to have a baby shower in Lisa's honor at someone else's house. They sent out adorable invitations to tell people about the shower and it said something along the lines of "Lisa is not quite feeling up to a shower (literally), so instead we are going to bathe her with our love. " Now as cheesy or corny as that may sound, that is the only way of describing of what these people have done for us.

They had their little shower and at it they made a little video so that even though Lisa could not be there she would be able to share in the fun. Well yesterday they came over with the video and presents. At the shower, they also made 3 huge signs that they let everyone sign and write something on. They have jokes, and inspirational quotes and different things. Well yesterday they came over and hung it on our ceiling so that when Lisa is laying on her back and side all day long, at least she will be able to look up and see all the people that care for her. What a nice little idea. The presents were absolutely amazing. I seriously cannot believe some of these people. I am so amazed by their charity and generosity. There was one lady that we do not even know that gave us this little baby bath, a little rubber ducky, and then an set of clothes for every stage of life for the babies first 2 years. I think the lady is a single mom that probably has plenty of her own concerns to think about, and yet she was willing to give us, total strangers, all of those things. Another older lady who is inactive that we also have never met before sewed the most adorable little blanket. I can only imagine how much time she spent on that and again for a total stranger. Then there is the lady who took charge of all this and planned it all. She has 6 children of her own ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years old, her kids are home schooled, and her husband is the Elder's Quorum President. Its not like she has nothing better to do with her time. Yet she planned this whole thing, made up the invitations, passed them out to all of these people and then went out shopping with all of the money that people donated and bought other things that Lisa had told her she needed. Emma, Lisa's little sister, told me that the stroller alone cost $200 something. Someone donated a crib that is in great condition. Someone else donated one of those little bouncer things that looks new. There were so many people that we dont even know that donated all of these things to us. But the most amazing thing to me about it is that we barely know these people. That is the thing that I cant get out of my head. I seriously cannot tell you what I have been feeling. These people have been such amazing examples to me. Its not about the monetary value of anything that we recieved...it is just the overwhelming feeling of love that came with them. I feel so indebted to everyone. I see them at church and I cant even begin to express how we feel for them. I truly am humbled to think about what they have done for us. This could be a very difficult and trying time, and while there have been a few (and I mean a very few) times that I have felt a little discouraged, throughout this entire time, I have felt a very calming and peaceful feeling that things are going to be fine. So to have all of these amazing things shared with us, I am truly humbled. That is not a word I use lightly, because I recognize that I am not a very humble person by nature, but I look at these people and think look at what they have done for us. I have never done anything 1/2 as nice as any of these people have done for me. I really hope I never forget this feeling. I hope I can be better at giving and serving and sharing with others. I know this is probably a pretty long blog and my words cannot really communicate what I would like to say, but I just wanted to say thank you to all of you. I know that while these people have been doing some great things here for us, we might not have even made it this far without your fasting and prayers. So thank you for your thoughts and prayers and fasts on our behalf. Lisa is 31 1/2 weeks now, who knew we would make it this far. I know many of you that are naturally generous by nature and I hope that I can be more like you because I can't explain to you what I feel from these people right now. I love you guys. And thanks again for all you guys do.

Matty

Blackmail

So not too long ago Katie posted some highly unattractive and all but flattering pictures of me in her blog about the Colorado trip and towards the end of conversation regarding the photos I threatened her that I would return the favor when I got a hold of the CD. You're probably wondering why you aren't seeing any pictures attached. Well my friends this lack of retaliation is a result of two things. At first it was because I found that Katie had removed every picture, good or bad, of herself from the selection and thereby left me no means of taking recourse. But it turns out it didn't matter that I had no blackmail against her however, because as I was skimming through the photos I found far more incriminating photos then the ones she originally posted. It was at that point I was thankful not to have started a battle I so clearly would have lost. You squeeked by this time Kate, but mark my words...I'll get you my pretty.

Something I made...

Here's something that I made while fooling around on my parents computer... I have a membership to this media thing and it's fun making these and you can get the dvd's and have them sent to you. Anyway, if any of you want me to try and make some of your kids and family, etc.. I'd love to! It's fun! Anyway, if you'd like, check it out... this is just pics that I could get from my parents computer... hope you enjoy! Oh and make sure your volume is turned on. :)

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=37cb252cc1561cb6ada053&skin_id=1703&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Pics of the kids being silly...

Here's a classic toothless picture of Brandon... he just lost his front tooth the other day! The other pictures are of the kids being silly and of Brooke playing dress-up with glasses that are meant for, I think, Mr. Potato Head.

Silly pics of the kids...

Here's a classic toothless smile picture... Brandon just lost his front tooth the other day! The other pictures are of the kids being silly and Brooke playing dress-up with glasses that are meant for, I think, Mr. Potato.

Here's another something to make you laugh!

Ok, here's a couple more videos I found to make you laugh... there's one little part at the end of the first one where you might want to just close your eyes (it involves a little old lady), but the rest is hilarious! So, I just had to post it...

Hope you laugh as much as I did! :)

Steph

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=202405

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1745100

Something to make you laugh...

Ok, here's something to enjoy during those stressful days when everything just seems to be going wrong... it's titled (not that I agree with the title) "Why you shouldn't mess with menopausal women". We all need a good laugh here and there, so... hope you enjoy!!! :)

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=15285427

Obsessed Blogger

Anyone else addicted to this blog thing like I am? I will be leaving my parents house and heading back to Dallas either tomorrow or Friday and I'm realizing that the thing I'm going to miss most is being able to post on this blog... I don't have a computer at home. Is it wrong that I'm going to miss this more than anything else? That just can't be good!

On a side note... check out this picture of Dale that I found on my parents computer!

Every man, woman and child...Let's hear an 8-clap!!!!

Look what Braun just sent me...http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2982599&sportCat=ncf&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Guys, I'm wearing him down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHY?

Can anyone explain to me why life is so stupid sometimes? My dad gave an awsome talk at my brother's funeral. Everybody commented on what a great lesson on the plan of salvation it was. He never typed out a final copy, just gave it from notes so we don't have a copy that way. My mom gave me the tapes of the service so I could just type it out--except for some unknown and lame reason that talk is the only thing not on those tapes. Of all the stuff on there, the one thing we are most interested in is missing. I guess the recorder got bumped after the musical number that preceded him and it came unplugged. What kind of freak accident is that? I am seriously disappointed, not only to be missing the talk but also the recording of his voice and someday I plan to ask why I am being tortured like this. In the words of Nacho (and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it) "It sucks to be me right now!" And I'm sure Michelle would agree that somebody up there better have a plan and be in control because I sure don't get it.

NEW CALLINGS

Folks, just wanted to let you know I got a new calling today. Coincidentally Justin and I share the same calling. And Joke's on me because I told Justin what a horrible thing that was to do to somebody when we were in Denver. If you see on the news some LDS siblings hung themselves from the church steeple...you'll know it was Justin and I. If you don't know what the new calling is, just think of the all time worst most awful horrible sick wrong thing they could do to a man or a new person in the ward who has children and who knows nobody. I am seriously doubting there is inspiration in any callings. I think it is a BIG JOKE by whoever's in charge. And I'm sick of being the butt of the joke. Don't call me, I don't want to talk about it. Seriously, if you hear of toddlers running around Fresno because they escaped a church building...you'll know it was me who let the little monsters out.

I'm getting my computer back!

Folks...the countdown is on. Two days until we get our computer hooked up at our new house and yippee...it is going to be hooked up to DSL so I can start posting again. I am so happy to be close to getting into our new house. We are going crazy painting and getting ready to move...but we won't move til Saturday. There is so much to do before then. The kids start school tomorrow. Thank goodness! This summer hasn't been too bad for us because we've been on the move so much but I am definitely ready.

Anyway, look for new posts shortly. I'm going to be posting pictures of my empty house so you folks can vote on what I should do with things...

New dates to consider

I've heard from a couple different people that the 4th of July week might be tough for new job people to get off. Because of that we have new dates to consider for the family vacation. The new dates are:

June 15th-21st
June 22nd-28th
July 20th-26th

Rank them 1-3 and comment or email me back so I have good info for submitting our request!

Afro girl

Hey everybody! We decided to try out a new hairstyle on Brittany... what do you think? :)

Laugh or scratch head?

Ever the comedians, our 2 special Dallas attorneys came up with a true gem today.

I get this e-mail response from my breathakingly beautiful wife after asking her and Dale when they thought they might leave their respective workplaces tonight:

The aforementioned parties hereby collectively and individually express their intent to vacate their offices this evening at or before half past six o'clock this evening, central standard time. Said parties agree to put forth their best efforts to realize such vacation of their offices.
The parties do not make any warranties, express or implied, as to their ability to fulfill this expectation. There is no guaranty, warranty, surety, or baby T for any reason that is to be inferred from this statement. Should the parties be unable to vacate at the appointed hour, such parties will notify, via email, phone, or fax, all other parties concerned. Parties assume no liability for inability to vacate premises in the event of partner unreasonability, client unreasonability, senior associate unreasonability whether real or perceived. Parties similarly assume no liability for acts outside of their control including, but not limited to, computer melt down, printer breaking, copier breaking, secretary confusion, natural disasters, word processor inability or refusal to comprehend instruction or fulfill requirements, or any other acts of God, sometime referred to as force majeure.

Um, Steph, Michelle, and Matt, how about starting a "Spouses Against Bringing Contract Language into the Marriage Relationship" support network? "Force majeure?" Are you kidding me? Are lawyers even normal? ;)

We just have way too much fun out here in Dallas. Bring on the weekend...

Adam

Brandon's Photography

Hey! Here are some pics that Brandon has been taking of the girls over the last couple of days. He seems to always have a camera in hand now... and, if I may say so myself, does a pretty good job!!

Poetry in motion

Check out this perfect form--Rick, could you be prouder? He must have had an excellent teacher.

Vacation News

Here's how the condo thing works: you submit a request including areas you are willing to go and dates you can go. They search availability, and call you with what is available. It costs $50 to submit a request, and then that is applied to your total so I'll just pay that. Unfortunately, once you agree to an area and a date you have to pay all the rest of the money. That means we would have to cough it up within the next month. We could put off the request, but you have better luck getting the date and place you want by submitting about a year in advance.

Could I have some input about whether people are still interested and able to come? With the request you have to tell them how many adults and children you have so I need a decent count. I know it's hard to plan this far out but I still think it's one of the most economical ways to make it happen--$500 for seven nights for a two bedroom condo is much cheaper than a hotel would be, and can also save you money eating out and stuff like that. If you think you'll have trouble getting the time off (like Mark) you would still have a chance to back out when we get the available dates before we confirm the reservation.

I'm really hoping everybody can come!

We are marching...

While Dee was here we dumped her camera's memory card onto my brother's external hard drive so I could burn her cds and she could take pictures without having to go through and erase first. And I just wanted everyone to see this. It's something to be real proud of!

Story Time

Since the beginning of summer I've either had mom waiting by the mailbox or I myself have been waiting by the mailbox for a little letter from BYU telling me they want to pay my tuition next year. So last week rolls around and it had been months by that point that I had gone without hearing anything. I still wasn't entirely discouraged though because I was told I would recieve a letter no matter what, whether I got one or not, so not recieving a letter didn't mean anything really. I did, however, log onto BYU's website where i found a bill for my tuition and a portion on that bill stating I had been awarded no scholarships for 2007-2008. Of coarse I was disappointed but being the rock of faith I am, I immidiately told myself that things would all work out because Heavenly Father knew how hard I worked and how much mom and dad deserved a little help. Yup that's how it went folks, I don't care what you heard about me spending the first hour crying my eyes out as mom and dad tried to offer words of comfort, or how it wasn't until I slept 12 hours that I decided life was still worth living and that everything would work out. So anyway, I called the scholarship office to find out why I hadn't recieved a letter telling me this and it turned out they had my address in Provo because I had forgotten to change it. She made me an appointment with the counselor to make that change because she herself was not able to. So as I was talking to the counselor today and I decided for some reason to confirm with her that I had not recieved one. Why? I have no clue. As if it wasn't bad enough reading that I didn't recieve a scholarship, now I was going to subject myself to hearing it!?! She gets back on the phone after checking and says, "it says here full tuition". My heart sank and I confirmed, "Meaning I have to pay full tuition?" and she kind of laughs and says, "No, meaning the school will be paying your full tuition." After giving a strange combination of a sigh, a giggle, and a scream the lady asks, "It's a good feeling isn't it?" And let me tell you, good doesn't begin to describe this feeling!

Friends in high places

Hey folks, I just thought I'd let you all know that Mark is the friend in high places that we needed. Rick and I were unsuccessful at trying to schedule Jake's baptism in Santa Clarita because of a whole lot of red tape. Mark generously agreed to talk to his bishop (our former bishop) and see what we could work out. He not only worked it out (Mark, that is), but he also scheduled the building and got a member of the bishopbric (who is a friend of his) to attend. Yeah! So, Jake will be baptized Saturday, September 8th at 10:00 AM in the Santa Clarita Stake building. It will be just him getting baptized and family and close friends in attendance. I'm excited for him...I think it will be a day he will always remember. So, thanks Mark!

Aurora's One!

So, I know I'm a little slow but I'm just figuring all this techno stuff out. Aurora turned one on July 29th. As all you moms know, it goes too fast. Here are a few pictures of the exciting event. Mark is pretty happy about her UCLA cheerleading outfit, compliments of Kristin and MacKenzie. He's only been talking about since we were dating. But no, she will not be wearing it on Sept 8th when BYU beats UCLA. Go Cougars!

Flagstaff Questions...

A couple of responses to comments...first, the deposit will probably be around $50. The condos will run $500-$600 per week. If you put the deposit and cancel, you will lose your deposit, but you won't have to pay for the condo. The condos can be split between families. They are two bedrooms. The deposit would have to be put down probably in the next couple of weeks but the remainder of the fees wouldn't be charged until we check in next year. Hope that answers questions. Don't forget too that the condos have two bedrooms and a living room, which probably has a pull out bed or something so somebody could sleep there. It is a great deal if you can split the condo with somebody. Also, if it works, you could also come for just part of the time...like if we do it over the 4th of July, maybe just for the weekend...

Hope that answers the questions...

A little explanation...

We have been having a fabulous time in Colorado. We celebrated Carter's birthday the very first day...he turned six. He got some nerf guns so we thought we should even up the odds...which we did with a box Katie's dad had in the basement labeled "weapons." I have never seen so many nerf guns in my life! They had nerf wars galore and I don't know who had more fun...the kiddies or Justin! We took the kids bowling and taht was loads of fun. Camille beat just about everybody including Courtney who may or may not have had the lowest score of everybody...We also celebrated Emma's birthday, she turned the big 7! We went on a really fun hike up to ruins of a castle. The kids got to climb up lots of rocks. Ashley was a big girl and walked the whole way! We would have been golden except that somehow we took a wrong turn and ended up taking a bit more difficult of a hiking trail which took us down a switchback, rocky trail which, incidentally, we ended up having to hike back in order to get to our original trail. the hike ended up being about 3.2 miles and the kids (AND ADULTS) were DEAD TIRED (hence the grumpy faced picture of the kiddies). Courtney was a trooper and carried like half the kids at various times on the hike. We were glad she was there...none of the rest of us have the energy for that. The kids got to go boating with Mike (Katie's brother). They all tried tubing and Courtney wake boarded. Justin took everybody to a Rockie's baseball game. The kids had a great time. Justin talked Jake into wearing Emma's jacket so he could take pictures for use as bribery at some future date. Carter ate and ate and ate and ate. Then, when he got bored, he ate some more. Gotta love that kid. What else? We have seen really awesome thunder and lightning storms, had a fabulous dinner WITHOUT KIDS, gone to the pool and the park...
It has been a great trip. Nana and Papa and Courtney left today, but the Edwardsons are here to stay! (At least for another week...) Hope you all are having as much fun as we are...can't wait for a vacation with everybody next year...

Michelle

Cousins catch up

So here is a little glimpse of what we've been up to: