SURPRISE!!

**Once again, I was waiting on Jessy to upload the pictures from the camera to the computer. It's not that I'm unable to do this, it just takes me a lot of time because I do it once in a blue moon. After reading the post, you might understand why neither of us has had much time to work on the blog. However, that will be corrected shortly and I plan on getting the camera AND the cables and revamping the whole thing.**

Imagine my surprise when I got a phone call last Monday saying that our stuff was in Salt Lake and they needed to set up a time to deliver it. It was only our stuff from Albuquerque (I thought), and it was only a few days late--to be expected. I almost fell over when they said it was from overseas!! It came 6 weeks early and beat the stuff that had been only 10 hours drive away in New Mexico!!! I excitedly arranged for them to come the next day. It was hectic, for sure, with the three kids and no Jessy, but somehow we managed to get all the boxes ticked off and all the stuff more or less in the house. It helped that the neighbor sent her kids over to get Savannah and Collin toward the end because things were getting a little out of control. The movers were supposed to unpack everything, but if you would have been here, you wouldn't have wanted them going through your stuff, either. I just had them unpack the kitchen, which left a huge mess since they aren't allowed to put things in the cupboards, but no boxes. I've only got one box left to go through in here and it's full of tupperware and sippy cups--I'm not putting them away until I determine that they're worth keeping (has a lid and/or all parts and isn't smelly or gross-looking). Our bedroom and the basement are still full of boxes, but the house actually looks kind of homey, it doesn't echo so much (HOORAY!!!), and everyone is on a real mattress now.


We had to speak in church yesterday. Unfortunately, we had been very distracted by unpacking that we had put off writing talks until Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa Jones came down from Logan, and we were very grateful for that. We were asked to speak on missionary work. Hunter gave a short talk that was not understandable and included him licking the microphone while he was listening for his next line (he licks everything!). Collin gave his scripture both in primary and sacrament meeting and did a great job. Savannah helped write her talk and spoke very clearly into the microphone. I was very nervous, especially about taking too much time, so I talked fast and left Jessy and the rest hymn 25 minutes. Jessy gave a great talk, and was able to make up the time well. Once the kids were done with their part, the boys decided to run back and forth between the stand and the grandparents in the congregation. Finally, I grabbed Hunter and took him out after giving Collin a discreet lecture. In any case, we made it through. And we got to have a yummy roast dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Jones--and Nathan (we enticed him up by the description of what we were making)!

No more weeds, no more fingertip

**I didn't publish this as I thought maybe I'd add a picture, but I don't know if we'll get the actual photo off the cell phone, and the ones I found on Google, while pretty similar are rather gory. Don't want to make anyone sick!**

These past two days since Jessy last posted have been quite eventful. This is just a short blurb in between Jessy's detailed posts so I don't forget anything. After a weekend away in Salt Lake, we brought Grandma J back with us so she could watch the kids while I went to a doctor's appointment. It worked out very well. Grandpa J made it up after lunch and brought the tractor to raze the weeds in the back yard (it looks SOOOOO much better!). Hunter was in heaven driving that thing around on Grandpa's lap. Then Jacob and Robyn came up for an overnight stay en route to a family reunion at Bear Lake, which was also very fun for us all. We ate some dinner and Jessy went out to crank out some slushies for all the little kids (neighbors included). Grandpa thought he'd be funny and ask Jessy to get us adults some, too. When he returned to his chair, he plopped on down to relax and collapsed the lawn chair. Unfortunately, his finger was caught in the collapse, between a plastic armrest and a metal bar. We all sat there stunned for a second waiting for him to get up, but when he uttered an "I'm in trouble" and pulled out his bloody hand, things became a blur. His middle (or rude) finger on the left hand had a good size chunk out of it. We didn't really know this until we were trying to get him out the door and into the car when Grandma said, "Oh, Rynn, there's part of your finger over here." She scooped it up, but it was too much for me and we sent Jacob and the parents on their way to the hospital, while we looked up the best route and coached over the cell phone. While Jessy was on the phone, I was cleaning up the carnage--and it was exactly that!! It looked like a crime scene from a TV show. There was blood pooled on a chair and on the floor. Drops of blood everywhere--walls, floors, cabinets. Even spatters up the wall and on the blinds and window. The ER gave him a nice pain block but ended up sending him home with instructions to return in the morning for surgery.

Gettin' in a Groove

Whoever said a thousand transitions at once wasn’t fun??!! It’s been so long since the last entry that I’m not even sure where to start. Kelli already posted the big news about the baby being a boy – so now I’m over halfway to my full-strength basketball … or hockey … team! Since we don’t have much luck for height in our genes, and since the first time I skated with hockey skates I knocked myself out … maybe I’ll have to settle for two kids to man the oars, another the fish finder … and I’ll do the fishing! Actually, the way it will probably work out is that Savannah will be barking the instructions/orders from the front of the boat, I’ll have three snoopy fishing poles all tangled up and knotted, all the while trying to row the boat and manage the fish finder :)

So, life is good. We’ve moved into our home and love the neighborhood. Our house is in a little town called Pleasant View and just north of the ‘big’ city of Ogden. It’s nestled up against Ben Lomond mountain which we can see from our back patio. It’s pretty empty right now since our stuff is still on a boat (hopefully still on the boat!), on the Pacific Ocean and we are awaiting our shipment of Albuquerque odds and ends (BBQ!) which should arrive next week. The Pacific Ocean stuff will not arrive until August, so the kids will enjoy screaming and running through an empty house for a bit longer. We did get our fast, light shipment from Australia last week and that had some essentials like bikes, pots/pans, extra clothes and bedding. Thank goodness for family to fill in the other bits and pieces. One thing I really wish we had remembered was tools! What was I thinking?

The ward and neighbors have been awesome. We had three dinners brought over to us last week along with a myriad of cakes and cookies from various people. The ward is very open and numerous people have come up and introduced themselves without hesitation. The neighborhood yards are set up so that all of the backyards back up and run into each other … which means you have something akin to a golf course for a play area. All the kids just get together in the backyard(s) and have a hey day! Where one has a trampoline, the other has a playset … and the other a baseball set up. Our kids are a little on the younger end of the spectrum, but all in all they are getting along with the other kids and really enjoying living here. Today they all went to their respective church classes by themselves --- Hunter included!

We’ve also thoroughly enjoyed spending more time with family. I stayed with my brother Jacob and his wife Robyn … and their three kids for a week in Logan while I started work. Kelli and the kids came up and we stayed another week with them. My brother Nathan and I did an Olympic triathlon together and had ‘heaps’ of fun. He finished the swim before me and then after mile 18 I caught up to him on the bike and we finished the rest of the race together in a whopping 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was a lot of fun to do it with him. Then we had my parents and sister come up and spend the 4^th of July weekend with us. We went to a parade and had a picnic (the Kaysville parade was quite unique--there was the regular parade of floats, military, bands, police, horses, and then the water portion followed, which consisted of city water trucks, old fire engines, flat bed trucks, etc. all with people and hoses just soaking everyone who didn't get up and move fast enough!) … then experienced fireworks about 2 minutes from our house while sitting atop a hill next to our house overlooking the high school. The next day we enjoyed a drive through Eden and some time out by Pineview Reservoir. These are the kind of experiences that I looked forward to when we decided it was time to come back home …

Work is going very well. I’m enjoying the position I am in and it looks like there is a lot of opportunity on the horizon with this company. Last Tuesday was my official last day in the military. It’s a batter of mixed feelings leaving the uniform behind. I’ll always be grateful for the friends we made and the experiences we had moving around. I can’t imagine our lives without those friendships and associations. Serving as a military member was in and of itself a plethora of mixed emotions. It was an honor to serve our country. Some of my most cherished experiences were spent wearing the uniform and saluting our nation’s flag. I had the opportunity to spend some time in Washington D.C. and spent many an hour walking around the monuments – but perhaps my most memorable experience was walking through Arlington Cemetery. If you ever get a chance to meander through the headstones of those who died while giving their life for our country and our freedom, it’s an experience not to pass up. We indeed have a lot to be thankful for in our country and the opportunity to serve for 8 years (12 counting the Academy!), was one that I will always treasure. That said, we are excited for this next phase of unknowns and have high hopes of a more steady future. It’s already strange to know that the house we just purchased could be our home for the next 20 to 30 years. I don’t have to look just 2 and 3 years down the road for the next move – I just feel like it’s easier to live in the here and now instead of always wondering where the next move is going to take you. Hopefully the kids will find some good friends and enjoy the opportunity of staying in one place for a while!

Since we don’t have a lot of stuff to find places for we’ve been spending the majority of our time outside getting weeds pulled and a makeshift garden in place. It might be too late in the year to get anything from the plants, but it at least keeps the kids busy (and me J).

The kids really are enjoying the fact that we are now in our own place and not living out of suitcases. Hunter seemed to struggle the most, but now is doing better. After nursery today the nursery leader told him, “See you later, hun!” … to which he responded “See ya, hun.” He hasn’t lost his personality for sure. He also loves babies. We went to lunch with my parents at a restaurant yesterday in Eden. On the way out Hunter walked by this Mom and a baby who were standing in the hallway. Hunter promptly stopped, looked up and started to pet the baby. Random, but funny!

Collin is a sports freak still playing baseball with anyone and everyone who will throw a pitch to him. He was invited over to a boy’s house in the ward … but unfortunately returned an hour later with big swollen eyes and cheeks because he’s allergic to their dog. I guess a dog isn’t in our immediate future as once planned.

Savannah is riding her bicycle like there is no tomorrow. She’s got more energy than we know what to do with, but at least there are neighborhood kids to help release it now. She can’t wait for school to start … but until then there is plenty to keep her busy little mind … well, busy!

And last but not least is the driving experience all might expect when traveling between countries where left is right and right is right. We were going down a road in Ogden which was a one way street. I was in the far left lane approaching a intersection with a light. The light was green and I prepared to make a left-hand turn to start going on the road perpendicular to ours. The only thing I neglected to take into account was the fact I was in the left lane, but still in America. So I took my immediate left and ended up going head on into the oncoming traffic. Luckily there was no one right there and Kelli let out an immediate warning to get into the ‘right’ lane, which I promptly did and thereby avoided any further embarrassment. Whew – hopefully it’s the last time of one of those!

And the newbie is a...

Well, after Jessy's bout with kidney stones and my first appointment (they do ultrasounds and put them on DVD every time you go to the doctor/midwife here), we were pretty convinced we were having a girl. Combine that with the smoothest pregnancy and the least active baby so far, and I was more than sure that we were having a girl--a mellow baby girl. UNTIL we went in for the real ultrasound Monday and learned that our little girl is a BOY!!! The ultrasonographer was 100% sure that it's a boy. She saved the gender-looking for the end and regretted it. She had to pound (I am serious!), on my stomach for quite some time to get the baby to move. I asked if I should roll over or anything to get the bub to move, and she glanced up at me and said, "What, you don't like my methods?" She eventually got a quick peek at his nether-region and pronounced that we're having a boy and immediately turned off the machine. Kinda crazy. Don't get me wrong, she was really nice and everything but it was an unusual ultrasound for me. So Jessy and I spent the time on the drive home thinking of names. None yet. I had a girl's name all ready. But I'm still excited for another baby and I'm hoping this one bucks the trend of coming a week later than his predecessor--three weeks late would be a little too much! (I get the feeling they don't let you go more than a few days over here in Utah--I'm considered some type of higher-risk pregnancy because Hunter was 9 lbs. 11 oz. (4.4 kg)).


On to other news, we are very excited to be in our new house and actually hooked up to the internet again!! YEA!!! We love the house. Since we moved in with little more than our suitcases and some bedding, card table, and chairs borrowed from family, we are enjoying our empty space. We got appliances Monday, and internet, new windows, and our "fast shipment" today. So, with a fridge, our bikes, and some pots and pans, I think we're set. The people here have been great. Our new ward was very excited to welcome us and have brought us dinner the past two nights as well as tonight. We have had several neighbors drop by to welcome us to the neighborhood--some with cookies or cakes, some peddling their babysitting abilities. Our first day here was "Founder's Day" for the city, so they lit fireworks off at the school just down the hill. It was nice to sit on our porch and have front-row seats to the show. What a welcome!!! With little inside the house, we've spent a good deal of time outside. We planted a garden (we'll see if anything comes from it), and have filled a huge garbage can with weeds. Savannah and I spent several mornings this week out there until it got too hot. I'm sure Jessy will have more to post later, but I thought I'd give everyone a head's up on the baby news!