Baby Boy is Getting Old!

Our little boy Benji was born in August. He is too cute! I am very busy and lazy and blogging is, frankly, not very convenient.

After a four-hour, epidural-less, whirlwind labor, Benji joined us. Yes I was upset that we only had our phones for his first pictures.

He was 7 lbs 2 oz and 19.5 inches long.

He was a sweetheart from the very beginning.

We got a huge surprise when our families drove up together from Utah to meet Benji. They are crazy and only spent 1.5 days not travelling. But they got to meet our little guy.

And since then, we have fallen even more in love with him and have taken him on many adventures including many walks, a trip to the zoo, and his first dip in the lake. I think he looks a lot like my dad.

Now that he is getting older (I mean, he is super old, 2 1/2 months!), it is really fun to see his little personality develop. Benji is so smiley and is constantly cooing and gurgling (not constantly, he is quietish when he sleeps and sometimes he screams). He is so chill and loves to be snuggled.

We love our Benji Boy!

No Posts in June?

Yes, no posts in June. We had a fun and busy month. We were gone for half the month and we were busy/I was tired the other half of the time.

Here is a summary. Maybe there will be more posts later, and maybe there won't.

Rachel painting on our vacation with Grandma.

Blowing bubbles with Grandma and Nigel.

She climbed this all by herself. She is getting to be a climber.

Helping mom work in the yard.

Getting wedding cakes ready for Elise's wedding.

Rachel at the wedding.

And there are some pictures from my phone.

In other news, I have just 6 weeks left until The Boy arrives!

Things I Never Thought I Would Say: Chinese Edition

At Hot Yoga

Kendra: I have never been this hot in my entire life.

Me: I have.

Kendra: What! Where?

Me: Hong Kong.

About my favorite food

Me: Who would have though my favorite food would be a tofu dish? I love tofu.

(Disclaimer: My favorite food is Ma Po Dau Fu, which has pork and tofu in it.)

Discussing dinner parties

Me: Who can we have over for hot pot?

Andrew: The Georges? McIntoshes? Martins?

Both together: Who is brave enough to eat our Chinese food?

Both together: The missionaries!

Concerning pregnancy cravings

Me: If I could only eat one food, it would be curry.

Post-Mother's Day meal

Me: Curry, I love you; curry I do. 

    Father in Heaven as sent you to meee! 

    When I am near you, I love to hear you 

    Singing so softly that you love me, too.

    Curry, I love you. I love you, I do.

On reasons why I love Andrew

Me: You introduced me to curry. And to Ma Po Dau Fu.

Texting Andrew

Me: The red bean paste is done! (homemade)

Andrew: How is it?

Me: Yummy. I would even put it in ice cream.

Emergency preparedness discussions

Andrew: We go through at least 75 pounds of rice per year.

Sarah: I think we should switch the recommendations of wheat and rice.

At our Chinese New Year feast with a Hong Konger

Me: I've  never cooked for a real Chinese person.

Alex: Well it's good! I haven't had anything this good in the US.

Conclusion

Something is wrong with me.

I'm obsessed with food.

I'm obsessed with curry.

If you are brave, come eat with us.

Welcome Baby!

We are so happy! Our little girl Rachel was born on October 30. She is a tiny tiny thing. She was 5 lbs. 14 oz. and 18 inches long. Enjoy some pictures to begin with.


Welcoming my little girl.


The proud papa.


Changing a poopy diaper.


Our happy family in the hospital.


She has great brown hair and is so precious.


Rachel is such a beautiful girl.


We are so excited to go home!


Rachel was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. Her costume is WAY too big--literally mini mouse!


Those mouse ears may be the death of her, so I sat next to her and made sure it didn't eat her head in the car.


Rachel and Mom


Dad just loves his little girl.


That's my pretty girl.

We are so happy and are really grateful that everything went smoothly with her birth. My mom is here now and it is so fun to have some Grandma time with her. Of course, there will be more soon!

Pregnant/Family Photo Shoot!

Andrew actually can look good in a photo...


... the question is, will he?


Maybe after a few tries...

...and after mocking cheesy maternity photos with me.




But overall, he looks great. And his goofiness makes me laugh and I love it. And I love him.

Wesley FINALLY Got Married!

We have all been teasing Wesley for years that he would never get married. But he finally found Maren and they got married!

The wedding was up in Washington, which was convenient since we moved up there the weekend before.

The dinner was in Anacortes.

Yay food.

Cheers! Wesley drinking a goldfish.

How sweet...

People eating dinner.

The next morning was the wedding and sealing at the Seattle Temple. I did not remember the camera and I was sad, but oh well. It was a nice sealing.

Then we went back up to Anacortes to get things ready for the wedding.

Andrew trying to look as attractive as physically possible.

Me trying to look as attractive as physically possible.

The cake. Heidi did the flowers. The cake was probably the most delicious wedding cake I have ever had in my whole life. It was coconut and lemon and was SO SO yummy. I don't really like cake, so that is saying something.

The people who did the car. I just handed over the keys.

Glenn with Abby. He will be such a good Opa in a few months.

There they are!

Me, Wes, and Maren (my sister in la la). I curled my hair and it stayed in all day!

They fed the cake to each other very nicely.

Me in front of the Mt. Baker.

Yay for weddings. I was tired and definitely ready for bed.

I'm glad that they got married and I'm glad Maren is in our family.

Yippee!

Well, we have big news!

Presenting ... THE BABY! It looks like a platypus, is 10 weeks old, and was already kicking and waving its arms around inside of me (which made me laugh very hard). Baby is due October 31. Even though we are announcing this a little early, we wanted to tell the world about it on April Fool's Day--my birthday. I have felt pretty good, just a little nauseous at night. We are really excited and hope that things go well and that the little platypus grows healthy and strong.

So that is the Yippee Skippee news. :)

Alison's Wedding: Road Trip to Wyoming, The Ranch, Being Classy in Wyoming, and the Reception

Alison now lives in Pinedale. They had a reception there, and, as the Maid of Honor, I felt it was my duty to attend. Also, I have never been to Pinedale.

This matters because Al has two uncles who live there, and that's how she met Kendall.

All my life, I have heard about what a magical place The Ranch is, and I knew that I needed to go.

Our descent into the Bear Lake area. The lake was covered with clouds and it was so beautiful!

The view at Andy's place. This is not The Ranch. This is a view I would love to have.

Wildlife! We saw a bunch of deer. And a bunch of pronghorn.

I'm on The Ranch! That's Scott in the background. He was trying to get me to ride a "horse". But it was really a bull. I am not as stupid as Scott thinks I am. I can milk a cow.

Me feeding the critters! Take your pick of names: donkeys, burros, or asses. Scott and I both prefer the term "asses."

That little ass was a pushy little bugger. He tried to eat my coat cuz I wasn't giving him the grass fast enough.

This could be on a calendar.

Dad and Scott getting into the BMW on The Ranch.

A herd of buffalo apparently live next door to The Ranch. They made me want to eat some buffalo burgers.

And now I have been to The Ranch! It was everything that I dreamed of and more! I stepped in animal poop, petted some critters, saw wild animals, and drove in a BMW on a ranch.

I am classy. But wait, it gets better!

There was a parade, so Dad and I went into town before so we would actually be able to get to the reception. So we spent the evening on the town.

Imagine: Dad in his suit, me in my beautiful black dress, driving around in the BMW in Podunk, I mean Pinedale, Wyoming.

I told you that this evening would get even more classy.

Me in front of the Cowboy Store.

Me in front of the wall of boots at the Cowboy Store.

We joined the parade. :) I waved at the people.

Alison and Kendall--happily married for two weeks.

Table decorations. Dad and I were decorators. Those lovely vases are from my wedding.

Lucy and Ariane!

The wedding party.

So us non-Pinedale people were the most dressed up. I have never been to a wedding with so many blue jeans. 

Me and Lucy. She doesn't usually like me, so I guess that I was pretty enticing because I let her take over my camera.

Lucy had to take my picture by every single tree at the reception.

Donuts.

Ariane from a four-year-old's view.
Before deleting all the pictures Lucy took, I appreciated how the world looks when you are three feet tall.
I'm 5 foot 2 inches. I wonder what the world looks like for people who are six feet tall?

Lucy's shoes and my shoes.

Alison and Lucy! Such a cute picture!

Me and Alison. Such a cute picture!

Dad holding Jack again. He likes holding babies or something.

Cutting the cake, round two.

Lucy getting her piece of cake.

What a great day. I had a fun time in Pinedal. I will miss Alison because she lives all the way out there!