The Kaisers

Air Show at Andrew's Air Force Base

2011-06-14T10:52:00.003-04:00

A few weekends ago we were able to go to Andrew's Air Force Base close to DC and see their annual Air Show. We were parked at the Redskin's Football Statium and were taxed in on buses after we went through a military security screening. We spent the entire day on base watching the planes and different shows they put on.

Madi loved see all the planes and when she would hear one she would look into the sky and point and say "dat dat". And then when it would go by low she would say "ohhh".

This was one of Madi's favorite spots. She had a ball sitting in the seats on the sides of the big cargo planes. She even buckled herself in and was ready to go. There were lots of tears when we had to leave. But we found several planes with seats on the side she could sit on.

This is the inside of one of the smaller cargo planes. The big one could fit an entire house inside. It reminded me of the move that they take an elephant to a village in Africa and have to drop it out the back of a big plane like this.

The crowning jewel of the entire show, at least for Rick. His favorite plane, the P51-D Mustang. He has an RC model of this plane and he was so excited they had it displayed. He was also surprised when they decided to fly it in the show. It was so fast and nimble and really neat to see doing all the manuvers. They had lots of planes and jets flying and doing tricks. And they also has parichuters and other odds and end displays. Rick would be a better person to tell you all the things that were there. But at the end of the day we were dead tired, sunburned and ready to come home. But it was a very neat and fun day! Hopefully we will be able to do it again next year.

All is Well

2011-06-14T10:39:00.005-04:00

After months of transition we are settling into life. We made it to Pennsylvania safely and have hit the road running. I started my new job and I love it. I am doing a lot of the accounting and admin stuff. I am the direct assistant to the owner of the company so I have lots to keep me busy. Rick started school last week and he is really enjoying his classes. He has already determined some things about what he does and doesn't want to do after school.

Since it has been a while since I have posted anything I thought I would back track a little. We spend Easter with Rick's family. We visited his grandparents and had an egg hunt at his sister's house. I was also asked to sing a solo in church a week after we moved into the ward. I guess word gets around fast in a small town about talent. But it was really nice to be able to do that again and hopefully I will get more oportunities.

Madi wasn't sure what all the fuss was when we were showing her the eggs and told her to pick them up. So Rick had so show her what was in them. After she discovered that she filled up her basket pretty quick.

She also hid a few of her own eggs. If she saw her basket was getting full she would put an egg from her basket next to an egg that was hiding.

She was also a very good sharer. She would open an egg and then eat a piece of candy and then give one to me or Rick. She liked her basket so much she still carries it around on her shoulder like a purse. We also had to get her some bigger eggs that she couldn't put in her mouth to play with after Easter. She loves to put all sorts of treasures in her eggs. This weekend she was putting plastic animals in them from her friend's house.

We have done some other fun things but I will put it in a different post so this one isn't too long.

The Windows of Heaven

2011-03-25T08:31:00.004-04:00

When you pray miracles really do happen. Especially when you are doing all that you can do to follow the Lord's plan. This past week Rick and I found out that Rick was accepted into the assistantship program for grad school so his entire education will be paid for and the University will also give him a paycheck on top of that to do some web development and other research for the Geography Department while he is attending school. We never thought that the University would pay Rick to go back to school. That has relieved so much stress and is a huge blessing.

Now we just have to get through the big move next week. Yikes! How does Madi have so much stuff? How do WE have so much stuff?!?! Where has it all been hiding for the past 2.5 years?!?!

Leap of Faith

2011-03-21T13:04:00.002-04:00

Rick and I have thought long and hard about where we want to end up in life and what matters most. We have goals that we want to achieve and things we want to do for our family and for ourselves. The past few years we have been so blessed with work and being able to have everything we need and a little extra. But as far as the future hold, we didn't see much there. So we are taking a leap of faith. Rick is leaving his job at the Police Department and pursuing a Master's Degree in Geoenvironmental Science at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.

I am also quiting my part time job and going full time to provide for Rick and Madi while Rick completes his education. I have been blessed to find a job quickly that is only 10 minutes from where we are going to be living. Rick's parents have offered a rental that they have available to us at a very reduced rate along with helping us watch Madi when Rick needs to be in class. Things are falling into place quickly and smoothly. We will be moving from the urban DC metro to the quiet rural Pennsylvania mountains at the end of this month. I think we are looking forward to the quiet more than anything. I start work in April and Rick starts class the beginning of June. Hopefully I can keep you updated on how things progress the next few months but with how crazy things are going to be, no promises...but I will try.

My New Favorite Blog

2011-02-16T15:21:00.004-05:00

As a mom you always try to do cool things for your kids and for you to decorate the house with on a budget. You also try to have fun activities for them so they don't get bored and drive you crazy at home, at church, on the road, at the doctor's office etc.

Madi is growing out of that baby stage and getting into that toddler stage. I am not used to it yet so when we are at church and she is restless I will pull out a toy and she will look at me like

"Mom! Are you serious?! I am not a baby anymore!"

So I am trying to think of ways to keep her entertained while we are in Church. Right now Rick teaches Sunday school and I teach Sunbeams so Madi is my buddy in Sunbeams. It can get a little tricky but I think I have come up with a solution thanks to this amazing blog. I have spent so much time on it and I can't get enough ideas. And the best part about it, these sisters are LDS! This is the kind of mom I want to be someday. A cool mom that comes up with crazy awesome ideas off the top of her head. But for now, this is the plan. Quiet book here I come! Thanks Ladies for the idea!

You Talkin' to Me?

2011-02-14T14:11:00.004-05:00

Madi wants to be just like her dad. He wears hats so she wears hats. Her favorite time to wear them is when he is at work. I think she does it because she misses him and it is something that reminds her of him. It is so cute to see her walking around with one of his hats on or her "lucky fishing hat" on. But I will say, she has this little attitude when she has a hat on that she doesn't normally have otherwise.

But how can you resist a face like this even if there is a little attitude behind it?

Snow and Cookies

2011-02-14T13:56:00.003-05:00

We finally got a big snow storm here and Rick was so excited because he got to drive his new monster truck through the snow. While we were outside Rick wanted me to record him driving through the snow. So I put Madi down thinking she would stay close since it was snowing and it was cold. I recorded for a minute and then turned the camera off and looked down to find Madi had decided to go on her own adventure through the snow. She was not afraid of the snow and the cold didn't really seem to bother her too much. I ran and picked her up and set her back down next to me and she started off again through the snow. She is just like her daddy, they both love the snow.

Of course with all the snow and cold the best thing to do is to make cookies. And Madi loves to help with anything mommy is doing, especially cookies! She tested the sugar to make sure it was sweet enough. She licked the peanut butter jar clean. And she even checked the chocolate chips to make sure the passed the "girl test". And as you can see, she loved every minute of it.

Dancing to Tarzan

2011-01-17T16:07:00.002-05:00

We bought Tarzan the other night and we put it on for Madi last night to watch. When it got to the 'Trashin' the Camp' song Madi started dancing and it was so funny, so I had to record it and post it so you could see it. It is so cute! She loves music and she loves to dance! She will even start to hum or sing a little song she made up every once in a while too.

Baking Already?

2011-01-17T15:55:00.003-05:00

Madi wanted to help mommy bake cookies for daddy on Friday night. She watched very intently from mommy's hip while mommy tried very hard to blend the butter and sugar. Then she wanted to see just how to get that flour all smoothed in just right. She wouldn't stand to be put on the ground because she didn't want to miss one second of the process. She even had to taste test the chocolate chips to make sure they were "Madi approved" so daddy won't be disappointed with the cookies. Then once they went in the oven she had to keep a close eye on them so they won't burn. Every few seconds they had to be checked until they were perfect. Then came the real test...did they past the taste test? Sure enough, Madi approved them even with all the little lumps that got left in them because mommy wasn't able to smooth the batter out with Madi on her hip. But they were still good. And Madi was an excellent helper!

Christmas at Last

2011-01-10T15:19:00.004-05:00

We finally made it to Christmas. Rick and I had so much fun this year buying gift for Madi. We took her to the store with us and walked down the isles with her. When she saw something she liked she pointed to it. Rick worked until 7am Christmas morning and when he got home he helped me finish wrapping Madi's gifts. After that we woke Madi up and showed her all her presents. She was so excited but wasn't sure what to think of them all. But then we showed her what to do and she got really excited.

She didn't like the fact that she had to finish up with one toy and move on to opening another o fast. She liked taking her time with each new toy and figuring out how each of them worked before she moved on. But we helped her move on at a little faster of a pace because otherwise we never would have made it through in one day. She had so much fun with all her new toys. We let her play for a little while and then we packed a few of her favorites and then headed up to Pennsylvania for the rest of the weekend.

This is me on Christmas. I don't have a picture of it on here, but Rick got me a really nice sewing table for Christmas. I had been using the kitchen table since we got married to sew on so it has been really nice to have my own place to sew and keep my things. Now we can actually have dinner there which hasn't really happened since we were married, so we are still trying to get used to it. Usually we eat floor or couch style.

And here is Rick after his 10 hour all night shift. What a trooper! He even stayed up to drive up to Pennsylvania that day and have lunch with the family. He finally couldn't stand it any longer by mid-afternoon so he crashed. I was able to get him his very first RC boat for Christmas. He was so excited. The only problem is all the places that he could drive it are frozen over right now so he can't use it and so he is going crazy with it sitting in the box. But he will have fun when the spring comes around.

Happy Birthday Madi!!!

2011-01-05T12:35:00.005-05:00

Has it really been a year? Wow that went fast! Our little pumpkin is growing up so fast. She has been such a joy to have in our home and we are so blessed to have her. We started her birthday celebration by going to the DC temple to see a violin performance of Jenny Oaks Baker with Rick's parents and his sister Becky's family. Afterwards we looked at the lights and then piled in the car and cranked up the heat. Then Nana, Pappy and Aunt Beaky and Uncle Greg gave Madi her Birthday gifts and she made out like a bandit. She got a singing and talking pony she could ride, a ladybug pillow pet, a frosty movie, a new cell phone and a little-people carriage and pony. She couldn't wait to get home so she could play!

She was so excited to be able to ride her pony that she started to ride everything, even her new pillow pet. She has even attempted to ride the cats several times and succeeded once.

Look at that smile! She loves her new pony. And she has even figured out how to make it sing on her own by pressing the ears.

This cake was mommy's fun thing to do for Madi's birthday. I always got special cakes on my birthday as a kid so I wanted to make a special cake for Madi on her birthday. It was so much fun to make and Madi loved it. If you look close you will see her hand coming in the picture. I wasn't fast enough to stop her so she got a handful of frosting and I had to fix the cake before daddy saw it so it would be ready for the big moment.

Mommy and Madi getting ready to blow out the candle.

The things you get to do on your birthday that you couldn't get away with any other day of the year. Mom even got a slap of frosting to the face during a picture, and Madi still got away with it.

Madi's big Birthday gift. She fell in love with this 4 and a half foot caterpillar the moment she saw it in the store. She loves him so much and was so excited when she opened the box and he was inside.

This is a normal position for her to put him in or for us to find her in when we give her a bottle or sippy cup. She will also randomly walk over and hug his head when she is playing and then go back to whatever she is doing. It is so sweet! Happy Birthday Madi! We love you and can't wait to see what this coming year has in store for us!

December Happenings

2011-01-03T16:15:00.006-05:00

December was a very busy month for us. We were able to go out to Utah for a week and and see the family. My sister Jodie got married for time and all eternity to Brian Scruggs. He is a really great guy and they both seem very happy together. We haven't had the opportunity we would like to get to know him real well being out in Virginia but we are glad that he is apart of our family and look forward to many years of "family bonding time" with him. Welcome to the fam Brian....

It was a COLD day with LOTS of coatless pictures but it will be a moment they will never forget...and a cold it took a month to get over. But it's worth it right...well for them it is, because I still have a cough. But for them I would do it again but I would request a warmer dress.

After the wedding we headed down to see Rick's sister Kathy and her family. I don't know who got attacked worse, Madi or the dog. They had so much fun together. Madi had someone to play with that was her size and the dog had someone who never got tired of playing. I think that was the first time the dog actually got worn out.

First time playing in the snow. Madi loves the snow. She was walking all over in it. We didn't get that much this year and I think winter might be over. We only got about 2-3 inches but the whole city shut down for two days. (Sad I know) But we enjoyed what we got. And if you look close in the background you will see that Rick is driving an RC car through the snow but stopped long enough to take a picture. I actually let him drive my truck because it is 4x4 and he hasn't gotten his Christmas present yet...

....more to come soon.

Madi's Adventures

2011-01-03T13:24:00.002-05:00

Madi has been growing so fast and she has become little miss personality. She has a "look out world here I come" attitude and, heaven help us, she has already reached her "terrible twos" stage. But we love her to pieces and wouldn't trade her for anything. She is our whole world and life is so much more enjoyable with her being our spice of life. But it isn't uncommon for us to find her in very unusual places doing really wierd things. These are just a few pictures where we have been able to "catch her in the act".

Madi and her night-light man

I have no idea what she was doing here other then playing with my brush. She was studying my brush very intently and I wanted to get a picture but she looked up at the last second and this is what the picture came out as. And I love it!

This is a regular accurance at our house. My kitchen floor is always a mess. My tuperware cabinet is always empty and my floor is always full. The other day I came in and she was sitting in my crockpot and the cat was on the shelf behind her.

Madi loves our fish! If you ask her where the fish are she will point at the aquarium. About a month and a half ago she managed to figure out a way to see into the aquarium without mommy's help. This week she has figured out how to climb onto the couch to look at them. But now she wants on top of the aquarium so we may have to adjust a few things to keep her and the fish safe.

Way Behind!!!

2010-12-22T12:34:00.004-05:00

So the Kaisers are still back in July and can't believe that Madi is going to be a year old on Friday and that Christmas is on Saturday and 2011 will be here the following week. What in the world?!?! Where have we been? I guess between Rick's night shifts, my day shifts, Madi, trying to keep the house in a semi-orderly state, and keeping up with church responsibilities and life in general life has rushed past and we are still back in July. Well, actually more like March. But I will try and get some pictures off our camera to post on here because we have lots for you to see and Madi has grow up tons. But for now the only one I have is from Halloween. We were able to go up to Renfrew Park in Pennsylvania with Rick's family and had a fun filled day of pumpkins and homemade soup and cider.

I promise, more pictures will follow shortly. We have had lots of adventures with Madi and she has had lots of little discoveries. So check back after Christmas for more updates....

Summer Vacation in Utah...Continued

2010-08-06T10:50:00.005-04:00

We had to see the T-Rex before we left Thanksgiving Point.

After the Dinosaur Museum Rick took the boys to Cabela's. They saw all sorts of things from the fish tanks to all the animals on the rocks. It was so much fun to be able to see Kathy and her boys. We miss them so much and wish that we could have spent more time with them.

Next we headed up to Mendon to see the Gudmundson family. We spent a whole day shopping the first day. It was a lot of fun...for the girls anyways. But Rick was a very good sport. After a day of shopping, Rick needed something manly to do. So him and Jenni spent some time putting together a potato canon. It took them a while to do plus a trip into town to the hardware store but it was a success. We shot the potatoes straight up into the air and they went so high we had a hard time seeing where they were coming down.

The next day was Pioneer Day and Mendon Day. There was lots of things to do. In the morning there was a 5K that my dad and sisters did. Then there was a book sale, a parade, a cooking contest and loads of other things. Then that night after a game of human battleship there was a huge waterfight between the cousins. Needless to say, Rick's team won. Hands down, dispite what rumors you may hear from Shawn and Jason. After the waterfight there was a fireworks display. We were concerned about Madi and her ears because the fireworks were being shot off about two blocks away. But Madi loves them! She was in awe over them and didn't even flinch when they would go off.

While we were there Jenni had her birthday. Since we were going to be flying out on her actual birthday we decided to celebrate it a few days early. There was a little pie fight between Jenni, mom and dad. (No idea how that happened) And no, I didn't push Jenni's head in the pie when she wasn't looking...or maybe I did. But at least dad got the pie in the face because she thought it was him. Madi also enjoyed trying pie. I think it's a new favorite.

Monday we went up to Tony Grove for some fishing. If you look really close at the back ground you will see the thunderstorm moving in. Rick and I got caught out on the lake during that. It was a down pour and we almost got rained out. But after a while it eased up and Rick and Sarah had so much success fishing afterwards.

It's a good thing we stayed for more fishing after the storm.

The Gudmundson tradition: Kong cones at Macey's.

We took Madi to Willow Zoo while were in Logan. She loved all the animals!

But the birds were by far her favorite.

We had a lot of fun while we were in Utah. That was our first real vacation in over two years and it was wonderful to be able to finally do it. While we were out there Madi had lots of firsts. She had her first plane ride, she got her first two teeth, she started crawling on all fours, she pulled herself into a standing position, she started saying mama and dada and associated the words with me and Rick. We are happy to be home but sad we had to leave everyone. We look forward to the next time we can go out and visit. We miss you and love you all!

Summer Vacation in Utah

2010-08-06T10:03:00.009-04:00

It was a blast! We did so much while we were out there and took so many pictures. I will probably have to do this in two posts so I can get it all on there. I will try and make it as short as I can but it is still going to be long. We flew into Salt Lake on the 18th. Madi was a jewel on the plane. He ears didn't bother her one bit and she either played or slept most of the time. It was a huge blessing for her and for us. One of the first things we did was spend a few days with Rick's sister Kathy and her family. Her boys wanted us to play baseball with them because there baseball season had just ended. And let me tell ya, those boys are hardcore. Tyler and Luke both struck their uncle Rick out. Good Job! Here is a picture of Rick being struck out. You can see the ball right behind him as he tried for a grand slam. Better luck next time Rick.

The boys had so much fun playing with their uncle Rick. I even ran a few races with them but with all the energy those kids have it was hard to keep up after a while.

Madi loved being with her cousins. Her favorite part was being outside watching them run around.

The next morning we went to Deer Creek. We didn't have tons of success but Rick was able to pull in a bass before we left.

After fishing we stopped into Macey's for their famous Kong cones. The kid's eyes were so big when they saw the size of their ice cream cone.

That night Rick and I had dinner with some of our friends. It was so good to see them after two years.

The next morning Kathy took us to the Payson Pool. It was Madi's first time at the pool so she was a little nervous at first, but it didn't take long before she didn't want to leave the water. She splashed every kid that went by and when she got splashed she would just start doing raspberries and then start laughing.

It was so much fun to go swimming. We were all worn out by the time we were done, but it was worth it. Madi fell asleep pretty fast after all the fun in the sun. She made it to the towels for a bottle and didn't even get very many sips in before she was out.

After the pool and a little nap, Rick wanted to take the boys to Redmond Lake for some pike fishing. We didn't catch any pike, but he did catch this pretty big cat fish. We weren't able to stay as long as we had hoped because there was a pretty crazy lightening storm.

The next morning the boys showed us their skills on their dirt bikes. I am scared of motorcycles and dirt bikes but these boys showed no fear. We didn't get a chance to see them ride on the track but they do all the crazy jumps and turns and stuff. They are very good with those bikes so it was a treat to be able to see them ride.

Then we headed up to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum. Uncle Rick bought the boys a fossil to carve out of the rock and here they are proudly displaying their newly carved fish fossil.

Ready for a Break

2010-07-16T12:35:00.005-04:00

This next week Rick and I are headed out to Utah to visit family. It has been two years since we have been back there so we are definately looking forward to it. It will be the first time Madi has met any of her Aunts from the Gudmundson side. We are excited to show her off and I know there will be lots of competition for the position of the favorite aunt. But I am sure she will love them all. We are in desperate need of a break from life so this is a very welcomed opportunity. The only part we are concerned about it Madi on the airplane since it is a 4 and a half hour flight. And of course the past two weeks she has refused to sleep in our arms. She wants to be sprawled out on the floor with her blanket. I just hope everyone on the plane will be patient with her if she can't sleep during the flight. We are looking forward to our trip and we will have lots to post when we get back. Happy Summer Break!

Milestones

2010-07-02T10:30:00.007-04:00

This past week Madi has reach two milestones. She can sit up on her own and she started crawling. The crawling isn't her favorite method of transportation yet because rolling around is much faster for her. But she is getting the hang of it. We have had to make several adjustments as far as babyproofing some things. We still have a long ways to go, but hopefully we can keep up with her.

I love this picture of Madi! She is already trying to fill daddy's shoes.

Madi showing off her crawling skills! She is concentrating so hard.

Rick is getting her all ready to be his fishing buddy. He found her a pink lucky fishing hat and he has already started eyeing up the pink fishing poles.

Madi always is so excited when daddy comes home from work. They are best buddies!

Rick and I enjoy going to the baseball diamond at the park to drive RCs. It is fun to see how much dirt we can kick up. Sometimes we can't even see to the other side of the field because of all the dirt. Here I am displying my new decal for my car. It's an Iron Cross with 'Kaiser' written across the middle. I found someone online that did custom decals because Rick had been looking everywhere for them without much success. I got one for my truck and one for Rick's truck.

Father's Day

2010-06-21T09:27:00.004-04:00

Rick got a nice gift for Father's Day, he was the only one who wasn't sick. But unfotunately that meant he was the only one that went to church for Father's Day too. But even though Madi and I were sick we still surprised him Sunday morning. Here is Madi sporting her Father's Day attire. We woke daddy up so that's why he still has bed head. And that's before I cut his hair too.

For Father's Day we went to the park to play with Rick's RC plane. It was really neat to watch him do barrel rolls and loops. He is getting really good at flying it. He was even attacked a few times by a bird but still managed to keep it flying. Doesn't he looks so handsome in this picture?!?! We have worked really hard the past several months to get back into shape after we both gained the baby weight. Rick has lost about 32 pounds and I have lost 21. We feel so good!

I had to throw in this picture. I think it is so funny! Anytime one of the cats walks by, Madi gets all excited and starts laughing. They will normally come right up to her but last night Tink was having a stare down with Madi because Madi had pulled out some of her fur. Tink loves Madi but wasn't too excited about getting close enought to be touched again. At least not until her skin healed where the fur was pulled out.

The Many Faces of a Baby

2010-06-21T09:13:00.004-04:00

Madi has been trying out lots of new faces the past several weeks. Her favorite is the nose wrinkle. She will either wrinkle her nose and laugh or she will wrinkle her nose and breath in and out really fast. She has even snorted a few times when she has done this. She also inhales really deeply making herself squeek. It is hilarious and sometimes she gets her squeek so high that the cats run out of the room. I think it hurts their ears.

Here she is giving me the "I didn't do anything mom. I'm innocent" look. She is already practicing for when she is a teenager. She is also starting to look away and "ignore" us when we try and talk to her. But even though she is looking away she is sitting there smiling trying not to seem interested in us. But then she gives in a gives us a big hug. She is so sweet.

I love this picture! It reminds me of the line from the Wizard of Oz "I'll get you my pretty!!" We love our baby girl. She is so entertaining.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-04T10:07:00.003-04:00

We took a much needed trip up to Pennsylvania to celebrate Memorial Day. While we were up there Madi was given some dolls that Rick's pappy wanted her to have that belonged to grandma. Madi loved the dolls! Raggedie Ann and Andy became her crib buddies and she plays with them everyday. Yesterday I found her asleep on the living room floor with her arm around Andy's neck. She loves to just sit and talk to them. It is so sweet!

We went to a hunting/fishing club that we are members of to do a little fishing. We decided to take Madi and break her in for fishing as early as possible. Even with an umbrella and shade we still managed to get sunburned, even Madi. But she was a trooper and stayed out with us for quite a while. It was a lot of fun. We even had some success. We caught sunfish, bass, and perch.

I took this right before Rick hooked a fish, but he lost it because he was trying to smile for the camera. But not soon after he caught another one.

This is my catch of the day. It is little but I finally caught it. I was losing worms right, left, and center all day. The fish would snatch it off and I would miss them. But I finally got one.

Madi had a good day but was a little unsure about the whole fish thing. She couldn't quite figure out what it was and what the point of it was. She wanted to touch it but in the end decided she didn't want it any closer then arm's length. Maybe in a little while she will be pulling in fish of her own. It was a great weekend and very relaxing. Rick's dad even reached a goal. He shot his very first turkey. Congrates to everyone and their successful hunting/fishing weekend. We look forward to some more fishing this summer.

5 Months Already!?!?!

2010-05-28T11:10:00.006-04:00

Madi is five months this week and we can't believe how fast time as flown. We have enjoyed having a little girl around the house and it just keeps getting better and better. This week Madi learned how to hug. She has been hugging me and Rick non-stop. And anytime we are out and someone it saying hi to her she will turn like she is all embarrassed and hug us. Rick came home from work the other night and Madi kept hugging him over and over and over. She sure loves her daddy.

Madi knows that she is the center of attention and she loves every minute of it. It will be interesting when a brother or sister comes along (in the very distant future) and she has to share mommy and daddy. But for now, she is loving every minunte of being an only child. She has been practicing her sitting skills and she is getting really good at it. Anytime we put her in her car seat or bouncer she will do crunches to pull herself into a sitting position. I wish my abs were as good as hers.

I love this picture! This is Madi welcoming daddy home from work. Look at that smile. She is a daddy's girl through and through.

Eventful Month

2010-05-17T08:17:00.006-04:00

Since I can't seem to keep up with everything at home, my blog has also suffered from my lack of time and energy. If I thought I was busy before I had Madi I have since realized life was a breeze. Even though we are busy and Madi keeps us hopping we are very blessed. Everytime I look in to my daughter's face and she gives me that gummy grin I realize that nothing else matters. No matter how high the stack of dishes in the sink gets or if there are more clean clothes on the floor in the bedroom then in the dresser or the closet combined. I love my little girl and I am so grateful Heavenly Father thought I was worthy and ready to be her mom. Since my last post lots has happened. Here Madi is displaying her Easter attire. We found these ears at the store and she fell in love with them the first time we put them on her. I think it's because they are fuzzy. She loves anything fuzzy, even the cats.

My mom and dad came out the end of March for Madi's blessing. It was so good to see them and spend time with them. And Madi loved getting to know her grandma and grandpa Gudmundson.

Here Madi is displaying her blessing dress my mom made for her. Madi had lots of special things for her blessing. My mom made her dress, Rick's mom made her a blanket, and my sister Heidi made her some white booties to wear. It was a very special event since Madi was named after my grandmother and Rick's grandmother. The spirit there was so strong and Rick did a really great job. We were also able to invite our non-member friend Mandel to her blessing.

Starting Solids! Well, it went better then we thought it would. For several weeks before she had been watching us eat and would sometimes cry because she wanted some of our dinner. So we decided to start giving her solids. After a few spoonfuls she was a pro. Everytime she eats, after every bite she will say "yummm". It is so cute! And if she really likes something, like bananas, then she will laugh and inhale really loud.

We are blessed with the fact that Madi doesn't seem to be a picking eater. She will eat just about anything you give her from peas to ice cream. Not that ice cream is hard to turn down. The only thing that she doesn't care for is sweet potatoes. She let us know pretty quick that sweet potatoes aren't a repeat food. And I can't blame her because I have to admit, they aren't my favorite either.One thing that Rick and I love to do after work is to go to the park and drive RC cars. The past year or so Rick has let me drive one of his monster trucks each time we would go to the park. I was having a lot of fun with it but it didn't really go that fast. So I decided to upgrade and buy one of my own. I never thought I would but when I found out that I could give mine a custom paint job and paint it pink I was sold! Here is my new Pink Slash 4x4 racing truck. I love it! It is so much fun to drive.

Rick has a Slash too so we like to go to the baseball diamond at the park and have races around the dirt. We kick up a lot of dust but it is so much fun!

Probably some of the most exciting news this month is Madi has curly hair! We didn't think that she had the curls and I have to admit I was pretty bummed but her hair has grown out and it is curly! I love playing with it after her bath and making it stick up so I can see the curls better. They are so cute!

Happy Mother's Day!

Last week Rick and I got some very difficult news. Rick's pappy pasted away. It happened very suddenly and unexpectedly. He was in very good health and never had any major health problems. We think he may have died from a massive heart attack which took him instantly while he was in his home. He was a good man and a big part of our lives and we will miss him dearly. He had a very long and fulfilling life and touched many people. His wife was a member of the church but he had never gotten baptized even though he claimed he was Mormon. About a month ago Rick and him where fishing and Rick asked him if he could do his temple work for him. Every time this has been brought up in the past not a whole lot would come of it. But this time he said that he wanted it done and he would do it now if there was a way to do it without going under the water to be baptized. We are so grateful for the gospel in our lives and for the blessings of the temple. We will miss pappy dearly but we look forward to the time when we will be reunited as a family again. We love you Pappy!

Sitting up

2010-03-22T12:31:00.006-04:00

I think Madi is going to learn how to crawl before she too long. She rolled over for the first time about a week and a half ago but she is more interested in scooting herself around on her back then trying to roll over. And then when we put her in a sitting position on our lap she just laughs and laughs and thinks it the greatest thing since milk in a bottle. We found one of these chairs for babies who are learning how to sit up and she loves it. She likes to go in it first thing in the morning while we eat our breakfast, as you can tell from her bed-head hair-do. After a while of sitting in it though, her little neck gets tired and she slowly falls over and rests her head on the side. Isn't she a doll!

Smiles and Laughs

2010-03-22T12:19:00.003-04:00

Our memory card is so full of pictures of Madi. We haven't gotten this much use out of our camera since we bought it. But when you see this cute little baby looking up at you with a big grin on her face you can't help but want to take a picture of it everytime so you can show everyone who didn't get to see it. Sometimes I think Madi is going to have permanant "flash spots" in front of her eyes from all the pictures. But she is so good about it and will usually put up with it long enough for mom and dad to get several good pictures. Here are some of our favorites.

New Love

2010-03-22T12:12:00.003-04:00

Since birth, Madi has rejected her pacifier. She refuses to suck on it more then about 5 seconds. She would rather suck on her hands and has at one point put her entire fist in her mouth. Over the past several weeks she has found a new love; her blanket. She loves this pink fuzzy blanket that someone gave us that they used for their kids. She won't go to bed without it and she has to have it with her if we go anywhere. Even if she is hot she will cry until we give it to her. I thought that babies didn't get attatched to things like this until they were older, but if it makes her happy I say go for it. Plus how can you take a blanket away from her when she is sleeping when she looks this cute with it.

Birthday Parties

2010-03-15T15:41:00.004-04:00

Madi is already quite the little social butterfly. And we can already tell that she is going to be a heartbreaker. Just in the past month she has been invited to two birthday parties both of which were for little boys. When we first walked into the house and sat down, the birthday boy went right over to her and gave her a hug. Then he just held her in his arms. His parents were so shocked. They said that he has never done that before to anyone. It was so sweet! But that just goes to show that we are going to have to watch those boys when she gets older.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

2010-02-17T12:27:00.006-05:00

Finally some recent pictures of Madi

Spending time with Mom
I was hoping this was a sign that it was nap time, but she was too interested in other things to sleep.

Madi's First Bath

She loves getting baths! She doesn't cry once during the entire thing even if she has a quivering jaw from being cold.

Going on a walk with Mom and Dad

Her Sleepy Wrap mom carries her in puts her to sleep everytime

Spending time with Dad after his long 12 hour shift at work

She loves her Boppy pillow

And she loves sticking her tougue out at mom (hopefully she grows out of that before she uses it for something other then being cute)

She hates dresses because she doesn't like her legs to be bare and she hates anything on her head but I was able to get her to smile for me even in a dress and head band.

Our Kitties love Madi so much! They are always so careful not to get on her or in her face. But sometimes when we hold her they like to come up and snuggle. And our black cat, Zac, is the most concerned about her. He will come and get us if she starts to cry and then he will go and sit next to her until we come out and get her.

But they do like having mom and dad all to themselves sometimes too with no baby in our lap.

Madi's belated Christmas gift, a bouncer. She loves it because she is quite the little kicker, as I first discovered when I was pregnant with her. I don't think my ribs will ever be the same. Oh well, she is worth it.

Our New Addition

2010-02-16T11:14:00.004-05:00

I know, I know. It took long enough to get pictures on here. I don't have most of them but I do have the ones from her first few days of life. I will try and get some more from home to post on here. This link will take you to the pictures they took of her while she was in the hospital. The labor and delivery went very smoothly. And I would much rather go through labor and delivery then 9 months of being pregnant! Well, as long as I can get that amazing epidural. My labor last only about 5 and a half hours and after 21 minutes of pushing she was here.

Madaline Coline Kaiser

Dec 24, 2009 5:56 pm

7 lbs. 11 oz

20 inches long

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=b883bd6f-38fe-46d5-87a4-1b5057733973

You know you're in your 3rd trimester when...

2009-12-18T13:49:00.003-05:00

You wear your slippers to town because they are easier to get on than your winter boots

You can barely wipe yourself after using the bathroom!!

You get frustrated that you have to pee SOOOO badly, but then only a trickle comes out! And then you have to attempt to wipe after each little trickle?!

You quit shaving your legs & you could care less

You ask your husband for a pedicure gift certificate for Christmas

You take your shoes off for the rest of the day (at work) just becuase getting in trouble by the boss would be better than trying to tie your shoe for a second time that day.

You have moments of pure panic thinking that little one will actually be here in a few weeks

You start planning out rediculous ways to coax little one to come early - this is usually followed by the moment of panic I mentioned above

You ask your 7 year old to tie your shoes

You've mastered the art of cleaning a room by picking things up with your feet to avoid bending over

You have dropped something on the floor and yell for help!

It takes you almost 5 minutes to move to your side to get comfortable and then seconds later your uncomfortable and want to move again!

You don't know you have the same pairs of shoes on!

You can't put socks on!

Everytime you say "Oh" and breath a little different your husband looks at you and asks if you are ok or if you need to go to the hospital

Rolling over in bed has become a carefully orchestrated 4-step process

The new way you use to get yourself up off the floor leaves everyone in the room laughing

You laugh, cough, or sneeze you seem to pee a little

Everyone starts asking you if you've had "that baby" yet

You drop food on your belly and can't see it!

You have to move the seat back to avoid your belly hitting the steering wheel while you drive and then if you drive a stick you have to move your seat forward again so you can reach to shift over your big belly. It's an endless/vicious cycle!

Your new fav shoes are slip ons

You find yourself, more often than not, leaving stuff that fell on the floor there because it's just too trying to attempt to pick it up.

You curse yourself for putting your purse on the floor in the car because it's sooooooo far to bend down and get it

You have to lean back while sitting on the toilet because if you dont you cant breathe

You're belly is bigger than your husband's belly

Your socks are literally strangling your fat feet

You get heartburn from water

You have a hard time getting off of the couch...like a turtle trying to flip back over when it's on it's shell

You can no longer see the little cup you have to pee into at the doctor's office and end up going all over your hand

Everytime you go near the kitchen sink, the bottom of your belly gets wet because it touches the counter.

Everytime you brush you teeth you have to change you shirt because of the wet spot on your chest from leaning over to rinse

People take a couple steps back just to look at you

The simple act of putting on socks or rubbing lotion on your belly leaves you completely out of breath and sweating

You want to strangle the next person who asks how you're feeling

You sit down at the table to eat supper and when you go to get up your belly hits the edge of the table and you get stuck! Or you go out to eat and sit in a booth and you have to wedge yourself in.

You and your husband go to hug or kiss and you can't reach because your bellies are hitting one another and keeping you apart

You get a back ache from bending over just that little bit to wash the dishes in the sink.

You need your husband's help getting your pants on in the morning, not the mention underwear, socks, and shoes.

You no longer cuddle with your husband because he gets in the way of the pillow placements.

You burn your belly on the stove while cooking

Novemeber Blessings

2009-11-30T15:07:00.005-05:00

Recently, I have reached my one year mark with the company that I work for. I didn't expect anything great to happen other then getting back my vacation/sick time since I have long since used mine up. And I have been very grateful to still have my job even though I had my hours cut to part-time. But when I had my review my boss told me that he didn't think that I was making what I was worth and he wanted to give me a raise. Not only a cost of living raise but an additional raise. He said that he wished he could let me work full-time and would love it if I could but considering the economy he couldn't. But he wanted to pay me more of what I was worth and also give me a little extra to off-set the loss of hours. So over all, I got a 7% raise! We were so excited. That is by far the biggest raise I have ever had. And now that we have a little one to take care of it will definatly help. What an amazing blessing! I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father that truely watches over us and knows just when to send blessings.

Over Thanksgiving Rick had to work Wed-Sat so we didn't get to go home for the holiday and at the last minute our plans with our friends fell through. So Rick worked from 9am-9pm those days and I stayed home and relaxed and tried to catch up on some stuff for Christmas. We are going to celebrate our Turkey Day tomorrow night with a date night. But the good thing about Rick having to work Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving is, he gets Holiday pay for both days. Which is another blessing with Christmas coming up and Madi's arrival soon.

We also went to the doctor today for a check-up and and ultrasound and found out that Madi is right where she needs to be as far as size and weight goes. The doctor said that everything looks beautiful! And even with four weeks left to go, I am already starting to dialate just over 1 cm and I am already 70% effaced. The doctor also said that considering I am already dialating, I will most likely have her sooner rather then later. Which is a blessing because if we have her before the end of the year we won't have to pay as much out of pocket because of all the other medical expenses we have already had this year so we will have already met our max out-of-pocket. Which is another huge blessing!

Thank the Lord for those everyday "Tender Mercies" he sends you. There are more then you think, you just have to take the time to notice them. Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoying Fall

2009-11-13T11:05:00.005-05:00

This week Rick and I both had Tuesday off so we decided to go for a drive. We drove down to Fredricksburg which is about an hour away. We went to a spot that Rick likes to go fishing at to get away from the city and enjoy the fall colors and weather. We stopped at the Rappahannock River to take a few pictures.

Rick was scouting around in the water for some minnos to catch but found something even cooler. This is a baby hatchling turtle the size of his thumb nail. It is so tiny! And of course it was added to our collection of pets after a ride home in a water bottle.

And for those of you who are dying to see pictures of my baby belly, here you go. I have decided that I hate having my picture taken when I'm pregnant. I look like a balloon! I know that it is mostly baby but just looking at the massive bumb in my middle is a little sickening. You know how women are, always trying to be little in that area. But none the less, here you go. This is at about 33 weeks of pregnancy.

Enough is Enough!!!

2009-11-09T10:41:00.003-05:00

Even though we have been greatly blessed the past year it has also been the most challenging year of both of our lives. After we got over the swine flu a few weeks ago, Rick and I both started to develop pneumonia because the congestion from the flu had settled into the lower part of our lungs. We both were having a hard time breathing and couldn't seem to get over it. So we were both put on antibiotics and a type of steroid. (They gave us different stuff since I am pregnant) So long story short...the medication they gave Rick was bad news. He developed one of the rare but serious side effects and started passing blood clots. After one night of him feeling so awful that he couldn't sit upright I took him into the doctor's office to see what was wrong. The doctor told us that we needed to go to the ER right away and get it checked out because there was a serious problem. So we spent the next 24 hours in the hospital while they ran tests to determine what the problem was. It ended up being the medicine he was on for the lung congestion. It was ripping apart the inside of his intestines and causing them to bleed. So after that was determined and fixed they let him rest for a while and then sent him home with new medicine to help heal his insides. So we better not see any negative results from this stuff too!

As you can imagine, I was stressed out. Because at first all the tests were coming back normal showing there wasn't a problem and the doctors weren't keeping us very up to date and taking forever. And they wouldn't give him any pain meds in the mean time so he was bearly able to move. (I had to wheel him into the hospital in a wheelchair because of the pain). And then they told me I had to go home! He was going into a lock down observation unit all night until they could schedule another test and I wasn't allowed to stay. I was so upset. So after all this and after Rick got home I started having contractions like crazy! And they were pretty intense ones too. We were so worried that my body was over stressed the baby was going to come. So Rick sat me down and gave me a drink of water to try and get them to stop. Luckly after about an hour or so they stopped and we were able to relax.

To add the icing on the cake...we were walking out of the hospital to the car and when we got there we had noticed that someone had sideswiped our new Escape! We haven't even had that car for 6 months. I wanted to cry! But lucky for us, there was a camera facing the parking spot we were in. We called Hospital security and the city police and filed a report of a hit and run, which is cinsidered a felony in Virginia. Now we are just waiting to hear back from them after they go through all the footage. Hopefully we can catch the bad guy and get our Escape looking like new again.

I feel like the past few months all I have is bad news. But really, even with all this crazy stuff going on, life is good and we have been greatly blessed. At the end of the day we just have to remember these blessings:

Rick was able to go back to his day shift so we get to see each other more often.
I have started up a mini-business sewing purses for people to earn extra money and that has taken off like crazy.
All the bills are paid and the fridge is full
We are in good health as of today
We will have a baby girl in 7 weeks
We know that Heavenly Father loves us and won't put us through anything we can't handle and our family is always there as our constant support!

The Time is Fast Approaching!!!!

2009-10-23T16:29:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it! Only 9 more weeks and our little bundle of joy will be here! Which also means that only 9 more weeks and Christmas will be here! AHHH!!! Can't Christmas wait until Jan this year? That would make life so much easier. But I have a favor to ask all moms (and possibly dads) out there and anyone else that has info to share. Rick and I are trying to get together a list of "must haves" for the first 2-4 weeks after we bring Madi home from the hospital so we don't have to run to the store every few days. For example, diapers and wipes is pretty high on the list. But, since we haven't done this before we aren't getting very many things written down. Pretty much diapers and wipes are all we have and birp rags. So, if you care to share anything that would be helpful please email me at pinkprincess47@gmail.com. We are getting down to the wire and our baby shopping has yet to be done. And if you have any ideas on how to do things on a budget and that would help save us money that would be wonderful! Thanks in advance!

Never a Dull Moment

2009-10-23T16:16:00.003-04:00

I am sure that all of you are a little nervous if not terrified of getting the swine flu. Which is completely understandable considering all the hype about it. And with me being pregnant and Rick working in Emergency Services we are equally as stress about contracting the virus as well. As with all things in our ever "exciting" life, even with all the hand washing and avoiding sick people as much as possible etc, etc, etc....this past week we contracted the dreaded H1N1 virus. All I can say is I am so glad that Rick's parents were here over the weekend to visit. Of course not realizing what they were getting into and us not know what was about to happen during their visit. But they were a huge blessing to us. I was the first to get it (thanks to a very generous and discussting co-worker who doesn't know the meaning of cleanliness) after which I promptly passed it to Rick and his mom before I even knew what was wrong. It wasn't until Monday at the doctor's appointment that I had already scheduled two weeks ago for the baby bumb check-up did we realize what I had was definately the swine flu. Thank goodness for modern medicine and Priesthood blessings is all I can say! We seriously felt like we were dying. I have never felt so crummy in my entire life from being sick. I hope that now we both have immunities to it and don't get it again. But, alas, that would go completely contrary to our luck so far. But at least this time we will know how to kick it in the bud if it does come knocking again.

Hopefully all of you can steer clear of it and stay healthy this winter. It's nasty stuff! Good luck!

Cars, Bellies, Fish and Guns

2009-09-11T11:13:00.008-04:00

This weekend for Labor Day we went up to visit Rick's parents. We haven't gone up there since June so it was nice to get away from the city for a while. While we were up there we were able to do so much. We went fishing at a sportman's club that we are both members of and we did pretty good. Nothing worth a good fish story but the catching was still fun and we both managed to get sunburned even though we were in the shade the entire time.

On Sunday we were able to stay home and relax for a while. Rick and I took several mini walks through the woods and Rick's dad snapped a few pictures of my baby belly. And yes, I know I don't look it but I am now 5 1/2 months along. I think the reason I am so small is because I wasn't able to gain any wieght the first 4 months because of being so sick and in the hospital. And then I had to compensate for the weight I lost from being sick. So I had a lot of time to make up and a lot of weight to gain back after loosing so much in the beginning. But things are going well now and Madi is very healthy and that is the important part.

While we were relaxing on Sunday Rick's dad also took a picture of our new Escape. We had to buy this back in June becuase my poor white car is on it's last leg. We wanted to sell it eventually but didn't know that we would have to this soon. At least we are selling it before it dies that way we can get something out of it. But after buying the Escape, I don't know how I did without having a bigger vehicle. It is so nice and so much fun. And it's a stick so I had "fun" learning how to drive it. But after a month of refusing to drive it I finally learned and now it is sort of fun to drive a stick. And I am so glad that it isn't a mini-van! (No offense to those mini-van moms but I couldn't do it) On Monday we headed out to the shooting range to do a little target practice. We haven't been able to shoot pretty much sice we moved away from Utah. There are no places to go and just shoot around here other then a shooting range, which costs $30/person/time. So not worth it! So we go up to the sportsmans club every chance we get to take out some stress. It is so much fun! Maybe someday we will have a lot of land in the mountains and we can make our own shooting range and go whenever we want. (Wishful thinking, I know)

Big Ultrasound.....

2009-09-04T10:46:00.003-04:00

Things have been a little crazy around here the past few months. Rick and I have moved into a bigger apartment and have had to shuffle around a lot of things. Rick was put on a night shift at work so that has been a big challenge. Hopefully it doesn't last too long but from the sound of things at work it could be permenant. (Blah!) But we are just grateful we both have a job right now and that I am staying out of the hospital!

As far as the ultrasound in August went....it was great! Rick and I are having a little girl. I guess it's the Gudmundson tradition to have girls but we are very excited and wouldn't have it any other way. We are going to name her Madeline Coline Kaiser after Rick's grandmother and after my grandma who have both pasted away. According to the ultrasound she is already bigger then average, by about two weeks! So hopefully that means we will be having her before Christmas so we don't have to spend Christmas in the hospital. And maybe my dad will get his wish and have her born on his birthday (Dec 20th). Rick and I were both over 9 pounds and Rick's dad was 11 pounds, so our doctor is going to watch and make sure she doesn't get that big. Thank goodness! I don't know about having a baby that big my first time around, but I guess we'll see what happens. I will try and post some pictures of my baby belly once we can get the essentials unpacked and find the camera. Everyone says I am tiny for being 5 months pregnant but I feel so big! I can't imagine what it is going to be like when my stomach "pops" around 7 months like everyone says it will.

Washington DC and Baltimore

2009-07-08T14:47:00.005-04:00

My family flew in from Utah a few weeks ago and we were able to spend some time with them seeing the sights. Rick and I have lived here for almost a year now and we have never been to DC to see the monuments so I think it was good motivation for us to finally go when they came to visit. We spent 2 very long and hot days in DC but we were able to see pretty much everything. And then my parent's and Jodie went to see Mt Vernon while Rick and I took the other sisters to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was so much fun to be able to get that much in all in the same week. By the end of it I was so tired and needed a vacation from the vacation just to catch up on some sleep and to rest my sore muscles from all the walking. But it was a lot of fun!

Rick showing off my baby bump at the Washington Monument

Us in front of the White House. And the President was home at the time too. You can tell by the flag; if there is a flag up that means he is home. (At least that is what they said)

The traditional picture that I am sure everyone takes at the Smithsonian's Natural History Measeum

The bubble tubes at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I could not pry myself away from them. They were so much fun to take silly pictures by and when you are with your sisters...you get very creative.

One of the many fish tanks at the Baltimore Aquarium

The news you have all been waiting for......

2009-07-01T15:46:00.005-04:00

Rick and I were able to celebrate our first Mother's and Father's Day this year because we now have a little one on the way! We are so excited! It is definately a new experience being pregnant and it has been a really rocky road but we are making it. We found out at the end of April that we were expecting...and to be honest we were a little surprised. But it was a good surprise. The baby is due around Christmas time. I will have to say that this is going to be the best Christmas present we will ever get. We find out the beginning or August whether it is a girl or a boy so we will keep you posted...

Can you tell the Rick is already a very proud father?!

Jon Schmidt...

2009-06-10T11:19:00.005-04:00

He is amazing! His music gives me goose bumps everytime I listen to it. I just can't get enough of it. And I just listened to my new favorite songs from him. It is called Love Story (Taylor Swift) meets Viva La Vida (Coldplay). Here is a link so you can watch it on YouTube. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

Rick's Very Successful Fishing Trip

2009-05-13T12:01:00.005-04:00

Rick went fishing this Monday while I was at work since it was his day off. He went to a place near Fredericksburg, VA which is about an hour away from where we live. Ever since we have moved here from Utah, he hasn't had very much luck fishing. He has caught a few fish here and there but he has never had a "great fishing day". Monday, however, there was finally a break in the fishing storm. I called him on my lunch break around 2:00 to see how the day was going and to see if he was having any luck. He told me that he had already caught 23 fish that morning! He was so excited! He had also caught 2 turtles on his line as well. Which was a first for him. He said that he had only kept one so far since the other ones were a little small but he was going to keep fishing to see if he could catch some bigger ones to bring home for dinner. By the end of the night he had caught 28 fish and brought 6 of them home to eat and also a surprise. He had also caught 4 baby turtles and put them in his tackle box. He wants to keep two and give the other two to our niece and nephew. The turtles are about 2-6 inches across their shell and they are so cute. Right now they are taking up residency in our bathroom in a plastic tub until we can get an aquarium to put them in and give the other two away. It is always fun to see how happy and excited Rick gets when he has a good day fishing. I am glad that he was finally able to convince those sneeky fish to bite!

Spring Pictures

2009-04-16T10:53:00.007-04:00

Over Conference Weekend Rick and I went up to visit his family. We enjoyed spend time with them as well as being able to watch conference with them. This is the first time we have been able to go up there since Christmas because of Rick's work schedule. While we were up there we were able to get up early and get a few hours of fishing in before conference. His sister Becky also took some spring pictures of us too. It was so nice to get away from the city for awhile and get into the mountains and spend some time with the family. Here are some of our favorite pictures we took.

Small apartments are the best when it comes to furniture!

2009-03-26T10:55:00.006-04:00

Ok, so as far as the space goes, no, small apartments are not the best. But as far as small apartments for your neighbors go, yes that is good. The reason why is this: you get the furniture that doesn't fit in their apartment, and usually for free or for a big discount. And it is usually pretty nice furniture. And if you are like us you don't have a whole lot of furniture to begin with or most of it consists of handme downs from old roommates, family or friends. So when your neighbor buys nice new furniture that comes in a set but doesn't have room for the rest, it is so nice to receive some of the benefits. Last night our neighbor got a set of tables for his living room that had two end tables and a coffee table. He didn't have room for the coffee table so he asked Rick if he wanted it, otherwise he was just going to throw it away. We were so excited because we had been looking for a table or something to put our TV on since we moved to Virginia, so we gladly took it off his hands. It is our second peice of new furniture we have got since we have been married other then the ones we got from family or from our wedding. So that is why small apartments are the best when it comes to furniture.

An Update at Last!!!!

2009-03-24T12:55:00.003-04:00

Wow! It has been forever since I updated this, hasn’t it?!?!? Sorry! Life has been so crazy that I haven’t even had time to think about it let alone anything else. I actually forgot that I even had it until my cousin asked me when I was going to update it. Then I was like, oh yeah! So, even though it has been a while I am going to try and get everyone up to speed with what Rick and I have been up to and where we are in life. But I am going to warn you in advance, this is going to be a long post, so if you need to take a break and get a snack and come back and finish reading this later it’s ok. I’ll understand. J So I think the best way to do this and the easiest is to make a list. (I am good at that) Plus Rick says that I am a list maker and I live by my lists. So why not live up to that. So here we go:

-So, Rick and I packed up and moved to Virginia the middle of August. I know a great way to spend our first anniversary. But life doesn’t slow down for things like that. But that’s ok. We had plenty of time in the car together. After 2,300 miles of road we have decided that we never, ever want to make a trip like that again. That was a long way to drive in just three days. But we made it and that was the important thing.

-So we actually had never been to Virginia before we rolled into town with the moving van. So we had to unload everything into a storage unit and then drive two hours back up to Rick’s parent’s house for the night. Then we spend a week going back and forth between their house and Manassas Park, VA until we found a place to live. But we weren’t able to move in for a few weeks so it was nice to take a break from life and stay with his family for a little while.

-Rick started his new City Planning job on Sep 2nd. We were really excited until we found out that same day he started that the city was having financial problems and there was a chance of lay-offs. Which we had just gone through in Utah in Saratoga Springs and that is why we ended up having to move in the first place. So we were pretty worried about everything. Then things started getting pretty bad with the situation at work and we didn’t know how much longer he would have a job. And in the mean time I was having a really hard time finding a job. I was applying for jobs like crazy but I wasn’t getting any response at all from any of them. So we were both pretty frustrated and worried.

-Around Thanksgiving I finally had my first interview and I got the job so that was a huge relief. But we were still worried about Rick’s job. Things had dramatically worsened and we were started to considering other alternatives and looking into moving again even though that would put us into debt and then we would have to start over at square one again with my job and with his job. But we knew that things weren’t going to work out where he was and that if he stayed he would loose his job.

-Right before Christmas, the City Manager came to Rick and told him that he really liked him and he wanted to keep him but he wouldn’t be able to stay in the position that he was in now because of complications within the city and with the budget crisis. But they didn’t want to loose him. So they were going to move him to the police department in their communications department. He would get them same pay and benefits and he would be guaranteed a job through all the layoffs. And then the City Manager said that after the economy settles down he wants to bring him back as the City’s Planner. So that was a huge relief! And we actually ended up making more with the new position that Rick is in now so it ended up being a blessing. And if the economy doesn’t turn around soon then he has certifications in this job for the future that he can use as well as his degree in planning. The Lord does work in mysterious ways, we just have to be patient and wait for him to show us his plan.

-So after everything with work settled down we were able to focus on life outside of work. Rick is the 1st counselor in the Young Mens and I am the Beehive Advisor. We really enjoy our callings! We don’t have time during the week to do all the activities because Rick is on shift work but we enjoy teaching on Sunday. We have a lot to keep us busy but we enjoy living here. There are a few things we would change, like the traffic. If you think Utah is bad you should move here. Utah during rush hour is a walk in the park compared to here. You think I’m kidding. It takes me 30 minutes during normal time to go the same distance that it used to take 5-10 minutes in Utah during rush hour in Utah. Yeah it’s pretty bad. But overall, it is a good experience, but we don’t want to live in the city, especially 45 minutes from DC, the rest of our life. But it is always nice to have a change.

I will try and get some pictures up on here for you and try and keep you all a little more informed about what is going on in our life. Sorry it has taken so long. I hope everyone is doing well! Let us know.

Happy One Year!!

2008-08-05T01:23:00.004-04:00

We can't believe that it has gone by this fast! Yesterday was our one year anniversary. We have actually been celebrating since Thursday though. I picked up Rick's gift that day and couldn't wait to give it to him so we exchanged gifts that day. I got him a photo album that had everything that we had done in it since we had gotten married. It was really fun to see the finished product because I had been working on it since the beginning of October last year. Rick got me a really nice white gold necklace with a pink flower pendent on it. It was beautiful and I loved it. And then on Saturday we hiked to Timp cave together. And can I just tell you that that killed me!! That is a lot harder to hike then I thought, or maybe I am just really out of shape. But it was a lot of good excercise and it was really cool to see the cave. It was about a three mile round trip up and back. We were so tired at the end but we had a really good time. And then tonight we had our dinner together. It was a great few days of anniversary celebration together. We still can't believe that it has gone by that fast already but it has been wonderful and we look forward to the rest of our lives together.

Virginia, Here We Come

2008-07-27T19:24:00.004-04:00

The past few months Rick and I have been hunting for a new job for Rick. We first looked for jobs around Utah or Colorado but didn't have any luck. So we expanded our search to anywhere in the contry. The past few weeks Rick has had several interviews with several cities but we finally settled on one. We are going to be moving to Manassas Park, Virginia the middle to end of August. We are really looking forward to moving out there. We both are very excited to start an adventure together outside of Utah. Manassas Park is about 45 minuted for Washington DC, a little under 4 hours from the beach and about an hour and 40 minutes from Rick's parents and sister in Pennsylvania. We are really happy that we were able to find a better job with a lot better opportunities for both Rick and I. We are sad to leave our friends and family that live around this area but we are happy to be moving closer to family out there too. We are also excited about living in an area that has real thunder and lightning storms and real rain storms but is far enough away from the ocean we won't have to worry about hurricans. We will give you an update on more specifices as soon as we know. And Virginia, ready or not here we come! :)

Baseball and Rodeos

2008-07-24T15:26:00.006-04:00

It has been a very eventful week. Rick and I got free tickets to the Salt Lake Bees Baseball game from my work. The game was on Tuesday night so we drove up to Salt Lake to go the the baseball game. IT was a lot of fun. They played the Oklahoma Redhawks. The Redhawks won 7-4 but that's who I was cheering for anyways since that is my home state.

Then on Wednesday night Rick and I went to the Spanish fork Rodeo together. Going to the Rodeo has been a yearly tradition since we started dating. This is the third year in a row that we have gone. We love going to the rodeo because it is as close to Oklahoma as you can get out here. They even had some riders in from Oklahoma doing cow roping and on the bucking broncos. It was fun to watch all the horses and riders preform and compete. This is one of our favorite things to do during the summer.

RC Cars

2008-07-24T15:09:00.008-04:00

We have found a new hobby, RC cars. This is the newest of the cars that we have so far. It is waterproof and designed for off-roading. It is so much fun to drive! Rick and I usually drive it through the sprinklers every night and then race around in the puddles after the sprinklers go off. There are a lot more people involved with RC racing then we thought. Every thursday night they have races down in Spanish Fork on a dirt track that was set up just for RC cars. During the week Rick and I go over there to practice for the big races on thursday. It is a lot harder then I thought it would be to drive these things the way you want. I usually end up hitting the curd of going off the track. Rick is practicing on the dirt track so he can race in the thursday races and maybe get in the top three. It is a lot of fun to drive these things together especially off road and through the water.

The Stadium of Fire

2008-07-06T19:43:00.009-04:00

For the 4th of July Rick and I went to the Stadium of Fire. It was Rick's first time ever going so we were pretty excited to go. I won the tickets through my work so it was nice to get a free seat!

Here are the sky divers landing on the field. It was really neat to watch them jump out of the plane and fly down onto the field. That is one thing that I don't think I could ever do!

And of course the dancers that perform each year did an amazing job! There was about 1500 of them on the field at a time this year. They said that was the most they had ever had at one time. They did a dance that had every sport that is in the summer olympics. It was really interesting to see how they performed each sport but still did it in a dance.

And the fireworks! This is always my favorite part of the 4th of July. I love to watch them and they always do such a good job at the Stadium of Fire! Rick and I really enjoyed being a part of that this year. It was a fun way to celebrate the freedom of our country! Happy 4th of July!!!

Campfire

2008-07-01T21:04:00.005-04:00

Rick, me and my friends from work, Katie, Danica, Brittany, Collin, Sam (Katie's Boyfriend) and I all went up Provo Canyon for a campfire over the weekend a few weeks ago. Rick and I were in charge of the fire because I am the biggest pyro you will ever meet. So lets just say the fire was pretty big. It was so nice to just get away and spend time with our friends. We roasted hot dogs and marshmellow and then just sat around the fire while Collin played his guitar. It was so much fun. I am so glad that the cold weather is finally gone and we can go outside and have fires and play without having to worry about getting cold.

Shooting our new .22 Rifle

2008-07-01T20:50:00.005-04:00

Rick got a new .22 Rifle for graduation and we love shooting it together. I like it because I can actually hold it up right and it isn't so heavy I can't aim. And I also like it because it doesn't have a lot of kick. So this is my new favorite toy that Rick got for himself. :) We have a lot of fun shooting together, even though my kitchen gets filled with juice bottles and milk jugs that we use for targets. It is a lot for fun to go shooting together and get all our frustration out on a milk jug filled with water after a stressful day of work or to just go for fun.

Rick's Trophy

2008-06-30T20:49:00.003-04:00

Rick has Fridays off because he works four 10 hour days so he spends his Fraidays fishing while I am at work. This is one of his trophies that he caught the beginning of June. It is a 30 inch Tiger Muskie. These are his favorite fish to catch so he was pretty excited since they are so difficult to catch.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-06-30T14:44:00.005-04:00

We spend Memorial Day weekend at my parent's house. We went mudding in my sister's new truck, we went fishing and shooting, and we rode on thier new dirt bike. It was a lot of fun!

Camping Trip

2008-06-30T14:33:00.004-04:00

The beginning of May Rick and I were so worn out because school and work had taken a lot out of us over the past few months. So we decided to go on a camping/fishing trip up to Pineview up by Ogden. We fished for most of the day and then we camped from evening until the next morning. It was so nice to get away for a little while and just relax. Rick even caught his first Tiger muskie of the year that week.

Rick's Graduation

2008-06-29T20:00:00.005-04:00

Ok, so it has been a while since I last wrote and lots of things have happened. I will have to be better so that ya'll don't think we have fallen off the face of the earth. :) So Rick graduated in April from BYU in City Planning. He is currently working for Saratoga Springs, Utah as their Planner I. It is so nice to have him out of school and working a job that he doesn't have to bring home with him! It is nice to have a husband again, if you know what I mean. Rick's sister Kathy came up from Arizona with her three little boys, his parents came out from Pennsylvania and my parents came down from Logan so they all could attend the graduation. It was so much fun to have everyone together again. We haven't seen Rick's family since our wedding so it was good to have them visit!

A Break at Last

2008-04-10T23:45:00.005-04:00

Life has calmed down a lot since my surgery. Rick is coming to the end of his time at BYU. He will be graduating in two weeks!!! We both can't believe it is already here. He received a position with the City of Saratoga Springs here in Utah. It is only about 30 minutes away from where we live now. They actually wanted him to start working before he graduates, so this week is his first week in the post-college work force. It is a huge change for him but he loves having a real job where he is actually helping to better a community. (And where he doesn't have to worry about homework.) He has already had the chance to review projects that are in progess in the city and set some guidelines that need to be followed in order for them to be approved. He is excited about putting everything that he has learned in school to use in a real world setting, not just for class assignments.

It is nice to be out of the time of uncertainty. We finally feel like things have settled into a pretty set course and are beginning to move forward. We are going to stay in Provo until about August, then we will probably be looking into moving to Lehi or American Fork so that Rick can be closer to his job but so that I can still work at my job down in Provo.

The past month and few weeks has really had its downs but it has also had its ups that are far out weighing the downs. It is hard to see the blessings when you are going through challenges but we can definatley see how blessed we have been the past two months. Thank you for your prayers and support! We love you all!

More Suprises...

2008-03-19T11:52:00.007-04:00

So this month isn't getting any better. This weekend Rick and I were excited about not having to worry about too much and just spend some time together. Well, I've learned that if you plan for something it usually doesn't end up happening just the way you plan, usually it's the opposite. In fact, this weekend went nothing how we had planned. I woke up on Saturday with a really weird stomach ache. Thinking that it was just my normal stomache ache that I get every once in a while I thought nothing more of it. So Rick and I went down to Redmond Lake to go Pike fishing. Well, when we got home my stomache started to hurt really bad so I just went to bed hoping it would go away.

I woke up Sunday morning too sick to go to church. Rick went to sacrament meeting and then came home to find me unable to move because of the stomache pain. We called his dad and he told us that we should go into the clinic. (Another Sunday tradition this month, take Michelle to the clinic) :) So we went to the clinic and the doctor thought it was just a normal stomache ache, but she took some blood tests anyways. She found out that my white blood cell count was high. (This means that there was an infection somewhere) So she told me that I need to have a CT done. At this point I'm thinking okay maybe tomorrow, but she said that the hospital is expecting me right now and I need to get down there as fast as I can. This really started to worry me because I had no idea why I needed to go down there right now and the doctor wasn't being very specific on why I needed to go down there right this very minute. So Rick took me to the hospital and by this time my stomach feels like it is being ripped apart. I do the CT and then I am told to wait while they call my doctor and then he will call me back and let me know what is going on. A few minutes later I get a call from the doctor saying that I need to go the emergency room right now to have an appendectomy and that Dr. so and so will meet me down there. At this point I was scared out of my mind and the rest of what the doctor said was a blur! I had never been a patient in a hospital before, this was only the second time that I had ever had blood drawn and I had never dreamed of ever having surgery and it all happened only within a few hours after we decided to go to the clinic.

While I was in the room waiting for the doctors to get everything ready for the surgery I kept making all the alarms go off because my heart rate was so high. They were worried I might be having heart problems, but I told them my heart was fine I was just scared out of my mind. They laughed and said that was understandable. But I still had to have a guy come in and put probes all over me to monitor my heart rate. They told me to take deep breaths, which is very hard to do in this situation, to help calm me down. Well, that didn't work so they finally had to give me sedative to help calm me down. I also found out that my uncle had just been released from the hospital in Salt Lake City on Saturday for the same reason I was in the hospital. I guess it must run in the family. :)

Another thing that was added into this crazy weekend was that Rick had two job interviews on Monday. So he wasn't able to concentrate on those very well. But mom drove down from Logan to stay with me sunday night so that Rick could try and get some sleep at home so he wouldn't be too tired for his interviews and so I would have someone to stay with me on Monday so I wouldn't be at the hospital alone. It was quite the adventure but at least I will never have to go through that again. And Rick's family doesn't have a history of it so he probably would have to worry about it either, thank goodness. Hopefully we won't have too many more suprises this month. At least not crazy ones like we have been having. Good ones would be very welcome, but I don't know how much more we can do this month. :) Hopefully April will be nice and calm. (But I'm not planning for anything this time).

Busy Month

2008-03-11T22:11:00.005-04:00

So this month has been very busy for us. School has been demanding for Rick and so has his job search. He has applied at several places around here in Utah like Saratoga Springs, Provo, and Farmington. He has also applied for one out in Rifle, Colorado which is about 4 hours away from Provo. So now we are playing the waiting game. Hopefully we will have good news in a few weeks about where we are going to be living in a few months.

We have been able to have some fun though. We went bowling with my friend Katie and her son Avery, Rick went shooting, and we also took my sister Jenni ice fishing. We had fun ice fishing but it had it's consequences. My face got so sunburned that it swelled up so big that I couldn't see. We had to spend the entire morning in the instacare clinic on Sunday because we were worried this wasn't normal. But the doctor said that it does happen once in a while and gave me some medicine and within about 2-4 days i was back to normal. But we still had a great month.

Pike Fishing at Redmond

2008-02-11T22:36:00.001-05:00

This weekend, Rick and I went to Redmond Lake to go pike fishing. Last year we caught 3 Northern Pike the entire year, but while we were up there this weekend, we caught 6 of them. I had never caught one before so when Rick hooked one he handed me the pole so I could reel it in. It was so much fun to reel that huge fish in. As soon as Rick handed me the pole it bent down so far that I couldn't keep it up. He told me I needed to keep the pole up and I told him, "I'm trying but I can't". I finally had to just walk backwards because I couldn't reel it in. It was so much fun. That day I caught 2 and a half fish and Rick caught 3 and a half fish. We had so much fun together. The smallest fish we caught was 23 inches long and the biggest one was 25.5 inches long.

Family Night

2008-02-03T21:47:00.001-05:00

Last week for family home evening, Rick and I found these cute wooden toys at Wal-Mart and painted them. I painted the truck and Rick painted the helicopter. It was a really simple thing to do but we had a lot of fun painting them.

Christmas from Pennsylvania

2008-01-28T22:06:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, Rick and I received our Christmas package from his family out it Pennsylvania. It was a little bit of an adventure to get the package from UPS because they didn't leave a notice on our door but they said the package went out for delivery that day. So we went over the the place the trucks go at the end of the night to drop everything off to check and see if it was there. The lady that helped us was so nice but she didn't think that the truck was back yet but she would go and check. About 25 minutes later she came back with our package. She said the truck just pulled in when she went back there so she dug through the entire truck until she found our package. It was so nice of her to do that for us because we were really excited to get our package and we really wanted it that night. (But if we had to I guess we would have waited, I'm just glad we didn't have to) :)

It was so much fun to call our family in Pennsylvania and open the package with them listening since we weren't able to go out there this year for Christmas. They gave us so many nice things and also a lot of fun things. We got several DVD, beautiful ornaments, pictures, a nutcracker, and several other things. We also really enjoyed getting presents from our niece and nephew, Christopher and Emily. Christopher gave Rick a really nice Eagles hat and Emily gave us little snowman angels with our names on them. It was so sweet of them. Our families have done so much for us and we love them so much! Thanks for everything!

Shooting Rick's New Gun

2008-01-06T21:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Rick and I went up Provo Canyon to shoot his new gun. It was really fun to see Rick so excited about his new present. He had a smile on his face the entire time. While we were up there we also saw a bunch of wild turkeys. It was weird because they were walking all around us and weren't even scare of the gun shots.

The Best Gingerbread House

2007-12-30T21:29:00.003-05:00

It is tradition in our family to make a Gingerbread house every year for Christmas. We all put on different parts of it so it was a mixture of all of our ideas. We had a pond in the back of the house with horses around it, there was a rock candy path and a wood pill. My sister Sarah took a garlic press and pressed green gum drops in it to make all the bushes along the path. We also had a fence made of pretzels, and the finishing touch was the roof made with Neccos. It was fun to see everyone's ideas come together to make a very unique gingerbread house.

Our First Christmas

2007-12-30T21:03:00.002-05:00

This year, Rick and I had Christmas at the Gudmundson's house. We left the Saturday before Christmas and then came back to Provo the Wednesday night after Christmas. On Friday night before we left to go up to Mendon, Rick and I had our own little Christmas. Rick got me a really nice sewing machine and a blue bathrobe with matching slippers. He also got me a lot of smelly good things from Bath and Body Works and a Zip Zap RC car. I got Rick and new boat motor, walkie talkies, and (with the help of his parents and grandparents) and new gun that his has wanted for about 5 years. It's a Springfield Armory XD 45 ACP. We both had a great Christmas together and it was also fun to be able to spend some time with my family. Although, we did miss seeing Rick's family too, we were able to talk to them over the phone and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Rick's Choir Concert

2007-12-30T20:47:00.001-05:00

On December 8th, Rick had a choir concert for school. His choir sang about 10 different songs and some of them were in Latin. It was different for me to go to a choir concert and not be the one singing. But it was fun to be in the audience and not having to worry about performing. It was also a good experience for Rick to be able to be a part of a choir and to preform for me.

Lights at Temple Square

2007-12-06T00:22:00.002-05:00

This past weekend Rick and I met my parents and sisters up in Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square. The lights were so pretty, but the temple was the most beautiful thing there. While we were up there, we also had the chance to see Savior of the World. It was such a wonderful experience to be up there with the Gudmundson family and to also feel the spirit. We are so grateful that we live so close to be able to go to Temple Square every year for Christmas.

Provo's First Big Snow Fall

2007-12-02T20:31:00.001-05:00

This weekend Provo got its first big snow fall. It was so nice to finally have snow along with all the cold weather. It is finally starting to feel like Christmas is here. We went down to a park so that we could get some good pictures of the trees with snow all over them.

Decorating for Christmas

2007-11-27T22:16:00.002-05:00

After we got home on Thanksgiving, Rick and I put up our 6 foot, $20 tree from Dollar General. You'd think that the tree would look like a Charlie Brown tree but it actually looks really good considering where we got it from and how much we paid for it. When we first put it up we only had the lights and two ornaments on it, but a few days ago we got the rest of the ornaments for it. Our ornaments are the standard red and silver glass balls and then we also bought nature ornaments. So we have fish, bears, eagles, and quail on our tree along with a few other "traditional" Christmas ornaments. But my favorite one is this ornament that has the year that our little family started.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T01:26:00.001-05:00

Rick and I had two Thanksgiving feasts this year. First for lunch, our really good friend Daniel invited us over to his apartment complex to have a Thanksgiving feast with him and his friends. Even though we only knew Daniel, it was a lot of fun to get to know the other people there. They were so nice and hospitable, and the meal was great! Then that evening we went to my Aunt Janice and Uncle Ken's house for dinner. My Aunt Terri was also there along with our cousins Katie and Makenna. It was really nice to have family to spend Thanksgiving with and enjoy a break from school and work. We even got to talk to my Uncle Allen on the phone, who is serving in the military over in Iraq right now. It was nice to have extended family so close to spend Thanksgiving with since we weren't able to spend it with our immediate families. Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween

2007-11-01T22:23:00.002-04:00

For Halloween Rick and I carved pumpkins. My mom grew these pumpkins in her garden and then hand picked them out for us. Rick got a pumpkin that is really big and tough looking because when my mom saw it she said it reminded her of Rick. She said the pumpkin I got looks like the Cinderella Coach and I was the princess. We had fun carving them but the cleaning them out part wasn't that fun. When I was little, we always had to carve pumpkins outside so we wouldn't get the kitchen dirty. But this year since it was our own apartment we decided to do it inside on newspaper, but we still got the kitchen dirty. I guess mom was right.

Pumpkin Decorating Contest

2007-11-01T22:04:00.002-04:00

I work at Mountain America Credit Union in Provo and they are having a pumpkin decorating contest. Rick and I went to the store together and looked at different things until we decided on the perfect idea. This is my witch pumpkin with googly eyes. I worked on it all weekend and was so excited to finally be able to display it at work. I hope that I do well in the contest, but if not then it okay because I still enjoyed making the pumpkin with Rick. Happy Halloween!!!!!

Fun Weekend at Home

2007-11-01T22:01:00.001-04:00

Rick and I went home this weekend for a surprise visit. When we walked in the door my dad thought that I was Sarah so he had to do a double take before he realized it was us. And my mom was so excited she could hardly stop smiling. It was a lot of fun. While we were up visiting Rick and I went to a small reservoir called Newton. That night Rick caught this 31 inch tiger muskie. This is the fourth tiger muskie that he has caught this year. Tiger muskies are known as the fish of 1000 casts and sometimes 10,000 casts. So he was pretty excited about catching another one. The only sad thing about tiger muskies is that they have to be 40 inches or more in order to keep. So we had to throw all of them back. Catching one big enough to keep is another challenge in and of itself.

Rick's Northern Pike

2007-11-01T21:59:00.001-04:00

This is one of two Northern Pike that Rick caught down at Redmond Lake. They were both about 24 inches long. He was so excited when he caught them. He even came home soon after to show them to me. That same weekend we sent three fish to the taxidermist to get mounted: His big walleye of the year, the albino trout he caught at Tony's Grove, and one of his Northern Pike.

Fun at the Park

2007-11-01T21:51:00.003-04:00

Rick and I went to visit a park that my parents used to take me to a lot when I was a kid. When I was little I thought that the park was so big, but when we went back to the park together, I wasn't sure if it was the right park because it seemed so much smaller then I remembered. We found these beehives while we were there. The object of this beehive was for both Rick and I to fit inside. And surprisingly enough we were able to do it. Rick and his friends all tried to balance on a beam that was hanging from chains. It wiggled all over the place so it was difficult to stay on...as you can probably tell from the look on Rick's face.

Rick's Spring

2007-11-01T21:36:00.001-04:00

On our way home from Tony Grove we passed a spring. It was, of course, named after Rick. It was neat to see water come straight out of the ground and run into the Logan River. We also found a little cave next to Rick's Spring. It wasn't very big but it was still fun to go explore. I wore flip flops the entire camping trip, even on our little hikes, so my feet got so dirty. I just can't help but wear flip flops, even when it gets cool I will still wear them until I can't stand it anymore.

Rick's Albino

2007-11-01T21:28:00.002-04:00

One of Rick's dreams has always been to catch an albino trout. While we were at Tony's Grove he was finally able to catch his very first one. It is such a cool fish! He also caught this little snake. He loves to catch little critters as well as fish.

Tony's Grove

2007-11-01T21:16:00.001-04:00

Tony's Grove is my family's favorite place in Utah to camp. There is lake filled with trout and with moose? Yep, we saw this moose on a daily basis. In fact, a few days before Rick and I got there my mom and sister had a close encounter with it in our campsite. We almost lost our little dog Missy because she thought she was tougher then the moose. But thank goodness she had smarts enough to move out of the way when the moose started charging through the campsite.

Kaiser Truck

2007-11-01T21:03:00.001-04:00

Rick and I were driving up to Tony's Grove up Logan Canyon and we passed a truck that had our name on it so we slowed down for a picture. The driver and his wife looked at us pretty confused at why we were so intrigued by their truck.

Our Wedding

2007-11-01T20:43:00.001-04:00

Rick and I got married on Aug 3rd in the Mt. Timpanogoes temple. It was the most amazing day of our lives. It was so nice to have our whole family there to share it with us. We have never had any brothers, just sisters. Now we have even more sisters and it is the best thing ever! They are all amazing and so much fun! We love you!