Smartest Baby in the whole world!

Okay, so most of you know of our genius baby. We have actual footage of Caleb feeding himself. He was 10 or 11 days old at this time. Now he didn't make the bottle or anything, but the fact that he held it all by himself at this age is absolutely amazing in my eyes. But then, almost anything he does is amazing to me. He is also a WONDERFUL burper. Like basically, most of the time, all you have to do to burp this kid is sit him up and he will burp loud and clear for you. I love it. I seem to recall someone once said that if you had the choice between a genius baby or a baby that burped good, most people would say a baby that was a genius, but what you really want is a good burper. Then they don't cry forever. Good advice. I love my family. I never thought that being a mom would be this much fun, pain, and stress all at the same time.

Caleb is getting better though. His yellow is gone, so no more jaundice and he is eating about 2 ounces at every feeding. Which is good, that means he will be putting on more weight. His eye is getting better, he had or has a blocked tear duct and the doc gave us some medicine for that. That is really helping. Steve loves being a daddy. You can see it in his face when he is feeding Caleb. Maybe not when he is changing the poopy diapers, but it's all good. He is such a HUGE HELP. Man, I could not imagine doing all of this on my own. I would go insane. Certifiably insane. Rexburg is freezing. It is too cold to snow. Below freezing all the time. Nights are sometimes below 0. I do NOT want to take Caleb out in the cold. But, times call for it sometimes. I will avoid it if I can. That is a brief update on us here in the cold. We love you and will see you soon!

Sara, Steve, and Caleb

Mommy at last....

Okay so WHOOOOO I AM A MOM! I can't believe that I am finally a mom. He is sooooo perfect. He looks like Steve except for all of that long dark hair of his. Which I adore. Caleb Andrew was born on November 24 at 1:22pm. He weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long. He is having a little trouble breastfeeding right now. He has a tongue thrust and he likes to suck on his tongue so we are trying to teach him to open his mouth and put his tongue down. Which is apparently WAY more difficult than I thought it was. Other than that he is absolutely perfect. We are so glad that he is finally here. I don't know if he shares these same feelings, but he is just going to have to deal right now. He will thank me later. Okay so labor is absolutely the WORST thing I have EVER done. I now have a new meaning of the number 10. You know when you go to the hospital and they have you rate you pain 1-10? Yea, what I thought was a 6 or 7 before is now a 3. But the labor only lasted 5 hours total and I was really only in pain for 3 of those hours. I went from a 2 to a 8 in 2 hours. Much pain. I did end up getting an epidural which was bliss for the last hour. YOU DON'T FEEL ANYTHING! I couldn't even get my legs to move hardly. They were basically logs that Steve and the nurse had to hold for me. So was it worth it? Definitely. No doubt about it. I think a perfect world would have the women be the ones who were pregnant and carried the baby for nine months and the dads/men did the labor and delivery part. But if that happened, we would have WAY less babis in this world. I hope you think he is as cute as I think he is. And if not, oh well you don't have to come see him. Love ya!

the new addition

This is Joe posting. So when Cannon was only a couple of months old, Leah told me that when we had two kids, she needed a dishwasher. Period. Thinking at the time that such a situation was far in the future, and a little bit scared of saying "no" to a brand-new sleep deprived mother, I said what every good husband says: "OK honey." However, when we found ourselves expecting again so soon (and unwilling to move before before I graduate in April), it appeared that I had agreed too hastily. Imagine my surprise (and better yet, imagine Leah's surprise) in being able to report that there are currently dishes being done in our apartment and not by me or Leah! We got a dishwasher!!!!!!!!! How could such a miracle occur? I will esplain. No, there is too much; I will sum up. One Tuesday, I had a huge crazy Biochemistry test and studied my pants off. I also had an optics assignment due at 7pm (the same time young men's starts), and had way more to do that day than I could possibly do. I was stressing thinking about what I should do, and maybe I should just skip young men's that night to get some of it done, but decided instead to skip the optics homework and just go to young men's. I felt really at peace about that thought, so that's what I did. Our activity that night was building a wheelchair ramp for a new family in the ward who I had helped move in the previous Saturday. It was fun, and I stayed loooong after young mens was over to help get it finished. It was quite a sight to behold, and it felt really good to be doing some real service again; it seems like it had been quite a while since I had such an opportunity. Then the woman came out and looked it over and thanked us profusely, then asked "Do any of you know someone that needs a dishwasher?" I sheepishly replied that I would love to have a dishwasher. A few days (and several tries at faucet adapters) later, we loaded our first washer-load up and let her fly. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Holy cow. Leah remarked to me that night that besides our wedding day and the day Cannon was born, this was probably the best day of her life. To sum up, I am very grateful that I listened to the guidance of the Holy Ghost as it helped me to make what seemed like a trivial decision regarding my day's schedule. We are so grateful to our heavenly father for this blessing; dishwashing that previously took two or three hours is now taking 20 minutes. The Lord is good to us when we're trying to do what's right.
In other news, Cannon is now walking all over the place! (Videos to be posted soon). 2-3 steps are now becoming full room-lengths (when an unobstructed path is available, or in other words, when we are not home...). It's loads of fun. He is also learning anger. When something isn't going his way, he looks up and shouts, then he's good. It's lots of fun, and different every day.
Anyway, I've got to go to get to family night. I love you guys and hope that you're all doing well. Have a great day :)
Joe

Hey from the Kofoed's

So In case you can't tell, I am pregnant! I am officially full term according to my OB-GYN, but still have another week to full term according to my Perinatologist. So we are close enough that we are counting down the days until Caleb is supposed to come into this world. When he comes is however a totally different matter. That will be up to him. His daddy thinks that he has a say in it and has the exact day and time that he wants him to come. We will see how that turns out. Life here is getting more and more hectic as we plan and prepare for the baby to come. You never really know so its like I have to be ready to go to the hospital tomorrow... and I don't like that. I wish they just came when they are supposed to so we can have a plan for everything. Steve is getting more and more excited. He talks to Caleb a lot more now and plays with him and tells him how excited he is to finally meet him. It is the most adorable thing, I have ever seen. Maybe. Midterms were last week and Steve did excellent! I am so proud of him. Now that those are out of the way he can just finish the semester and have a baby to celebrate with. That will be fun. We are excited to see family for Thanksgiving. As far as I know, we are having it at our house here and stuff. If there are contradictions to that, please let me know so I can plan for it. I love you all and will talk to you soon!

Sara and Steve

Job Number Two

Hi all! It's so good to see those adorable videos of baby Cannon, although he's starting to go into the toddler phase. But baby Cannon sounds so much cuter than toddler Cannon, at least to me. Oh well, what can you do? I'll probably keep calling him baby Cannon. :)
So, I got a second job of sorts. I will no longer have any free time whatsoever. yay! my second job is helping take care of this girl, Hannah, who is 10 and is both autistic and has DOWNS syndrome, and is extremely physically handicapped. She is being released from the hospital Friday after some intensive physical therapy to try and teach her how to swallow. I am going there tonight (at the hospital) to get to know the routine and get to know her and her mother. It's gonna be fun! I gotta go, job number one is calling me!
All my love,
Bekah
Smile Sunshine!

Backed by popular demand

Okay, here are some more sweet Cannon videos. This first one has probably the sweetest first frame picture ever, so it had to get posted. When you watch it, go back to the first frame and see if you can rebut its awesomeness. Diaper waving can be pretty entertaining.


Next we have a growling match between Cannon and Leah. And aunt June got involved somehow. It's hard to resist.


Finally, we have one of Cannon's most recently acquired talents; clapping! We've been trying to drill it into his head for a while now and he finally gets the concept! Yay! On a side note, immediately after this video ended, he took about 5 steps between Leah and I without support. It was bangarang.


So news from our end: I just got back from an American Physical Society (physics) conference in Golden, Colorado. I presented on my research and felt like it went pretty well, although I didn't get a single thing done that I had planned on doing while out of town. I guess that's how it goes when you're on a vacation of sorts. It was a great experience, though, and I chatted for a long time with one of my classmates who will be going to Thailand this summer. I'll be teaching his wife and him Thai every Saturday from now on, so I'm super excited. Leah and I have been talking about going to Thailand next summer for the month of May, so all donations are accepted. Seriously though, I keep having impressions that we should go, so we are starting to make preliminary plans. Well, it's late, so I hope you enjoyed the videos and we'll keep shooting more. Love you guys!
Joe and fam

John, have a question

This is kind of a funny thing to post, but I dont get to talk to john much in person, but I know he gets to read this every so often, so I thought I would post a question to him on this. John, what would you like in a care package? Other than letters of course. And dont just say anything!!! What is something you miss that we could send you. A funny comic book, favorite candy...although you might have to eat it melted :). Trail mix, chips, fruit we could send some mango's or something in these special bags that keep food good for a two weeks or so. Pictures, movies, new scriptures or pass along cards or small book of mormons to hand out to people. I have just been asked by many cousins and grandparents what to send, and I list a lot of what is up there, but, was not sure what are some specifics you would like. So, let me know as soon as you can so we can get it too you. I miss you a lot, i think of you often when I am playing with cannon. When I go to the temple, or read the news, I almost cry, or tears flow freely thinking of how grateful I am for the sacrifice you are making so I can raise my beautiful sweet son in this country. And that you are trying to allow that same opportunity to mothers over there who I know must their children as much as I do. Thanks for all you do, I`m sure its hard, I can't even imagine, but we pray for you often, your name is always in the temple, and you are greatly missed. I love you.

tooth number 7!

Cannon's smile is less symmetric than usual today, owing to a new addition on bottom :) He has had 4 teeth on top and 2 on bottom for a long time, it seems like. Now we have three on bottom, and probably soon to be four. He found his scream box this week, so now its trying to figure out if he is screaming cause he is happy, sad, talking or mad. Mad is funny, because he expresses himself know when he is angry or frustrated through voicing, or screaming is what it ends up really being, his opinion. He will scream for a minute and then look at you like "Did you just here what I said!" kind of expression. He lets go of furniture a lot more now, and will take a step or two to reach something a little ways away. He eats everything he shouldn't, and not such a big fan of what he should. And is about 21lb last time we went to the doctor. He gets milk next month...crazy...and a birthday party. Were having a get together with friends who have kids generally around cannon's age, some older too, but were going to have a rubber ducky party. Get a couple of helium balloons which he loves, lots of rubber duckies everywhere and have all there friends instead of a present bring their favorite toy for everyone to play with. Then little cupcakes so each kid can have there own little sugary treat :). And all the moms can chat, which is always nice :). Hope all is well with everyone, good sabbath to you.

So, dum-da-de-dum! I finally have a job!!!! I started work on Monday and got my first paycheck yesterday! What is this job, may you ask? Well, I'll tell you: baby-sitting. It's the job I've done most in my life and will probably continue to be that way. I know I'll be doing a lot of it starting in January when I get to spend some quality time with my soon-to-be-born nephew Caleb! That makes me so happy! The kids I watch are Barrett who is almost 3, and Charlotte, who is 8 months. Barrett is just being potty-trained so I have lots of fun times with him and the bathroom. On Monday it was the hardest day EVER. I came home and asked Mom how I was going to be a mother. Tuesday was a little better, but Barrett had the biggest almost to the toilet disaster I've ever seen. He didn't get his pants and undies down all the way before he started pooping. There was poo all over that bathroom and all over his clothes. I put him in the tub and commenced to cleaning up the rest of the world. As soon as I looked in the bathroom, I put Charlotte down for her nap. I thought it was the best time possible for her to be out of the picture. And guess what? She actually slept! Just long enough for me to clean everything up. It was perfect timing. Then on Wednesday he had a pee accident, just didn't make it to the bathroom quick enough. Thursday was the first day he EVER wore one pair of undies all day long! Friday I only had a half-day, but he was good there. Except he throw a stick at me and it cut me on the forehead. Charlotte is so cute! She has two little teeth on the bottom and she has the gummiest, cutest little smile. She has just started standing. She always needs somebody to be paying attention to her. That's her only downside. She eats a TON of food-she eats more than Barrett does usually. Well, I guess that's all you would wanna know about those cute kids I watch, since you don't know them and you probably just don't care all that much. But that's it. That's my life.

Oh! This weekend Joe and Cannon are here! Cannon is SO cute! He walks with support and it is so adorable to watch grandfather and baby walk together. His teeth are so big and he has so many of them! He's still just a watermelon head, but I don't know how he could help that. Jake and Blaze came over today. Will and Rushella have been sick and Will needed to go to the hospital, so the boys came to us. Blaze had a fever and was just so sick. It was so hard to just have him be in my arms not feeling good, not able to do anything to help him get better. Jake was fine, just a small cough. We quarantined the boys into Rach and I's room, keeping Cannon in the front room and sleeping in the sewing room. Jake kept trying to leave, he just didn't understand why we were keeping him in there. It all worked out, though. I really hope that Blaze gets better. Oh, and Will and Rushella too, of course.

Love you!
Bekah
Smile Sunshine!

Little Caleb...

So the baby is getting bigger, so that is a good thing. Life is pretty interesting right now. We are having some snow fun times. Not really. Well we have snow, just not fun. So he is growing slowly but surely. My amniotic fluid is the same, it is supposed to be decreasing as he gets bigger and he takes up more room, but it isn't. He is kicking still and stuff. The placenta didn't detach, so that is good. I was just feeling my ligaments stretching. He is in the 33% tile for his size. So the best I can do to help him grow is rest and eat more. So Steve is saying I can't pick anything up off of the ground so he is doing a lot more around the house. That is nice. Life is life. Hopefully by the time he is born, he will be more than 5 pounds. Last I knew he was 3 1/2lbs which was like a week ago. I am 33 weeks pregnant so he should be bigger than that. Pray for him, please.
Love you!
Sara

NURSERY!!!!!!

Okay. As promised, here are the completed pictures of the nursery. I will explain them, if needed. I hope you like!Okay, well since I couldn't really paint the room, but I helped, I wore this mask to help keep the fumes from getting to me. I painted some edges and door frames. While I wore it, Steve couldn't understand me if I talked, I sounded like Darth Vator. Weird. The changing Table and part of the closet and plaque I made
The posters that we have above the crib

The crib...

A closer look at the plaque I made and the closet

The dresser with blankets on top of it

The closet

So it started to snow today. GROSS! It was wet and cold and yucky and did I mention wet and cold? I didn't like it very much. I complained all day today and refused to go outside, except when I threw the first snowball of the season at Steve. Thanks Dad! It was fun. I waited till I saw him walking up the sidewalk, then threw a coat on grabbed some snow and went to throw it at him and he didn't even stop me or run or anything! He just let it happen. He said he would feel bad fighting back with me since I am so big and pregnant and moving/running is hard right now. SWEET! That means I can throw all the snow at him that I want and he won't try to get me back! YEA! Well, we figured out how to turn on the heater finally so we can be warm in our house. I love it! We are having fun. Have a great day! I love you! Okay.

Sara

"fall" in texas

Hi everybody!!!!
my life has slowed down a little & I'm feeling guilty for taking so long to write but here I am :)
primary has kept me a little busy--we had a Great 2 B 8! party last Sunday for the kids who are turning 8 before the end of the year (an hour after a lady I visit teach was baptized) & then we took the primary to the temple (dallas) on Sat. afternoon (a couple of hours before the Gen. Relief Society meeting). all activities were very cool & I enjoyed them very much. I love working with the primary. children are the best!!! and the lady who was baptized is wonderful. she has been looking & preparing for all of her life & she is so happy. she lives just down the street from us & has no car, so we get to transport her various places & have a good time.
In between all that we picked Camille up from the airport Fri. nite & took her to see Will etc. for a few minutes & then to her hotel in Arlington. She's here for the Cowboy's game tonite & will go back home on Friday. Will's boys are so cute. Jake is talking in full sentences & being a big brother (a little bossy). they have a little black kitten that he plays with--he has a little fishing pole with a fish that he dangles for the cat & she plays with it. so cute. Blaze is walking & says "kank you". he has hair like his dad's, only black--which means that it looks like he has little feathers sticking up on top of his head. very thick & fine. he's a lover & has the longest eyelashes known to man (or woman).
Sat. morning Kevin & I went for a nice bike ride (about 9 or 10 miles) & had a great time. the weather has been milder lately & I really enjoy being able to be outside without suffering from either the heat or the humidity. So I'll enjoy this while it lasts. today I have the windows open & the air conditioner off. yay!!! I have a little herb garden on my patio & I really enjoy sitting out there. the green is nice.
the swine flu seems to be over at our house. Rachel is back at school & seminary & Bekah is out of bed today--dressed & functioning. not 100% but probably 75% or so. good times.
Rachel has now turned down her first date invite since we moved (as far as I know). she was asked to homecoming, but refused since she was just getting back from the flu. homecoming here is a big deal. the kids got out of school at 1:30, there was a parade at 4, a football game (all on Fri.) & then a dance on Sat. nite. . . where I grew up we had alll of the above & each class made a float for the parade. so did seminary. it was fun. I'm sorry Rachel missed it, but if we're here next year she can indulge then :)
we went on a bike ride a couple of weeks ago & rode around whiterock lake (about 10 miles) with the girls & the dog. the dog made it a couple of miles before she started riding (she was tired). it was a little on the warm side, but we had a lot of fun. we rode around the lake & then ate a picnic lunch. I took a couple of pictures, but I'll do better next time. I forgot to take the camera on the ride, so next time I'll get one of the dog riding. it's too funny. I'm trying to get so I can ride at least 20 miles w/o saddness to my body. we are still planning on the bike trip next summer. . .so all who want to go, prepare.
hugs to everybody. mom :)

Cannon loves to splash!
And walk! All of the great things that you've heard about are finally officially documented.
hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy taking them. Oh, and you might want to turn the volume a little bit down for the walking one... Leah was a little bit closer to the mic than I think that she thought.



Yeah, the splashing video really doesn't do it justice. I was serious when I said that half of the water was gone. I think we have Butterfly in our future.
Oh, and by the way, Cannon walked all the way home after that second video. That's like 4 blocks. He's such a stud!

So, now for the boring part: news from me (Joe). I just got back from Baylor, and my interviews there seemed to go very well. One in particular went so well that I had to do a full arm-pumping "Yesssss!" as soon as the door was shut (or at least I thought it was...). For my part, I was very impressed with Baylor. I was absolutely blown away by the medical complex there. I believe that Baylor has access to 6000 beds. Most large universities might have 600. And each hospital was ranked first in something nationwide; best cancer center, best trauma center, etc. I left feeling like it would be hard to even consider buying a plane ticket to anywhere else for interviews if I receive an offer of acceptance from Baylor, especially since it would be much closer to family :) I was put up with a former BYU student who is now a fourth-year medical student at Baylor. His name is Shane, and he is going into Emergency medicine. I got the low-down from him about how family-friendly Baylor is, and how to work the system properly. I also got to see David, Jasmine, and Ben Hall, my siblings (in law), and their little boy is absolutely adorable. Picture a slightly darker Cannon + afro. Seriously cute kid. In all, it was a phenomenal trip, but it's good to be home to help take care of Cannon. Apparently he had a very rough night last night and is now on antibiotics trying to get over whatever has been in his system for the past few weeks. Anyway, I love you guys! Hope you're all having a great day, and we'll do our best to start using that video camera more :)
Love ya,
Joe

Sorry it's a little blurry. But there is my ever expanding belly of little Caleb. Not the prettiest but it is there so that you can all see. I didn't know how much bigger I had gotten until I compared the two pictures. I have been craving something sweet everyday. So last week, I bought some rocky road ice cream and have had a bowl or two everyday. Today, we are painting the baby's room. Or rather Steve is painting the baby's room. He says that I can't share pictures of the baby's room until it is completely finished. Which is supposed to give me an incentive to get it done faster. HEHEHEHEHE.... little does he know. I am so excited to finally have the nursery all done. I am 31 weeks along, which means that in 6 weeks the baby can come and not be premature at all! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I have so much to do. Putting off doing stuff gets you nowhere. UGHHH! Thanks for the package mom! It was great! We loved everything in it. The surprise that you sent, good thinking! I love that stuff! But it isn't gone yet, which totally rocks! How is life going out there? How is life in Texas? Utah? Elsewhere? Well, I wish I could see you guys, but November isn't so far away and I'm not really supposed to travel so... I love you and miss you all! Have a great week!

Sara and Steve

post from John!

hey everybody!
this is John, sorry it's taken me so long to write in here again, but i've had alot of trouble getting signed in and our internet speed here is not quite blazing, so it's been an exercise of patience, but i'm finally here, so here's an update on my life.
I've had a double ear infection for about a week, but i'm finally starting to feel a bit better today, which is good because our commander promised the governor that we could deliver Humanitarian Assistance for 600 people by tomorrow morning, which has led to a scrambled and eventful evening, but we got everything ready to go in the morning, and hopefully we can get there and get it handed out without any major problems.
we continue to work hard, and if you guys are interested, the PRT has recently made a blog and facebook page where the public relations guys are posting stories about what we're doing, and pictures of our missions, i just found out about it today, and it looks pretty cool, so feel free to check it out at www.prt-kunar.blogspot.com!
to those of you i havent talked to lately, let me say how happy i was to receive the package from home with all the letters from Mom, Dad, Bex and Rach. they were the highlight of my week, actually, pretty much the highlight of my entire 2 and a half months here, so thank you very much. also, i would like to apologize for not being able to call home as much as i would like--it's been a very busy couple of weeks, and very active for the Taliban/Insurgents in the area, and whenever someone is seriously hurt or killed they shut down all outside communications, and, well, we've spent more time with comms shut down these past few weeks than before.
well, i dont know what else to say, but i love you all, please dont stop praying for me--i need all the prayers i can get!
love,
john
ps--i think i mentioned a few weeks/months ago that i might get promoted, but then totally forgot to say if it happened or not. well, it did, i am now a Specialist, promoted 6 months early for exceptional service!

flu....

So Leah and I both caught the flu from cannon. bummer.

update #2

CANNON JUST STOOD UP WITHOUT ASSISTANCE. He was up for about 10 seconds. holy cow.
--Joe

Managing...

Okay so being managers isn't ALWAYS what its cracked up to be. I love doing most of it, but there are times when I really don't like being the bad guy. Steve has officially decided that I am the bad cop and he is the good cop. I don't like that. I would rather they hate Steve rather than me. But life isn't fair and anyone who tells you otherwise, is selling something. The Davenport's, the owners, seem to really like us and the job that we are doing. So that is a good thing. Usually I will get up and straighten the house a little bit before people come over and start asking questions or paying for something. Then, if I get around to it, I will water the lawn for a couple hours to keep the property looking nice. I have to clean the laundry room and the lounge everyday. Which includes taking out the trash and moving the couches back to where they need to be. I also have to feed the fish and take care of the pond, making sure that it is full and the fish don't die. All good things. Doing the paperwork I don't really mind, but I really don't like having to go door to door collecting rent from people and being the bad guy. I think I will have Steve put up our privacy windows in the house so that we can have the windows open to let some light in, but people can't see in. One of those magical things... Our office hours are from 10am to 5pm, but that doesn't seem to register with some of the students. We have had people stopping by at like 9pm! What the heck?! That is my bedtime. Why?! That is the frustrating part. We are having a mandatory meeting this Wednesday about Crestwood and the rules and stuff and that is something that we are going to go over so that Steve and I can still have "OUR" time.
News about our little baby Caleb...

I went to the doctor the other day and they told me that I have an excessive amount of amniotic fluid. Which can mean some pretty bad things can happen. The placenta can detach early, which is no good. And other things that I still need to get clarified on. The doctor said that this only happens to 1% of women, so lucky me. He also said that the things that can cause it is that the baby or I can have gestational diabetes or like a cleft palate or lip. I don't remember which. I'm not too worried about it though. These things can be fixed. He wants me to have a no-stress screening test done every week though just to watch things and make sure everything is still going okay. From what I understand, they just hook you up to a monitor machine thingy and monitor the baby's heart beat and how much amniotic fluid is in there and making sure you're not having contractions. So, it is going okay right now. I haven't had any tests yet, so no update there. I'm excited to see everyone and to steal mom away for Thanksgiving. HEHEHEHEHEHE... that will be fun! I am now about 29 or 30 weeks along, depending on which doctor you go by. So we only have about 10 or 11 weeks left! How exciting! My project this month is to get the baby's room ready. And by that I mean painted and everything put together. And set up. I need more diapers still and to figure out how to put that darn carseat in the car. I have no clue how it goes in there. Some help from those past mothers and fathers out there that know how to set it all up?
Steve has started school again finally. He is taking Accounting, a Business class, Family Religion, Economics, and something else. He is liking them so far, which is good. He comes home to stop and get something to eat everyday which is awesome. All but one of his classes is right across the street so he doesn't have to walk or ride his bike very far. It is already starting to get a little chilly here somedays. Hopefully, we won't have snow until at least October this year. Well life is good. I hope you like my house!

The Living Room/Office

The Kitchen

The Bathroom

The Hallway

The Nursery

Love,
Sara and Steve

Finally, a post from Joe!

Hi guys!
OK, so here's an update on Joe, Leah, Cannon, and the little brother in the tummy. Since I guess I haven't ever posted, I have to start pretty early... I'm mostly done applying to medical schools, I think that I'm going to stop at one or two more secondaries. I have an interview on Sept. 25 at Baylor, (Houston), so I'll be spending some quality time with David and Jasmine Hall (Leah's sister's family), which I'm excited about because their baby Ben is about the cutest little kid I've ever seen in a YouTube video, so I'm excited to see him in person. I also have an interview at UT Southwestern on October 10th, (which I just found out is the same weekend as my mission reunion in Utah, but what can you do?), so I'm planning on a couple of days with the family, and might even bring Cannon with me to give Leah a weekend off. Still not sure on that one, I need to find out if I can change my airplane ticket to Adult + toddler. So that will be fun. As far as med school interviews, there are thusfar no other bites yet, but my line is in the water until February, so I'm not too worried. I'm taking 18 credit hours this semester, I'm taking mostly upper division physics classes along with Biochemistry and (yawn) general college chemistry. So far, I'm having a great time being back in the swing of things with school. I really enjoy school, which is good, because I'm not going to be out of it for a long time...
Leah just got her hair cut super short like it was at our wedding. It looks good, and it's nice to have a change every now and then. She is taking a class at BYU this semester, Western Humanities, so when she's done with that she'll know how to be a human. Our plan is to go back to DFW (that's Dallas-Ft Worth for the Texas-illiterate out there) next summer after I graduate and Leah will finish the four last classes she needs for her Associates of Arts degree over the summer before I start medical school, wherever that is. If it's Southwestern, then we'll probably start looking for a permanent place to stay throughout the summer and stay with Leah's parents until then (they have extra room and it's free).
Cannon has six pearly whites to date, 4 on top and 2 on bottom. Right now he seems to be (finally!) taking a break from teething. Unfortunately, the last couple days he has come down with a stomach flu, and is not feeling too good. Today he seems a bit better (he hasn't thrown up all day), so we're hoping that it is close to being done, and that we won't be getting it either. We'll see. He is saying "mom" and "daddy" all the time now; whether that means that he understand what he is saying is yet to be conclusively demonstrated, but it seems like he does. We don't really know which one was first, so we officially tied for favorite status.
The unborn baby in our family seems to be doing fine, Leah is doing very well with this pregnancy. We're excited for two boys, it'll be so much easier since we already have everything we need basically. We've joked about naming this one Joseph so that we'll have a John and Joe, we'll see if that happens. I've been reading in the Old Testament and when I read about the sons of Jacob, I really liked what was written about the name Asher. So right now, I'm partial to that one, but if by a freak accident we have a premature baby that's born before Sara's, we might just use Caleb. I hope that doesn't happen, but you might want to make a contingency plan just in case, Gwee. Just kidding. Leah and I are amazed at how fast this pregnancy is going by. We're over halfway now, and it seems like that due date will be here before we can say "man-to-man defense." (or "finals week," for that matter-- he's due on the day after finals end, so we're hoping he comes pretty early or a bit late).
In other news, Leah's dad came up for about a week, and we went up to Monticello lake to go camping and fishing. We had little luck for most of the day, then saw an old-timer drive up, and pull fish out of the water every other cast. While I was digging for worms with a very enthusiastic 4-year-old, Leah went over and asked him what his secret was. When we learned the right way to do things, we caught 7 fish in about an hour and a half. It was really fun. They were all rainbow trout, and were very tasty.
In short, life is good. We are doing well, and are happy in our tiny little apartment. Hope this finds all of you well, we love you.
Joe

Hi Family

Hello, this is Dad.
I just wanted to write to thank everyone for writing, this can be a fun way to keep up with each other.
Our life seems to be very busy, I have lots of church work going on, I just finished redoing all the home teaching assingments, and I ended up with a huge list of personal families to home teach. We had a stake leadership meeting last week, and the stake president said that for the second quarter the stake averaged 48% home teaching. Unfortunately, our high priests group didn't do anything to help that number!
Our ward has not had home teaching PPI's for at least decades, so I have started doing mine, but my assistants have yet to catch the vision. No one in our ward even remembers what they are, so they are having a hard time being motivated to do them. I decided this morning that I needed to teach the brethren what home teaching is, I think the whole thing has become lost somehow. We haven't been home taught once since we moved into the ward the end of February. I emailed the Bishop this morning and asked if I could take a whole lesson time with all the priesthood (Aaronic included) and go teach them about home teaching. It will be interesting if he gives me that opportunity.
I have been having some really great experiences lately. I have been focusing on the gift of charity a lot in my personal life and prayers. I see this as the single most important thing that I need in my life. As some of you may know, when Mom went to pick up Bex from Idaho this summer she stopped at the distribution center and called and asked if I needed anything. What I had her get me was a stack of pass-along-cards. So I have started to try to hand out this cards to all that I can, and I was averaging about 4 per week, but this week has been a big zero! I'm bummed about that. But what does that have to do with charity you might ask? To me it's easy, if my charity for a person is bigger than my fear, I will be willing and able to give them a pass-along-card, if on the other hand, my fear is bigger I won't. Pretty much it is as simple as that, the only reason why doing missionary work is considered "hard" is our charity is too low. So, rather than having talks about missionary work, we could just get to the core of the problem and talk about charity. The real thing, I have been intregued lately with Elder Oak's talk called "The Challenge to Become", which in my opinion is perhaps one of the most doctrinally amazing talks I have heard in along time. Anyway, in that talk Elder Oaks says that charity isn't something you do, but rather it is what you are. Pure charity is a description of what the Savior is. I have always thought of it as something that someone posessed, but not as what they are. So it has been interesting to think about this.
Well, this has already been too long - I look forward to hearing from everyone. Things are going well at work, we have had two companies come to visit us, one from California, and one from The Netherlands. Both of those companies want to pay us for doing some development work for them as a proof that we can do what we say. So, life is very good, and it is exciting to have some companies interested. I hope that things all work out well, we are certainly trying hard.
Yesterday was my annual lecture at Texas A&M university, so I spent the day in College Station, and on the way home there was a really bizzare rain storm that resulted in bad accident on the freeway, which brought it to a total stop in south Dallas. So I figured I could bail from the freeway and find my way home. Really bad idea - I got totally lost! Thankfully Bex had google maps up and could guide me home! I would have been lost without google and Bex!
Well got to run to take Rach to volleyball!
Love ya!
Dad

Life.... =)

Okay, so here goes: someone other than Sara/Rachel is posting something!

Okay, so looking for a job is sucky and hard. And I still don't have one. It sucks. I know I already used that adjective, but I thought it was true enough to say twice. I can't think of anywhere else to apply. I feel like I've applied to like 1000 different places! It seems like everywhere I go to apply they tell me to apply online, so I'm spending most of my time online looking for a job. *sigh* Also, I did the math and I need to earn at the bare minimum $8/hr. But the longer I'm out of work, the more I need to make. Being a grownup isn't all that easy.

For those of you who didn't know: I may have a potential stalker. This is everything I know about him: his name is Mark, he's divorced and has a daughter, and he doesn't go to singles ward. That's it. He called up and talked to me, and tried to ask me out. I was like "Wow look at the time. I've gotta go, sorry."

Then there are the normal boys: Jason, Jeff, and Benjamin. Oh, and David, Blake, and Brandon. I'm not sure if David technically counts, but I'm adding him anyway. Isn't life grand?

This Saturday night I'm planning on having a girl's night with Cate and Sarah, from my ward. I'm looking forward to it, I think it'll be fun.

I feel kinda overwhelmed with everything, so I've started doing sun salutations every morning. Okay, today was the first morning, but still. I have plans. Oh, and I'm planning on starting doing water aerobics at the apartment pool in the mornings, because of my bursitis it's really hard for me to do more traditional forms of exercise like walking, running, bike riding, etc.

Oh, and labor day was this weekend. Why hasn't anyone posted about that? Anyway, what we did down here in Texas is we went on a family bike ride around White Rock Lake. The scenery was beautiful and it was about a 9-mile ride. It was nice. We took a lunch and had a picnic in the grass. Mom made a delicious chicken salad for us. There was this HUGE black dragonfly that I was watching because it wasn't moving. It was just sitting on this twig-thing and when we got close it tried to scare us away, it looked like one of those dive bombers. No joke. I got a pic of the dragonfly, but not of it trying to scare us away. Mom was supposed to upload those pics and write about our fun morning together, but she hasn't been able to yet.

Wow I've written a lot, but I thought coming into this I had nothing to say. I guess the joke's on me! Well, I love y'all!

Bekah :p

school sucks, man.

ok so this is only the second week of school n i already have so much hw its ridiculous. so i had 3-4 hours of history yesterday n all day tomorrow for history. last week i had 6-7 hours of history, so i guess im getting better at that particular thing of hw. ok im getting a little tired of only me n sara writing on the blog. where r the people that i dont speak to every day? i know ur busy so sorry for kind of yelling at u. ok well i will talk to u guys later when im not bogged down with hw. :) haha just kidding.

New House!

So we moved in this week on Tuesday. We were supposed to move in at 8am, but some unexpected events occurred and we couldn't move in until 6pm. What happened was the old managers' son broke his arm while they were moving and so that put a halt in things. It kinda sucked. We bought donuts and everything for the people that were going to help us move, but since we couldn't move until that night, Steve and I ended up eating almost all of them. Well, mostly me. I had like 4 or 5 donuts by the time Steve had had 2. I know. Horrible. But they were delicious. I am craving some cinnamon rolls right now. They sound so good. We or rather I, unpacked and put everything in some place on Wednesday. Just about everything anyways. I started my job a day early on Thursday and we have already had a white glove meeting on Friday and did some yard work on Saturday. Steve is having a hard time going to work now and then. He just wants to stay home and help me around the house. Or so he says. I am thinking he just wants to play some video games or something. I can't be sure though, there are a lot of things that need to be done. We need to paint the house, the nursery, clean the kitchen, tear down the wallpaper in the kitchen, replace it with something pretty looking, and do some handiwork around the house. I know, it's a lot to do. But I want the house looking perfect for our new arrival. The nursery and everything needs to be set up and painted soon. I would like it done before the baby comes so that it doesn't have to be done when he comes. I still need diapers. Tons of diapers. And wipes. So, if anyone feels the need, I wouldn't stop you from getting us those. Can you just put new wallpaper on top of old wallpaper? Or do you have to take down the old wallpaper before you put up the new? I will put up some pictures of my baby bump soon. I am just so busy all the time. I hope that my bump does get bigger so that people stop looking at me like I'm just fat instead of pregnant. Oh well. Have a great day and enjoy your summer while it lasts!
Sara

someone other than sara is posting a blog.

ok sara i am writing on the blog k? :)

well school is about to start on monday n its thursday now. >.<

ok so my friend ana is gonna come to seminary this year with me!! yay!! how awesome is me? n u say. FREAKING AWESOME!!!!! DUH!!!!!! ok. vain moment over. so there is only 3 more days of freedom left n thats counting sunday. i am minorly depressed about this. hew... *sigh of discontentment* well, i have nothing further to report n i need advice about how to do my hair on the first day of school. k well LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

knee knee

(in case you've forgotten thats rachel)

Hello?

Why am I the only one that keeps updating this blog? The past 3 posts have been from me, and that's not very fun. So, Steve and I got the managing position! We are moving in a couple of weeks. Our move in date is August 25. I am so excited. We are selling our kitchen table and chairs, entertainment center, couch, office desk, and giving away our funky chair. So we are just trying to get rid of it all because we don't want to haul it with us and the fact that those things are going to be provided at our new house. We don't really want to store these things for however long we are going to be living there. We don't even know how long we are going to be living there so there is no use storing all of that stuff if we are going to live there for years. Ya know? Leah and I are thinking about cutting all of our hair off. It is exciting! My last day of work is on Wednesday the 19th of August. Eric and Kelcie are coming over this weekend and are going to spend the weekend with us! We are so very excited! I am eating constantly it seems like. I think I am constantly going to be eating and gaining weight for the next umm.... while. I will be 6 months pregnant or 25 weeks along on Sunday. YAY! I think I look like I have a soccer ball underneath my shirt all the time. And it is hard to sleep through the night now. And I go potty all the time. Well, life is pretty good here in Idaho. I love having Steve home at night now. It rocks! I love that we go to bed together now. The past couple nights, we have been in bed before 10pm. Exciting?! Well, we love you and will talk to you soon... hopefully.

Spring Cleaning?... in August

Okay so this week I had off from work so I had the "bright" idea to clean my house while I am home this week. I mean like really clean it. Deep down, cleaning mopboards, scrubbing tubs, that kind of clean that you always dread when you're a kid and it starts to come around to the spring time of year that most houses refer to as the dreaded Spring Cleaning. Well, I hate it now as much as I did then, but the difference is that it is my house now and it is only going to get done if I do it. How is that fair? I hate the deep down cleaning part, but then once it's all done, it looks great, if you can keep it up. I mean there is no use to cleaning your house if you're just going to let it get all dirty again. I have that problem sometimes. I clean the house on Saturday and then get lazy and don't keep it up during the week to just come around and have to work hard to clean it all over again on Saturday. So, so far I have done the bathroom, office(kinda), and the bedroom. The office is only kinda done, because that is Steve's domain and I don't want to put stuff somewhere that I won't remember that he needs. So I figure he can help(a lot) with that one. I did the baby stuff in there. That should count for something shouldn't it? We have a lot of baby stuff that I don't know where to put. And that most likely won't change when the baby comes. But I am taking a break right now. I cleaned the walls, mop-boards, closet, door, all switches/plug-ins of any kind in that room, dresser, window sill, and whatever else you can think of in the bedroom today and I am doing laundry at the same time. I found some sheets on the floor in our bedroom and don't know if they are clean or dirty, so I am washing them. All the laundry is, hopefully, getting done today. I am walking around in pajamas so that my clothes can get washed. It is sad, I have to keep putting my clothes that don't or won't fit me anymore while I am pregnant in a bag in the closet and my clothes keep thinning out. Ignore the punn... I thought it was funny. I might have to resort to my old ways pretty soon and become the baggy jeans, t-shirt girl. I will have to do my hair so that I don't completely become my old Junior High School self again. Oh good times...
Last night, Steve and I decided to go to bed a little early. I wanted to play with the baby. So I laid down on my back in bed and got a flashlight. For those of you who haven't done this, I reccomend doing it. It is soooo much fun. We shined the flashlight right on my belly and moved it around a little bit. I think Caleb was a little shocked by this because he didn't know what to do. Then we put some music on, he really likes to dance to fast music. Anyways we put the music on and Steve was in charge of the flashlight, he has in one hand and the other he has on my belly trying to feel him move around. Steve just starts talking to Caleb telling him what to do and singing along with the music. And then Caleb does exactly what Steve tells him to do. And he starts dancing and kicking and just having a ball with the light and the music. Steve and I had so much fun doing that last night. It was great! We will have to do it again sometime so that we can get more and more aquainted with our little guy. Oh yea, so we really like the name Caleb and are pretty sure that is what we will name him. FUN!!! I will be 6 months pregnant in a week from Sunday! YEA! That means the 3rd trimester here we come! The ladies at work are throwing me a baby shower on August 31. I am very excited! Well have a great week guys and have fun during the school break!
Sara and Steve

Poor Car...

So they say that bad things happen in threes so maybe we will be okay maybe with our next car... so to update you guys, on Friday the 31st of July I was in a car accident. My first one ever. What happened was, I was on my way home from work at the dentist's office in Idaho Falls and on the highway when this car to the right and just ahead of me started pulling into my lane. I was at his back tires so most likely in his blind spot. He forced me off the road into the median, I was coming back onto the highway and must have hit the gravel wrong and started going out of control. I spun and hit a car that was merging onto the highway. My car, or rather John's car looks like when you cook lasagna and have to bend the foil on top before you put it into the oven. The hood looks like that and the bumper is broken. Kinda looks like a smooshed something from the front end. The car doors still open just fine, but I don't want to drive the car on account that it's hard to see the road and when you turn right, the left hand tire scrapes against the body of the car. The other car basically what happened is the bumper fell off. Lucky them. So John's car is done for now. We have to take it to the shop and get it fixed. The insurance company is coming out tomorrow to assess the car and see what we can do about it.
About a rental. John's coverage doesn't cover a rental so we can only get a rental car if the guy who forced me off the road insurance claims liability and says that it was his fault. So if so, then they owe us a rental while ours is undriveable and in the shop. He got a citation for unsafe lane change so hopefully they will say that it is his fault and they won't fight it. That is what we are hoping for.
Steve and I are doing okay right now. My lower back is absolutely killing me and has been all day long. We have tried everything, from different positions to a bean sock(like a rice sock) and massages, and medicine, and stretching. I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions? I hate how much it hurts. I guess that this is part of being pregnant. This must be the sucky part and the uncomfortable part that everyone keeps telling me to get ready for. Well, if something were to happen I guess this week is the best for it to happen because I have this week off from work and Steve's last day at Wal-Mart is on Monday!!! I am so excited!!! I will have a sleeping buddy again! I won't be alone at night! My hubby and I can eat together again! It's like going from single life to married life then back to single and now we are back to the married part! YEA!!!
Steve felt our little Caleb move a couple of times now. That is the name we are pretty set on for our little man, but we aren't positive yet. He was so excited the first time that he felt him move. And each time he is but it's always coolest the first time. Well, I guess I will talk to you all later and see you next year! LOVE YA!
Sara

Texas!

So I am safely back in the Great State of Texas! It makes me happy to say that! Okay, so I got here Saturday afternoon and have been super busy! I unpacked, went through all the boxes that I left here, trimmed down my closet space (of boxes) down from three full boxes and a laundry hamper, down to one box. I am so proud of myself!

So Dad keeps bugging me about finding a job, which I do want to do, really badly, but I feel like I just need some time to breathe. I need time to come up for air. I just took finals exactly one week ago, and the only down time I've had since then has been reading this new series of books that mom and Rachel are all into. I also read the new Stephanie Plumb book. But that's it! So, I am starting to look online for a job.

Oh, the apartment is very nice. Mom has made it look all homey. It's great. The neighbors are real friendly. I have met a lot of them already. And in the new ward, there are quite a few really nice people who have introduced themselves to me. It is weird being known as Rachel's sister, though. I think I might go to the single's ward instead of the family ward. Mom and Dad have told me some weird things about it, but what I hear from everyone else has been all good things. Plus, I saw them coming out of the chapel on Sunday and there were some very nice looking boys, with not a lot of young ladies. That made my day.

Well, here's hoping I'll get a job off the internet and not have to do the whole door-to-door application thingy. Plus, I find out my final grades tomorrow. Wish me luck with that!

All my love, Bekah

rachel loves everyone except retards.

hey guys its rach.

k funny story. so mom has to tell her funny cop story dont let her forget to!!!! ok so we are safely at home n me n bex have basically cleaned up the disaster that was our room n so now it looks very nice if i do say so myself. ;) so bekah is wearing a shirt that says "a little drama never hurt anyone." i kno ironic bcuz she is NEVER dramatic at all. *heavy sarcasm if u couldnt tell* well we r gonna see harry potter tomorrow YYYYAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so yeah i love all of u n laina especially. :) u need to email me. superunner@sbcglobal.net.

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

news from the theater

hello again from afghanistan!

it has been a very busy couple of weeks, and i apologize for not having written sooner, but life out here is very hectic. i was sick yesterday, but i'm feeling much better today. i think it was mostly just the schedule that ran me into the ground, but i got a day of (mostly) rest, and today is friday, which is the muslim holy day, so usually it's not too busy around here on fridays, so i should be able to rest a little more today. i can't get into too much detail, but i usually work between 12 and 15 hours per day here in my office and around the FOB as need be, plus any missions i go on (usually about 3 per week), and then on top of that i have night guard duty once every three days, so sleep and relaxation have been in short supply lately. i think it'll get better after a couple of months when my body gets more used to it, and i get better at my job so stuff doesnt take me as long. (intersting side note, i have now been in theater for almost a month, one down, eight to go)

there are some perks to being here though... yesterday 5 of the Patriots cheerleaders came and visited the base, signed some pictures, and talked with us a bit. of course it was the day i was sick, so i wasnt looking my best, but it was good to talk to them for a few minutes, and tell them the cowboys were going to crush them in the superbowl this year!

i am trying desperatly to find the right way to handle humanitarian aid. i dont want to give handouts to everyone who comes to the base seeking help, in fact, i would prefer not to give away anything from the base, but rather have the afghan govt give it away, in order to strengthen their appearance and actual capability. but if i do find a way to give it away through the govt, i need to train whoever it is that will be in charge of giving it away. how should the process work? how can they prove they have real need? how can they earn the help they need and not just get a handout? i would love to model it after the church's welfare system, but i dont have access to any church manuals or anything. dad, maybe with all your experience in bishoprics, you could advise me on how to do this. any other sources of advice are welcome as well.

in other news, i am contemplating transfering to utah state when i get back and going through the ROTC program there with a good friend of mine here in afghanistan. let me shed some light on the reasoning behind this move.

first, the army owns me outright until 2011, but still technically owns me until 2016, and can deploy me as needed anytime until june of 2016. and as my job, civil affairs, is highly needed all over the world, it is highly likely that i would be pulled back out of civilian life at least once, and probably more like 2 or even 3 times during that 5 year gap. and they could deploy me with any unit, as any job, as they need at that exact moment. so instead of being powerless those 5 years, if i go back, and go through ROTC, use that scholarship money to finish school, and then become an officer, return to my unit, and then when i deploy once or twice or three times, it is with my own unit, doing my own job, and as an officer to boot. then i would be done with all army obligations probably in 2016 or 2017, and would probably be a captain, with with almost 10 years of experience in real world international relations, dealing directly with governors, generals and smaller local leaders all over the world. and this is a long way off, but my long range plans would then put me working in the state department as a foreign affairs officer after my time in the military is over. i know, lots of stuff, but none of it is decided, and is subject to change, just wanted to let you know what i was thinking about.

well, i gotta run, but i did get the address for letters/packages:

John O Nelson

PRT Kunar, Asadabad

Camp Wright

APO, AE 09354

and you can get flat rate apo boxes from the post office for like 10 bucks, so it shouldnt be very expensive to mail anything here.

lots of love,

john

BABY BUMP!!!

Okay well I thought that I would give you all an update on my little baby boy. He is definitely getting bigger, especially after I eat. So I don't know for sure if it's just me and my fatness or if its the baby happy with what I'm eating. I am officially 21 weeks along and we're just waiting for Steve to be able to feel the baby. It's weird every time the baby kicks and I put Steve's hand where he just kicked and then the baby stops kicking. It's like he knows that someone else is there besides me. How do babies know that? Well, we went to some of our friend's house for dinner last week and they taught us how to make sushi from scratch! It is soooo much cheaper than buying it, let me tell you. AND it was absolutely delicious!!! We just had a vegetable sushi with fresh vegetables like red pepper, carrots, cucumbers, fresh jalepenos, cream cheese, that one thing you put in salsa that gives it it's umph. It starts with a c... chopped up it looks like parsley, but its not. That was the absolute BEST sushi I have had in my entire life.
Okay, mom, Leah, I am not really liking this always uncomfortable stage of pregnancy where I can't wear any of my old cute clothes because it hurts my belly too much every time I sit down. Whoever thought of maternity clothes is an absolute genius! My last day of Arctic Circle is on Thursday! I am excited. I am tired of working two jobs, I want my nights back even though I am only working two days a week, I am exhausted and maybe it's the pregnancy thing because I get soooo tired from just working two hours there. The good thing is that after we have the baby, if I do need to work, my boss offered me my job back anytime. So we will always have a back-up plan if need be. Well we are having speghetti tonight as Bekah's last Sunday meal here in Rexburg, ID. I am about to go and pick her up. Thanks for everything you guys have done for us, we love you! Mom, I'm glad to see you this week!

Sigh

So, Harry Potter 6 is coming out tonight! I can't go because I was too wrapped up in silly school things to buy a ticket beforehand. When is school finally gonna figure out that I have a social life, too? Hello!

So, there's one week and one day left of classes. This semester has really flown by! I'm so glad I've been able to keep up with my assignments for the most part. Jennifer left assignments undone until now, and so she's frantically trying to do massive projects. It does not look fun at all. So, I have no idea how I'm going to get everything done in time, in terms of cleaning and packing and still studying, and watching Harry Potter, and eating, and sleeping, and moving yet again, and everything else I need to do over the next week. Oh, mom, I still don't know how things are going to work out when you get up here, sorry. I have been thinking about it, I just haven't been able to tell yet. I am so not looking forward to my math exam and my world foundations exam. They're going to be brutal.

Oh, by the way, did you know David W. Patton saw someone who claimed to be Cain? It's recorded in The Miracle of Forgiveness.

Well, sure love all of you!

Bekah

Hello everyone!
For family night tonight, mom and I are writing in the blog. What would I write you might ask? I hope there is little doubt, that given an audience and a few minutes of your time, I will talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ! (and hopefully have fun with my family)
In my personal scripture study lately I have been reading in the topical guide under "Jesus Christ, Atonement of". It has been interesting, I have read Romans chapter 5 several times trying to understand it. I sure love the New Testament.
Sunday night we went to a fireside where Elder and Sister Gibbons. He is a member of the Second Quorum of 70, and lived in our ward (Richardson 2nd) before his call to the 70. They just finished serving in the area presidency in Moscow, Russia. So their talks were about the church and life in Russia. They made one very interesting statement that really was amazing. He said that one family that has been sealed in the temple can change a city, 10 families that have been sealed in the temple can change a country!
We are living so very far below our privileges and opportunities. We need to do so much more with what we have, and learn to open our mouths and share what we have.
The gospel is true, life is good, and it's just a great ride along the way!!
I love you all, it is so great to spend time with family.
Dad

youth conference

its rach. so the ropes course was way fun and very high. u should b proud that i actually went on one of them! ur 20 bucks was not wasted! so it was really really high n i was very scared. mer tried to go on one and she didnt make it past the ladder so hah! ok so i am having a blast here n we r about to go so i love you all!!!
p.s. i printed off a copy of johns letter for grandma.

I'm sorry Mommy!

Okay, so mom, I won't be getting every single jar back to you...I was getting in the fridge for some root beer (leftover from our 4th of July party), and I accidentally knocked a jar of kidney beans out of the fridge, that landed on my foot and then shattered. Sorry! I know that was your one condition on giving us the food storage, and I broke it, quite literally.
Okay, on to happier times. Sara's belly is getting so big! It's so adorable! She's now at that stage to where you can't tell if she's just getting fat, or if there might be a little more to it. Love it!
So, my last day of class is on the 23rd, so I am frantically trying to get everything done, and study, and pack, and clean...It's kind of tiring. Talk about pressure. Oh, so I really wanna know what all is going to go on at the end of the semester, are Rachel and I flying home, is Mom picking us up, or what?
So, right now I am at Sara and Steve's, enjoying my time with them before I have to go. They are so nice and hospitable. Generous as well. Sara's sending me home with a half of a lasagna, can you believe it? Such nice relatives I have. Tee-hee, Sara won't drink milk today because they don't have enough chocolate to make it taste good. I think that's funny!
So I'm having mixed feelings about the end of the semester. I'm excited for the tests to be over. I'm excited to go back to Texas, where they know that a proper cold front gets you to about 87 degrees. But I don't wanna leave the atmosphere here. As in, the spiritual atmosphere that pervades life here. This doesn't seem like a good place to end things, but I have nothing else to say.
I'll talk to you later!
Much Love, Bekah

complaints?

okay, so i have had some complaints that you can't see the picture very well on this blog. if you want to see a bigger picture of my baby boy go to my blog. lifeasakofoed.blogspot.com. I am one of the followers. actually, i'm both. i can't help it if you can't tell that it's a boy in this picture. bigger one is on my blog. plus you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. have fun looking at my boy. love you
sara

GENDER OF BABY!

Okay so if you can't tell, WE'RE HAVING A BOY! YEA! SO that means another nephew/ baby boy to add to the family. I'm glad that we're having a boy first. So he can protect his younger siblings! I am so excited.
Love you!
Sara and Steve

hey!!! its rach so i am a lot better now for those of u that didnt know i had a 102 degree fever for about 2 days. :/ but i am feeling a lot better now thanx for all ur concern and help. btw bex n sara would make excellent nurses. they were so nice and kind to me while making me take an extremely cold shower. bbrrrrrr. :D yeah so i am having a BLAST here with my sisters/roomates they are awesome i love them. ok so give mia a big hug and pet for me love you guys!!!!

It's Bekah!

Hey, from your favorite sister/daughter! It's me, you need wait no further! I know some of you were just holding your breath waiting for the moment when I would make me appearance onto this scene! Ok, but in all honesty, thanks for doing this Sara! I really like that I can catch up on my whole family on one blog! It's just so convenient!

Ok, so I cut my hair! Well, Jessica (my roommate) cut it, but I really like it! She cut it for me yesterday, and so now my hair doesn't really touch my shoulders at all, and it's in sexy, messy, yet somehow organized, curls! I love it! I'll try and get a pic as soon as I can.

So, the 4th was amazing! ...Mostly... Rachel woke up not feeling well, so she spent the whole day laying in my bed, and I went to the store to get fruit and buns for the best fruit salad E

VER! (Buns not included) and after we got back I couldn't find my baby (laptop) anywhere. At first I just thought I was being absent-minded again, so I didn't say

anything. Then, Jessica cut my hair, I made the best fruit salad EVER (pineapple (fresh), bananas, apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, kiwi, all in a delicious sauce made of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip), then we sat around waiting for the picnic since we were all starving, but we had to wait another hour and a half for food. After we got there, we ate and went and played on the playground a little bit. We started talking and decided that we didn't want to go all the way to Idaho Falls just for fireworks, and we had started this story about us (as roommates), and we really wanted to work on it. Plus, we weren't sure we would be back in time for curfew. Oh, when I went to bed, guess what I found under my pillows? If you're thinking $1 from the tooth fairy, you'd be wrong. It was my laptop! I wonder how that got there?

So, I guess I'm gonna have to check the blog every single day to get all my updates without having to read A LOT all at once. Oh, and thanks to whoever posted all those pictures individually. That was really cool.

Love you!

Bekah

John & Rachel

John, Joe & Kevin just before a father's blessing.

mom's contribution to the war effort

John with Grandpa & Grandma Nelson

a little twig ball, anyone?

the cutest hiker on the whole mountain, in the whole park, well, pretty much anywhere!!!

mystic falls hike. . .what memories :)

some days are just like that. . .

large diapers come in handy sometimes. . .

Cannon & Grandpa (the original watermelon head)

Nanette playing in a dirty diaper :)

our trip home

So, this is my first post. Feel free to welcome me into the 21st century :) we had such a great time with all of our family, I just wish we had an airplane--or could waft places so the travel didn't take up so much of the time we could have been playing with someone. . . anyway, each day was great & I wish we could have spent more time (just another complaint about Kevin working during all of his vacation. . .) now I'm done.

I'm sad that Rachel is sick & away from home, but I appreciate her sisters (& Steve) taking such good care of her when I can't be there. the mom is supposed to take care of you when you're sick, so it's hard to be so far away from your children when they need help. thanks for stepping in & showing how great you understand how a family works :)

our trip home was great. thanx for all your prayers in our behalf. there was little traffic after we left Price (Utah) -- just more congested around the bigger cities & just a bit of rain here & there. travelling on the 4th turned out to be a great idea. just outside of Oklahoma City we picked up a young man who needed a ride (when I say "we" I mean Kevin invited him & I supported my husband by not declining). His appearance was just what you would expect from someone who was hitchhiking for several days & he was not very articulate. we had stopped for gas & since I was driving we headed over to sonic for breakfast. he sat in the back with mia (I don't think he shared his hamburger, but I was driving so I could have missed it). Kevin talked to him for the hour he was with us & his story was a sad one = 26, divorced, 6 yr. old son that he hasn't seen for 3 months. .., no job, all his things "taken" by his own father. he likes to golf, but didn't really seem too interested in having a job of any kind if he could get by without one. no idea why his wife wanted to leave & was reluctant to have him see his son. not really into the "Jesus thing" . Kevin tried to share the gospel with him, but he ended up just telling him that letting God be a part of his life had mad all the difference. how rite he is. knowing who you are, where you came from & where you're going makes all the difference. I'm so thankful for the gospel in my life. there is nothing better than seeing your children gain a testimony & sharing the blessings of the priesthood and the temple with them. you guys (& gals) are the best & I'm so grateful for each of you in our family. all of you are amazing & I love you.

Primary was great, but I'm just too unorganized for my comfort. so, I'll spend this next week getting things done & cleaning carpets in the apt. (they cleaned them when we moved in, but. . .) in sharing time today we built a house (lincoln logs) & dug a trench around it (symbolizing family prayer). next week we'll build a fence (popsicle sticks = fam. scripture study) & then the watchtowers (paper cups = family home evening). we are strengthening our families so satan can't get in so easily :) saturday we have a primary swimming party. wish me luck.

well, Kevin is asleep in the chair, so it must be time for bed. hugs--mom :)

these are a few of my favorite things from our vacation

Can you say "twirling ballarena"? Yellowstone was great!

Hi everyone, this is dad (Kevin - as there are multiple "dads")

I just wanted to write to tell everyone how good it was to all be together this past couple weeks!! It was so fun to see you all.

I really enjoyed going up to Rexburg to see Steve & Sara's; and Bekah's apartments. It gives you a good feeling as a parent to be able to picture where your kids are.

I loved spending time with Cannon! What a happy little boy he is, I just can't get too much of his grins and squeels when you call his name and play with him. I'm really looking forward to the next two additions this fall - what a great blessing it is to see our little family grow.

It was great to spend more time with Leah and Steve - thank you both so much for marrying into our family and being willing to join this group of strange people - FOR EVER! It is so cool that as a parent you love your children's spouce's just as if they were your own. It's no wonder that as kids grow up in the family they have to be taght which aunt or uncle is by birth and which by marriage. The bonds of the priesthood that unite the in-laws into the family are the exact same as those that unite parents to children, so all have equal rights and priviledges. I hope I worded that so you can understand what I mean.

I think my favorite part of the vacation was the father's blessings that were given and received. What an amazing thing it is to have the priesthood on the earth, and the prophetic power that can come from the righteous exercize of it. I gave Joe a blessing before his MCAT exam, then I gave John a blessing prior to his leaving, and then I received a father's blessing from my dad just before we left to drive back to Texas. Each of those blessings was unique and prophetic and powerful.

I love you all!