March

This is a post summarizing this last month. This week's post actually ended up under this one. Make sure you check it out too!

Spring Break- We decided to drive to Washington D.C. and spend a few days touring the sites. As we pulled off the exit we recieved the phone call from my mom informing us that my daddy had been in an accident. We found tickets to SLC from Washington. We were blessed to be there because tickets were only $109 for a next day flight. If we had been in Cleveland they were $400 each! That night was our first campout of the season! Evelyn is a natural born camper, and she had a great time! We have some pictures of our adventures below.

Evelyn is also, thankfully, a natural born traveller. We bought her car seat on Tuesday at 10:30 and left for Washington at 11:00. From 11:00 Tuesday until 7:00 Wednesday night Evelyn was in that car seat 99% of the time. She even slept in it in the tent! During all of the driving and flying on Wednesday we never heard so much as a grumpy peep out of her. She smiled and giggled and made a lot of friends!

After we arrived in SLC we went strait to the hospital. The hospital staff was amazing and they helped us in countless ways. We could never thank them enough. We were given a conference room for our family to use for as long as we needed it. We had so many people show up that we packed the room and flooded into the halls. The nerologist was very kind. He came in and explained how to read cat scans, then he explain my dad's situation, and finally he took as long as was needed to answer all of our questions. He was shocked at how many people had come (we had about 35). That evening he volunteered to do his presentation again (this time there were about 60 people). I want to thank everyone that came and supported our family.

I stayed in Utah for almost a month. I took a short trip to Rexburg to visit Logan's family for a few days. I had a great visit with them, and Evelyn had fun too!

When I returned to Utah, I worked endlessly on a book I created for my dad. I included 6 sections; the first was a section full of memories that I had his brothers and sisters, mother, my mom, and all of my siblings write. There are thirty pages of stories about my dad from many different perspectives. The second section consisted of priesthood blessings that each member of my family recieved (these blessings were a great comfort to us and had a lot of amazing information for our family), the second part of this section was a journal from the day my daddy passed away. The next section was my dad's graduation (his funeral). Graduation is when you successfully complete a course of study and move up. I typed up the entire ceremony. The next section is a story that was written by a member of my dad's writing group. It is from the perspective of his guardian angel. The final section consists of memories people wrote in the journal at the hospital, memories from the memory cards that people wrote at the funeral, and memories contributed by e-mail. The book also consisted of sections of pictures. I am so glad that I have this book. I loved making it, and I am excited to share it with my children.

I miss my daddy. The day that he passed away was one of the most spiritual days of my life. I know that my daddy is here with me. The veil is thin and I know he will be with me and my family. He is playing with my kids right now. I will see him again.



Dinner time at the camp site! Hooray for ramen noodles! Evelyn loved them. Is anyone surprised?


Good morning! What a great morning face. Here is Eva, bundled and in her car seat.

This is a picture of Evelyn in a pair of my daddy's shoes. Dad wore a size 18 shoe! I wonder if any of our kids will ever fit those? Hopefully not Eva!

Eva loves to stack and to play the 'in and out' game. She used her shoes to show off the size comparison!

In Rexburg I got to know Ashland a little bit better (Griffin's girlfriend).

Remember to look at the next post as well.

Bring on the Summer!

Warning: There are a lot of pictures on this post.

The other day I was looking for Evelyn. I heard sounds coming from her bedroom, and this is what I found when I went in...

She had completely emptied out her dresser! When she finally realized that I was watching her, she looked so guiilty...
But then realizing what a sucker daddy was for the cute girl act, she decided to turn on the charm...
What a cute girl!

I'm not sure if we've mentioned in on our blog before, but we have started a dating group with some friends. There are four couples, so every fourth week we babysit all of the kids for a couple of hours. The other three weeks we get a couple of hours to ourselves! This week we took advantage of the time to go rock climbing at the indoor wall at the school. It was a lot of fun, but was also a painful reminder for both of us how long it's been since we went climbing. Typing this post is hurting my sore forearms. I have gotten so weak!

This week we also had some good weather and decided to have our first real BBQ of the year. Let the summer begin!

On Saturday Rachel went down to the temple in Columbus with the Relief Society. That meant that I got to have Evelyn to myself all day. After dropping Rachel off at the church we went straight to Cuyahoga Valley for a day of fun. We started out by riding on the Towpath trial for about six miles. This is where big boats used to be towed down the canal- hence the name. There were turtles everywhere! I lost count after 34 but I'm sure we saw close to a hundred! In this picture, there are some turtles on the log behind Evelyn.
After the bike ride, we had a picnic.

Then we decided to go on a hike to the ledges. This is a cliff about 40 feet high, but since Ohio is pretty much flat it means that you have an unlimited view for miles around. When we got there, Evelyn had a great time exploring the terrain.

All of that playing sure made her sleepy!

So that's pretty much it for this week. It was a great week of fun and adventure. Let the next week begin!

By the way, Rachel is also starting up the baby-belly pictures again, so if you're interested in that you can click on the link on the right to see them . Oh- speaking of babies, we had another ultrasound this week. Both babies are doing great and we found out that at least one of them (I think it's Noodle) is a BOY! Hooray!

My Daddy, My Hero

A man that works with his hands is a laborer; A man that works with his hands and his head is a craftsman; A man that works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist. -Louis Nizer

My daddy was an artist. He had amazing skill with woodworking, cooking, stained glass, copper work, and metal. He also completed an excellent eleven hundred page science fiction novel (the first in a trilogy). He actually finished everything needed for his masterpiece on March 9th.

My dad decided to make a wedding gift for Logan and me. He took us around to different furniture stores and found out exactly what we liked. He created an amazing entertainment center. This work of art has so many little intricate details. If you look closely you can see that the wood on one side is an exact mirror image of the opposing side. He also lined the entire structure with lighting that can be controlled by a touch pad in the center. The work itself is flawless. I am amazed at his artistic skill and the time he put into creating something beautiful for us. We will treasure this forever.

My dad was 6'4" tall and pretty well built. He could seem a little intimidating to strangers. This was not the case, he was a loving teddy bear. I loved his extra large hands that could comfort me no matter what. My favorite thing of all, however, were his loving bear hugs! I felt so safe when I hugged him.

My dad's calling in life was to become a grandpa. He was so excited when he found out I was pregnant, and he told everyone that would listen that he would soon be a grandpa. I was surprised to learn this, because my dad generally seemed to keep to himself. I have found out recently that you couldn't get him to stop talking when he was telling you about his family.

My daddy showed me the importance of hard work and family. My daddy was a roofer, and he worked extrememly hard to ensure that my mom could stay home to raise my family. He treasured my mom. He knew that even though she was staying home; she needed to develop her own talents. Over the years she has become an amazing painter, and he has encouraged and supported her in that goal.

Whenever my daddy was on vacation he had on a hawaiian shirt. I think this was a symbol for him that meant- I am on vacation, and I have no worries. Three weeks before he passed away he requested that hawaiian shirts and bright colors be worn at his funeral to celebrate his life. This wish was granted. The funeral was very classy, and very bright.

Whenever my dad was concentrating really hard, he would stick a tiny bit of his tongue out and have a little crease appear on his forehead. I remember one day he was outside playing with his whip (he made this when he was a teenager. It was originally 21 feet long, but it got shorter and shorter with use). He came inside with his tongue sticking out and bleeding on the end. We asked what happened and he responded, "I thwipped my thongue." He had obviously been concentrating and the whip snapped on the edge of his tongue. Miraculously it didn't even touch his lips!

My daddy had an amazing talent that I have never before seen matched. He could watch television and read a book at the same time. He could follow both storylines exactly. I don't know how he did it, but he did it well! He had a library in his basement of well over 2,000 books, and if you picked one off the shelf he could tell you the entire book in crazy detail. He could also read a 1,000 page book in two days (while also continuing with his normal life). He taught all of us a deep love for reading.

My daddy was an excellent listener. He would drop everything if you needed something, or if you just needed to talk.

My daddy absolutely loved teaching. He was in his element when he was teaching something, and he was good at it. He taught me many things. I remember going roofing with him when I was younger. I loved being out with my dad, and I learned a lot of really interesting and useful things.

My daddy taught me how to work hard at something and then to be proud of my accomplishments. I loved seeing the pride in his eyes when he was showing us something new, or he was explaining the many intricacies of Jac (information and ideas from his book). He had whole worlds in his head just waiting to explode onto the page.

I will always be a 'Daddy's girl.' I have been for a long time, and I will still be. Logan and I decided a few years ago that our first son would have the middle name 'Kelly' in honor of my dad. I am so proud of my dad and everything he accomplished. I know he is watching out for me and my family.

The day that my daddy passed away was one of the most spiritual days of my life. I know Heavenly Father has a plan and that this event was an important part of it. I know my daddy is right here with me because I can feel him here. I know he is up there telling my children stories (probably The Hobbit, or some story out of his mind), and teaching them. I am very proud of my daddy and I will miss him terribly. I love him so much. I am excited to see him again someday.

This is a video that Logan created to help remember my daddy. If you have a few minutes it is worth the time to catch a glimpse of his wonderful life. The video takes a minute to load, but it does work.

Where do I start this week? It was one of those weeks that was so full of activity and emotion that it seemed to linger on forever. It is hard to believe that just a few days ago we were sitting at home in Cleveland planning our spring break vacation...

I suppose I'll start at the beginning. That would be on Monday when my spring break started. We have been wanting to visit Washington DC since the day we moved here, and finally here was an opportunity that seemed to lend itself nicely to the occasion. Monday was full of planning and preparations. Tuesday came quickly and we left that morning. Evelyn was a great traveler and the miles rolled by smoothly until suddenly we were turning off the exit for Washington DC. And then the phone rung and time stopped moving.

It was Wendy, Rachel's mom. She told me that her husband- Rachel's dad, Kelly, had been hit by a car and that we should make preparations to come to Utah as quickly as possible. He had severe brain damage.

We tried to get tickets out of Washington for that night but all of the airlines were sold out. Instead we spent the night at a fantasic little campground that was just 10 miles away from the capitol (Greenbelt Park- consider this place seriously if you ever need to do DC on a budget) and left the next morning.

When we got to the hospital we found that Rachel's father was being kept alive by a number of highly sophisticated machines. He had severe damage to his brain and brain-stem and would never be able to have a quality life away from these machines. He was not responding to any of the neurological testing that was used to indicate that a recovery might be possible, and the location of the damage was in an inoperable location.

After much prayer the family decided to withdraw life support on Thursday morning. It was a blessing to all that he was able to hang in there until his family could be gathered at his bedside. The hospital staff provided a conference room for us to use as long as needed, which we soon filled and spilled out into the hallways. All immediate family was there, as well as a good number of the extended family and friends. Even the hospital staff (which was phenomenal) was impressed at the amount of support that was given at this time. Needless to say, Kelly was very loved and touched many lives during his brief stay here on earth.

Besides being a very emotional day, I think that everyone involved would agree that it was an overwhelmingly spiritual day as well. As we contemplated the blessings of the gospel it all became very real to us at this time. The spirit was amazing and we felt Kelly's personal presence and love at the time of his passing. We received some powerful priesthood blessings as well that helped us to understand the eternal scheme of things and to bring us a measure of comfort that was desperately needed.

There are many other details that I am leaving out. Some of these will come out in the following posts. Some won't. We will be here in Utah for at least another week as funeral preparations are made and things start to settle in. We are so thankful for the knowledge that we have of God's plan for us. Kelly's passing- or Graduation, as one uncle put it - has had a profound effect on our lives in many different ways. He was an absolutely amazing man who I (Logan) am glad to say was able to be a part of my life.

Here Comes the Sun

Logan has been doing research for as long as I have known him. He already has a lot of publications (I asked him how many and he didn't even know). He presented his work from BYU at a well known international bio-chemistry conference in San Fransisco, and he will present his work from CASE at a conference in April in Miami. Why am I telling you all this? Well, this week he did an oral presentation as part of Professional's Day at CASE. He did a wonderful job and he and his partner won a five hundred dollar award! Congratulations Love!

On Friday our ward had its first annual dinner/dance party. I love our ward! I was so impressed when everyone was out on the dance floor. There was a great mix of music and a lot of fun people. The theme was St. Patrick's day and our green homemade rolls were a hit! We had a great DJ that dedicated songs to couple's and kept the crowd entertained (the wives didn't know, but there was a list passed around in Priesthood for the men to write down 'the song' that reminds them of their wife). I am excited for next year's party.

On Wednesday I had another doctor visit for the babies. I am now 11 weeks and Dr. Reider said I was measuring 16 weeks. In three weeks he said I should be measuring 20! I knew I would grow bigger than normal, but hearing the actual numbers is kind of scary. Noodle and Twitch are growing very well and Dr. Reider was very impressed. He said it was very rare that I would be feeling as good as I am (I only had morning sickness for three weeks and am feeling great now).

On Saturday we went to another baby sale. We found some fun things for Eva and some cute clothes for her to grow into. We also bought a baby bouncer for the babies. Our favorite purchase was a good backpack that will hold Evelyn so we can go hiking and backpacking all summer! Bring on the beautiful weather!

Today was our first bike ride of the summer. The weather was beautiful and the company was great! Evelyn serenaded us with her beautiful songs and we chatted about our Summer plans.


Evelyn is a great helper when it comes to baking. This is getting ready for the ward party. I think she liked the rolls- even before they were cooked!


Today we went on a family bike ride- It was great to get outside after a seemingly long winter. I think we were all getting a little cabin fever. Bring on the Summer!

The new play room is great! Evelyn loves it!

The Saga Continues...

That's right...The Saga. You might not have heard, but this is what the story of our car's tires has become. If you want to hear all about it, go ahead and read the next four paragraphs- if not, you can skip to the 5th; I just need room to vent- I hear that it's therapeudic.

See, about a month ago while we were walking out of the mall I happened to brush up against one of the back tires of our car while putting Evelyn into her car seat. Much to my surprise, the tire poked me! Me, knowing that tires were not supposed to "poke" people, I decided to investigate a bit further. My fears were confirmed when I saw that it had worn down so far that the steel belting was showing through. A quick look revealed that it was not just particular tire, but on all of the tires. Time for new tires. I guess that we should monitor that a bit closer. Thankfullly we caught the problem before trouble hit.

Anyway, the next day we got four new tires on our car. That sould be the end of the story, but sadly it is not. Not a week had gone by when we entered our garage from a wrong angle and managed to shred the side wall of our front tire. The tire was ruined. I put the spare on and made plans to buy another new tire the next day. I was a little put out by this, but oh well- those things happen sometimes.

The next day before I got home from school I got a phone call from Rachel who informed me that our spare had gone flat and that she was forced to abandon the car in some random parking lot on the way home from a dentist appointment. Great. Thanks to our great friends the Bonds (who seem to always be helping us out in some way) I was able to get a ride to the tire store and buy a new tire, and then get a ride back to our car where I put it on and drove home. That was a little more trouble that I had wanted to deal with, but oh well.

End of story?...I think not. Yesterday we were driving down the highway and we suddenly ran over something that gave us another flat tire. We pulled over to the side of the road as quickly as we could, but the damage was done. The tire was shredded. To make matters worse, we hadn't gotten around to replacing the spare tire yet so we couldn't just do a quick road-side tire change and be on our way. Nope. Instead, we had to call a tow truck to bring us to the tire store where we bought yet another new tire. That makes 7 new tires in one month! (6 full sized and one spare) Hopefully, this is where the story ends, but only time will tell.

That said, there was actually some good that came from the whole tire fiasco yesterday. We were planning on being apart for most of the day doing seperate things, but the tire thing gave us an excuse to change some of those plans and spend the whole day together. We went to a garage sale, and a big used-baby-items sale that was a church fundraiser. We got some great deals on toys and cloths for our Bugaboo, our Noodle, and our Twitch. When we got home we reorganized our house so that our sunroom is now the "play room" instead of an office. The change is nice and makes our home feel bigger.

Another highlight of the week was our Friday date-night. The young women were doing a fund-raiser for camp and offering to babysit all of the children in the ward. We took advantage of the time to go to Wendy's...Restaurant Style. For our first course we just ordered drinks and apetisers. Then we talked for a while, and when we were ready we went back up and ordered the "entre" and sides. Finally, we finished the night off by driving down the street to Mcdonalds for desert (hot fudge sundays). This "fancy" fast-food was all Rachel's idea- leave it to her to make a special night out of Wendy's and Mcdonalds. The food was good and the company was great. I sure married a cool person!

Here's Eva with Daddy's boots- she thought that was pretty neat.

My two beautiful girls at the tire store.

It was warm enough to eat lunch outside! And Eva LOVED the Chicken Nuggets.

Here we are at the West Side Market. As you can see, Saturdays are really busy there.

It's getting Warmer in Cleveland!

It has been a great week for us! We started out thinking that the week would be a stressful one since I had some big tests scheduled, but as it turns out it wasn't that bad at all. We had a lot of time together to talk, go on mall walks (it's a great way to get out of the house when it's cold outside), and shop...and to just "do stuff" together.

Evelyn, on the other hand could have had a better week. The poor girl got a vaccination shot last Saturday that made her grumpy and feverish all week. The Dr. said this might happen, so there's nothing to worry about, but it was just sad. Sometimes she would just sit down in a heap and let her head hang down in her lap and sob as if her whole world was ending. So sad. But she's getting better now. On a brighter side, our little bug has finally mastered the sippy-cup. No more bottles for this one!

Last weekend we watched an episode of Veggie Tales on a video that we had picked up from a library movie sale. It was hilarious. For those who might not be familiar with Veggie Tales, they are cartoons where all the characters are vegetables and they teach moral stories, often paralleling bible stories. It sounds sort of dumb, but the wit and humor is great- even (especially) for adults. So, why do I tell you this? Well, as we were watching it we thought about how cool it would be to have a collection of Veggie Tales films...1 hour later we had purchased 16 brand new videos off of Ebay for $1.25 each. The shipping was even free and they arrived in 2 days! We have been watching them throughout the week and decided that it was one of the best impulse buys that we have ever made. It is sort of funny how we are excited for Eva to fall asleep so that we can watch cartoons.

On Friday Eva finally had her birthday party. The party was actually more of a playgroup/lunch date for Rachel, her friends, and all of the children. Evelyn had a great time trying to keep up with the kids that came over. For dessert we had Chocolate Elcair Cake (thanks for the recipe Nancy). Here are some pictures of the party...