"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

Merry Christmas!

Lucky Seven

Introducing Baby Caleb Anders

April 27th

7lbs 7oz

19 3/4 inches

Sweet Baby

being a big brother can be very tiring ...

Our Top Picks

The baby is almost here and we're making progress in choosing a name. We're now down to a small list of possible names for him. You can see - and vote on - our top picks on the new poll to the right.

I've been getting a lot of Braxton Hicks lately. It can be pretty uncomfortable at times. I don't remember getting much of those with Ian. I'm hoping that the old wives' tale about second babies being born earlier than firsts is true - time goes by so slowly for those who wait ... (you got that right Madonna!)

35 Weeks

Notice how it's a little fuzzy on one side of these pictures? Our camera's been doing that lately and we haven't been able to figure out what's wrong. Maybe it's been dropped one too many times and we might need a new one :(

Preggo Club at Malu's baby shower. Malu is due a week after me. Her shower was today ... I must've eaten most of those brigadeiros there :)

And since I haven't posted any pregnancy pictures, here's (a crappy) one of me at 35 Weeks - Could my belly be any bigger?

Actually, as big as I look here, I was even bigger with Ian - I'm 15 pounds lighter this time around to be exact! Thanks to my doctor (aka the Weight Nazi) who's encouraged me to exercise - walk - and keep active during this pregnancy. She high fived me last time when it showed I had only gained 1 pound, and says if I gain too much she'll have "yell at me" (her words, not mine). Yeah, she's nuts :)

The baby is doing good. He likes to move a lot and keep poking me in the same spot on my left 'till it hurts. He also has hiccups all the time ... just like Ian did. I love the little "nudger", but those hiccups are so annoying when I'm trying to sleep :)

Anyway, less than 5 weeks left for us! I'm so excited to finally be done and be able to hold our baby. These last weeks have gone by quick - baby #2 will be here in no time!

We keep calling him "baby" because we haven't pinned down a name for him yet. We have a little list with a few names on it ... we'll see ...

Oh Happy Day!

So weird how it's almost always sunny every time we have guests over. So far this year we had some friends come stay with us last month from Utah and my parents just left this morning after a couple days - Both times we enjoyed beautiful sunny days the whole time they were here!

Same thing happened last year with a couple of exceptions.

This is so surprising to me since that days like those are hard to come by. Seattle only averages 55 sunny days a year - mostly during summer.

{Today is back to cloudy - oh Mother nature, why do you tease me so?}

As for the rest of the days, we average 226 cloudy days (4th most in the U.S.)

This is what a typical day looks like:

Or this:

Floating Bridge - Cloudy Day

And then there are these glorious-perfect-temperature-beautiful-green-trees-contrasting-with-equally-beautiful-blue-skies SUNNY DAYS. There's nothing like it.

Floating Bridge - Sunny Day

Redmond

Lake Washington

So I guess the message here is come on over ... and don't forget to bring the sun with you :)

Candy is Dandy

Happy Valentine's Everyone. We've sort of been boycotting Valentine's day for years now. At least in the commercial sense. It started out innocently enough. We tried to go out and have a good ol' time on Valentine's day only to be met with crowded restaurants, traffic and sold out signs at the theaters, concerts, and games. Plus they jack up the price for roses and candy {I'm talking chocolate truffles here}. We must've had fun 'cause afterwards we were broke ... you would think. In the end, the best {and cheapest} way to say "I love you" is saying it ...

Tonight we'll avoid the crowds and celebrate a quiet Valentine's day at home with pizza and a movie. Come March we'll splurge on something fun for our anniversary.

Ian was asked to bring one Valentine for each of his preschool classmates. Weird to me that this romantic holiday is for kids, too, but according to Dusty, kids really get a kick out of it. Poor Ian, his mom is the least crafty person in the world. I already feel bad that his preschool bag is not decorated like the other kids' in his class (unless you consider a muddy footprint at the bottom decoration). So I wanted to get this right.

"Dumb question, what's a valentine?" I asked Dusty

"For kids, it's a valentine's card with some candy in it ... that's what we used to do when we were little." He told me.

Wednesday morning, the day of Ian's preschool party, Dustin is all:

"So you know what to look for right? A pack of valentine cards for kids with candy in it" Trying to make sure I don't screw this up for Ian.

"Got it" I said.

I get to Freddy (Fred Meyer) and 30 minutes later, I still can't find this thing. I did find some valentine cards with a monkey on the front and thought it'd be appropriate - but it came with no candy.

Later I call Dusty at work:

"They were all out of the cards with candy, so I bought some without, do you think that's enough?"

"Oohh, I guess we would buy the candy separate and then put them in the envelope" He says.

Duh. {rolling my eyes} I guess I could've thought of that. It was too early to think straight {10 am} ...

At this point, we're already running a little late. I find a Rite Aid on the way to the preschool, run in, buy some candy, run outside only to find out Ian had swiped a shiny yellow car from the store when I wasn't looking {he showed me the car with a big grin on his face - lol} run back in to return the toy car. Back to our CRV ... we made it. Phew.

That day, Ian came home with a bag full of valentine cards and candy - one from each of his little friends. I helped him open and read each one. It gives me an idea of what to do for him next year.

Please Help Bring Sean Home

Imagine your spouse has taken your child away and then refused you any contact with him. Sounds like a nightmare. Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened to a Dad in New Jersey, David Goldman and his son Sean. His wife at the time, Bruna, took their 4-year-old son Sean to her native Brazil, and unbeknown to David, she had no intentions of ever coming back.

It's been over 4 years and little has been done in David's behalf. David was, by all accounts, a good and caring father. Bruna has since passed away. David was able to see his son earlier this month for the first time since his being taken to Brazil. It seems that after some media attention and backing from some authority figures, slow progress is being made. Nothing is certain yet. I read this morning on his website that his case was referred to the Federal court in Brazil.

We live in a crazy world. These and other stories like it we see in the news just break my heart. It makes me hug my son extra tight at night and be grateful for all my many blessings. As a parent, I'm appalled at this mom's behavior. I can't even begin to imagine how much pain and anguish this guy was put through. As a Brazilian myself, I'm very upset it has taken this long for his case to reach Federal court. I pray and hope that Sean and his Dad can be reunited soon.

There's an online petition you can sign at David's website: http://www.bringseanhome.org/- You can also click on "how to help" link at the top for other ways you can help like making a donation or contacting your congressmen.

All Dogs Go to Heaven

Ice

Dustin on a sleddog run. Ice is the lead dog on the left.

The hardest part of having a pet is saying goodbye.

Our dog Ice, who's been living at Dustin's parents for the past several years, passed on a couple of days ago.

She was such a sweet and pretty dog. You couldn't help but like her, even a cat person like myself.

She was so sweet to people but not so nice to the other dogs in the house. If you were petting Ice and and another dog would even try to come close, she would bare her teeth, growl and snap at that other dog and then, a half a second later, turn back to you with her sweet angel face. There's was just something very endearing about that.

Ice was an old dog and it's so sad to know she's gone, but I'm glad she's no longer in pain and that she lived a happy and productive life as a sled dog for Dustin.

Love at First Bite

Last night we had a homemade version of the Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli soup. I was pretty excited to find this copycat recipe online and had been meaning to try it for a while. It turned out pretty good, so I thought I'd share with other soup fans out there:

Ingredients:

Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon of Oil
1 pound of ground beef
1 cup of onion, finely chopped
1 cup of carrots, slivered (I bought a bag of shredded carrots)
2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes with juice
1 15.5 oz. can of Red Kidney Bean
1 15.5 oz. can of White Kidney Bean
32 oz. of Beef Broth
1 1/2 teaspoon of Oregano
1 teaspoon of Parsley, freshly chopped
1 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce
26 oz of Spaghetti Sauce
1 or 2 cups of salad pasta (small tube pasta)

You'll need a big pot.

Directions:

Saute onions in oil until they start becoming translucent in color. Add beef to pot and salt and pepper to taste. Add carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Add beef broth, oregano, Tabasco sauce, spaghetti sauce and parsley. Simmer in low/med heat for about 30 minutes. Add noodles and simmer for another 15 minutes or until noodles are tender. It makes about 5-6 qts. of soup.

Serve with Garlic Bread and sprinkle some parmesan on top!

The recipe asks for fresh parsley which I used, but since it asks for only a teaspoon of it, I'll use dried parsley instead next time. Also, next time I'll add some fresh minced garlic - I think garlic would go great with that recipe.

Enjoy!

Um... You're Coughing On My Kid...

Happy New Year Everyone {Only 29 days late}

So much has happened this year already! We've moved {again} to a bigger place, got a new president and Ian's got his first flu of the year: compliments of the coughing lady in church last Sunday.

I get that we all go to church, among other things, for the spiritual enrichment that can come from a sacrament meeting but, common sense tells me I'm excused from attending my meetings anytime I'm sick with a nasty, highly contagious flu in the dead of winter.

Oh the humanity!

This sister in church was visibly sick: coughing up a storm, sneezing and blowing into her sleeve. Right next to us. Annoying. Even more annoying was realizing she was still there for the third hour, spreading germs in relief society - all I could hear was her coughing.

There was a little sign on our old Lehi ward Nursery's door. It read:

Mary had a little lamb, she also had the flu.
And when she left our Nursery, the others had it, too.
So anytime your kid is sick, please keep her home with you.
So the other children in our Nursery can be happy and healthier, too.

Pathetic that we actually had remind parents NOT to bring their sick children into Nursery. It should be a no-brainer.

Poor Mr. E has been completely miserable since waking up with a fever a few days ago. He's been coughing, sneezing and had to miss preschool this week.

Sorry if I sound a little crass, and while I can't be 100% sure he actually got it from "sleevy", I'll never understand what possesses someone to come to church, or any other public place, while being that sick. Especially church where there are lots of babies, little children, elderly and other people with weak immune systems who can be seriously affected by it.

The Best Things in Life Are Not Things

We were eating at a sandwich shop (jimmy john's) the other day and noticed this story on the wall. I thought it was interesting - one of those stories that puts things in perspective. Here's the story:

A wealthy investment Banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The Banker complimented the Fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Fisherman replied, ‘only a little while.’

The Banker then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Fisherman said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The Banker then asked, ‘but what do you do with the rest of your time?’

The Fisherman said, ‘I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.’

The wealthy banker scoffed, ‘I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.’

The Fisherman asked, ‘But, how long will this all take?’

To which the Banker replied, ‘15 - 20 years.’

‘But what then?’ Asked the Fisherman.

The Banker laughed and said, ‘That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions - then what?”

The Banker said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”