An Arizona Christmas

Mesa Temple Lights:
Lauren sporting her first pair of Babylegs:

The Commander:

Our Gingerbread House:

Hanging out with Memee and Popee:

Playtime

Lauren pics

Lauren sporting her first pair of jeans. You can tell that she's happy that she found a pair that fit just right.

Early morning exercises: I don't know very many people who can touch their toes while lying down in bed. Maybe just Lauren, Carl, and those of you taking Flexibility at BYU this semester.

Miss us?

Well, you haven't seen us for a while. Maybe you're wondering what we have been doing. Read on.

Preston has been studying, studying, taking finals, and studying.

Emily has been doing massive amounts of laundry, getting things ready for our Christmas trip, caring for the wee one and trying to find some time to exercise and write SAT questions.

Lauren has been smiling, talking, sucking her thumb, rolling over, blowing bubbles, and grabbing things (like my hair, my shirt, my glasses).

Here is a picture of Lauren watching the Biggest Loser finale. Go Danny!

Here's another picture of Lauren hanging out in her chair. She's getting too big for the chair - her legs kind of dangle off the end, so we're going to need to find another seating solution here soon.

I also added some more pictures onto the link on the left for your viewing pleasure.

- The Prize -

I have had this trophy since 2007. This weekend I am putting it on the line in the Scoresby Scamper. I wanted it to be on the blog, just in case I don't come home with it. Best of luck to all participants.

Exciting News!

Little Lauren has had a big week. We finally got her a crib and got it all set up in her very own room. How did she do the first night? Eight beautiful hours.

It was definitely time for a crib. Especially now that Lauren can do this -

She's learning new tricks every day!

Heroes

Who are your heroes?

Emily said today that her heroes were Matt Lauer and Al Gore.

Cute.

Hubby Has a Birthday

She speaks!

Lauren's Blessing Day

Lauren was very lucky to have all four grandparents, one great-grandparent, several aunts and uncles, and her oldest and youngest cousins here for her special day. Everything went perfectly and we all had a great time.

We are Family!

Today was pretty awesome.

Alex, Carl and my parents came in on Thursday. Rene, Margaret came early this afternoon. Grandma Allred flew in. Ben, Shannon, and Macey came later this afternoon. And Joanna and her (insert here) came later.

Thank you for all of you who are thinking about us, and a special thanks to those who traveled far to visit us today. We have a really great family.

You've been waiting for this!

Like mother, like daughter

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a thumb sucker.

Getting pumped for game day

Emily and Lauren getting pumped for the BYU v. SDSU game.

She's a cougar for sure.

Wanna hear something funny?

We went to get our Minnesota driver's licenses today. Only one of us passed the test.

Can you guess who?

:)

To my dearly departed

Once a year there comes a time to get out your winter clothes and chuck out some beloved teeshirts to make space. This year I am losing some of my very favorite shirts. It just seems wrong to get rid of my prize possessions for ugly svests but the nature of the climate makes it a necessity, so here goes.

#1 - 1998 BSA Camp Hines. This shirt made the trip to Spain and back.

#2. 2007 Woodsman 5K



#3 - 2006 Rex Lee Run 10K



#4 - 1998 5 Stake Scout Camporee - This trip also made the trip to Spain and back and has the markings from several service projects.

#5 - 2004 - "Piel del toro" - one of my favorite purchases in Spain, but I never really liked to wear it.

#6 - Exelon Nuclear - Emily bought this for $1.00 at Honks. She loved it. I loved her loving it.

#7 - 2007 - Midway SwissDays 10k - This was first event that I placed in.

#8 - BYU - 2006 edition Student Sports Pass Shirt -

Some honorable mentions include: "Y Honor Tradition" and my "Twin Cities Marathon - Volunteer" shirt.

Emily asked me if I wanted to make a quilt out of them like Janet has. I looked at her and plainly said "no." I sweat a lot and would never find comfort in having these shirts draped over me.

Milestones

So Lauren is six weeks old today. I don't know how six became the magic number, but supposedly if you can survive the first six weeks, you're home free. Well, I'm happy to report that we're still alive. And considering what we've survived in those first six weeks - coming home to someone else's home; moving five days later; continuing to live out of suitcases and boxes until we got unpacked and organized; putting Preston through law school; Lauren's first cold (we're still recovering from this one - check back in a few days) - this should be a piece of cake from here on out.

Our latest milestone: we discovered we can suck on our fist. Very useful.

A Tale of Two Cakes

This is the cake I made for the BYU/Florida St. game. We affectionately dubbed it the Earthquake Cake. I guess it was a portent of things to come.

This is the cake Preston made me for my birthday. It not only looked good - it was delectable as well.

Free Time?

We have been brainstorming things that Sarah can do with all her free time until she finds a job. Here is what we came up with.

• Do family history research or family search indexing
• Knit hats for humanitarian aid
• Practice the piano
• Find an insanely long novel and read it just so you can say you did (I could give you some recommendations)
• Start your autobiography
• Learn the Napoleon Dynamite dance and do it for your next ward talent show
• Memorize the US presidents in order and some facts about each administration (just in case you're ever on Jeopardy!)
• Start an intramural inner tube water polo team
• Bake cookies and hand them out to random people on campus
• Go to Devotional two hours early so you can sit on the front row
• Read the Ensign (that way you don't have to do it when your siblings invite you over on Sunday evening)
• Update your blog every day
• Make a friend in a nursing home
• Scrapbook your mission
• Perfect your pudding making skills and start a pudding business
• Join The Quill and the Sword (also known as the Medieval Club)
• Try out for a play
• Become a Level 4 wizard on World of Warcraft (not recommend by the Ensign)
• Make up a survey and call random people in the phone book to take it. Then try to get the results published.
• Practice your numchucking and computer hacking skills
• Write letters to Grandma
• Finish your autobiography

That should keep you busy for a while.

Are you kidding?

We had a talk in church today about how Facebook is like the scriptures. And it wasn't from a youth speaker. This was a grown woman with teenage daughters. I groaned as soon as I heard her mention Facebook - she then spent about 20 minutes detailing just how similar the scriptures and Facebook are: they are both free, can be accessed anywhere, they both give you important messages (that is, if you consider "John has sent you a Pirates vs. Ninjas invitation" an important message), they both make you smile, and my favorite - some days you just need to spend more time on Facebook and some days you just need to spend more time in the scriptures. Her point? I didn't quite pick up on that part. Maybe that we make time for Facebook and since the scriptures are so similar to Facebook, we should make time for them too?

This is the second week in a row that Facebook has come up in a Sacrament Meeting talk. I think maybe that if it's that prevalent in our lives, we might want to rethink our priorities. What do you think?

SCS Update

Super Cute Sunday was a success as you can see below. After much deliberation, we went with the blue dress and Lauren didn't disappoint. I'm pretty sure I saw some nursery boys eyeing her.





In other news, Lauren and I went for our first walk in the stroller today (she went in the stroller - I walked). We had a great time getting fresh air and exercise. There are some awesome trails around here - I can't wait to start running again. Preston enjoyed a bike ride yesterday on some trails down by the river. He said it changed his life, so it must have been nice.

Also, I added a permanent link to my Flickr page to the left. I have it set so you can view the pictures on a guest pass without logging in. I am continually adding pictures as we get them uploaded, so check back every now and then if you want.

Help!!!

We are in quite the conundrum here. Tomorrow is Super Cute Sunday (see here and here for explanation) for Lauren and she doesn't know what to wear! So we ask for your help. The options are

A. Green dress



B. Blue dress



or C. Handkerchief dress


Please help - our daughter's romantic future is at stake...

If you think your life is boring...

...count your blessings. You could have lived through the past month that we have. To recap:

On August 15, we moved from Wausau to Minnesota with all our possessions in a U-haul truck. When we arrived at the house we had arranged to rent, we found it in disgusting condition and completely unliveable. Enough said about that. So we handed over the keys and simply walked away, leaving us homeless. Luckily, Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Jim are nearby and were willing to put us up for a few days... weeks... months until we found a new place. So we unloaded our stuff into a storage unit, tried to undo our mail forwarding and all that moving stuff, and moved in with the Clarks with two suitcases. All of this, of course, taking place as I am 39 weeks pregnant.

A few days later Preston started law school, commuting from Plymouth to St. Paul each day and trying to keep up. We spent some time looking for apartments when he had some free time and found one we liked, but it was not available until September. So we signed anyway and settled in for another couple weeks of suitcase living.

Then...this girl finally decided to show up.

Thankfully, everything went smoothly with that and after one small scare the day after we left the hospital, things have gone just fine. You can see more pictures of the munchkin here:

When Lauren was six days old we finally moved into our apartment and thanks to the Elders' Quorum, Mom, Dad and Joanna, the Clarks and the local Relief Society, we are finally feeling somewhat settled.

Hopefully, the excitement is over for a while...

Done - finished - completed - moving on -->

So today was my last day working two jobs. I resigned from my position as a legal assistant so that I can pack and get ready for the upcoming events.

What a relief it is to me to know that I don't have to keep doing this. I know that I am VERY lucky to have the two job; let alone one. But all of those 12 hour days really took their toll on me. Work/money can only do so much. I have especially missed being with Emily during the week, especially during this exciting time.

There are things that are just relaxing, and honestly help you be more productive when you work just 40-50 hours/week. I found myself on Thursday and Friday evenings to be drained. I would have no motivation. And each Monday was torture knowing that I would have nothing to do besides work, work, work.

Certainly we'll miss the income and I 'll miss the work environment, but I certainly will not miss the feeling of being caged inside the walls, working just to get hours in, not because I have projects to do.

Post #100

This post is mostly to ensure that the "Handsome Husband" post isn't the first thing you all see when you come to the blog. But the this post also serves a dual purpose as I wanted to talk about how much fun I've had since we've started this blog.

I know many of you are saying: "You've done like two posts Preston, what do you mean that this has been fun." Well to those naysayers, like Emily, I just want to say that this blog is a wonderful way for us to be connected. Thank you, to all of you who keep on blogging. It makes me feel in touch with you.

I hope that with all of the changes upcoming in my life, and my family's life, I'll be better about keeping connected. And that I'll have a whole lot more pictures for you to look at.

Have an awesome day!

Handsome Husband

I haven't really been into this blog lately - maybe you noticed? So here are some pictures to tide you over until I feel like blogging again. They are all of Preston, as you will see.

Preston and Alex tubing on Lake Sunapee:


Preston and Jude on the vroom vroom:


Preston with his buddy:


Preston at the Brigham Young birthplace monument (how many people do you know who can say they've been there?)


Preston finishing the Tomahawk Pow Wow Days 10K:


And here's a picture of the cake Preston decorated for the 4th of July. He's a natural, don't you think?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

A fellow book lover, Auntie Gail, recommended this book to me and now that I have just finished reading it, I must recommend to everyone I know.

I take that back. I recommend it only to lovers of books, lovers of history and lovers of eccentric, yet lovable people.

I cannot find an adjective to properly describe the book - delightful would be my first choice, and it was, but delightful doesn't quite fit. Others have called it "Poignant and keenly observed...subtle and elegant...a small masterpiece...an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary" (I could have told you that), but I think none of those are quite right. You must experience it yourself.

I will not demean my readers nor the book itself by attempting to tell you what it about. I simply leave my recommendation and say that if you love books, I heartily believe you will love this one. (I will, however, say that I could commiserate with Juliet about losing her books...my books, sadly, minus this one and a few select others, will remain in boxes for the duration of the summer.)

And now a few of my favorite lines from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

"Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers."

"That's what I love about reading. One tiny things will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment."

"Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones."

The Future's Lookin'......average.

A few weeks ago we ventured up to Merrill, Wisconsin to see what there was to see (there wasn't much). Merrill has a pretty bad reputation around here. But we had heard that we must visit a certain hole-in-the-wall hamburger joint called Chips, so to Chips we went. Like all good old fashioned hamburger places, they had a fortune telling machine and as I am always eager to take a glimpse into my future, I coughed up a quarter and this is what I learned.



So I can expect a reasonably high amount of luck (?) and creativity (?), but otherwise life is going to be mediocre. Bring it on.