The Bells are Ringing

Introducing...

2011-09-05T00:30:00.002-06:00

Landon Gregory and Juliana Lynn Bell. They were born August 26th via c-section and are now home and doing very well.


Landon (left) and Juliana (right)

I had planned on uploading another post a few days ago with the names we'd chosen. I figured I had time until September 1st, the date of my scheduled c-section. WRONG!

I had been having random Braxton Hicks contractions for a couple of weeks and had had 3-4 actual contractions. No real signs of impending labor. Thursday night, I had a pretty bad headache, almost a migraine, so I took something for it and went to bed. I was feeling very uncomfortable because both babies were really high, basically hitting my ribs, but I managed to sleep in one long stretch until 4:00 a.m. thanks to the headache medicine. I got up to go to the bathroom and it was then that my water broke. Well, time to call the doctor. This was at about 4:30- 4:45.

He had us go to Labor & Delivery so I could be checked. We got Amber ready and dropped her off at a friend's house, then headed to St. Luke's hospital. Thank goodness for the fact that we live in a small(ish town). As we kept driving, I kept leaking amniotic fluid (TMI, I know) and I was starting regret the fact I didn't bring more towels with me.

Once at the hospital, they confirmed I was in labor. They hooked me up to monitors in triage and saw that I was having some mild contractions and babies were doing fine, but it was Landon's water that had broken.

At first they were going to have me wait and said they would take care of another c-section already scheduled for 7:00. That was fine with me, but when they called my doctor, he told them he'd be doing my c-section first, so they started prepping me and gave Andrew his scrubs while we waited for him to come in. He got there quickly, and we were in the Operating Room in a matter of minutes.

The anesthesiologist (the same I had last time - who was awesome) started the spinal block. I had some not so fun side effects (mostly dry heaving), but they passed fairly quickly. Andrew came in and the rest was a blur of activity. Cutting, clamping, pulling, and out comes Landon, crying. Then some pushing (by the doctor and nurses) and moving around and Juliana comes out, crying as well. Landon was born at 7:26 a.m. and Juliana at 7:27 a.m.

Andrew helped clean up both babies, took some pics and asked the nurses to take a couple.

I was then wheeled to recovery, where I spent a few hours. In the meantime, Andrew went up to the nursery with both babies. I finally got to see them at about 1:00 p.m.

It looks like Juliana took a lot of Landon's food over the past few weeks. Although he was baby A and seemed to have more room to grow during the pregnancy, he weighed 5 lbs 6.8 oz at birth (he measured 19.5") , while Juliana weighed 6 lbs 6 oz (she measured 21.5"). So far they've both been eating well and they really like being in the same bassinet (I love watching them). Their little personalities are starting to show :)

We are in so much trouble....

What's the story? (Part III - up to date)

2011-08-09T19:00:00.003-06:00

I guess I forgot that some of my (3.5) readers didn't know what we're having. I just assumed I'd told everyone in person, via email or Facebook. Obviously not.

Well, we are having a boy and a girl :) Here are a couple of snapshots from the 20 week ultrasound in April (could have posted these 3+ months ago, I know...)

Baby boy

Baby girl

...and a little sibling rivalry in utero

Andrew and Amber came with me to the ultrasound. Amber was kind of interested in the babies, but mostly it was a bit boring: dark room, not much talking, a TV with no cartoons. The ultrasound tech was very sweet and gave her paper and crayons, which entertained her for most of the time. Andrew was just hoping at least one of the babies would be a boy, so he was watching the screen very closely. Well, the first baby she scanned was Baby Girl, and Andrew just couldn't help it: "Can you go over and scan the other baby before you measure this one?" The tech responded with a firm "No", and let him squirm for a few more minutes. Once she found everything was fine with Baby A (girl), she moved on to Baby B. I think Andrew's exact words were "Is it just wishful thinking, or am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Yep, Baby B = boy.

The weeks after that ultrasound seemed to go by slowly, but starting at about 27-28 weeks, it feels like everything sped up and we're now at 35 weeks, only 5 weeks away from the due date. Because Amber had to be delivered via c-section, my doctor didn't want to put the babies or me at risk and scheduled a repeat c-section. That will be on September 1st, a little more than 3 weeks away! I KNOW!

Right now, we're trying to prepare as much as we can, but I have a feeling we won't have time to do all the things we'd like to do before these babies get here. Oh well, at least their room is painted...

What's the story? (part II)

2011-06-12T21:56:00.000-06:00

Caution: I will be using the words "ovary", "eggs", and "fertility" in this post. You have been warned.

Where was I...? Oh yes, New Year's Eve and the positive pregnancy test.

Well, I was very excited, but I the same time I kept second guessing myself. Had I tested too soon? Were the hormones from the trigger shot still in my body? A trigger shot is HCG injection that releases eggs once they're mature. HCG is also the pregnancy hormone detected by pregnancy test, so testing too soon could show a false positive. I know, you're hearing much more about my medical/reproductive health than you ever wanted to know. So, I figured I would test the next day, see if the 2nd line on the test grew fainter or darker. Well, on New Year's Day, I took another test and the line was darker, so I felt pretty confident this wasn't just leftover HCG from the trigger shot. I decided to send a picture text to my parents to surprise them with the news (they didn't know we gone through fertility treatments in December). I send the text and a few minutes later my mom calls. "Really? Are you sure?" " Yes, Mom, pretty sure, although it's very, very early." Meanwhile, in the background, my dad keeps asking "Is it hers?" No, Dad, I just go around stealing/randomly taking pictures of other women's positive pregnancy tests.

Well, the pregnancy was confirmed later that week at the doctor's office and a date set for an ultrasound a few weeks later, at the end of January. In the meantime, you know how I was talking about second guessing myself? I did plenty of that while I waited for the for the date of the ultrasound. Was I still pregnant? The symptoms were different. Did that mean anything?

Well, the date of the ultrasound finally arrived. Andrew had to work that day, so I went by myself. The tech started the ultrasound and everything looked normal. "There's the baby. Everything looks great so far," she said. I told her about some of my symptoms, some of the aches and pains I had been feeling in my belly, which I thought might have to do with the injections and how they had stimulated my ovaries. She offered to check their size, make sure things were getting back to normal. As she moved the ultrasound probe, all of a sudden, this bubble moved across the screen. 'What was THAT?' I thought. "There are two!" the tech blurted out. Talk about shock. I knew that, because of my age, the chances of a multiples pregnancy were higher, but at the same time, there were fewer mature eggs during this cycle than the number I had when we conceived Amber, so I didn't think having twins was a possibility.


This picture is actually of the 2nd ultrasound, two weeks later.

I left the fertility clinic in a bit of a daze. Was this really happening? I sent a picture message of the ultrasound to Andrew... no answer. I called a while later... voice mail. Alright, desperate times call for desperate measures. I headed over to Andrew's work and handed him the ultrasound pictures. "Doce?" (12 in Spanish) "No, no, not twelve! Just two," I said. After a laugh and congratulations from Andrew's co-workers, now there were two of us in a daze. We talked for a little while and it was time for me to let him go back to work and leave. We shared the news with family and friends, still trying to come to grips with the news. Now, assuming everything went well, we had to wait another 12 weeks (3 months) to find what we were having (babies, of course)....

What's the story, morning glory? (part I)

2011-05-21T09:50:00.011-06:00

Well, I figured it was about time I posted an update. Every time I look at that baby ticker on the right, it keeps whispering "well, are you gonna post anything? only 6/5/4 months left, heeellooo!"

Here's the story:

As most of you may know, we went through fertility treatments to conceive Amber. I wasn't sure if/when we'd have the chance to have more children. In the fall of 2009, Andrew told me he thought it was time to try again. I felt the same way, but the day after we talked about it , he lost his job, so we had to put things on hold. Andrew decided to sign up at the local college to get a degree as a surgical technologist, which would take about 2 1/2 years. He started his first semester in January 2010. During the next few months, I found myself getting used to the idea that maybe we were not going to be able to have any more children. By the time he could finish his degree and secure a job, I would be almost or already 40 years old, and I felt uneasy going through treatments after that age.

Andrew went through his first 3 semesters, doing very well and preparing to apply for the Surgical Tech program in March of this year (he'd been working on prerequisites). Sometime in late October/ early November of last year, he approached me again and said he felt it was time for us to try to have another child. I was stunned. Here we are, he's not even halfway through the program, I'm working part-time and doing freelance work. It just didn't seem like the right time to me. Still, I thought and prayed about it, and started feeling that maybe we could make it work. We agreed we would only do one round (one month) of fertility treatments. If it worked, wonderful. If it didn't, we would wait or eventually decide not to try again.

We met with our doctor and she suggested we replicate the treatment that helped us conceive Amber. We started treatment at the beginning of December (injections, yay!). We were done with the injections by mid December; now we had to get through the dreaded 2-week wait. There isn't much you can do during those two weeks, other than over analyze every symptom you think you have and count down the days until you can find out whether or not you're pregnant. I had symptoms, but I didn't know if I should chalk them up to the side effects of the injections or (secretly) hope I was pregnant.

Finally, New Year's Eve came around and I could not wait any longer. I stocked up on pregnancy tests and took one of them that day.


two lines!

It's over!

2010-10-16T12:33:00.000-06:00

At last! The long-awaited (by me) ending to The Willow story. So, last month, after doing some preliminary cutting and pruning, we had a few friends over to help us cut down the willow.

There was much pulling

Sawing and clipping

A little stomping

Even more sawing


A few casualties


And an oops or two

It was all over within a couple of hours, so we can't complain. You would not believe how different the house looks without the willow in the front yard. Several neighbors drove by and looked sad about our getting rid of the tree, but based on the complaints made to our HOA, I think they were all lying :P.

Here's the climactic ending tot he Willow Saga, and the source of the post title:

Pulling a The David Cook for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ... and ice cream

2010-10-01T11:14:00.003-06:00

So, first of all, a disclaimer to my 4-5 faithful readers: I will finish the willow story in my next post. This post is part of a multi-blog prank initiated by Aunt Becky, over at Mommy wants Vodka and it's for charity. Oh yeah, and whoever wins gets a year's supply of ice cream. How could I say no? By the way, I will be repeating the words "LLS" and "Light the Night" and "The David Cook" ad nauseum, so brace yourselves.

Why pick The David Cook of all people?

David Cook & puppy - what could be cuter?

Well, because he has some AWESOME songs, he's cute, he can rock manliner like nobody's business and, most importantly, he is dedicated to helping out charities. He's come out with a charity single, he brings attention to brain cancer and the need for a cure, and also runs and raises fund for other charities. The definition of pulling a The David Cook for charity is to mess with Google and it's all-knowing algorithm to drive traffic to the websites of charities and other worthy causes and in the process get our posts (like this one) to the top of the Google search list. So pulling a The David Cook we are!

Some of you may have received emails from me about the upcoming Light the Night Walk on October 7th. Yes, I know, it's getting annoying, but fear not, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 's Light the Night Walk is in a week, so this will all be over soon :). FYI for the last time, here's my page if you'd like to donate:

http://pages.lightthenight.org/oswim/Boise10/vbellj

Why do I want to bring so much attention to LLS ? Because the cure for the many types of leukemia and lymphoma is within our reach, the researchers are working as hard as they can, the just need, (you guessed it) money. Because many people and their families struggle to come up with the money to pay for the treatment they so badly need (even with insurance). That's why I'm involved with Light the Night Walk and why I want people to know about LLS.

Every 4 minutes someone is diagnosed with leukemia

An estimated 137,260 people in the United States will be diagnosed
with leukemia, lymmphoma or myeloma in 2010

Every ten minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer

In my line of work, I've sat in hospital rooms many time, but don't think I'll ever forget the time I interpreted for a doctor as she told the family of a young teenage girl she had been diagnosed with leukemia. As heartbreaking as that was, I found within minutes that leukemia was nothing new to this family. The girl's mom had already gone through it a few years earlier, and so had her older sister. There wasn't much I could do in that room, but that experience is another reason for me to support LLS and the Light the Night Walk. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society offers support in the following ways:

A Patient Financial Aid Program that provides a limited amount of financial support

to patients with financial needs

A Copay Assistance Program , offering help toward the cost of insurance copayments and other premiums

Resources for prescription drug coverage (especially for those without insurance)

It doesn't take much to help out. A donation of $10, $20 is all it takes to help provide some lifesaving resources. According to LLS in 2009 alone there were more than 90 clinical trials going on to find new treatments that will help patients improve their quality of life while fighting blood cancers. One of the current or future clinical trials can bring a CURE.

I have become a Permanent supporter of LLS. Will you leave a Light on for them?

Please do it for David Cook, k?

If' you've made it all the way here, congrats! Now, if you decide to comment, please use the words LLS, Light the Night and/or David Cook. Now go pull a The David Cook for charity on your blog and tell Aunt Becky about it!

Oh, and I saw this in another prankster's blog post (I hope she won't mind): LLS, LLS, LLS, LLS, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Light the Night, Light the Night, LLS, LLS, LLS. Ok, now I'm done

Tomorrow, tomorrow, la la la , tomorrow

2010-09-10T23:50:00.004-06:00

When we first bought our house, Andrew and I were pretty excited about all the trees that came with it. 10-12 trees lining the back fence, 3 others in the backyard closer to the house, and 2 trees up front. Well, within the first couple of years of living here, our excitement over said trees waned significantly. And now we're at the point of "can we just cut down that tree already?!" One of the trees that has made me utter such statement is THE WILLOW.

According to our neighbors, there were 2 or 3 of guys who lived in this house 10-12 years ago, and they planted every tree we inherited with the house. Apparently, this willow (which towers about 10 ft over our house) was first this tiny, flimsy little seedling that was not supposed to last more than a few weeks. Well, he (she/it) showed them! It's not just the sheer size of it. It's the fact that the roots are going everywhere, and threatening to mess up our driveway and the sidewalk, the leaves (oh, the leaves) in the fall, the fuzzies (or whatever they're called) in spring. Not to say that's it's not a fun tree. There are lots of things you can do with a gargantuan weeping willow...

Jeepin'. Summer of 2006 (2 a.m.)

Our initials

But the nuisances outweigh the fun, so go it must.

Well, this spring and summer, Andrew (with the help of friends) has been taking down most of the trees lining the fence, and he's decided to tackle the willow this weekend (happy dance!). Today he spent some time cutting down some long, skinny branches.

To be continued tomorrow...

Hello again!

2010-03-27T13:23:00.000-06:00

I LOVE the new template designer tool on Blogger. This is my first try at it, but I'll probably keep playing with backgrounds, fonts,etc for a while. It's too much fun!

Anyway, the past couple of months have been busy:

- I'm still working at the courthouse. My boss was on maternity leave, so I worked (mostly) full time for about 6 weeks. My schedule is almost back to normal. Two full days a week and then freelance work.

- Amber is now a Sunbeam! The first few weeks in January were a little tough. She wanted to go back to Nursery and play with toys, but she adapted in a few weeks and she's loving her new class and teacher.

- Andrew started college classes on January 19th. He's attending the College of Western Idaho and is doing very well. Mostly A's and B's!

Well, that's a quick catch-up of the beginning of the 2010. I'll be back soon with other posts.

Lost

2010-01-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

No, not the show! The title refers to the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 30 days. Remember I mentioned I had fallen behind? Well, I'm still reading. It turns out my reading speed is nowhere near what I thought it was. I decided the worst thing I could do, once the 30 days were over, was to just give up and stop reading. So here I am, in the middle of Alma... I'll keep you posted with my progress.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T22:56:00.002-07:00

Every time Christmas comes around, Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven" is one of my favorite songs to play. About 15 years ago, while I was attending LDS Business College, I had this wonderful Old Testament and choir instructor, Sister Margot Butler. One day, a few weeks before Christmas, we were sitting in choir practice, and Sister Butler brought a CD to play for us. There was this beautiful painting of Mary, the mother of Jesus on one of the walls of the choir room. Sister Butler asked us to look at that painting as we listened to the song. I wish I could find an image of this painting on the internet, but have never been able to find one. Anyway, I think that painting is an accurate depiction of the following verse in the song:

Do you wonder

As you watch my face

If a wiser one should've had my place

But I offer all I am

For the mercy of your plan

Help me be strong

Help me be

Help me

This video takes me back to that time 15 years ago, as I listened to that song, trying to imagine what Mary thought and felt as she was told of the mission she was to fulfill.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was lovely.

As for my Book of Mormon challenge, I have fallen behind (not to proud of that, hence the small font), but I am working on catching up.

I will

2009-11-30T22:29:00.004-07:00

How long has it been since I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover? Ohhh, probably some 20 years or so. There, it's out in the open. I haven't read it all the way through since my seminary days.

Last Sunday, our bishopric issued the challenge of reading the Book of Mormon in 30 days. One of the best ways to keep the Christmas season focused on Christ, as it should be. I've decided to take up the challenge.

I'll keep you posted on my progress...

Misconstrued

2009-11-09T19:23:00.002-07:00

Andrew: Amber, can you get Daddy's boots?

Amber: Your boots?

Andrew: Yeah, can you get Daddy's boots?

5 minutes later...

Amber: Here you go! Here's your boots!

Happy (Quarantine) Birthday!

2009-10-13T22:57:00.001-06:00

I meant to do a birthday post for Amber last week, but as some of you may know, we've had a flu outbreak in our house. Number of victims: 2 (Bucky and I *seem* to have escaped it - *seem* being the operative word). We've barely left the house or allowed anyone to come in for the past 7-10 days.

I was just thinking, this time three years ago, we had just spent our first full day home with Amber. It's so crazy to think it's been three years! Just yesterday, I was going through Amber's box (my collection of stuff from her first year), and found this:

I remember we (well, I) had a whole list of names before she was born, but we couldn't decide on one. Andrew hated the ones I liked, and I hated the ones he liked. I had been playing with my mom's and Andrew's mom's middle names, but nothing seemed to come together. I found the name Amber in a book and added at the top of the list. Then one day, Andrew told me "How about Amber Marie?" And that was it. He had it written on that same sheet of paper:

Anyway, I had also planned on having a small birthday party (more like a big playdate) for Amber on the 9th but that didn't happen either because Andrew was already sick, and Amber was getting sick, so we'll see when I can do a "Better-late-than-Never" party. In spite of feeling sick, Amber had a good day. She spent the morning at Tammy's while I worked in Cascade and then, once Andrew came home that evening, she opened presents and her awesome Daddy made her a cake. Check it out...

Sprinkles as far as the eye can see, inside and out...

A birdseye view

Amber had already received a couple of birthday gifts from my parents while they were in town last weekend (more on that in another post). They got her two new friends, Buzz and Woody, and she's been playing with them since she got them.

This just means they're friends, in Amber's world. No funny business...

And they also gave her a pretty pretty princess (as an old friend of mine used to say)

We got her a goofy elephant and a bunch of whos...

and some flying friends too:

It was a nice, quiet birthday, and it was great!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

I remember...

2009-09-11T21:14:00.002-06:00

I spent a few hours this afternoon writing down my memories of September 11th. Then I hit Publish and realized I had been logged off from Blogger for who knows how long. I took that as a sign. Maybe I'll share those memories another time. For now, it's enough for me to know that I haven't forgotten...

True Love is...

2009-08-27T20:44:00.007-06:00

Missing out on seeing these guys in concert...

Slipknot
This is the only photo I could find where they were not wearing make up.
When they do (wear make up) they're SCARY!

... so your wife can meet this guy...

Blake Shelton

Thank you, Honey! I love you!

Spring and Summer Photographic Overload

2009-08-12T23:51:00.007-06:00

Here are the long ago promised pictures from the past few months (April through July). Click on each picture to see the album for the month.

I'm still in the process of downloading the pics from our trip to Seattle (at the end of July), so those will come a little bit later (hopefully not in another two months, haha ... no, really).

Back again...rambling on

2009-05-28T18:28:00.019-06:00

As usual, every few months, it seems I (we) fall off the face of the Earth, in blogging terms. I suppose I could say I have a valid reason for slacking off on my blogging duties, but I'd be lying, because I don't, really. I can't say nothing exciting has happened in the last 2 months, because we've done plenty of fun stuff. I can't say "I simply don't have the time," because I do, in fact, have time. I just seem to spend most of it checking out other people's blogs and playing on Facebook.

I have never been a good/consistent journal writer. I have never been a good writer, period. You've heard that saying: "Those who can't do, teach." Well, in my case, it would be "Those who can't write, translate," or interpret, in my case. In college, I had a hard time writing a cohesive 5 page paper. 5 pages! Can you imagine me going on to grad school and trying to write a dissertation? I mean, have you seen most of the posts on this blog? 2-3 paragraphs tops. I guess my dreams of being a Dooce /CJane /Amelia are now dashed. * (sad, so sad :P)

I am back, nonetheless, and there will be camping, spring and summer pictures coming up soon.

* If you don't know who these bloggers are, the first two are well known cheeky / sarcastic / entertaining bloggers that have a fairly large followings in the blogosphere. The 3rd one is my sis-in-law, and those three adjectives I just mentioned apply to her blog as as well.

If at first you don't suceed...

2009-03-23T23:16:00.007-06:00

So, I have a mini-vacation of sorts this week and decided to try something new: making bread (in this case, rolls). It may not seem like that big of a deal, but you have to understand, the last time I tried making bread I used a bread machine, and the bread came out so dense, the paddle got stuck inside the "loaf"(if you can call it that...). Traumatic indeed.

Well, this time things went much better...

I think I'm now ready to take on Allison's freezer jam :)

Popcorn - Take # 24

2009-03-17T21:46:00.008-06:00

Hi again! Yes, I know, it's been a while :)

Well, here we are, and as you can see by our layout,
Spring is almost here!
So, to usher in the new season here is
a little performance by Amber.

(it took a while to get it on film, hence the title of the post)

A little perspective

2009-02-15T16:33:00.018-07:00

So, last week I had one of "those" days.

First, I had get through 90+ minutes of this to get to work...

while loaded up on some of this stuff, thanks to a miserable cold...

and, to add insult to injury, I opened my purse when I got to work
and found this had happened to my new phone...
(red marking added for emphasis ;) )

Funny thing, it only took five minutes of this to get me back into a (very) good mood...

Wha..?! I'm up, I'm up!

2009-02-06T08:45:00.026-07:00

This picture is from Christmas morning (2008)
but it's very close to what I see every morning around 6:30 a.m.

Let's face it, I am not, never have been and never will be a morning person. And Amber seems to have inherited that tendency from me . I drag myself out of bed every morning and, after getting a few things ready for the day ahead, I go into Amber's room to wake her up. This usually takes about a minute or two. . .or five. I usually sit on her bed and start calling her name softly a few times . . . nothing. Then I give her a few kisses... nothing still, and then suddenly she bolts up, bleary-eyed, hair pointing every which way, and looks around as if saying "what happened?! wha..!? I'm up, I'M UP!"

Poor child, she is so used to waking up at 6:15 a.m., when darkness still reigns both inside and outside our house, that the other night I went to check on her before heading to bed, and as I moved her around to rearrange her covers a bit, she sat up and started trying to get out of bed. It took quite a few "no, no, it's ok, go back to sleep. Mom's just checking on you," but she eventually curled back up in bed and went to sleep. I gave her a kiss, and as I was walking away I heard "love youuu." :)

Travel Log

2009-02-02T22:30:00.001-07:00

We are back by popular demand! (you know who you are ;) ) Amber and I had a chance to spend a week's vacation in unusually sunny Seattle last month. Here's what we did...

SATURDAY (JAN 17th)

We flew up up and away, above a cloudy Boise sky

Landed in Seattle

...then went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa

SUNDAY

Got ready for church (and checked on everyone else).

Amber caught up on some family history...mostly about herself :)

After church, we went for a walk with Grandpa

... and hung out at the park.

MONDAY

My dad didn't have to work that day, so we went to lunch.

Amber got not one but two balloons (to the envy of a little boy sitting a few tables away).

We spent the afternoon watching a movie (or 2 1/2),

and rented one of these to get us around town for rest of the week.

TUESDAY

Amber got this

... and I got this

... before sitting down to watch this.

Later on, we picked Grandma up from work and went off to play

We took some time out to fly a helicopter

... and go 4 wheelin'.

WEDNESDAY

Amber went horseback riding for the first time and love-love-love-loooooved it

That evening, she and her cousin Jack spent some quality time at Red Robin.
(and yes, that was the second time we went there in one week :) )

THURSDAY

Thursday it was time for a playdate for Jack and Amber.

... and me too!

Yes, those legs you see right there belong to yours truly. :P

FRIDAY

In the morning, we went here --> http://www.kcls.org/covington/ to get my mom a library card.

We spent time shopping and doing some more of this...

took "him" back...

And went to dinner here

SATURDAY (JAN 24th)

After a nice bath
(NOT the first one that week, just the only one I actually "documented")

We packed up and headed over to the airport.
Amber had a chance to spend time in the airport's play area.
(Thanks, Mr. Friendly TSA guy, for telling us about it!)

And off we flew back to Boise!

Hopefully, this post means I'll be updating the blog more often than every 3 weeks, but don't hold your breath :P

... AND HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!

Little Carly Wade is here!

2009-01-10T22:44:00.006-07:00

Well, she got here on December 19th but, as you've seen, I haven't been updating our blog very regularly in the past few weeks (I haven't even posted Christmas pictures yet), so that's why it took three weeks for this post to arrive. On the other hand, Carly was due around January 16th, so in my own dorky way I'm ahead! (nah, not really)

Christmas Day - she was a week old

Carly Nicole Wade is the daughter of Amelia and Jeremiah Wade and she was born at 4:13 p.m. on December 19th, 2008. She weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 19.5 inches long/tall.

Amber loves watching her little cousin sleep and talking about "baby"... and so do we (well, I) come to think of it. :)

Congrats, Amelia and Jer,
and welcome to the world, Carly!

My favorite Christmas stuff

2008-12-24T19:22:00.019-07:00

And now that we've covered the past 3 months, I can share with you some of my favorite Christmas songs and movies (or I guess they're songs IN movies). Anyway....

Hugh Grant as Britain's Prime Minister
after he stands up to a bullyish US President (Billy Bob Thornton...yeah, I know)
(Love Actually *)

The Christmas school show / play in Love Actually *
The little spiky-haired drummer learns to play drums to impress Joanna, the singer
(and yes Joanne, that's Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, as husband and wife)

The Paris "BellHarmonic" led by Quasimodo in a rendition of " Carol of the Bells"
(Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas)

More Claymation with the Three Wise Men and their smooth singing camels

What list could be complete without The Muppets ?
Bob (Kermit) Cratchit's family singing "Bless Us One and All" in
The Muppet Christmas Carol

And since we will be getting (yet) more snow on Christmas Day, here is my finale,
"White Christmas"

* If you'd like to watch Love Actually, I strongly suggest you watch the network version or certain cable versions (like on TBS) instead of renting the DVD. The movie is rated R (yes, I know, I'm evil). Although it has some very cute scenes, it also has some scenes that are not so great (and unnecessary in my opinion...)

A Season of Gratitude

2008-12-22T22:29:00.010-07:00

Yes, I know that as I post this, it is the evening of December 22nd, 2 days until Christmas, and I'm just now getting to blog about Thanksgiving. I would tell you why, but I already did, so if you really want to know, go here.

Continuing with our Holiday Flashback, we spent Thanksgiving at Stan and Leslie's home (Stan is one of Andrew's older brothers). They just moved to Kimberly, ID (near Twin Falls) and were gracious enough to host Thanksgiving dinner and let us stay with them for a couple of nights.

Forgive the lack of actual dinner pictures, but I was part of the preparation / feeding of a 2-year-old / cleaning crew, so my pictures were mostly limited to time spent playing, hanging out, etc.

Amber going for a "hike" after dinner

Sisters-in-law: Leslie and daughter Jessica (right) and Jenn

The unveiling of the turkey piñata (made by Stan, Leslie, Justin and Jessica)

Joey gets a good swing at it

First, the head and a leg came off the turkey.
The boys (Ethan, Joey and Justin, from left) ponder what to do with them.
The head was later stomped, to the delight of all boys present.

Diving in for goodies

The boys, surveying their loot.
Click on the picture to see Ethan's (second from left) orderly row of Hershey Kisses.

Lest you think it was all fun and games, there is a reason I chose the title for this post, and here are the things for which I'm grateful this year:

Health: Our entire family has had a quite uneventful year, as far illness and doctor's visits are concerned.
Love: We've spent time with family and kept in touch with friends.
Our ward / the Gospel: We have been very blessed for the past three and 1/2 years, to be part of a loving, united ward. Our friends, leaders, home and visiting teachers have shared with us the pure love of Christ.
Work / self sufficiency: At a time when many people are losing jobs or homes, we have been able to keep both, and I was even blessed to have a job fall right in my lap, and to have a friend care for Amber while I go to work.

Every year, when Thanksgiving comes around, these words (from a song by Don Henley) come into my mind:

I've got great expectations

I've got family and friends
I've got satisfying work
I've got a back that bends
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

For every moment of joy
Every hour of fear
For every winding road that brought me here
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

For everyone who helped me start
And for everything that broke my heart
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

Forward and Back - Halloween '08

2008-12-11T18:32:00.017-07:00

Well, I'm going back a bit so I can move forward (with blogposting) without skipping over the past two months...

First, right after Amber's birthday, we had the Linder Ward Halloween party. Amber had received dress up clothes for her birthday, so we decided to make a costume out of them. She looked quite precious as a little Tinkerbelle (not that I'm biased or anything).

Our cute little Tinkerbelle

...and her sparkly wings

Practicing her pageant wave with Dad during the parade...

Suzie and Amber looking for lollipops in the pool o' popcorn
(although they were mostly just eating the popcorn)

On Halloween night, for the first time since we moved to Meridian, we went trick-or-treating instead of passing out candy. At first I wasn't too sure we would go. Amber was all dressed up and loved it, but any mention of the words "trick-or-treat" or just "treat" made her cry. Eventually we just told her we would just "go for a walk". I guess that was the magic password, because she rushed to the door saying "Walk? Walk?" And off we went... Amber had some candy that night and in the few days that followed, but let's face it, at her age, most of the candy goes to Mom and Dad =).

Here's our little Tinkerbelle* after an exhausting (trick-or-treating) "walk"

* By the way, did you know that Andrew's nickname as a kid (and teenager) was Tinker? It's true =) And he's told me time and again that they gave him that name because he liked "tinkering" with stuff. I don't know....I think it was because of his last name. You know...Tinker Bell... and yes, he may get mad at me for divulging this well kept family secret, but hey, he doesn't read this blog that often. It will be a while... ;)

We're back!

2008-12-06T14:16:00.006-07:00

I know, I know, it's been over a month. Things have been a little crazy. Right before my last post, I interviewed for and later accepted a new job: staff interpreter at the Ada County courthouse. It's been challenging and rewarding work, and it's made November (and now December) a very busy month.

This is where I work - the Ada County courthouse (Boise, ID)

I'll be posting Halloween, Thanksgiving and (random) December pictures shortly, but I just wanted to have a new post...it's been so long =)

Just in the nick of time...

2008-11-03T18:35:00.005-07:00

I had a chance to do this on October 23rd...

That's why I have a chance to do this tomorrow...

And now, a few words from our sponsor...
Craig Ferguson
(another newly minted citizen)

Who are you voting for?
(don't forget to take this week's poll)

They say it's your birthday!

2008-10-10T08:43:00.000-06:00

Amber turned two yesterday.

(Already? you say... I can't believe it either)

A cute card from Grandma and Grandpa

After a "Happy Birthday!" , the day started off like most days: we had breakfast, watched cartoons and did a little cleaning around the house. Then Amber stayed at a friend's house while I worked (over the phone). After that, we went window shopping for a "big girl bed" ( this will be a joint gift between Grandma and Grandpa Molnar and Mom and Dad) and bought "Big Bird's First Book of Letters ". Once we came home, it was time for a nap, and while Amber slept, I took care of few other things (work and house related) until Andrew came home.

At about 7:30ish, a UPS truck came by with a present from Christian, Kristen, Hannah, Ethan and Jack (in Seattle).

Oh fun! A box!

Mmm... packing peanuts

A birthday card from Christian, Kristen and the kids

Cute!

A dress-up trunk with 2 Tinkerbelle dresses - wings and everything!

Later on, Amelia and Jeremiah came over for some pizza and birthday brownies, and some more present-opening madness ensued =).

What is that, uncle Jer?

Letter magnets!

Look at that smile and those hands

Let's Rock!

Please don't make me blow out the candles!

Aaalright, I'll do it

Mmm, chocolatey goodness
(much better than packing peanuts...)

That was Amber's birthday in a blogger nutshell... which reminds me, we started this blog a year ago with a mention of Amber's birthday.
It just goes to show you, it's all about...

What we did this summer

2008-10-06T16:32:00.001-06:00

Well, I haven't been very good about posting regularly during the summer, and since Fall's already started, I better post a recap now!!

Below you'll find photo albums* of our summer adventures...

Blue Angels - July '08

Twin Falls temple

Trip to Seattle - September

One last thing that happened this summer: after waiting for a full year to hear from Immigration Services about my application for naturalization, I finally received a notice for my interview! The interview took place September 26th, and was quick an painless (2 words I would hardly ever use to describe immigration procedures...) and the naturalization ceremony is scheduled for October 23rd. Finally!

* I'm so thankful Picasa Web decided to re-introduce the "Embed Album" feature. It makes it 10 times easier to post albums in blogs.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

2008-09-30T11:02:00.014-06:00

No, no, this post has nothing to do with the movie "A Christmas Story" or with Christmas for that matter.
Halloween isn't even here yet.
This post has to do with sippy cups, of all things.

Amber just asked me for her favorite sippy cup. It has a flip-up straw and has been very useful in helping Amber transition out of more bottle-like sippies. It has just one small teensy-weensy problem: whenever we flip up the straw, it squirts water in all directions!

After our first encounter with "the straw" Amber and I both learned to avert our eyes whenever we opened the sippy's flip-up lid. This morning, however, Amber was being careful as always, but I bent down to hug her at just the right time and...
BAM!
My right eye received the watery wrath of the flip up straw.

Owie = (

The keyword is "cooperation"

2008-09-06T11:22:00.012-06:00

I had heard about co-ops before, but always associated the word with the little markets that sell locally grown products, or the community farms that grow produce and share it within a group of families. This all changed a year ago. Two sisters in our ward suggested creating a Babysitting Co-op. I had no idea such a thing existed!

These ladies had both been part of a co-op before and offered to be the ones to set it up. They created calendars, "tickets" (no money is exchanged, only babysitting hours) and medical release forms. I signed up, but was skeptical at the beginning. Would I have enough tickets when I needed them? What if Amber or I got sick on a day I was supposed to watch kids? Would Amber do ok going to different houses with so many different kids of different ages?

Fast forward a year... I couldn't be happier. Co-op is a great fit for my line of work. I usually work (outside the home) only 1 or 2 days a week and there has always been someone available to watch Amber. I've enjoyed having kids over at our house and Amber loves her Co-op friends. There are "free" days built into the calendar, when nobody has a co-op shift scheduled, just so people can pick up extra shifts if they'll need tickets later on. And last but not least, co-op has given me a chance to get to know some wonderful ladies in our ward.

Flickr Fun Quiz

2008-09-03T15:22:00.001-06:00

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

I would tag certain people, but it didn't work so well last time (*cough* Deah *cough*), so if you'd like to do it, go ahead! (if not, fine then, be that way...)

The Fruits of our Labor

2008-08-21T19:47:00.028-06:00

When we bought our house, we immediately planned on starting a garden, but somehow never could find the time to do the prep work involved (dismantle the sandbox, rototill the soil, get rid of the multitude of rocks that filled our intended garden). We told ourselves this year would be THE year, and this spring (in May), Andrew prepared the soil, bought the plants/seeds and planted our garden. I wish I could say I helped, but the truth is, although I don't have a "black thumb", it isn't very green either. He planted seeds for squash, peas, cucumbers, corn and pepper, and also planted tomato plants.

Andrew planting seeds for peas and squash

Fast forward to July, here are pictures of the grown squash, peas, peppers and tomato plants and (at the bottom) our first harvest. The corn and cucumbers never grew, we're not quite sure why.

And here is my contribution to the process (drum roll please!) : the cooking / baking/ eating of our produce.

Zucchini Chocolate Bread
(yes, yes, much more chocolate than zucchini)

A yummy yellow grape tomato

Childhood memories

2008-07-28T11:40:00.006-06:00

I love googling stuff (or is it googleing? maybe googlying?) . This morning, as I set out to do just that, I found a pleasant surprise when the page came up. Little Peter Rabbit was looking at me, nibbling on carrots, Mr. McGregor raising his rake in anger in the background. The scene brought back fond memories. My parents read to us pretty much every night when we were little, and then encouraged us to read as we got older. I remember other stories, but it is The Tale of Petter Rabbit I remember best.

Sun+River+Fun

2008-07-15T00:23:00.000-06:00

Ahhh, finally. It's taken me a few weeks to get all our vacation photos together but here they are. We had a wonderful time last month in Sunriver, Oregon (a resort town 15 minutes away from Bend). We spent five days with my parents, my brother Christian and his family. The resort has over 30 miles of bike trails, so we had a blast biking to the stables, the river and other places. Amber also had a chance to play a lot with her grandparents and her cousins, which doesn't happen very often =). We liked the place so much, our vacation to Sunriver may become a bi-annual family tradition (stay tuned...for another couple of years).

I was originally planning on posting a video of Amber doing crazy (and cute) stuff, but I couldn't get over how annoying my laughter and comments were on that video (yes, I know you're gonna say "oh, I'm sure it's not that bad!" Trust me, it is.) So, until I find some music to add to the video, I won't post it. But never fear! I found a movie editing site today, and it seems pretty straightforward, so the video will probably be part of our next post =).

Happy 30th Birthday, Andrew!

2008-06-11T16:27:00.021-06:00

It's been over two weeks since Andrew's birthday. I was almost done with his birthday post last week, but then we left on vacation (a post on that later) and I didn't get around to finish the post until now. Here's a recap of the day's events and some Andrew-related pictures.

Andrew's birthday was on Friday, June 6th. Alas, he could not get that day off work, so while he was at work, I rushed to buy a birthday present for him. You may wonder why I waited until "the" day to go shopping, and the answer is simple: Andrew. He's not a big fan of CDs or movies, so those were out. He was already getting clothes from my parents, so that option was out as well. He likes camping and hunting stuff, but is very particular about said "stuff" (i.e. what brand and type of gun, tent or sleeping bag he gets). And he had mentioned an XBOX 360 a few times, but I vetoed that one. Finally, on Thursday night (pretty late, I might add), the clouds broke and he gave me viable birthday present option, one of these....
The Acu Rite weather station

Although it wasn't much of a surprise gift, Andrew was happy to get it and to find it had ALL the features he wanted. He immediately set up the sensor outside and got the weather station set up and working. We didn't do much else that day, other than prepare food and clean the house for the party on Saturday.

The party itself was very low key. Amelia and Jeremiah and two of Andrew's co-workers came over with their wives. We enjoyed some good BBQ (courtesy of the birthday boy) and other great food. We also watched the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fights. Well, the men watched the fights, the women visited most of the time.

In closing here's a little Google Image tribute to Andrew:

Andrew has an incredible sense of direction. He hardly ever gets lost, and is very good at finding his way to places, even if he's never been to that particular place/town before.

He loves to barbecue, but he can cook many other things. He quickly learned how to make Argentine food (milanesas, empanadas, chimichurri sauce for stakes) and loves experimenting with food and spices.

Andrew can find and fix what's wrong with your car better than some mechanics I've met. Case in point, when we were engaged, my car had a belt that snapped and I took it into a mechanic shop close to my office. They replace the belt...and it snapped. They replaced it again...and it snapped yet again. This final snap came on a Saturday, as I was driving the car home from the mechanic. Andrew took the matter into his own hands, bought and replaced the belt on the side of the road and figured out that the overeager mechanic had put it the belt dangerously tight (twice).

So there you have it. Andrew's (belated) introduction into his 30's. Feel free to greet/ congratulate / tease / harass him via comments =).

Memorial Day Roadtrip (and other stuff)

2008-06-03T12:38:00.016-06:00

I know, I know, Memorial Day was over a week ago. What can I say? I can't seem to update our blog any more often than every 2 weeks or so. Anyway... Jeremiah's parents invited us to stay at their house in Driggs, Idaho (near the Wyoming border) over Memorial Day weekend and while we were there, we had a chance to rest, play a lot of Rock Band and visit Jackson Hole (click below for pictures).

Last Saturday, we went to the Morrison Center to see STOMP(the first time in over 2 years that Andrew and I have gone to see something other than a movie). It's not really a musical, a play or a concert, but it's a lot of fun. Take a look...

Reading Frenzy

2008-05-16T11:27:00.010-06:00

It all started innocently enough when I went to Seagull Book & Tape to buy a Mother's Day gift for my mom. I had walked by the Twilight display many other times before, but this time, they had the book on paperback. I'm not a fan of vampire stories. I started reading one of Anne Rice's books a few years ago and it gave me the creeps to the point that I couldn't get past the first chapter. But many of the ladies in my ward had raved about this book, so I thought why not?

I don't think this had happened since I read the last book of the Harry Potter series. I was Sucked In. For those who haven't read the book, it is about a teenager named Bella who moves to Forks, WA to live with her dad, and ends up meeting and falling in love with a vampire. A vampire who looks like a cute 17-year-old but acts like someone from the late 19th or early 20th century. In the words of Orson Scott Card: "...Who would have thought it? Today, Mr. Darcy is a vampire."

The book was written by Stephenie Meyer, an LDS mom of 3 from Glendale, AZ, and it is so enthralling and addictive that, even though I had put myself on the local library's list to check out the following two books (New Moon and Eclipse), I couldn't wait that long so I downloaded them. Yes, I downloaded them from the internet. I'm an evil, evil woman!

Anyway, just like with Harry Potter, the movie based on the book is already in the works. Here's the trailer...

Happy 5 years and 18 months!

2008-04-19T13:55:00.018-06:00

April was a fun month for the Bell family:

"Chopsticks" anyone?

April 9th was Amber's "18 month-birthday". She is now officially in nursery and loving it. She also loves going for walks (mostly she just takes off on her own whenever we're outside), enjoys Story Time at our local library and has added a Spanish word to her vocabulary : Gracias =) (although it sounds more like "Grashiash" because she usually says the word with her binky in her mouth).

April 12th was our 5th wedding anniversary. 5 years, where has the time gone? I still remember the spring of 2002, when I developed a little crush on Andrew, and I thought (as usual) nothing would ever come of it. Unbeknownst to me, he kind of liked me and wanted to ask me out, but he seemed to get distracted a few times along the way...

Anyway, last month, Andrew's mom came up from Rupert (ID) and stayed with Amber so Andrew and I could get away. We drove all the way to...Eagle, Idaho (all of 8.32 miles, according to Mapquest), enjoyed a couple of days at the Hilton hotel there and a wonderful meal at our favorite sushi/hibachi restaurant.

I know I haven't blogged in almost a month, so you'll probably see more posts in the coming days...

A trip down memory lane... the famous Orange Date (Fall 2002)

I've been tagged!

2008-04-08T13:21:00.007-06:00

Joanne tagged me over a week ago, and just now have I had a chance to sit down and do my part in tagging a few other people...

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

I have several books in a nearby shelf, so I picked a favorite of mine, Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox. Part of the reason I chose this book for the tag was that the 5th sentence of the 123rd page mentions one of my favorite songs. Here it is:

"My own musical tastes ran more to The Clash-- maybe Elvis Costello in my more moody, reflective periods-- so I couldn't imagine what exactly Sweet Baby James could say to me that would have any significant personal relevance."

I tag : Amelia, Lauralee, Deah, Megan and Kristen

I never get tired of listening to that song (who does?). Here it is one more time....

There's a first time for everything....

2008-03-22T12:37:00.012-06:00

As promised in the post below, here is the follow-up post about Amber's first haircut. Things started off well enough...

the bib's a little too big, but ok...

the "windblown look" isn't exactly Amber's style
(check out Andrew's smile in the background)

just a little off the back...

...and the sides

sooo glad we're done =)

I love the wording: "has bravely met all the requirements..."

And just in case you were wondering (you know you were...) if Amber looks more like Mom or Dad, here is a picture of me (Vanesa) at her age, and I had even less hair than she does!

The Zoo, The Easter Bunny and tons of Easter eggs

2008-03-22T12:26:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed our first visit to Zoo Boise last Saturday, as well as Amber's first Easter egg hunt. Amber seemed to be more interested in the plastic and wooden animals we found at the Zoo, but she still had a great time and perfected her tiger / lion roar (raaargh!). We had a 2nd Easter egg hunt today at the church. Check out the pictures below...

Zoo & Easter

Amber also had her first haircut today, but that is the subject of another post entirely... (see above)

All about Andrew

2008-03-08T13:58:00.003-07:00

I've been preparing this post for a while, and I've asked Andrew to pick his favorite picture so I could include it in the post. He hasn't yet, so I'll do it for him....

Finally, here is everything you ever wanted to know about Andrew and were afraid to ask...

How long have you been together:
We started dating in August 2002, so 5 1/2 years.

How long did you date:
8 months, including our engagement. He asked me out in August and, from the first date on, we saw each other every day. We started talking about marriage around Thanksgiving and got engaged on December 9th. We were married 4 months later, on April 12th.

How old is he:
29

Who eats more:
Andrew, except when I was pregnant..

Who said I love you first:
Andrew

Who is taller:
Helloooo? Andrew

Who is smarter:
Andrew is smart in mechanic and practical stuff (cars, motorcycles, making furniture, etc.) I'm more of a bookworm.

Who does the laundry:
I do Amber's and my clothes, sheets, towels...Andrew does most of his stuff.

Who does the dishes:
I do, most of the time

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed:
Andrew

Who pays the bills:
I do, but I let Andrew know when bills are due, and he knows where the money is going.

Who mows the lawn:
Andrew

Who cooks dinner:
We trade, but I have to say Andrew makes dinner quite often.

Who is more stubborn:
We both are

Who kissed who first:
Andrew, and he even asked "may I kiss you?" (awww, sweet!)

Who asked who out:
Andrew

Who proposed:
Andrew did. Twice on the same night.

Who is more sensitive:
We are both pretty sensitive, but Andrew isn't afraid to cry.

Who has more friends:
Andrew has more friends in town, or closer to Boise than I do, but I think we're pretty even.

Who has more siblings:
Andrew. He's the 5th of 7.

Who wears the pants in the relationship:
I think we trade, but I look better in them (he he).

Got questions or other random facts about Andrew? Leave a comment!

Spring here we come!!

2008-02-27T11:26:00.010-07:00

Well, Spring is still about a month away, but Boise has been (somewhat) warm these days, so Amber and I went to Tully Park park yesterday afternoon. She hadn't been on the swings since last fall, so they took a little getting used to....

what in the world....?

are you sure this is safe?

but after a while she was having a blast...

Wheeeeeeh!!!

I wanted to take more pictures, especially when Amber's friend Daniel came over to play, but Amber was running all over the playground, trying to climb up the slide and other monkey business, it was all I could do to try to keep up with her. Oh well, I'm sure there will be many more visits to the park this year...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T16:24:00.005-07:00

Yay!! I did it. Finally figured out a way to change the template for our blog. The look of the blog may change again soon (if I find a template I like better) but for now, it works and it's certainly..."springy".

Not much else going on in Meridian, ID these days. The snow has finally melted, and we're having what Andrew calls a "warm spell" before we get some more snow and cold weather (whoopie =( ).

Amber in her V-day shirt (courtesy of Grandma)

To the handful of people that read our blog: have a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Bye-bye, Boots...

2008-02-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

A few days before President Hinckley's passing another passing took place that will probably only be heard of or remembered by a few people: the members of the Bell family. Boots, the oldest of the Bell cats, passed away after living to the ripe old age of 18 years (that's 88 human years, according to my internet research).

I'll miss having the "Boots welcoming committee" greet us when we go to visit Andrew's mom. He would come over to say hi to us whenever we rolled in, no matter how late, and he was always up for a cuddle or a pat on the head.

So bye, bye Boots. We miss you =).

Until we meet again, President Hinckley

2008-01-31T16:08:00.000-07:00

President Hinckley passed away last Sunday, and I've spent the past few days reading articles about him. Most sites and newspapers offered a timeline of his life and a list of his accomplishments, but there was an article in the Salt Lake Tribune that is my favorite so far. Its title : The Wit and Wisdom of Hinckley. Here are a few excerpts:

- Asked about the secret of his longevity, Hinckley's favorite reply was: "The idea I try to follow is to go to bed every night and be sure you get up in the morning."

- In a 1995 interview for "60 Minutes," reporter Mike Wallace said: "There are those who say: 'This is a gerontocracy. . .this is a church run by old men."
Hinckley: "Isn't it wonderful to have a man of maturity at the head? A man who isn't blown about by every wind of doctrine?"
Wallace: "Absolutely, as long as he's not dotty." Hinckley: "Thank you for the compliment."

- After Apostle Russell M. Nelson gave a laudatory speech about Hinckley at LDS General Conference in 1997, Hinckley returned to the podium and quipped, "I thought we were conducting General Conference. It's turned out to be a funeral."
Hinckley continued: "He's taken extreme liberty. I challenge him to a duel down in the basement of the tabernacle after this session."
At the end of the session, Hinckley apparently thought better of the idea.
"I've repented," he said. "Thank you for your kind words. We'll postpone the duel."

- "I wish to be up and doing. I wish to face each day with resolution and purpose. I wish to use every waking hour to give encouragement to bless those whose burdens are heavy, to build faith and strength of testimony. If in the process I should die on some distant strand while speaking to my friends in the church, it would be better than if I were to spend my days, looking out languidly upon the world without purpose or design."

Thank you for your love, guidance and example, our dear prophet.

Wii... Schmii... Come play Albatross!

2008-01-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

It seems many of our friends bought/received the Wii game console this Christmas. And don't get me wrong, it has some funny games and characters(see bunnies below)...

...but Andrew and I are (somewhat) addicted to this game - Albatross 18. It's a golf game with animé characters, you play it online on your computer, it's clean (no swearing or you'll be banned from playing) and it's free! Check it out...

Come play with us!

Happy '08! (and other stuff...)

2008-01-04T15:12:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year, everyone!

After trying (unsuccessfully, so far) to makes some changes to the look of our blog, I decided I'd better dedicate a little more time to posting a few updates...

Well, we didn't get a white Christmas, but we did get snow between Christmas and New Year's Eve and we also had some snow today! (pictured).

Christmas was fun and quieter than in other years. We stayed in Meridian, spent time with some of Andrew's family, and visited with my (Vanesa's) parents via webcam. Click on the picture below for some holiday pictures.

December '07 - January '08

As for updates (especially about Amber), here are a few:

- After a few months of cruising and walking sideways (I call it the "hula phase", Andrew calls it "the crab walk"), Amber is now walking, still a little tentatively, but fast nonetheless!

- She loves playing "hide and seek", not so much WITH us as she likes to play it ON us. We are always looking for her all over the house!

- She has been babbling non-stop lately, and her repertoire of words now includes : Mama, Daddy, Kitty (it sounds more like "I-tty!!"), Oggie (for "doggie"), E-mo (guess who that is?), Hey, Hi, and Uh-Huh. Grandma Stella taught her the Spanish word "Abre" (open) while we were in Seattle last October, but she's only said a few times since we got back (we'll keep trying!)

- She's learned to do the "high-five" in the past week and also loves giving hugs.

- Andrew has been called to serve as the 2nd counselor in Sunday School, Vanesa has been called to teach the CTR-8 class and Amber will be going into Nursery in April. (Nursery already??? - My, how time flies!)

Well, those are all our updates for now. You may see a few changes on this blog (background, colors, etc) but don't hold your breath! It's turning out to be a lot more difficult than I thought it would be!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

2007-12-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

So I don't post anything for weeks, and then post 2 posts in as many days. I just couldn't resist showing off some "snow pictures". Here are a few we took today when we went to Jeff's house (Jeff is one of Andrew's co-workers):

Amber and I in our "snow gear"

Here's a closer look

"Hi everyone!"

We've had quite a bit of snow, both last night and this afternoon, and it looks like we may get some more in the next day or two. Lucky for us, we aren't going anywhere for the holidays, so we can enjoy the snow without worrying about having to drive in it or be stuck in the airport because of it. To those who will be traveling, please be safe!

Have a Merry Christmas !

P.S.: Thanks to everyone who voted for Amber! She didn't make it to the finals, but it was still fun to participate in the contest. =)

VOTE FOR AMBER !

2007-12-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

No, no, she's not running for President (yet).

This might sound cheesy, but we sent Amber's picture to a website called Celebrity Baby Blog. The website posts (what else?) pictures and news stories about celebrities' babies and kids, and it has a contest going on right now to find kids who look most like celebrity babies. Amber is in a group of 10 babies that look like Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Voting is taking place today, so please vote for her! Here is the site...

http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2007/12/celebrity-bab-5.html

Here are bigger pictures of Shiloh and Amber (the pictures in the website are pretty small)

Christmas Pictures!

2007-12-05T14:50:00.001-07:00

Today Amber had her Christmas / One Year pictures taken. She had a great time smiling and playing with the props (as you can see below). Anyway, here are a few poses!

My snowball

Posing "in the woods"

Chillin' on the sleigh

My Snowball 2 (zoomed out)

Ha ha ha
(or should we say Ho Ho Ho?)

Holiday Spirit at Macy's

2007-11-18T22:55:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to post a short comment about something nice that happened to me last Friday.

I was running some errands and had seen an ad on TV for a big One Day Sale at Macy's. One of the items on sale was a roaster pan (for $ 5.99) and we needed one for our Thanksgiving turkey. I wasn't sure I'd read the price right, so I went by Macy's on my way home to find out if they had any of the pans and if they were really that inexpensive. Once at the store, I waited my turn to speak to one of the salespeople and ended up talking to an employee named Angela. She told me that yes, they had a roaster pan at the price I saw on TV (the regular price was $ 20.00), and walked me over to the area where the pans were. I was about to ask her if I needed to come back on Saturday, the day of the sale (this item was one of their "doorbusters") and if maybe she could put one on hold for me until then, when she said "I'll take care of ya", took one of the pans over to the register, put another barcode sticker on it and rang it up at the sale price. We wished each other "Happy Holidays" and I went on my way with a smile on my face.

Don't know if Angela was spreading holiday cheer a little early or if she does this type of stuff year-round, but I know that her small gesture made my day!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Vanesa

PS: Thanks to those who participated in the M&M poll, and I guess we had an overwhelming majority (of 3 votes) who chose Peanut. As an avid dark chocolate fan, all I can say is you're missing out!

Halloween Pictures (and poll results)

2007-11-01T10:19:00.001-06:00

Well, as you may have seen, 3 out of our 5 poll voters predicted Andrew would bring back a pile of stinky laundry, and that's all he brought back! He's disappointed over the lack of elk, deer and any other worthwile prey, but he still had a good time riding horses, doing some male bonding and getting to see some of eastern Idaho country. He took a few pictures, and we'll try to post them soon.

In other news... yesterday was Amber's first (real) Halloween. Let's face it, she was only 3 weeks old at Halloween time last year, so she didn't care about much other than her bottle, a clean diaper and a lot of sleep. We only went trick or treating to a couple of the houses in our neighborhood, but still got some good stuff, and Amber got her first taste of M&M's (loooved them, by the way). Here are a few pictures...

Our little M&M posing with Mom next to our Halloween decorations.

Our super-duper "porcu-pumpkin" (wish I could take credit for the idea, but it came from a catalog)

Amber's rockin' Halloween hoodie

Happy Halloween, everyone! (and don't forget to take the M&M poll at the bottom of the page)

Our very first blog post!

2007-10-16T17:21:00.000-06:00

Well, we have officially joined the bloggers army =). Amber has had her own website for the past year, but we thought a "family blog" would be a good idea. So what's up with the Bells in Meridian, Idaho, you ask?

- Amber had her first birthday party on October 6th. It was a joint party with her cousins Alyssa and Jessica (see pic below), whose birthdays are also in October.

- Andrew, as you can probably tell by the poll at the bottom of the page, went hunting this week. It's his first time hunting in many years, so he was pretty excited to go.

- I (Vanesa) have been quite busy working as a freelance interpreter in nearby hospitals and also in court. I am now approved to work in immigration court, but have yet to interpret in my first immigration case.

Those are our updates for now, but we will keep the posts coming...

Vanesa