A Year of Reading

As the year closes, I look back on what I've been able to accomplish this year. There's a lot I can point to, but one of the things I am most proud of (I know, beware of pride) is how much I've been able to read, mostly, a few pages at a time.

First of all, I read the Book of Mormon 3.75 times. Once with Sunday School, once and about a third with my family, and once and about a third by myself. I also read the Old Testament through, and Genesis, Exodus and part of Leviticus again. I read the entire New Testament, plus Matthew, Mark and most of Luke again. I read the entire Doctrine & Covenants twice, plus up to section 13. I read the Pearl of Great Price twice. These I alternated between, but otherwise read one chapter per book per day, with the exception that I read 4 pages of the Old Testament per day. That's less than a half hour of reading most days. Surely, 'by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.' And, at a rate of four chapters a month, I read the entire Priesthood/Relief Society Manual of the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (so I'm ahead for next year). These books together added to 5,176 pages.

That would be quite an accomplishment all by itself, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. But that's not the end of the story. I also set a goal to read 24 more books, aside from the scriptures over the course of the year. I thought I could accomplish a goal of reading two books per month. Well, thanks in part to books on cd/mp3 which I borrowed from the library (thanks libraries!) I exceeded that goal, reading 37 books, totaling 10,745 pages. That's an average book length of 290 pages (lest anyone say, '37 books, I can read that in an afternoon' about childrens' books). For the record, 21 of those books were on mp3, so I was able to read while driving, walking, etc.

For those keeping track, that's 15,921 pages total.

Some Fun Photos-

Here are some photos I've been meaning to post the last couple months, but never found the time to do it:

Touchdown! The BYU/UofU game at Tanya's house

Scottie, showing his true colors on Halloween

Toby enjoying an onion! He took 2 bites before deciding no, he wasn't going to finish it.

Toby, getting into Everything!

And here is Toby's new thing - throwing stuff in the garbage

Riding the trax to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights!

Puttin on the Ritz

Toby, enjoying a bottle while relaxing in the laundry basket

Is this a hat?

Giving the Herriman Library shelver plenty to do

Can you see me?

Back to School

Well, ya gotta love volitility. Or hate it. But ya gotta pick.

Me, I'm choosing to love it. Volitility in the housing market has caused building permits to drop off, which has caused many cities' budgets to drop (loss of permit fees), and in the case of the city where I was working, has caused downsizing. Yep, that's right folks (those of you who don't know yet) I got the ax last Monday. Now, that could certainly be bad news, but I'm looking at it more like an unexpected answer to a prayer.

"What kind of prayer gets you laid off?" you might ask. And that's a good question. And the answer is, I've been trying to find a way to finish my thesis and complete my MS degree. Since I went to work for Naples, I've just been so busy I haven't been able to write my thesis. Well, since I got laid off, this is the perfect time, as I see it, to finish up and not have it hanging over my head. So, for one semester, it's back to school with me!

And then onto the job search.

The Shed-

This much was built in one weekend!












Does that look crooked?



















Putting up the roof

And here it is! Not bad for amateurs, huh?

Sacramento Temple-

In our Holladay ward Relief Society, we had an activity called "Service Auction". We first filled out a form that counted up how many points we had from all the good things we did during the week (reading scriptures, praying, visiting teaching, etc.). I had about 200 points, most of the other ladies in the activity had more like 400 (I guess I need to serve more!).

Anyways, using those points as "money", we had a service auction. Some people donated babysitting, baby quilts, baked goods, and I donated an 11 by 14 painting of the Temple of their choice. A lady named Noni Reugner outbid others for the Temple painting and she chose the Sacramento Temple.

We moved before I finished it, but Greg took it up to her on his way to work. Apparently she seemed to like it when he gave it to her. I was afraid she wouldn't - I didn't spend as much time and effort as I should have on it and I cut out a bunch of details like a fountain that I now regret not painting them in. I think I'm always going to feel like that with each painting I do - because I'm no professional.

Ode to a Sunfire

As you may have gathered from an earlier post by Ilene, we recently purchased a new vehicle. It is an exciting toy, with lots of features, and it promises a great driving future. But, as I quietly turn its title over to a new owner, I reminisce on what my faithful Sunfire has meant to me over the past 5 years.

I begin with the statistics, which may be of interest. I owned the car 1,916 days from the day I purchased it to the day we parted. I drove it 78,212 miles. I put 2,791 gallons of gas into its tank over the five years, at an average price of $2.397 per gallon (that’s $6,631 dollars in gasoline for those of you who are counting). It averaged a surprising 28.0 miles per gallon, costing me about 8 ½ cents per mile in gasoline. I averaged about 7 days between fill-ups, and put gas in the tank 261 times. I drove it an average of about 41 miles per day, at an average cost of about $3.50 per day.

But that car was so much more for me than statistics. My Sunfire was the first vehicle which I ever purchased myself. I travelled all over with it: four trips back and forth from Phoenix, twice to San Diego and to L.A., twice to Fernley and Reno. It took me to Zion’s Park, Flaming Gorge, Yuba Lake, and Redfish Lake. It took me back and forth to Vernal many times while I worked there. But, mostly, it got me around town living in Provo and Herriman, Mesa and Holladay, Riverton and Vernal. It took me to and from the office when I worked for Delta Airlines, University of Phoenix, Utah Water Rights, Brigham Young University, Naples City, and Cottonwood Heights.

The windshield bore three different BYU parking passes over my time as a grad student. I incurred two speeding tickets and one warning while driving diligently on Utah roads. Not once, though, did my Sunfire and I suffer an accident. There was that little bump with a shopping cart once, and the time when we were ever-so-slightly brushed against in a driveway, incidentally, both in San Diego. But the damage both times was so slight as to be virtually invisible.

So many important events involved that car, that machine, that loyal companion. I drove my wife to dinner and a movie in that car on our first date. And, it was in that sedan that we drove to the temple and then on to our honeymoon. Our first and some subsequent vacations were made in its bucket seats. It bore Ilene and me to nearly a dozen different temples, between us. And on one cold, slippery day in October of 2007, on his first ride in an automobile, I entrusted the safety of my first-born son to its care.

So, here’s to you, Sunfire! Though Ilene may never have loved you, we both were certainly grateful for your service. And though our parting was sudden, it is not without great fondness that I bid you farewell, and happy trails.

Halloween 2008-

We weren't going to bother with getting Toby a costume and going trick-or-treating, but at the last minute I decided I really wanted to go. :) So I rushed to Walmart and got the cutest costume I could find (and got a couple sizes too big so hopefully he'll be able to wear it next year), and begged Greg to drop whatever he was doing and come with us.

Toby didn't want to hold his own candy!

Some houses had scary decorations! Toby got scared a bit. The tiger in the background is Damian.

Checking out the loot!

Candy wrappers aren't as good as the candy inside

Signing Our Lives Away - 5 Years of Them!

So our Pontiac Sunfire decided to die at an intersection a couple days ago. Greg was almost home when it happened. A girl helped push it out of the intersection, and a guy in a truck helped tow it home.

We had a decision to make: pay the 600 to get it semi-fixed or sell it to Tunex for 200 and get a new car - as you can see, we chose the latter!
It can seat up to six people, so it'll be great for a family. Greg never wanted a mini-van, but once he test-drove this one (Mazda 5) he decided he could handle, maybe even enjoy owning one! Plus this is more compact than a normal minivan so it can curve like a car and only slightly feels like a bus. :)

As you can sort of tell, we've already junked it up with our stuff. I plan to clean out and organize all the stuff we had in our Pontiac and hopefully keep this one clutter-free.

Doctor's Visit-

On Friday Toby had his 12 month doctor's appointment.

The doctor said Toby is healthy and the heart murmur is gone. Toby's weight of 20 lbs is in the 10th percentile (I don't know why, I feed him all the time), his height of 30 inches in the 61st percentile. I thought he would weigh enough by now to be in the forward facing car seat (22 lbs), but since we already have him in it, we'll keep him in it and drive more carefully.

Toby also had 4 shots and a pinprick to check his iron. His cries got louder with each shot (the nurse had to do them one by one) and he looked at the nurse with shock that she would hurt him and he looked at Greg with shock that he wasn't stopping her and was in fact holding him down! I thankfully wasn't in his line of vision.

That night he probably only got about 4 hours of sleep, a little more than what Greg and I got. Even Ben sleeping in the loft had a sleepless night from all the fevered crying.

Fortunately it is 6 months away that we have to go through that again!

Toby Climbs-

If you've seen Toby at the Platts' house, you know that Toby loves to climb the stairs there. At home there are no stairs for him to climb so he has become creative - and dangerous.

We heard Toby crying and ran into the nursery. Toby had climbed the jogging stroller and couldn't get down! This photo doesn't fully show how high he had climbed and the dangers on the floor if he had fallen.

We watch him more carefully now!

Toby Walks!

This week Toby started letting go of his car and trying to walk on his own!

And it took quite a few attempts but we got it on video:

"Sweet Bean"

I've been working on this painting since around February. I couldn't figure out how to do the hair and it still doesn't look right, but I'm calling it finished. I'm limited in my painting abilities because the only training I had was one oil painting class in high school and I'm not even working with oils, so it's a bit frustrating. Someday I'm hoping to take some acrylic painting classes.

This was painted from a photo of Toby when he was about 1 month old. Greg wants me to do a painting for every child we have. I think I can do that. We shouldn't be having more than 3 or 4 kids I think.

"Sweet Bean" with flash

"Sweet Bean" without flash

First Word-

Sunday morning I was changing Toby's diaper when Greg started singing in the next room.

I told Toby, "That's Daddy singing. Do you hear him?"

Toby turned to look into the next room, then clearly and distinctly said his first word: "Daddy!"

Sure, he babbles all the time but this was the first time has said the word "daddy" and clearly meant it.

Maybe he'll say "mommy" next.

Toby's First Birthday-

We celebrated Toby's birthday on Saturday, between General Conference sessions.

Hannah, Kathryn, Josslyn

Checking out the presents

Toby's ready to blow-

Ice cream and cake

Face plant

Don't eat the plate!

Toby had fun opening the first few gifts.
Then he got mad when we took them away, in order for him to open the rest!

11 Months!

I'm so excited for Toby's first birthday!

There are so many things I want to get him. I'm sure he will rip right into the wrapping paper and probably play with that instead of the toy. He loves paper.

Toby has learned how to point! Greg asks him, "Where's Mommy?" and a lot of times Toby points to the correct person. He's not walking on his own yet, but he gets around well enough by hanging on to things.

High Chair

We finally bought a highchair.

And just in time too, to teach Toby how to drink from a cup.

It's much easier to feed him - no distractions like toys and tv.

Doctor Appointment-

Toby had his 9 month doctor's appointment a day before he turned 10 months (a bit late!). I found his doctor online and so far I'm pleased with how he handles Toby.

Dr. Ferriera weighed Toby (18.5 lbs - 7th percentile! maybe I need to feed him more?), measured him (28.3 inches - 30th percentile), and checked him over.

When the doctor checked Toby's heartbeat, he noticed a slight murmur. But he said it is common for kids that age to have one and told us not to worry. So we'll try not to. Other than that, the doctor said Toby's healthy!

Toby's 10th Month!

Here's Toby, showing off his newly acquired crawling skills

We had to lower Toby's mattress in his crib when he started pulling himself up to standing. We don't want him launching himself out of the crib! He almost launched himself out of the tub a couple days ago!

Thank you Doug for this gift! Toby can almost walk with it.





That's all for now!

Some more Redfish pics