Dan and Laura

1-4 Months

2011-06-14T21:45:00.001-06:00

5 weeks old
Beth's First Halloween

Halloween was our first outing since all of the surgery drama. It felt good to get out of the house. We went up to my parent's and carved pumpkins and were entertained by my parent's funny costumes. They of course gave out their ritual "halloweenies" (aka hot dogs) to the trick-or-treaters. It always brings back good memories, being over there for the Halloween traditions.

I was very proud of our pumpkins. Both the ones we carved, and our little Beth.

6 weeks old
This is when we realized that Beth was a little too big to be taking baths in the sink.
I guess it was time to move to the tub!

My Dad and Beth taking a little rest together.

Having some grandpa time, celebrating Mark Lehnhof's birthday.

And grandma time is always good too.

Beth loved sleeping in her bouncer a this age. I swear she preferred it to her bed sometimes.

I love this picture. Mostly because I think this is when she really started to look like a big-little-kid, one that doesn't look like a newborn anymore.

On a side not, I was looking at these little clothes a while ago and couldn't believe how small they are now!

7 weeks old

Kisses from Daddy

This is how we would bundle up Beth during the cold winter months. We kind of went overboard sometimes. Poor thing would occasionally wake up sweating profusely! But it just made me sad to think if she ever got cold. Even now when it is warm I still bring a little blanket along.

8 weeks old

Growth - 2 Months: 13 lbs (95%), 24 inches (95%)

When Beth was 8 weeks old we moved her from the bassinet in our room to her crib in her room! She was sleeping 12 hours through the night! No more nighttime feedings!!

I know this is unreal, her sleeping habits. But here are the 3 things I give the credit to:

1. Her temperament. Beth has always been a good sleeper by nature.

2. The book On Becoming Babywise (Thanks for showing me this Mary!!)

3. Blessings from Heavenly Father. It really helped me to heal quickly with everything that was going on having Beth sleep like such a dream.

Thanksgiving Day

Beth has always loved to munch on her hands! It's so funny to see her when she gets excited because she'll just quickly breathe deep and then pop, the hands go right up to the mouth.

Sometimes I would find her sleeping in the funniest ways. We always swaddled her arms down and sometimes she would find a way out.

10 Weeks old

On December 5, 2010 Beth was blessed. Dan gave such a sweet blessing. It was a special day that I will always remember.
This is one of my favorite pictures of our family.

She looked so pretty in her dress and cute white shoes. My mom gave her the outfit with a special poem that she wrote.

We let her roam free in her diaper for part of the time just to take a break from the dress and also so she didn't destroy it before the day was over. Look how sweet this picture is. It really makes me tear up. Beth has so many people who love her.

In December, we finally got our act together and sent out her birth announcement.

13 weeks old
Sitting in her Bumbo Seat

14 weeks old
December 25, 2010 - Beth's First Christmas!

Look at her hair! It really stands straight up like that on it's own!

The day I took this picture, Beth was so mad. I had to get a picture of it because it made me laugh! It was just a couple days after Christmas. She was upset just trying to get back to normal after all of the festivities.

15 weeks old
Cute Sadie holding Beth.

16 weeks old
Growth - 4 Months: 15 lbs 5 oz (87%), 26 inches (97%)
Beth starting buzzing her lips together and I would often hear her as she woke up in the morning and from her naps buzzing away. She would do it so vigorously that the buzzing would make bubbles! I laughed so hard when I found her like this one morning. Nice gotee.

Dan and Beth look so much alike!!

Beth lights up being around other kids. She loves all her cousins! Here she is with Jane and Scott. Once again, hands in the mouth because she is excited.

This is the happiest picture of Beth up until this date.

Cozy little creature in this blanket.

Having this little one around is such a joy!

Beth Christine Chipman

2011-03-25T07:10:00.030-06:00

Beth was born September 24, 2010 at 6:51 pm. She was 8 pounds and 3 oz and 22.5 inches long. I can't believe she is already 7 months old! So I thought I would give her her big debut on the blog as well as document her life for the past 7 months. I'll probably do this in stages since most likely it will take me a while to get it all done.

Delivery

I was induced, a week over my due date, on September 24, 2010. We headed to the hospital and got there at about 10:45 am.

Here is me right before we left for the hospital! Yes, I was large and in charge.

My doctor broke my water at about 11 and then they put me on pitocin.

Me in the delivery room with my purple popsicle. At least you can eat that if nothing else.

The contractions started out pretty manageable and when they became unmanageable I got the epidural at about 2:00 pm. I progressed really quickly after that. By about 5:00 pm I was already dilated to 9 cm. Once I started pushing, I thought it would go even faster and she'd be here before we know it! But after an hour, the doctor realized that she had turned and was posterior (sunny side up as some say). He tried to turn her back but she wouldn't budge. After he said he might break his fingers if he tried any further, he told us that she wasn't going to turn and we'd just have to get her out posterior. I was worried and scared because I knew it would be harder. It definitely made for a tougher delivery.

After about 2 hours of pushing, an episiotomy, and getting another doctor to come and literally forcefully push on my stomach for several minutes... she came out! It was pretty intense. It also didn't help that my epidural block had run out and I was pretty much feeling what seemed like everything.

Other than a very sore head, from a suction which came off during the process, little Beth was healthy and strong. And so cute...

We were so excited to see what she would look like. She had lots of blonde hair.

It was amazing to hold her for the first time. I will never forget this moment. It makes me cry thinking about it.

Dan was my rock during the delivery. I couldn't have done it without him. Thank goodness for my coach!

Her first bath.

You can see her poor little head wound.

Tiniest little feet.

Aunt Mia gave Beth this little hat. It is the cutest thing on her. I love it.

I really loved delivering at IMC. It was such a great experience I didn't even want to leave, especially being able to have the nursery right down the hall in the middle of the night! But 2 days later we headed home.

I didn't expect such a range of emotions as we were coming home. I just started bawling in the car thinking that I really was coming home with this little bundle. I didn't quiet know what to expect.

But Dan was such a natural!

It was so inviting coming home to this...

My mom made this cute sign. It helped calm down my nerves.

The first couple weeks were amazing. Beth has such a sweet little spirit. She was also a dream baby, sleeping and eating so well. I guess it is true when they say a bigger baby is a happier baby.

So this isn't the best picture of the 3 of us, but it is one of the few that we have from the beginning.

Here are some pictures from the first couple months.

Beth's first sponge bath at our house.

Before we knew it she was cracking a little smile.

And figuring out she was a champion

I love a neck nussler.

Right from the beginning, Beth loved munching on her hands. We pretty much always had to keep these little mitts on her so she wouldn't scratch herself.

Poor Beth lost almost all of her hair on the top of her head. We called her Larry Miller during this time of her life. It got even better when she acquired some cute baby zits.

We decided to name her Beth after both of Dan's grandmas:
Betty Jeanne Chipman (her given name is Elizabeth) and Beth Burton Stohl.

Here is Beth with sweet Betty Jeanne.

Beth's middle name, Christine, is after my dear sweet mom. Love her!

I actually think they look alike in this picture.

Beth grew a lot in the beginning. Here are some measurements...

Birth: 8 lbs 3 oz, 22.5 inches long

2 weeks: 9 lbs 8 oz

1 months: 13 lbs, 24 inches

When Beth was just about 3 1/2 weeks old, we had a pretty unexpected turn of events. On Monday evening October 18th I started having these very strong pains on my stomach/back, basically the whole abdominal area. I had about 8 of these pain episodes earlier in my pregnancy and was diagnosed as having kidney stones (which still hadn't passed). So I thought that I might be passing the kidney stones. Usually during these episodes, the pain would go away after about 45 minutes. Well this time it had been an hour later and was still going on. It started at about 4 pm, and at 5 pm I called Dan at work and told him he needed to come home immediately because it was so bad. (I also had an episode just the Friday before that lasted 30 min and could be managed with medicine). I took some percocet that I had from recovering from delivery and it didn't seem to put a dent in the pain, so we went to the ER at about 5:45 pm. My parents came down to help Dan with Beth. Laura and Mia also came but Mia couldn't come in because there were too many people there. I was so glad people came down. After having an ultrasound on my abdominal organs they told me I had several good size gallstones and would need to have my gallbladder removed. It was devastating news and we had no idea. We knew about the kidney stones but were shocked to hear about the gallstones. So we went back home at 9 pm and I tried to get some sleep. The ER said to call and schedule a surgery the next day.

The next morning I woke up and felt really down and out of it. I called and got an appointment for about 2 weeks later for the surgery. I just stayed home and rested most of the day. Well unfortunately the day got much worse. Starting at about 9 pm I felt another attack come on. This one was so much worse. I really felt like I needed my Dad and Scott to come down and help Dan give me a priesthood blessing. I was so glad to see my parents and Scott at the door, but I was not well, and felt like death. I had taken medicine as well and it didn't seem like it was doing anything again. After they left, I tried to go to sleep even though I was still hurting a lot. I really only slept for a couple of hours. At 1:30 am I woke up with even worse pain and ran to the bathroom to throw-up. I thought I was going to be able to sleep it off and wake up and it would be all over, but it was only worse. I threw up a couple of times. It was probably the worse violent vomiting I have ever had, sorry to be graphic here! I tried to take more medicine with some red jello, because I was told I had to eat with the medicine, and we knew we had to go back to the ER.

So Dan strapped our little 3 1/2 week old Beth in her car seat - poor thing - and drove me back to the ER at about 2 am. This time was so much worse than the night before. I was throwing up in the car and got it all over me. I walked into the ER thinking I might die I was in so much pain. I remember feeling so stupid that I walked in covered in throw up all by myself (Dan had to get Beth out of the car and had dropped me off so I could get in there earlier and wouldn't have to walk through the parking lot) and couldn't even really talk I was in so much pain. But in some ways I didn't care because I knew that I was in the right place now and they could take care of me. I really don't remember a lot from this ER visit though, which I think is a blessing that your mind forgets things. I ended up having to get emergency surgery on my gallbladder right then because it was so inflamed. Right before the surgery, it was 4 am, I remember thinking that Beth had to be fed because I didn't know when she would get to eat, since I was going to be under for a couple of hours (she was still eating every 2-3 hours then). So I literally nursed her as they wheeled me down the hall toward the operating room.

This is really hard to write because there is so many horrible terrifying feelings associated with this time. So I am going to try and make it brief, but I remember waking up and seeing my parents and Dan there at my bed and unfortunately one of the first thoughts I had was why does this still hurt? Shouldn't this pain be gone? Well after the surgery, usually someone with laparoscopic removal of a gallbladder should be able to go home the same day. But I was not getting better. In fact, later that day (October 20th), I remember thinking I actually felt worse believe it or not. They let us have a room in the maternity ward so we could keep Beth with us, but soon the nurses realized there was something else wrong because I wasn't getting better at all. After taking me completely off any food or water, I was just kept on an IV. After running some blood tests, the found out that I had developed pancreatitis! What happened was sometime between my 2 ER visits a gallstone had traveled down from my gallbladder and into my pancreas. It was blocking the pancreas, making it extremely inflamed and was causing a lot of problems. Essentially my body couldn't digest any food at all. It was even more painful having this pancreas problems than having the gallstone problems. The maternity ward nurses and my doctors decided I shouldn't be in the maternity ward any longer because I needed more care and I was getting sicker and sicker so they moved me to the patient tower. That was hard because it wasn't the best idea to have Beth with us in this new area of the hospital. So she just stayed with our families. I ended up being in the hospital for a week. Luckily the stone somehow just moved on its way and over time my levels gradually started getting better. Thank goodness they found this while I was in the hospital because pancreatitis is very serious and much worse things could have happened. I was lucky not to have any organ damage. So here are some things I guess I'll write down to remember from the hospital...

Supportive family - our families were amazing and literally carried us through this time. They took care of our Beth: teaching her how to take a bottle, and my dad taught her to take a binki. They literally took care of her 24-7 passing her from family member to family member. She probably loved all the attention!
Pumping - Because I was trying to keep breast feeding Beth I just had to pump to make sure my supply wouldn't die out. Somehow I got through that. It literally was a miracle that I was able to keep my milk supply having not had real food or water for several days.
Beth was amazing - all of this really seemed to have happened, in some ways, at the perfect time. Beth still didn't really know who was who and she did great going from house to house.
Walking the halls with family members - to get up my strength I would try and walk several times a day around the halls of my hospital floor. Dan and my Dad were great coaches. Helping me walk further and further every day.
Dan working through the night - Dan's job was very supportive and let him stay with me in the hospital so I wouldn't be alone. But he amazed me taking care of me all day and then he would work in our hospital room at night with only the light of his computer. I'm sure the nurses were confused why he never slept. It really touched my heart how he sacrificed for me.
Visitors in the hospital - I loved getting visitors! It was so nice to have people come see me. Everyone was so nice, giving flowers, taking time to say hi, bringing me magazines. It really showed me the support system we have.

This picture is of Dan taking some things to our car the day we got to leave the hospital.

Once we got home it wasn't easier, as you can imagine. I was extremely weak and now had to recover from everything. I couldn't really even pick up Beth very well.

Again, people were so kind and brought us many meals, helped clean our house, and helped with Beth. My mom was literally my angel. She would come over basically every day all day to help me while Dan was at work. Having her there is what helped me to recover. As I got a little stronger, we would go on walks and she would just listen to me as I worked through all the mental repercussions. Mom's are so important! I love you mom!

My mom wanted to take this picture so that we would have some memory of these wretched days.

Although this experience was really hard, I learned so much. The support of our family, friends, and our ward was overwhelming. I don't know what I would do without them all! So thank you to everyone out there! It means so much!

Now on the road to recovery, I could finally get to enjoy Beth.

See future posts for more...

Summer updates!

2010-06-27T14:42:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the third trimester! On this next Saturday I will be 30 weeks along. I am getting more and more excited everyday for this little girl to come into our lives. She kicks so hard now and this past week was the first time that I think I felt her hiccup. If the baby was born now she has over a 90% survival rate. This is great news.

Other fun things going on lately...

I had a bridal shower for my friend Anne who is getting married later this month. It was so much fun to see some of my high school friends. I am so excited for Anne. I think she is marrying a great guy and I couldn't be happier for her.

Have you seen a cuter group of girls?! I haven't...

Back row: Jenny Neff, Mindy Dunn, Lindsey Bauman (holding Bailey), Lisa Margetts, Tracy Robbins, me, Katie Wixom, Andrea Sorenson.

Front row: Katie Plewe, Anne Johansen (soon to be Durham!), Liz Call, Brooke McGavin

Here is Anne opening some presents. You know she loves this!

Cute Liz

Tracy and me

Lisa, Andrea, and Katie

Lindsey, Mindy, and baby Bailey

Anne, Jenny, Katie, and Brooke

Thanks Liz and Tracy for throwing a great shower!

I had to put this in here. A couple Sundays ago we had dinner at the Chipman's. It was such a great meal. Steak with a creamy blue cheese sauce, homemade potato salad, asparagus. But Laura, my mother-in-law, made one my favorite desserts... Shaum Torte. I seriously am in love with this. She made 2 different versions. One is chocolate with raspberries and the other is the original with strawberries. My dream come true. I wish I could eat it again right now.

Also, Dan surprised me with the best day ever on Saturday, June 26th. He said we were going up the canyon so he could go on a hike. I would just wait for him and spend time outside reading a book and relaxing while he was gone. I wasn't really looking forward to have him go on some hike by himself and kind of put up a fight about it, but I realized it would be good to get up in the cool air and spend time outside. So I decided to go. We got ready early in the morning. We packed a backpack with granola bars, breakfast bars, water, and fruit so we could eat it up there. While driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon he pulled into Silver Fork Lodge. He said the trail should be close but wasn't sure where it was so he wanted to ask someone inside. We went into the restaurant and then he says to the host, "2 for breakfast please." I was so surprised. I don't know why I didn't think of this, but I really was shocked! We had such a delicious breakfast out on the patio. The atmosphere was perfect: sunny, birds happily flying around, cool temperature, beautiful landscape. After breakfast he said we were still going to find the hike area. So we kept driving up the canyon and then he stopped at Silver Fork Lake. Once again, I was surprised. I was so happy because we could walk around the lake together and it was something that I could do and wouldn't be too hard for me. I had the best time...

I love this picture.

We walked around the lake twice. It felt so good to breathe the fresh air and be up in the mountains again. As we got to the car, Dan said we should put the backpack in the trunk. As I open the trunk... what was inside?... 2 pillows that I really wanted for our bed. I had told him about it a couple weeks prior when I found them online and showed it to him as we were sitting on the couch. I can't believe that apparently he made a solid memory of them and bought them for me! Look how cute they look (they are the flower ones)...

It doesn't end yet. We picked up a changing table for the nursery and Dan carried the heavy thing all by himself up to our 3rd floor apartment. As we opened the door, I saw a DVD on the ground. It said "Hey baby." Dan encoded the ultrasound from VHS to DVD! I haven't been able to watch the ultrasound because we don't have a VHS player. I was so excited to see it. He put music with it too so it is much more fun to watch. It made me cry to watch the video.

I just feel so blessed to have Dan in my life. He is so nice to me and planned this whole day even when I was being a grouch about him hiking alone. He is one of the most patient people I know. He takes care of me and has been so sweet through all of the funny adventures of pregnancy. I am one lucky girl.

For the 4th of July we went up to Bear Lake. My camera ran out of batteries so unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. :( But it was a great time. There was a smaller group than we usually have, but it was wonderful to be up there again. It makes me realize how much I missed it when we were living away. Summer holiday's just aren't the same without Bear Lake. It was pretty good weather, but very windy so it didn't make much for boating. I didn't mind too much though since I'm not too focused on skiing this season. But even though it was windy, we still made our own fun. On Saturday morning we went on the Limber Pine Trail. We also spent time on the dock and a little bit on the boat. We played a great game of Scum on Sunday night, followed by watching the neighbor's illegal fireworks from the porch, and then star gazed.

On Monday the 5th after driving home, we had a picnic with the Chipman's and then watched Scott's T-ball game. He did such a great job. We were quite the large cheering crowd too. My camera turned on for one second and I caught this picture of him.

After the game, we went to Mark and Mary's house. They kids enjoyed sparklers, and we had delicious homemade ice cream that Mary made. The best part of the evening was when all the kids were playing with Dan and Eric. It was so entertaining for all of us to watch. It was like Dan and Eric were their animals. The kids were ridding around on their backs, being thrown around, boxing and wrestling with them. We laughed a lot.

It has been some good times so far this summer.

Malad Trip

2010-06-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we got to spend the night up in Malad, Idaho at Brinn's family's farm house! It was so much fun. We got there Friday night and enjoyed a delicious dinner, played some horseshoes, had a rambunctious round of Balderdash, and then headed to bed in the bunk room. It was perfect, 4 bunk beds for Dan, Eric, Brinn, and I.

In the morning, Rob and Laura made us a wonderful pancake and sausage breakfast. Thanks for waking up early to make it for us!

David really was quite happy, even though he looks a little sad here. This is just a face that he pulls often. Love that little face!

We enjoyed being outside most of Saturday and the weather wasn't too bad either, just a little windy. I was glad it didn't rain though.

Brinn let us ride Pepper, one of their horses.

Rob even galloped! What a pro!

Dan and Pepper look like they were MFEO (made for each other).

Even David had a ride.

And yes, it is true, I also rode Pepper. Not bad for 6 moths pregnant hu?

My hunk of a husband...

It is so funny because it seems like anytime you get boys outside in the country, they throw rocks.

Brinn's family has pigeons, falcons, horses and dogs. It was fun to see all the different animals.

Eric sure looked handsome in this hat!

We took a little walk/hike to this natural spring. It was so beautiful and green.

The water was so clear. Those who walked across the rocks could take a drink right out of the spring.

The kids were pretty excited to find these little snails. Scott said he wanted to start a collection and take them all home.

We also discovered this pile of large bones. Hand sanitizer anyone?

Mark found this awesome exoskeleton.

After the hike, we got to see a live golden eagle. One of the ranch hands owns a golden eagle. He brought it over to the house to show everyone. It was so neat to see it up close. He even fed it a little treat, a dead baby bird. It made us all squirm a little when it shredded and gobbled it up.

Thanks to Brinn and Eric for planning such a fun weekend! And double thanks to Brinn's family who let us come up. It was so great to get out and feel the fresh air!

(We missed Mia as she had to stay home to work. Wish you could have been there Mia!)

On Sunday, we celebrated my brother Scott's 22nd birthday. We had his yearly dinner choice of hamburgers, sun chips, grape jello, and watermelon. He was pretty excited about dessert too...

yummy ice cream sandwiches.

Cute little Scott! I sure love him and am glad he is in my life. Happy Birthday brother!

Update! Update!

2010-05-06T10:52:00.001-06:00

So in the past 5 months here are some things that have been going on...

On a stormy day in the middle of March we rented our good friend, Penske truck, and moved into our new apartment. Thanks to a lot of help from family and friends, we packed up the truck and got everything into our apartment in just 2 hours. It was the fastest move we have ever had! It was nice of people to help us since this is the 6th time we have moved in just 4 1/2 years. Thank you to everyone!!! We know we will at least be in this apartment for a year. :)

Our 2 bedroom apartment is in Holladay and we love it! It is not totally put together yet, but here are some pictures of what it looks like.

We celebrated Dan's golden birthday! 27 on April 27th. I surprised him by taking him up to The Homestead the weekend before his birthday. We enjoyed eating good food, swimming, relaxing, and on Saturday we hit some balls at the driving range. Luckily there wasn't a picture of me trying to hit the ball. I am not the best at golf. But we had a great time.

(Thanks to Mom and Dad for giving us the nights stay for Christmas!)

Our niece Sadie also has a birthday in April, so we had a joint party with the Chipman clan.

Dan just gets really excited for his birthday.

Sadie requested the best dessert, Rob's famous Chocolate Creme' Brulee.

David and Laura just wished it was their birthdays.

More birthday celebrations for Dan with my family...

On May 1st we got to enjoy Sadie's baptism. I think she just looks so beautiful and grown up.

YESCO celebrated 90 years in business.

I started working for YESCO, my mom's family's business, in March and have really been enjoying it.

Check out these websites for more about the 90 years...

http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-sign-company-given-accolade-by-utah-ag,0,5699721.story

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700028258/Family-owned-Young-Electric-opens-its-new-facility-in-Salt-Lake-City.html

But the best news of all is that I am now 5 months pregnant with a little GIRL!!! We are so excited to take on this new chapter in our lives.

This might be the best picture you are going to get of me as a pregnant lady...

On April 30th we had our ultrasound. Here are the pictures of her.

Of course I had to go shopping and find some darling clothes when I found out the baby was a girl! Whenever I feel discouraged or frustrated by the symptoms of pregnancy I just look at these clothes and it makes me so happy.

My mother-in-law and my cute friend Lindsay Cahoon gave me these shoes.

So much fun!

Everything is looking great with the pregnancy. I am due September 18th so I am 21 weeks along. I can feel her kicking all the time. It makes me so excited. I can't even wait for this little girl to come into the world and to see what she will look like!

Let me know if you have any suggestions for names!

Happy Anniversary!!

2009-12-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today is our 4 year anniversary!

So I thought I would give a shout out to my best friend Dan! This has been the best 4 years of my life! Dan makes me so happy. He is such a great friend to me. Without being too cheesy, I just love him with all of my heart! I really don't think a day has past where Dan hasn't made me laugh. Here are some photos that make me smile thinking back on the good ol' times.

One day, he decided to put on 5 shirts at once, and then he proceeded to dance around performing all different air instruments. I really almost wet my pants I was laughing so hard...

The cutest smile. I love this picture.

I feel so blessed to have Dan as my partner and lover! Thank you for all you do for me!

Sure love you! Happy Anniversary!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2009-12-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today is my Mom's birthday! She is such a great Mom, wife, grandma, and friend! Here are some photos I found of her that will show just how great she is!

One of the things that I love about my mom is how she can have fun. She dresses up every year for Halloween! Here is a picture of her (as a cave woman), my dad, and Sam on Halloween of 2008. That is some serious dedication to have her whole face painted black!

My mom is the Queen of taking pictures. I love this picture of her because this is how I often see her, with a camera in front of her. She is making one great history for our family, I am sure of it! If I ever forget to bring my camera along, rest assured mom will have hers.

Mom is a wonderful Grandma. She loves to spend time with the little kiddies. She will get right down on the floor and play with them, and the grand kids love it. It is really special for me to watch her as a grandma because I realize that is what she was like as a mom to me. She is so creative and thinks of fun things to do with them. She loves them so much.

My mom is interested in our lives! This picture was taken when my parents came and visited us in San Francisco. It meant a lot that my parents came out and visited us. She wanted to see and hear everything about San Francisco. She is involved and cares a lot about our lives. She tries to help us, and it means so much that she is there!

My mom has a strong testimony of the gospel. She studies the scriptures every day, faithfully! She gives 110% to any calling that she has in the church. She does so much behind the scenes and serves constantly. I have many memories of her making dinner for people in the ward. She spends so much time preparing for lessons, and she makes an active life of living the gospel.

My mom loves my dad. They are so cute together, even after 32 years of marriage. This is one of my favorite pictures of them. It is so natural and sweet.

My mom is the such a good mom! She has always been there for me. During hard times and during good times. Thanks for giving your life to all of us kids mom!

I LOVE YOU!!! Happy Birthday!

Really Good Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-11-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

Friends, let me tell you that I have found my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe! It has the perfect sweetness and salt, crunchy outside and soft center. Sigh...

My sister-in-law, Mia, found this recipe and now I will pass it along to you. Thanks be to MIA!!!

Just so you know, THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS!!!

Really Good Chocolate Chip Cookies

*This recipe was clipped out of the San Francisco Chronicle many years ago. There was a cookie recipe contest and this one won.

Serves 10 - or less if you are like me :)

1 cup softened butter (I tried it with 1/2 butter and 1/2 butter crisco and I like it that way too)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

24 oz. Chocolate Chips (I didn't use a full 24 oz. I used Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and used maybe 18 oz.)

2 cups nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs until smooth. Mix flour, soda, salt in a separate bowl then add to creamed mixture. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Stir. Bake 12 minutes.

Home... Safe and Sound

2009-11-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

Just about a month ago we packed up this Penske and drove back home to Salt Lake City.

We hired 2 great movers to help us pack up. I was so glad that we had their help because we ended up filling the truck right to the brim. Their expertise was a life saver as they arranged everything in the truck. It was like fitting in all the pieces of the puzzle. I wasn't sure how Dan and I would have done it without their help. This was what it looked like only 1/4 full.

It was a really strange feeling seeing our apartment completely empty. Walking out of the apartment was kind of like saying goodbye to an old friend. It actually was much harder than I thought it would be.

But I was comforted when I saw these bums as we were entering the freeway...

Goodbye Frisco Bums!

When we arrived home, fall was out full force. I wish I would have taken pictures of the leaves. But it was beautiful. I realized that I missed earth smells, crispy leaves, the mountains, and the smell of grass! Usually it is snowy by early November, but I think we were lucky and fall lingered a little longer.

It did end up snowing last Saturday and I took pictures of the blizzard...

I didn't go anywhere! I just stayed inside, nice and cozy, with the fire going. It was absolutely beautiful outside.

In other news, I cut my hair! It feels so good to be re-united with my beloved hairdresser.

Dan is really enjoying his job. Things are going great with him. I thought I would just show you that he hasn't changed too much... still as cute as ever!

Now I need to explain why I really am glad I am back.

It is all because of these little gems... my nieces and nephews!

Sam and Will

Levi

Patrick

Eliza

Jane, Scott, David, and Sadie

These little ones are who I have missed most! Who wouldn't after seeing these darling faces?

Overall, it really is great being back. I miss San Francisco, but there really is no place like home.

On the Move!

2009-10-11T20:44:00.000-06:00

Just a year ago, we moved to San Francisco. It has been quiet a journey for us. Challenging, adventurous, thrilling, tasking, exciting, and emotional are some words I would use to describe this past year. But this next Wednesday Dan and I are moving back to Salt Lake City. It is completely bittersweet, but it will be good to enter a new chapter.

Here is what my house looks like right now...

In thinking about living here this past year, I have really loved every minute of it. Dan and I have grown so close as we have really relied on each other. I couldn't be more grateful for this experience and I will always think fondly of it. I will forever remember the amazing people I met out here that made a difference in my life.

I guess the song really is true, in some ways I think I did leave my heart in San Francisco.

Judd and Lindsay, how we love you!

2009-09-28T22:55:00.000-06:00

We were lucky to get some visitors a couple weekends ago! Judd and Lindsay drove the 11.5 hours from Salt Lake to come see us and San Francisco. We couldn't have been happier to have them here.

Judd and Dan have been good friends since they were born a couple days apart 26 years ago. They have kept their friendship alive since then. Lindsay and I became even greater friends once we met and although we weren't born at the same time, we sure like each other. Thank goodness we married friends because my life is better having her as a friend.

One of the best things about being with Judd and Lindsay is how we have similar interest. We had 2 full days of fun, adventure, and good food.

Here are some pictures of the good times...

Dan and Judd navigating us around

Foggy world on the GG bridge

BIRD ISLAND!!!!

We found this old military battery. We were really proud of ourselves for this.

Beautiful foggy views on Point Bonita

As we were driving away from the coast we found a pack of raccoons who apparently live in these dumpsters. We stayed inside the car of course and ended up watching them for upwards 5-10 minutes. There were probably about 7 or 8 raccoons.

Cute little fellas, if you like rabies!

It made me think of our little raccoon friend behind our apartment.

Stopped again at the base of GG bridge on our way back to the city.

We are so best friends...

While gazing at the bridge, we happened to see these crazy people on their photo-shoot. Don't look too close, I am pretty sure they are naked under those white cloaks.

I like to think they are taking their engagement photo.

Rodeo beach

While the sun was setting, the Highland Games began. I don't know if anyone was deemed the winner but you can decide for yourself.

Flies up

Seals at Pier 39

We had one of my favorite little treats... a chocolate velvet cupcake from Kara's Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square.

Baker beach

Dan and Judd were determined to jump in the water... here they go!

True love

Cheers to Judd and Lindsay!

We had such a great time with you guys! Thank you for driving a total of 23 hours for 2 days of hang out time. It was so great to be with you. Loved every min of it.