January 2015

January was my first month as a full-time homemaker! We are both excited about this and that our situation allows for me to be home (a) now to prepare for the baby and (b) as a stay-at-home mom when the baby is born.

I've spent my days working on various projects -- mostly things I've been wanting to get to before the baby is born. I finished scanning a box of old letters & other documents that belonged to my great-grandmother (a project I started about 3 years ago...). I re-finished the inside of a silverware box. I finished sewing a couple things for baby. I've gone through & tried to pare down a bunch of our stuff. I finally read Preach My Gospel. I've been putting together some freezer meals to have on hand.

We attended a wedding reception for my cousin Will.

Thomas' grandfather passed away and we drove to Oregon for a memorial with Samuel & Sarah. It was a whirlwind trip but we are so glad we were able to be there.

oxox

September 2014

September was a good month! The weather started to turn more autumn-like & we got a fair amount of rain. We had a couple of "weird" Sundays (stake conference & a temple dedication) that convinced us we could get used to just 2 hours of church at 10 AM. We also got to enjoy harvest a little.

We went to a u-pick raspberry patch south of Provo (you can see the Payson temple if you look closely at the next picture, taken just around the corner from where we picked berries):

About 5 lbs of raspberries!

We went to a Bradshaw wedding:

We saw Sterling's band at their 9/11 memorial performance:

Sterling's family allowed us to glean their peach trees. We processed about 30 lbs of peaches (with the help of our canner, purchased that weekend!):

Coincidentally, we also announced to our families that our own little "peach" will be here in March.

We bottled 8 pints of peach halves and 10 pints of peach jam, froze a few pounds of peach slices, and used the remaining fruit for 2 9*13 pans of peach crisp!

We spent the following weekend up at the cabin, with a family from the ward joining us for one night & a day trip to Cascade Springs:

We decided mid-September is the ideal time for the cabin. The surrounding trees were turning their fall colors, the nights were cool, we got a day of sunshine and one of rain... it was really beautiful and the perfect start to autumn.

oxox

April 2014

In April....

We moved!

And because we got a smoking deal on strawberries, I was making jam and freezing strawberries the first weekend we were in our new apartment. I'm not sure I recommend that.

Anyway... we like our new place. It is a block away from where we've lived the past 4 years. With rent and utilities, we figure we'll be paying about the same as we were. But we gained a second bedroom, more windows, and a larger kitchen!

I finished Couch to 5K again, with my friend Denise. We've been pretty good about running 3 times a week!

I tried out another Bountiful Basket.

Those bananas never ripen to a normal, edible state. That mini watermelon was pretty good, though. And our second try on a spaghetti squash was a better experience than our first (though it's still not our favorite).

We had a lovely Easter.

I made hot cross buns.

We made a veritable feast for Easter dinner:

Deviled eggs, roasted carrots, gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, roasted lamb.... YUM.

We went to dinner with Thomas' friend from work and his wife and daughter:

And Sarah stayed with us for a couple days in between moving and traveling :)

oxox

Lotsa Oxen, Summer Solstice Edition

A few days ago, we hit midsummer, and the weather must've been paying attention, because it's been HOT! It doesn't help that we don't have central AC, but we did put our window unit in.

First, we want to wish a Happy (belated) Father's Day to all those out there that it applies to. Don't worry, we called our dads, too...

Picture of a dad

Picture of another dad

Thanks for your examples, love, and support! Below is a video that captures the wonderful traits of fatherhood and manhood that we find in both of our dads:

"True manhood is not always measured by the fruits of one’s labors but by the labors themselves—by one’s striving. Though he will make some sacrifices and deny himself some pleasures in the course of honoring his commitments, the true man leads a rewarding life. He gives much, but he receives more, and he lives content in the approval of his Heavenly Father. The life of true manhood is the good life."

—Elder D. Todd Christofferson ("Let Us Be Men")

We got to enjoy a dinner at the Olive Garden...

Lasagna

Us

Lisa and her shrimp entrée

...and went to a wedding reception and saw some friends...

Beautiful setting...

...great company...

...good food...

...weird friends...

...oh, and a bride and groom.

...and went on a 4 mile walk to DI (turned out it was closed when we got there)...

The Y from the other angle

...and went to the Provo and the Mount Timpanogos temples!

Pretty window colours if you look closely

A pile of dirt and rock behind the temple

The sky

The other sky

The fountain

Also, Lisa made a mini kimono of sorts...

An underpaid seamstress

The finished product...just needs a kid to fill it

...and we cooked...

Raw pigs in blankets

...and we got a Bountiful Basket again.

Bountiful spoils

Oh, and Lisa dominated her Calculus II class!