A.C.E. World

Holy Cow Time Flies!!

2010-04-08T17:31:00.011-06:00

Ok so here are some pictures to catch up from the last time i posted. Sorry there is a lot, but what ya gonna do?

The video at the end is Ethan on Easter morning. I promise the story he tells is not true! It's mainly for the grandparents but you are more than welcome to watch it. (It is just about 8 minutes long)

Ethan's pumpkin

He got these from Daycare before Christmas and was so excited!

Mommy & Ethan with our snuggies we got for Christmas. (actually mine is a reverse snuggie that zips up the front)

Aunt Jody gave this outfit to Ethan for Christmas!! He was the most handsome little sunbeam!! I almost cried.

I can't even remember what was on his face but this is how the boy rolls.

Ok here is the video the funny part is in the beginning so if you don't want to watch it all at least you don't have to wait until the end. Sorry it is so dark. :(

The Big 3!

2009-09-03T17:36:00.000-06:00

Well my baby Ethan is no longer a baby. Ethan turned 3 on Aug. 16th. I can't believe it has been that long. Man where has the time gone. Ethan wanted a "kachow" cake which is what he calls Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars. So luckily my friend Kat had the cake pan already so I didn't have to buy it. (thanks again) I had the vision of making the lightning mcqueen cake look like it was driving down a road, since there were going to be about 18 people there I wanted to make sure I had enough cake. However, my brain was not functioning right and I could not figure out how to make the cake look like what I was invisioning. Sooooooooo I enlisted the help of our creative friend Paul Henderson. He helped me cut the cake to make it look like the pics below while still using as much cake as possible. (I know Paul you dont think you helped that much but you did). Same goes for Adam, he helped me move the cake and flip the cake and keep my sanity while doing it. A BIG THANKS TO THE BOTH OF YOU!! I REALLY APPRECIATED IT AND THE CAKE TURNED OUT PRETTY AWESOME IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.

Ethan blowing out his candles

Thank for all the presents. Ethan is definately very loved.

DISCLAIMER: I promise Ili'Kea was not hurt in any way. :) She was laughing in the beginning but by the time we got the camera this is what was left. (such a little firecracker)

Grandma Jan & Grandpa Tedd

2009-08-25T22:40:00.000-06:00

My parents came and visited us in July. Ethan was in heaven! He got to help papa Tedd with all the projects he was doing for me and Adam while we were at work. Ethan had a sinus infection and a horrible cough so we kept him home from daycare. Thank heaven for my mom cause she watched him all week so i could still go to work. My parents got Ethan a toolbelt and wheelbarrow for his birthday but my mom couldn't wait to give it to him. They came in handy with helping Papa Tedd, or so I am told. Apparently he was a perfect child for my parents. (hmmm) Anyway here are some pics of the work and the after pictures:

This is what happens when you leave an art major to entertain a 3 yr old. (kept him busy for days)

Ethan helping mommy paint the wall where my dad took out a built in shelf and patched the wall.

Thanks dad it looks so nice without that shelf!!!

We had my dad take out the chain link fence that just went across the front of the lawn and didn't connect to anything. The yard looks so much bigger now.

Ethan swinging on the fence before it was all taken out. Is it too early for gymnastics?

The 3 boys playing mario kart, (sorry grandpa didn't mean to cut you out.)

My wonderful parents! Then after my parents left Paul came and put in recessed lighting in our living room. Our house was built in the 1950's and apparently back then they didn't believe in putting lights in the living rooms. All the houses in our neighborhood are that way. Silly builders!

You should have seen the amount of insulation falling from the ceiling. I thought Adam was going to have an attack because of how dirty the floor was getting. Quite funny!

WE CAN SEE FINALLY!!!!

4th & 24th of July

2009-08-24T22:13:00.000-06:00

We had a good 4th and 24th of July, which here in Utah are both holidays. So we get to do fireworks twice in one month. on the 4th we had Jeremy, Connie, Ashton and Cade Warath, Marlene & Shirley and Aunt Jody over for fireworks. The kids loved watching Adam & Jeremy light the fireworks. Here are some pics:

The mature adults in charge of lighting the fireworks.

Sand Dunes!!

2009-08-23T21:41:00.000-06:00

Sand Dunes, when I hear sand dunes I immediately think the beach!!! Being from CA when you go to the beach you play in the sand dunes as well, but there is the ocean a few feet away to wash off all the sand once you have completely covered yourself in it. Not the case in UT people. Now the camping trip was pretty fun. And Ethan couldn't get enough dirt. I am pretty sure that we brought home enough sand to make our own sand castle. Ethan, well Ethan and mommy got to ride a 4 wheeler for the first time. Pretty fun and Ethan was in heaven!!!! Thank you to the Waraths for letting us crash their family camping trip.

Ethan ready to go camping.

Daddy & ethan on the 4 wheeler!
Ethan and his little friend Cade
Cade loved the 3 wheelers.he would throw a fit if he couldn't ride on one.
No the kids are not on fire.

this was Ethan about 5 minutes after we left the sand dunes. He didn't nap the whole time we were there.

Injuries ala Ethan

2009-08-21T18:43:00.001-06:00

Ok so one morning I am getting ready for work and Ethan is playing in our bedroom which is across the hall from the bathroom. He is swinging the door back and forth and I tell him to be careful so he doesn't get hurt. He is also looking through the door jam at me and laughing. Then he starts slaming the door shut. Again i tell him to stop doing that so he doesn't get hurt. Next thing I know I hear the door shut and him scream. So I am thinking he shut his finger in the door. WRONG!! He somehow managed to shut his mouth in the door jam. That takes talent my friends. Thus the end result.....

Then while we are in california picking up my mom, Ethan gets a rug burn. I think the funniest part about this is he said it never hurt, so he got the joy of surprising 3 different sets of people by just lifting up his shirt and saying "look" and then laughing when they gasp.

What a boy!!!

May-Mowing the lawn

2009-08-20T21:57:00.001-06:00

One of Ethan's favorite things is to help Adam mow the lawn(or as ethan says it "mauny mow), luckily for Ethan he actually gets to help. Adam could get it done so much faster but he always lets him help some. Thanks for being such a good dad!!

Mowing the lawn...

Ethan playing soccer.

Ok. here we go!

2009-08-17T21:56:00.001-06:00

I know I am way behind, so to keep things in order I am going to be doing several blogs so hang on tight !!

Like Father like Son!

2009-05-15T20:47:00.004-06:00

Adam is always saying how he should have been a rock star. Unfortunately, if you have ever seen him at a concert you would have to agree with him. He should have been a Rock Star!! Well the other day Ethan proved he was more like his dad than his mom. I couldn't resist, and I promise my eyes were on the road!!

MAN ARE WE BEHIND

2009-04-26T22:01:00.012-06:00

Ok so we are way behind on our blogging. I promise to try to be better. Here are some pictures from the last few months with some brief descriptions. Hope you don't mind that I am not writing a book for each one. :) Enjoy....

Ethan got new bedding for.....

His new big boy bed. We have had it for probably a year, just in a box. Ethan got way to heavy to lift in and out of a crib and he has slept in his big bed ever since march. He doesn't get out unless he has just woken up from a nap or in the morning. Mom LOVES IT!!!

Daddy had to get a pic of him sleeping. I do admit he sure is cute!!

The goofball is awake!

soaking up some rays while the warm weather was here.

All I have to say is thank heavens for Camie at the daycare Ethan now goes to. She potty trained him within the first week he was there. He is pretty much potty trained. No more diapers. Wait is my little boy big enough to be doing this??? (incase you couldn't tell by now, he is obsessed with Cars)

Ok so this was absolutely disgusting. Ethan had a horrible night and litterally threw up everything he had eaten at dinner. There was a TON of food. It was so bad that poor Adam had to clean up the actual throw up because I started dry heaving. Good thing I am not pregnant cause it would have been over!! Luckily it was only for that night. He was up all night throwing up any little drinks of water he had. Poor little guy. I need to stop typing about it before I start dry heaving again. :( (Oh and it made me really mad that Adam took this picture.)

Ethan on Easter morning. Had to pry him away from the candy to go to church.

Here is a video of Ethan showing what he learned at daycare.

Privacy anyone?

2009-04-08T15:32:00.003-06:00

Ok I know every parent goes through this, but I haven't till now because we have our bathroom gated off from Ethan. We were over at our friends Paul & Janet's and this is what I got while trying to go to the bathroom quickly. Ethan thought he was so hilarious!!

2009-03-14T15:56:00.002-06:00

Think he is around mommy too much??

Ethan sure loves his daddy!

Light at the end of the tunnel!

2009-02-25T15:37:00.008-07:00

Well we haven't posted in a while and things have been kind of stressfull. We had to reformat our main computer and then when it didn't work found out the harddrive was toast. Stupid thing. Also we lost everything that was saved on it because I didn't transfer the files over correctly to the external hard drive that Paul Henderson was so nice to let us borrow. Can we say stupid again! I think I even cried a little bit when I found that out. All I can say is thank heaven for our blog. I was able to get pictures from it for the last 6 months that I hadn't saved to a cd yet. Although I am really excited about our new computer (it is awesome) i would have much rather not had to buy one.
After Adam's 45 day vacation, as he puts it, Adam has finally got a new job!!! yyyiipppeeee!!! He is working for his old boss at Shaw. This has been a great blessing, he will have normal work hours again, a great boss that he gets along with, and he already knows the company and what they do. He started on Monday and seems to be enjoying it so far. (The insurance thing didn't happen) I do kind of miss not having him home all day though. :) and so does Ethan, which has of course brought on some more defiance.

As for me I FINALLY was able to take my nail tech tests. I passed my school tests on Monday (2/16) and then took my state written test on tuesday (2/17) and the practical on wednesday (2/18). Now I am just waiting for my nail technician license to come in the mail. (hopefully soon) I have been working on getting my business license so I can do nails out of my home and get the tax benefit as well. What a pain in the butt. Some dumb code about the fumes of the nail products stating i have to have an exhaust fan at my nail table. BLAH I am also hoping to get into a salon either part time or full time to hopefully build up my clientele faster. Plus to help bring in some extra money. :( Why does everything cost so much money?!
Ethan is still 2 1/2 and man he sure is good at it. He is an expert at ignoring!!! You would think he would learn by now that it doesn't work, it just gets him in trouble and in the corner, which he still hates luckily. Although I sometimes wonder if it is really working. Well not much else has been going on, thank heavens, our lives have seemed to be stressful enough. Here are some cute pictures that are recent....

Ethan being a dinosaur with my socks on his hands. crazy kid

Ethan and his friend Ashton.

This is what you have to resort to when you don't have a cool tool belt like Papa Tedd does. :)

What happens when the gate is left open. ethan goes exploring in daddy's closet.

Watch out ladies, he is coming to kiss ya. j/k

So cute!

2009-02-13T17:22:00.003-07:00

i know it has been a while since we posted anything, but i finally got this video to download from our camera. this is ethan talking to Papa Tedd on the phone and then he realizes daddy is watching him at the end. enjoy......

Up and Up

2009-01-15T08:55:00.004-07:00

The last few months have probably been the most trying times for Cristina and I in our almost 5 years of marriage. Our marriage has always been fine, but we never felt the crunch that so many young married couples feel with falling on hard times. Not that times were hard, just trying. Anyway, things are on the Up and Up now.

I have been studying for just over a month now to get my state insurance license. Well I took my exam on Tuesday and passed, first try. I have talked to few people about the exam and apparently passing on the first attempt is sometimes difficult. It's a 150 question test, and you are given 2 1/2 hours to take it, that's a lot of information to recall. With that, I will be starting my new job pretty quick.

As for Cristina, she has completed her nail school. A big thank you to all of those friends that were able and willing to go in and let Cristina finish up her required services on you. You did more than you might think. Now that she has finished school, all she needs to do is take her state exam, which will happen the first part of February. She is so excited about this. She has always enjoyed doing nails and I know that she is going to be amazing at it.

One thing which we forgot to do was announce the winning business name. After many votes and a finish that ended in a tie between two of them, we had to make a decision on the name we wanted between the two. Cristina has chosen "The NailSmith" as the name of her business. Again, thank you to everyone who submitted names and also all those that voted.

Cristina and I are pleased with the direction things are going for us and are thankful for such great friends and an amazing family that are looking out for us.

I blame the ECONOMY

2009-01-01T10:15:00.008-07:00

There are a lot of things that I could blame on the economy. Like maybe the fact that I am a little over weight, or maybe my love for really stupid jokes. What about how Bob barely won Survivor over Susie and Sugar didn't get any votes. But that wouldn't make much sense. Something that might be more reasonable, maybe that people aren't going to get their nails done at the school which is causing Cristina to extend her time at school a week or two to get in the services required. But the thing that the economy is effecting most of all right now is my employment. In these times the general public just isn't spending money unless they need to. Which brings me to my purpose here. You may or may not know but as of yesterday (Dec. 31, 2008) I am no longer employed with MRM. I was told on Sept. 15th that I was being put on part time as of Oct. 15th, until "times" get better. From that day on I have been searching for a new job. However in this economy not a lot of companies are hiring, in fact if you watch the news, a lot of companies are laying off, so obviously nothing came along. Apparently "times" didn't get any better in the furniture business. When the consumer doesn't buy furniture then furniture stores don't by furniture from the manufacturer, ergo Adam loses his job as office manager. On Dec. 1st I received a phone call at home letting me know that my last day of work would be Dec. 31st. It must take a lot of courage to call someone to lay them off instead doing it in person. Then avoid at all costs talking about it while at work. After looking for a job for a month and half with no success I was starting to get pretty discouraged. However I know that as long as I do the things I know are right and live the way my Heavenly Father wants me to I will be blessed.

Because of this I decided that I wanted to do something that I had more control over. I want to be in charge of my own career, so I am moving into a new field, sales. An opportunity came my way to get my insurance license and sell life insurance. This is something that I have toyed around with doing for a while now and... well it looks like it's time to do it. This comes at a time that it finally feels right for me to do (plus there is a lot of money to be made in this industry if done right).

So wish me luck as I take on something new and move in a new direction. No need to fret though, I still have the furniture connection if you need furniture at a good price, I can still get it for you.

The End Is Near!

2008-12-15T19:50:00.006-07:00

Well hopefully this is going to be the last plea for some help. :) I am supposed to be done with nail school by the end of this month and I am behind on services needed to graduate on time. I have been doing regular tip sets for a couple of weeks now and they are turning out pretty dang good if I do say so myself. (see pictures below...) I need a few people to come into the school and have their nails done. It costs $18 a set and if you come at either 10am or 5pm mon-thurs or 9am on saturday it is only $9. If you would like to help me out or know anyone who would please have them call me at 801-455-5671 and I can schedule them at the school. Thanks for your help and hope to hear from you. I can do some pretty fun Christmas nails for the holidays.

I did these on myself so I promise they would look better on someone else. :) It is a red & green glitter.

These are on our wonderful mannequinn hands we use to practice on somethimes. ( also good to freak any 2 yr old out with)

Voting Time!!!!

2008-11-07T21:29:00.002-07:00

So we have decided on some finalists for the business name contest. Please see the voting section on the right of the blog and cast your vote. The Voting will run through the end of November so please get as many people to vote as you can. Please keep in mind that we like quite a few of the suggestions but could only use certain ones that weren't already legal business names being used. Thanks again to those who participated. Happy Voting!!!

Nailed by Cristina, part 1

2008-10-25T13:54:00.006-06:00

So by now you all know that Cristina is going to school to become a Nail Technicion. The school will last 3 months, give or take a week. This is something that we have been talking about her doing for a couple of years. She is about a third of the way done at this point. See her previous post for info on how you can help her get some credit.

Ok, now to the point of this post. Upon her graduation from school she will be running her own little business out of our home. Doing nails every chance she gets. To run a business you need to have a business and to have a business you need a name for your business. That brings me to my point. Here's what Cristina and I have decided to do. Since she doesn't like my idea for a name of her business (Nailed by Cristina) she wants to have someone out there in the blogger world suggest a name. So we want everyones idea on a name for the business. We will then pick a few of the favorites and post them on here to be voted on. The winner of that vote will be her new business name and the person whom suggested it will receive $100 of nail service from my talented wife. I'm sure some of you male readers are thinking that isn't fair, how does this benefit me?! Beleive me, if you gave your wife/girlfriend/mom/sister/girl thats a friend/etc. a bunch of free nail work, you will benefit. So please leave your comment/suggestion on this blog. LET THE CONTEST BEGIN!!

Nails! Nails! Nails!

2008-10-22T22:02:00.006-06:00

On October 6th I started Nail School at the Color My Nails School. It has been going good. The first month sucks because it is mainly book work and not a whole lot of practice time. We have already learned how to do manicures and pedicures ( the easy part of being a nail technician). Needless to say it has been a big eye opener for me. I have had acrylic nails ever since high school and my nail ladies make it look so stinkin easy! Boy was I wrong. I am sure once I get enough practice under my belt it will be a lot easier, but man is it frustrating. I am enjoying having some adult interaction and learning so much! I think Ethan is enjoying going to his sitter and meeting new friends.

Right now we are only allowed to work on the public on Saturdays and we can only do manicures and pedicures. So if you would like to have a manicure or pedicure, please call the school and schedule an appointment and request Cristina Smith to do it. Below is some info regarding coming to the school. Please come and help me earn credit for doing services on clients. :)

Color My Nails School
Saturday: 9am - 3pm
85 E. 7200 S. ( 1/2 block east of Hooters)
561-9112
***ASK FOR CRISTINA SMITH***

Prices:
Manicure = $10.00
Pedicure = $20.00
***IF YOU ARE THE FIRST APPOINTMENT OF THE DAY @ 9AM YOU GET 1/2 OFF YOUR SERVICE****

10 years!!!

2008-10-05T13:36:00.005-06:00

Friday night was Adam's missionary reunion! He has been home 10 years this year. President and Sister Rowe are always so sweet and caring. Ethan of course made himself at home and was sitting at their kids table and riding a tricycle they had out on their back patio. It was a lot of fun to see Adam's old companions and friends from his mission. After the reunion, a group of us always goes out to dinner. This year the group included John Maxim, Stayton & Nicole Barnes, The Smiths, and Rob & Ann Shirley. (The Daleys were greatly missed) :( We ended up at Carls Jr. and needless to say Ethan had a blast running around with the Barnes' two children in the playland. Here is a couple pics from after we got home and realized just how much fun he had playing.

Needless to say, he got a little dirty.

Unfortunately we forgot our camera so we don't have any actual pictures from the reunion. :( Better luck next time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!!!

2008-09-30T13:45:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to take a second to wish my wonderful husband a happy birthday. 31 years ago this adorable boy was born. I am so blessed to have him in my life and thank my Heavenly Father every day that he chose me to be his wife. Thank you for always making me laugh and keeping me on track. I love you babe!!!!One of my favorite pictures of Adam!

I think this is where Ethan gets his mischievousness!

Caught Red Handed!!

2008-09-21T22:26:00.001-06:00

Well Ethan has decided that he no longer cares about using the toilet. We decided to give him a little more reign of the house so we moved the gate that went into the kitchen and put locks on all drawers and cupboards. We started with the latch locks which ended up not working since his little arms fit right in the drawer gaps and he kept pulling out the vegetable peelers and pizza cutter. So we ended up having to pay a little more money and get the "tot locks" that the doctor's offices use, they are magnetized and there is no gap in the drawers for Ethan to stick his grubby little hands in.

Well the other day I heard him with something in the kitchen. I went to look to see what he was doing and found him with his hand in the cookies. He was pretty proud of himself! All he would say when I asked him what he was doing was " num num num ". I am not sure how he got them down since they were back far enough that he couldn't reach them by just standing on the ground. Needless to say, they are now on top of the fridge and there isn't much on the counters anymore. Kids are smart!!

Here are a couple of more cute pics of the crazy kid.....

The red things are nuts from his toy tool bench. They fit quite nicely on his nose and of course wanted mommy to do it also. Sadly, they fit on mommy's nose as well.

Don't lay on the floor unless you want some company.

Thought he was pretty funny walking around and banging the bowl on his head.

Public Toilets :(

2008-09-02T14:44:00.004-06:00

So about a week ago Ethan decided he wanted to go potty on the toilet! I was a little confused as to what he was trying to tell me since this was the first time mentioning it at all. Also, the kid is quarantined to the living room (to save my sanity) so he had to try and tell me he wanted to go into the bathroom without actually going there and using normal words. Finally I let him through the gate so he could show me what he was saying. He ran right to the toilet and pulled down his pants. He sat on the toilet and held himself up just fine. Well as unprepared mentally as I was for this big step, I decided to go with it since he was obviously wanting to do it. He has no problem going poop on the toilet, which is really weird to me since everyone says how kids are normally scared of going poop on the toilet, but will go pee just fine. So apparently Ethan didn't get that memo, cause he doesn't mind peeing in his pull ups and goes poop in the toilet great.

Now a fun adventure that comes with potty training is getting your child to go on any other toilet than the ones at home. The other night we were at Outback Steakhouse and Ethan claimed he had to go "eewwww", which is what he says when he needs to go potty. So we make the trek all the way to the other side of the restaurant in a mad dash, dodging people who don't want to move as you say "excuse me please". We get into the stall and I am squatting down next to him trying to get him to pull down his pants and suddenly I notice every dirty little spot in the entire stall. Now I have no problem going in public restrooms, but when you are trying to keep a 2 year old from touching every germ infested thing in the bathroom, you suddenly think twice about public restrooms. Needless to say he didn't go potty. I know all of you moms out there are laughing because it has only been a week since he started going on the toilet, but time is running out for me. I have decided that I am going to go to Nail School starting October 6th, so if Ethan isn't fully potty trained by then, then it will probably have to wait. So wish us luck and any suggestions are welcomed!!

Proud Wife!!!

2008-08-26T16:04:00.006-06:00

FIRST OF ALL IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ADAM'S BLOG ENTRY BELOW, PLEASE READ IT BEFORE YOU READ THIS ONE....

As Adam mentioned, his aunt Jody and I went to watch him do the triathlon. A huge thanks to my sister Sabrina for offering to watch Ethan, because I was planning on taking him, and now after having gone and seeing what it was really like, I would have gone insane had Ethan come with us. The website was not very good at really preparing spectators as to what they should expect.
Anyway, when Adam started talking about possibly doing the triathlon, I too thought he was out of his mind. But when he told me on the phone that he had signed up for the triathlon and that you had to pay a fee to sign up, I suddenly realized he was serious! So when I heard about the bets that were going on I kind of laughed. I now wish I would have participated in the bets myself. I would have won. I would have bet that he would finish, because when Adam really puts his mind to something I know he will do whatever it takes to get it done.
So needless to say, he finished! I was so proud of him when I saw him cross that finish line. I worried about him pushing himself too much to try to keep up with his buddies. When he finished he wasn't breathing as heavily as I had expected which was a good sign to me. I knew he would be pretty sore afterwards for a couple of days, but I then knew that he hadn't pushed himself to badly enough to be totally out of commission.
Overall, I am very proud of my husband!!!! Especially since he doesn't work out, except when he goes swimming on saturday mornings with the same buddies. (and yes they swim pretty hard, not my idea of swimming, but hey to each his own, right.) All three of his buddies work out pretty regularly. Anyway, it was a lot of standing around and waiting for each guy to cross each event but the nice tan/burn I received and getting to cheer them on was well worth it. Congratulations to all of them, Ryan, Dave, Nate, & Adam!!!

But I didn't finish last

2008-08-25T13:45:00.017-06:00

For those of you that didn't know, I did my first triathlon this past Saturday. For those of you that did know I was going to do it, it happened this past Saturday. I'm pretty sure that those who did know about it and those that are just hearing were/are thinking something along the lines of "Geez, is Adam crazy? Has he looked at himself in the mirror lately. There is no way he will be able to do something like that!" Well you know what, you were right. However I did it anyway.

Let me take you back to the beginning of how I ended up in the predicament. It was just over a month ago, while Cristina and I were in Guatemala. I had some emails from a few of my best friends, whom I know at the time were planning on doing the tri. These emails came in good fun, yet with some mild mockery and gentle encouragement. They said things such as "come on Adam, lets not be tri virgins anymore" and "if you don't do this Adam, you will be the only one of our relay team (from high school swimming) not in it." A part of me wanted to jump on board and say yes right away, but the butterfly's in my stomach, just from the thought of it were screaming NO! I don't own a bike of any sort, so I told them that if they could find me a bike, I would do it. I knew there was a possibility of them finding me one, but there was the same chance that they wouldn't. Thanks to Ryan I was no longer without bike. His dad had one that might be considered an older style road bike that he said I could use. At that point I had to enter, even though my gut was still screaming NO don't do it, it's a trick! Needless to say, I signed up. The second I signed up I thought "Oh crap, I need to start training. I only have 4 weeks to get ready for this."

The tri consisted of a 750 meter (820 yards) open water swim, 20 km (about 13 miles) bike ride and a 5 km (just over 3 miles) run. For me, the swim was the least of my worries. Swimming has always come natural to me, once I realized that I wasn't scared of it. 820 yards, even in open water (Jordanelle reservoir) is nothing to me. It was the bike and run that terrified me. I don't think I have been on a bike since the middle of my mission. So that's about 11 years ago. And running, my philosophy is why run when you can drive. I hate running! Other than playing soccer a few years ago, I haven't ran for any significant distance or time since 2003 when I was still in the Marines, and for those 8 years I hated the running and wasn't even good at it then. 4 weeks is not long enough to get in enough good training for this, but I did my best.

I'm pretty sure a lot of you reading this are thinking that I'm a wuss and this doesn't really sound that hard. Well you're right, I am a wuss and it shouldn't be as hard as I am making it out to be.

The first 3 weeks of training went rather well. I was consistently increasing my distance on the run as the pain slowly decreased from sitting on a bike. Then came the week before the race. I'm not quite sure what happened. My body started aching constantly, I couldn't eat and my sleeping was almost nil. I couldn't do anything. Come to find out I was so stressed about this stupid race that I was causing all these problems myself.

It's race day and I'm standing at the edge of the 70 degree lake, shaking. Not because the lake is freezing but because I've scared myself to that point. I jump in the water... now I'm shaking because the water is so cold, but my nerves leave almost instantly.

When I signed up, I had 3 goals in mind. 1st, to just finish. B, to not finish last and 3rd, to beat one of my friends. 2 out of 3 isn't bad. On the swim, I was one of the first 20 or so out of the water in my age group. Beating one of my friends out of the water by about 2 minutes. Then came the bike. About 2 miles into the bike my buddy passed me and I didn't see him again until the end. The course was what they called a "false flat". It looked flat but if I stopped peddling I would slow down. That went on for about 8 miles, but the last 5 was pretty much down hill. A nice rest to get ready for the run. It turns out that I can walk 3 miles. OK, so I didn't walk all of it but I did walk some. Which I didn't feel to bad about since there were quite a few people walking. As I crossed the finish line, it was a great feeling. I had just accomplished something that I figured I would probably never do, even though I really wanted to. I didn't win the race but I didn't finish last either.

I have to thank my good friends Ryan, Nate and Clyde for talking me into this. Among all the naysayers who had bets against me, they always boosted my confidence and helped me finish. And for Cristina and my Aunt Jody for coming out to watch and support all of us in this. Sure it was hard but I can see myself doing it again next year.

Terrible Twos???

2008-08-18T14:44:00.017-06:00

Saturday was Ethan's 2nd birthday. I can't believe it has been 2 years already. Time really does fly. He woke up with Adam telling him happy birthday, which got Ethan very excited. I am not sure if he really understood the whole birthday concept. But he did know that he had to wait to get his new basketball hoop until his birthday, so needless to say, the elephant never forgot!!!

I decided to be a little brave this year and make Ethan a real birthday cake. Ethan had a blast licking the beaters for me.

Then while he was taking his nap I was going to decorate the cake. Well after quite some time of not going to sleep, Adam went in to see what the problem was and this is what he found. NOT FUNNY!!

YES THAT IS POOP! He pooped while trying to go to sleep and instead of just telling us decided to show us. I was completely grossed out! Luckily the rest of the day got better. I was able to finish his cake which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Over all I would have to say that he enjoyed his birthday. Here are a few pictures.

Ethan also had his 2 year check up today. The doctor said everything is great and he is growing good. Maybe a little too good. :) Here are his measurements:

Head: 51 cm=93%ile

Height: 37 in=94%ile

(good thing he is tall or he might fall over from his huge head)

Weight: 29lbs 14 oz=71%ile

Thank Heavens for Adrenaline!!!

2008-08-11T15:36:00.010-06:00

So about a week or two ago, while my poor parents were still here, Ethan decided to test my dad and I's ability to not faint at the sight of blood. My dad and I had poured the cement slab earlier that day and I had still not showered and was covered in dirt and cement splatters. Dinner had just gotten ready and we were all in the kitchen, except Ethan, for like 2 minutes and we heard a huge crash. Then blood curdling screaming from Ethan. I knew it had to be bad because he has never screamed like that before. My mom and I ran to the gate that keeps Ethan out of the kitchen, and saw Ethan holding his head with blood running into his right eye. Luckily an adrenaline rush kicked in, because I do NOT handle blood very well. As I scooped him up to rush him to the kitchen sink to stop anymore blood from going into his actual eyeball, my first thought was to hurry and clean it up and cover it so if my dad came in from the office, he wouldn't see it. My poor dad, to me has always been a pretty strong man physically, but when it comes to blood or anything of the sort, he goes out pretty easy. ( I just don't think his circulation has ever been really good.)

Anyway, as I looked at his wound I could see the tissue inside his head and knew he needed stitches. My poor mom who was always the strong one with all of us kids' wounds started crying and freaking out. (Don't worry grandma, you are allowed one freak out and we still love you) :) Well needless to say, Ethan got 5 stitches going down his forehead. Which by the way, is horrible for a mother to watch, especially me. Luckily, Adam was there at the hospital because I couldn't watch or help to much while they numbed his forehead, washed out the wound, and stitched Ethan up. I had to stay there so ethan didn't freak out more. So I sat there talking to him while looking away so that I didn't pass out. They strapped him to the "papoose" that has a board and huge velcro straps to keep him still. Man was Ethan PISSED!! They only time he would calm down a little bit was when Adam would ask him for a kiss, then he would have to give me one too. It was really cute! Then the screaming would continue. The awesome 8-month pregnant nurse holding his head still while squatting next to the gurney was a trooper. After the whole ordeal, when they unstrapped him, he was drenched in sweat. As I was helping Ethan eat his popsicle the nurse gave him, I had to have Adam take over so I could put my head between my legs cause I was about to faint. Adrenaline rush was over apparently.

Every since it happened I had tried to get Ethan to tell me where he hit his head, since no one saw it happen. He wouldn't tell me or show me anything. However the other day, Paul & Janet Henderson were over at our house and Paul asked Ethan what happened to his head and Ethan ran over to the corner of the wall and pointed to where he apparently hit his head! I don't know if he didn't remember before or if he just likes Paul better, but I took advantage of it and took a picture. I am actually surprised that this is Ethan's first stitches, but I am not complaining. :)

Last Day in Guatemala

2008-08-05T15:59:00.006-06:00

Our last day in Guatemala we went to Antigua. It is quite the tourist's place. They have kept the city in the old style buildings to keep the essence of the town. All the streets are cobblestone, which makes for a very bumpy ride. Antigua used to be the capital of Guatemala until an earthquake in the 1700's devastated a lot of the city, when the capital was moved to Guatemala City. Here are some pics:

In front of the main monastery that was damage in the earthquake.

Inside the monastery

Down in one of the catacombs

Us inside the 5 star hotel, Santo Domingo, in Antigua

We had a blast in Guatemala and were able to see things that we probably won't ever see again. Thanks to Shirley and Marlene for their great hospitality and chauffeuring. Thanks to Grandma Jan for watching Ethan so we could go on this wonderful trip. We love you guys!

Days 3 & 4 in Guatemala

2008-08-04T17:06:00.007-06:00

On Saturday & Sunday, we went with Shirley & Marlene to Retalhuleu, Guatemala. Shirley got asked to speak at a fireside one of the stakes were having on saturday night. We had a church employee drive us for security reasons, which was great because he really knew the country and the roads. The roads at times can be quite scary. It was also a small world because our driver, Percy, who is Guatemalan, but served his mission here in kearns, west jordan, west valley, and south jordan. It was a lot of fun talking to him. Here are some pics:

Our Hotel for the weekend.

Breakfast at one of the restaurants at the hotel.

I thought this was kind of funny. These buses are all over Guatemala City. They are normally completely packed with people and sometimes have people hanging onto the outside of the bus. People jump on and off while the bus is still moving. The funny part is that these buses are really old and rusted, but the "mercedes" symbol is always nice and shiny.

Day 2 in Guatemala

2008-07-29T20:54:00.016-06:00

On Friday (July 18th) we had our tour of Tikal. We left at 5am for the airport to take a plane to Flores, Guatemala. We then had an hour drive to the actual Tikal sites. Man was it humid there. They don't call it the rain forest for nothing. Within the first 20 minutes me & adam were so drenched from the humidity that it might as well have been raining. Our tour guide was excellant and quite the joker. Which made the 8 kilometer(they use the metric system in Guatemala, not sure how that transfers into miles) hike quite enjoyable. There were so many things to look at. So many types of trees and plants. The huge tree behind the sign (at left) is an "allspice tree". Apparently, allspice (the seasoning) is actually only one spice not several in one, don't laugh if you already knew that, I didn't. Anyway, our tour guide, Juvencio, tore off a leaf and broke it so we could smell it. It smelled just like allspice but much much stronger, our hands smelled like that afterwards.

The national tree. It was so huge it took 2 pictures to fit it all in. The roots themselves were massive. By the time we got to Temple 4 we were so tired. Temple 4 is the farthest away from the rest of the ruins. Adam, Cristina and Shirley walked up the wood staircase to the top of the temple. Here are a couple of pictures from when we got up there.

This was the farthest up you could go.

View of temple 4 from the ground. This is the only part that has been excavated so far. The rest is covered in jungle.

Us in the main plaza of Tikal.

After Tikal Adam & I went on what they call the "Canopy Tour" or otherwise known as a zip line. It was quite a rush and extremely worth the $25 fee. There were 7 stations, where we go from tree to tree and zig zag back and forth. There was a little price to pay, but still worth the ride. We got a little dirty from holding onto the cable above our head. We had to hold on to the cable to help stop our selves so we didn't run into the next tree.

The irony of Adam's shirt was great!!

All of us with our tour guide. We also found out that he has worked on several of the crews that create the challenges on Survivor, including the Guatemala season.

Back in the U. S. of A !!

2008-07-25T14:15:00.020-06:00

Well this past week has been quite the adventure. We were blessed enough to actually be able to go visit Adam's mom & stepdad in Guatemala! Marlene (Adam's mom) remarried in 2006 after about 28 years of being single. She married Elder Shirley Christensen of the second quarom of the Seventy of the LDS Church. He has been assigned to the Area Presidency down in Guatemala City, Guatemala for the past year and they will be there for at least another year. Cristina's mom was in Utah for the month of July for vacation and willingly watched Ethan for us so that we could go to Guatemala (An energetic 2 year old and a day of flying DO NOT MIX). Adam's aunt Jody went with us. We had a wonderful time and saw so many things. The country is SOOOO beautiful. The people there are some of the hardest working people I have ever met and some of the kindest. Marlene and Shirley's apartment is huge!! The grounds of their apartment are absolutely beautiful. They live upstairs from the French Embassy so they are pretty safe from crime. They are able to leave their balcony/living room doors open all day and night, which is very helpful given the fact that they don't have A/C, just fans, and it is very humid there.

The next few days are probably going to be blogs about our adventures, so if you don't want to read about it check back in about a week or so. But for those who do, here you go.

DAY 1-GUATEMALA CITY TOUR

We arrived in Guatemala City on Wednesday night, luckily with out any problems. Thursday morning we took a tour of Guatemala City. We went to this look out place where you could look out over the entire city. There are around 30 or so volcanoes in the country of Guatemala. The most famous volcano or the one that is painted the most, Volcan de Agua, is easily seen from just about everywhere you go. ( it is the tall one on the left of the picture)

We then went to the national museum. The museum is filled with artifacts from all the mayan ruins that have so far been excavated. It was pretty interesting.

The picture on the right is of a mayan royalty. The mayan people buried their kings with their most treasured possessions.

This picture depicts the typical clothing of the Mayan people in Guatemala. Unfortunately the Mayan people are not treated very kindly by the Guatemalans.

Here are some pictures of beautiful buildings that you see all over Guatemala. The picture of the wire tower is what they call their Eiffel Tower.

We then went to the "Relief Map". This is a map that is made to scale that a man took a ton of time to make to scale of the entire country of Guatemala. It was pretty interesting to see how much work he put into it.

We then went to the central plaza that has the National Palace and a very large Cathedral(I don't remember what it is called). We were able to go into the Cathedral but the National Palace was closed to the public due to some type of presidential meeting. :(

The National Palace

The Cathedral

The cutest little girl feeding the pidgeons

Anyway, that is pretty much our first day in a nutshell. On the way back home we stopped at this very popular fast food place called "Pollo Campero" and got an ice cream cone. Very delicious!!! Just ask Adam. hee hee

Long live the 80's

2008-07-14T15:50:00.016-06:00

So we have been wanting to see Journey for a while now. We had tickets when they came with Def Leppard in 2006, but a little boy named Ethan decided to come early and ruined us going to the concert. (no I am not bitter, anymore) haha. So now it has taken us two concerts to see the bands we were going to see in one. We saw Def Leppard last year w/ Foreigner and Styx. Which just a side note, was an AAAAWWWWEEEEESSSSOOOOMMEEEE concert. Friday we went and saw Journey, Heart, & Cheap Trick with Paul and Janet Henderson.

On the way to the front gate you would have sworn we were late with how fast we (Adam) was walking. Except we weren't. And by the look on his face in the second picture, you would think he did not want to be there. Uh hello, smile!!!

Cheap Trick opened, and they were good, but unfortunately I only knew one of their songs. For those of you who don't know any of their songs, they sing the song that "That 70's Show" opens with. Which they didn't perform. Oh well, we didn't buy the tickets to see them. Heart performed second and apparently woke Adam up. I love going to concerts with him because it is so much fun seeing him get into the music. Unfortunately there were some crabby people at this concert that wanted everyone to sit down the whole concert. Just my opinion, but if you want to sit down and watch a band play, buy the video and stay home. The Band doesn't come and perform so that everyone will stay in their seats and just watch, HHEEELLLLOO. There was actually a guy in front of us that left during Journey cause he was mad that the ENTIRE audience was standing except him. Oh well, his loss not ours.

Heart was awesome. Anne Wilson has got a mean set of lungs on her, she sounded fabulous and can belt out the tunes. **And Nancy Wilson (the skinny one), well as far as I'm concerned, she could be an alternate on my list.

In between Heart and Journey, Adam & Paul went to get Janet & I a pretzel. While we were waiting for the boys to come back Janet & I were luckily reminded of the quality of life that is around this city. Here is just a sample. We didn't want to be too obvious so I took the picture on my phone of this lady who clearly didn't feel the wind blowing on her behind. Gross! Let me just say that it is everyone's own prerogative what kind of underwear they wear, I just don't want to witness it.

(That is the women's white thong hanging out of her pants)

Journey was awesome!! Now I am sure that there are some die hard fans who won't think the same as me, but oh well they aren't writing this. Journey has a new lead singer. He (Arnel Pineda) is from the Philippines and was seen singing Journey songs on You Tube and the band called him and offered him the lead singer position. I had seen them perform on the "Ellen" show several months ago and was impressed with how he sounded. If you ask me, he is every bit as good as Steve Perry. He played to the crowd and was totally entertaining. All in all it was an awesome concert!!!

**Comments via Adam, not Cristina

The Living Planet Aquarium

2008-07-10T15:32:00.007-06:00

So we decided to check out the Living Planet Aquarium on the 4th of July, since Adam had the day off. Ethan was very excited to see the fishies. Although Ethan was free, it wasn't worth the $16 for Adam & I to walk through. Here are some pictures though, so enjoy. Ethan loved the fake boat ride, probably because it had a steering wheel. He is a little obsessed with driving things.

Mommy and Ethan in front of the jellyfish. Ethan thought they were going to get him, so he is holding on to me for dear life.

Daddy and Ethan by the sting rays. Their stingers have been removed so you can touch/pet them. Daddy was the only brave one though.

Ethan found Nemo, or "memo" as Ethan pronounces it.

Ethan being so brave to stand in front of the fishies. He really was scared at first for some reason.

Sweet Madame Blue

2008-07-04T08:17:00.010-06:00

OK, so I know what you are thinking, "holy cow, two blogs in one week. How did this happen!" And if you aren't thinking that then you haven't been on here in the last few days to see the blog that Cristina posted the other day. So please take a minute and check out what she posted previous to this post.

Today is July 4th, Independence Day, America's Birthday. I have always been a pretty proud American and with that I want to wish all of us a Happy Birthday! If you know me you know that even though there aren't gifts given or big turkey dinners, that today is my favorite holiday. What a great day to celebrate everything we have, especially our freedom. I don't claim to be a world traveler however I have had and opportunity to see a lot of this beautiful world and I feel blessed to have been born with all the rights and privileges that we have. As most of you probably know I was in the Marine Corps reserves for 8 years. In February of 2003 I was activated and deployed over seas. I was in Iraq for a few months. If I learned anything while I was there it was that they envy the freedom that we share. I understand that some of you may not agree with me on this, but unless you have been there, you can't understand the positive effect we are having there, we are helping and they know we are helping. Enough of my soap box.

Us as Americans owe it to our fore fathers and those serving and protecting us right now for what they did/do everyday. By doing that we are saluting our flag and recognizing what those stars and stripes represent. With that all there is left to say is Happy Birthday and God bless America!

2008-07-02T16:05:00.006-06:00

Well not a whole lot has been going on so here are a few new pics. Ethan is growing so fast it is hard to keep up with him.

Ethan, Daddy and Ethan's friend Kyle. Ethan's first time on a trampoline.

Apparantly he has moved up from mom's tennis shoes to his aunt's heels. Should we be worried yet???

Man this kid loves to eat!!

M&Ms anyone??? Don't worry he will share his with you, if you don't mind a little spit. :) "Melts in your mouth not in your hands", yeah right!

New toy/yard

2008-05-30T15:17:00.005-06:00

So a couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to get a much bigger car for about the same payment as we were already paying for our Mitsubishi Lancer. We got a Chrysler Town & Country 2006. It has the wonderful "stow & go" feature and tons of room.

Ethan loves the van as well, although he thinks that it is for him to play in.

We also layed sod and when I say we I mean Adam and several of his buddies. Thanks again to those who came and helped we really appreciated it, Adam probably appreciated it more than me, but still. Now Ethan can play in the backyard and I don't have to worry about him running out into the street every 30 seconds. Although I still have to put some kind of lock on both gates. Thanks to a beautiful patio slab along with sidewalks and sod our backyard is finally looking like a normal backyard. When we bought the house the backyard was a mess of dirt. The previous owners had 2 very large dogs and they ruled the backyard.

This is the place we designated for our future storage shed. We are hoping to pour a 10 x 10 slab this july with the wonderful help of my dad. And yes we have a garage, but no basement and our garage gets so dirty that we need room to store toys, clothes (in totes), etc., that won't get so dirty. (or maybe we just want to keep up with Mr. Paul Henderson) j/k Although Adam was pretty jealous when Paul got his shed. :)

Our inactive LDS neighbor diagonal from us is kind of nosy, but harmless, came over to talk to me when we had just got the van and it was parked out front and the sod was being delivered the same day. He made the comment that "tithing must work". Then he said that maybe he should come to church and sit behind us and some of our "luck" would rub off on him. I told him that he would actually have to show up at church for that to happen. He laughed and kept telling me about my wonderful van's features (in case I didn't know about the car I had just bought) :)

Greatest Invention!

2008-05-30T15:05:00.002-06:00

For my anniversary/mother's day/birthday present, my wonderful husband gave me the "Cricut" machine. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a computerized machine that cuts out all different sorts of letters and pictures depending on the cartridge you put in it. All I can say is that I wish I would have been the one to come up with this product cause I would be RICH!!!! Here are a few pictures of what it looks like......

I have been having a blast playing around with what the cartridge that came with it can do. Here is just a little thing I did for fun......
Now since I am in the Primary Presidency, I also had quite some fun making new signs for the classroom doors and also for the seats in Primary Opening Exercises. I am a little anal and like things to match so here a couple of signs that we will be using on sunday.....(this pictures of the suns and crown were done on my regular computer)

recent pics

2008-05-27T15:36:00.010-06:00

Well I know it has been a while since we have blogged so here is our attempt to make up some time lost. (there will be more to come)

This was during a survivor party at our house and Ethan slipped off of his couch and fell face first into my bowl of chili. Quite funny!

Mid clean up. Dad taking action pictures. :)

This was on mother's day. Nana and Grandpa Christensen gave Ethan this outfit from Hawaii so I had to put it on him before the crazy kid grows out of it.

He looks a little annoyed with having to sit for a picture.

Ethan thought he was pretty clever getting his whole body into this drawer until he realized he couldn't get out by himself.

Attack of the Rock

2008-04-26T20:08:00.008-06:00

Well it finally happened. For those of you who have never been to our house we have a quite dangerous rock/fireplace wall in our living room. It was there when we bought the house, but we didn't think too much about just how dangerous it could potentially be because we loved it so much.

Well Ethan is now 1 1/2 years old and I am quite glad to say that we haven't had any trips to the emergency room. With the amount of bruises and bonks on the head that Ethan gets on a daily basis, it is actually a miracle that we haven't visited the ER. Just yesterday, Ethan was playing around the fireplace. He wasn't actually up on it this time like he normally is, but he thought it would be smart to stand on his toy vacuum next to the rock and the vacuum slid out from underneath him and down he went. Resulting in his first cut to the head. It didn't really bleed but it looks cool. Don't freak out grandma & nana. :)

Before the accident watching "The Backyardigans"

After the accident(the shinyness is neosporin)

Smith Look-alike Meter

2008-04-12T01:09:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Ancestory

Look Alike

2008-04-12T00:18:00.007-06:00

Well from the second Ethan was born everyone has been telling me how much he looks like me and not Adam. I personally have a really hard time seeing that and maybe because it involves me. (i am told that i look just like my dad, but i still don't see it) Well a few days ago, I had done Ethan's hair in cute spiky format. Upon waking up from his nap I realized that maybe he looks a lot more like his dad than we all thought. I don't know maybe you can be the judge......(hint: hairstyle) Although one just happened to come about and the other was actually planned to look that way.

Honesty Anyone??

2008-03-29T16:29:00.014-06:00

For those of you who have kids or have been around them for an extended amount of time, are sure to have had some experiences in this matter. Ever wonder what happened to childhood honesty as we get older?? I often wonder how kids can get away with being so honest and truthful, but if an adult said the same thing it is pretty much guaranteed that someone would get offended in some way.

I heard a while back a story that Heidi Klum was telling Ellen DeGeneres on her show. She was talking about honesty in children and then related this story: Her daughter had just completed potty training and they were getting ready to go swimming, so Heidi asked her daughter if she needed to go potty before she got into the pool. Her daughter non-shalantly answered :" No, that's o.k mommy, I go in the pool and no one knows."

Another example that was a little closer to us personally is one Adam related to me:

The other day Adam was talking with a friend of his and he told Adam something funny that his daughter said to him. This friend of Adam's is white, however is skin complection is a little darker than most. (Which I am totally jeolous of by the way since having a baby has hindered my keeping up on my tan. ) The family had been reading about the Lamanites in the Book of Morman recently. One day, his daughter (3 years old or so) said "dad, your skin is brown right?" Dad answered "yes." His daughter replied "that's okay, you're still a good person." Apparently her dad looks like a lamanite. (j/k)

Now Ethan doesn't talk yet (unfortunately), but he obviously has his father's sense of humor. He is constantly cracking himself up at the simplest things he comes up with. Right now his favorite thing to do is run up to you and scratch your leg or arm and laugh. He thinks he is "getting or tickling" you. And to conclude, here are a couple of pictures of Ethan thinking he is soooooooooooo funny.

That would be his bib, which would have been funnier had he not had a runny nose and smeared snot up his head.

I think he was trying to take his shirt off but forgot to take his arms out of the sleeves first.

Ever wonder what made us stop laughing at the simple things in life. Let's bring back the simple honesty and laughter.

Values for Wife

2008-03-07T11:07:00.009-07:00

Whilst serving my mission in England, we had pamphlets that we carried around with us that we would pass out called "Values of life". These pamphlets consisted of basic LDS doctrine pertaining to the family and the blessing of having an eternal family. An added tool to use as an approach or something to put in their hands as we were leaving. Some Elders decided it would be fun to recreate this pamphlet and call it "Values for wife". This obviously was centered around their arrival home and the hopes of finding the "wife" that they had earned on their mission through their hard work and dedicated service. Some of you may not know this, but there is a myth out there that says the harder you work on your mission, the hotter your wife will be. If that's the case, I was a better missionary than I thought.

I was talking with a good friend of mine the other day. We were reminiscing about days gone by and the fun we had. We got on the topic of girls that had come into our lives and especially those we had dated. We both acknowleged the fact that there were quite a few, some bad and some that "got away".

Side note: I was the last of my group of friends to get married. I was 26 years old, a little older than the average male in Utah.

During this conversation something was said that caught me a little off guard, yet made me feel good and helped me appreciate Cristina even more than I already do. The statement was "I have added to my list of things I am looking for in a wife, she needs to be like Cristina. She needs to take care of me as much I take care of her." Now I know that I have an amazing wife, but it makes me feel even better that my friends think I have an amazing wife. We went on to discuss this a little more and covered a few things that she does that made him say that.

I really am very lucky to have found Cristina. The way we met and the timing of everything was perfect (that may be a later post). Cristina is everything I could ask for. My values for a wife lie within everything that Cristina is. Besides her taking care of Ethan all day, keeping our house in order, her testimony, being a fabulous mom and a wonderful wife, she is cool too! Here are a couple of things that show just how cool she really is. I've heard that when women are pregnant, they have some pretty strange cravings! Not Cristina. It seems like we were eating steak, buffalo wings or mexican food almost every night (my top 3 favorites). Why? Because that is what she was craving. How lucky am I?! She goes the extra mile to make sure that I am well fed. It's little things like knowing that when I eat celery, I prefer the more white colored celery stocks as opposed to the greener stocks. And no matter how many stupid jokes I tell, she still laughs. Little things like that let me know she cares about me. She definitely takes care of me more than I take care of her. I am the winner here!

If you don't know Cristina, you should. She truley is an amazing person!

Second Opinion

2008-03-01T16:33:00.012-07:00

Let me introduce to you my son, Ethan. He's a normal kid. He's 18 months old. He runs, plays, yells and spits on everything. He does everything your average little boy would do. Here he is wearing his moms shoes (something all kids do, so I'm told, so I'm not worried...yet!) He has just recently started going to nursery. A blessing to Cristina as she is the one that generally takes care of him during church.

After having a son that for his 18 month tenure on this earth hasn't had much more than a runny nose, you get use to him being healthy all the time. Now I know all you parents out there are saying to yourself that I am just setting myself up for disappointment when he gets a virus or is hit hard with a bad cold. Well, you are right. About a week and a half ago Ethan started getting a small rash on his body. Nothing to worry about right? Maybe an allergic reaction to bananas or something. What a closed minded assumption. Conveniently Ethan's 18 month doctors appointment was the next day. The doctor told Cristina that this was nothing to worry about, that it is just a virus and that it would work its way through his system. He even stated that he wouldn't be surprised if he saw 5 or 6 more kids that week with the same thing. Everything else checked out fine with Ethan, so Cristina left feeling reassured that everything would be fine and this would be over in a few days. By that evening a lot of the spots had faded and he was getting back to normal. He went to bed that night just like any other night. A little fussy, but who wouldn't be. Nothing could prepare us for what was to come the next morning. Apparently through out the night this virus decided to step it up a bit.

I had left for work a little after 7 as per usual. As I was leaving I told Cristina to call me when Ethan woke up to let me know how he was doing. I was about 2 minutes away from work when my phone started ringing. Usually the only person that calls me at that time is my boss. However I heard "Open Arms" playing so I knew it was my loving wife. She explained that Ethan had gotten much worse through the night and he was awake. She explained that he was a little freaked out because his eyes were swollen shut. She wasn't even able to pry his eyes open. It was bad!

Upon this new discovery, Cristina called Ethan's doctor. Unfortunately his doctor wasn't in, but the doctor that was, had an opening first thing that morning and was able to get him in. I'm thinking great, now we will have a second opinion as to what this might be. This second opinion didn't help us much. The doctor told us exactly what Ethan's regular doctor had told us the day before. "Textbook hives" was the diagnosis and not an allergic reaction, just a virus along with the diarrhea he had a couple of days before the hives. Sure, now we had two opinions, which are exactly the same by the way, however that doesn't comfort you much when you have a kid that looks like he is related to "Sloth" from the movie "Goonies".

Of course we had to share these photos with our family, you know, to give them a bit of scare. Along with the warning of "Don't freak out", which everone did anyway. One of my brothers was explaining these hives to his 6 year old son. During the explanation, my nephew asked my brother "why did the bees put hives on Ethan? That's not very nice." Hearing this made the situation seem a little less scary, since obviously my son didn't have beehives on his body.

Needless to say, Ethan is doing much better now after dealing with hives for a week. (they just don't go away as fast as you want them to).