"But These Small Hours Still Remain": 2014

Sunday, December 21, 2014

2014 Review

Seeing as how I never post anymore, I thought I would just do a quick year in review. This was a pretty big year for us. So here it is, in a nutshell.

March 2014: We paid off all our student loans. Big day for us!!!! Debt free. :)

March 2014: I got called into the primary presidency. Obviously because of my skill with children...(anyone who knows me know that that was entirely sarcastic...God obviously saw fit to humble me with this calling...and I am over scouts of all things...bless my heart.)

May 2014: Mike graduated with his PhD. So that was pretty awesome, to say the least.

Dr Rigley

May 2014: My grandpa died. That was a sad time, but there were many blessings with that. He is now his sweetheart, who died when I was 8. Also, at his funeral I learned a lot about him. I didn't know my grandpa too well growing up, and mentally, he was sort of gone for the last 10 years. So it was cool to get to know him, and also it was just a really great opportunity for me to spend some time with my dad's family, who I don't get to see too often.

Grandpa and Grandma

The pall bearers. Ty is on the right.

May 2014: Mary and Daniel had their first baby boy! We are so excited to have a cousin on Mike's side.

Rinna letting Miles borrow her hand to suck on. Sometimes you just need some variety.

June 2014: Surprise birthday visit from my family. Best birthday present ever.

June 2014: Dane and Jess had their first baby boy! Lucky us, 2 new cousins within just a couple months.

Macho Lincoln with his cousin, Rinna

June 2014: Bradley started swimming lessons. He's a natural. :)

Love the look on his face.

July 2014: Rinna was born! I always meant to write about that, but it never happened. Oh well. She was 8 pounds, 9 ounces and over 21 inches long! She is still off the charts in her height and she is our little princess. She is the most content and happy baby. She loves to play with her toys and watch what is going on around her. And she LOVES to talk to her mom about her life. Her name is actually Corinne, but I don't think we have called her that more than a handful of times. :)

Just a couple days old

Just being her happy self.

August 2014: Kirk married Jenny! We are so happy to have her as part of the family!

August 2014: Bradley started preschool and he loves it.

October 2014: I had my first surgery ever. I was so brave. :)

Rinna missed her mom. She talked my ear off after my surgery.

December 2014: We bought a new house. And thought that right before Christmas would be a good time to move. It wasn't, but really, is there ever a good time to move? I submit that there is not.

December 2014: Okay, this hasn't happened yet, but my sister gets home from her mission on December 31!! What a great end to a great year. I hope your years have all been as good, if not as exciting, as ours. :)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Bradley Started Preschool

Bradley started preschool this week. He loved it! He came home and said, "I listened to my teacher, and went outside and played and then I talked to my teacher and then I listened again and came back in." They were learning about apples and they got to taste a red, green, and yellow apple. Apparently he likes the red and yellow apples but not the green. I also think he might have a small crush on a girl in his class because we heard an awful lot about her. When I asked him if anyone else was in his class, he said, "no, just jo jo." So there you go. Here's a quick video from right before we left.

I then took Noah and Rinna shopping. It was kind of weird not having Bradley there. I think Noah missed him a little bit. He was pretty excited to go pick him up. Then at lunch, the two of them laughed and laughed and laughed until nap time. All in all a good day.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Happy Birthday to Me

So, I don't normally go around saying happy birthday to myself, but this was pretty much the best birthday I have ever had.

It all starts Friday night. Mike and I go on a date, and then come home and watched a movie. (Random aside, the babysitter we got vacuumed our living room. Um, you already know things are going to get awesome just from that simple fact) Our movie got over at 10:30, so I went to bed. (pregnant lady with two kids...I thought 10:30 was living on the wild side. :) Anyway, at midnight, I get a phone call from my Dad. I wake up, but not in time. I try to call him back but he doesn't answer. But my family sort of has this fetish with being the first person to wish any given person a happy birthday, so I know he's just calling at midnight so that he can be first. (we're a little competitive at times) So, I decide to let him leave a message, he can still claim his rights as first, and I put my phone on silent.

But then I was already awake, and I was hot, so I decide to go turn on the swamp cooler, get a drink, pee, you know, usual 2 hour routine for a pregnant lady at night. So I turn on the cooler and am headed to the kitchen. I don't have my glasses on, so no point in turning on lights. I can't see anyway. But as I'm going to get a drink, I see these lights shining in my dining room window, which I thought was weird, but we live by a busy street, so I continue towards my drink of water. I grab a glass, but then decide the lights shining in my window are weird enough that I should check it out. So, back to the window holding my empty glass, and as soon as I get there, the lights turn off. Still weird, but seeing as how they are now off, I determine they are no longer a threat and I go back to the sink to fill up my glass.

Right as I'm about to turn on the water, I hear this tapping/knocking sound. I wasn't sure if I was actually hearing it, or just imagining it. (I'm still not fully awake, mind you.) Then I hear it again. So I start walking back to the bedroom to get Mike to protect me and as I'm heading that way, I see him walking down the hall. I'm feeling slightly relieved that this is not all my imagination, and I ask him what the noise is. He totally ignores me and goes to open the door. At this point, I'm feeling more than a little upset that he is just opening the door to who knows what psycho is probably standing on our porch. Fortunately, I'm armed (I'm still holding my empty water glass) so I go stand behind Mike ready to attack said psycho. Then, Mike moves aside to allow whoever is out there into our house!! As they start to walk in they are finally in close enough range that I can actually see who it is. My mom! And my dad! And Kirk! and his fiancee Jenny! I have seriously never been so surprised in my life. And it's a good thing I recognized them when I did so that none of them had to get hurt. I can be pretty deadly with a water glass.

So, that was pretty much the best surprise ever. It really was just the coolest thing anyone has ever done for me. I just could not even believe they were there. I was still kind of wondering if I was dreaming. It just really raised my spirits to have them here and rejuvenated me. And at this point in my pregnancy, I could really use some rejuvenation! They were able to stay until Monday so it was just such a wonderful weekend. Here are some pictures of the weekend!

Us eating a fantastic breakfast made by my awesome husband

We went to the botanical gardens on Saturday

Bradley and Noah got to bond lots with their new Aunt Jenny.

Noah eating a large carrot. (funny how I can't get him to eat the normal sized ones)

Noah had a hard time believing this was Aunt Jenny, because he already has an Aunt Jenny (Mike's sister) But he got there in the end.

Grandpa and Noah watching the trains at the botanical gardens.

Bradley watching the trains. These boys could literally do this all day.

Playing at the park with Uncle Kirk and Aunt Jenny

Noah eating his shaved ice. And don't try to take it from him or watch out. He loves his shaved ice.

Everyone watching the world cup. I'm still not sure why they didn't hook it up to the bigger TV.

All in all, just a great weekend. I loved having them here!! Also, special thanks to Dane and Jess for waiting just a little longer to have their baby (baby Lincoln was born on the 26th). Without their cooperation, this trip wouldn't have been possible. :)

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Noah

You are all familiar with a boy named Noah:

Yes, he is in close competition for the most adorable boy in the world. Last, week, judged by a panel of completely biased pair of judges, he was tied for the one of the two cutest boys in the world. As part of the adorableness competition, there were four events: posing, sleeping, eating and playing. Below are his scores, on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being not adorable and 10 being the definition of adorable.

First, posing:

In Posing A, we see the classic smile, and given that face, New York is now the best place in the world, even for those anything-but-the-Yankees fans.

In Posing B, we see the classic suspense pose, because with a cute face like that, we are all dying with suspense to know what he is looking at...for those that can't handle the suspense, he is looking at an airplane.

Next, we have sleeping:

First we have the cuddling sleep. Our champion of adorableness pulled off a 30 min cuddle with grandpa.

In the "ability to make those around you more attractive," he, with help from his brother, made this would be picture for sleeping un-beauties into an adorable family wake up time.

Obviously a 10 in adorableness, need I say more (probably not, but I will, because he is just that adorable)

Next we have eating:

Here our champion received full marks in adorable for getting a spread of food all over his face up to his forehead.

The final category was playing:

First we have the creative playing, a bed turned into a ramp - that's my kind of thinking.

If this next one doesn't inspire you to get up in the morning and do your workout, you might want to just give up.

Based on the above evidence, our completely biased judges made a very good judgment of 10 on the adorableness scale.

For those not convinced, watch the video below where Noah plays the classic little brother.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Just for Grandpa

Just before we moved to Albuquerque, Grandpa gave Bradley a task to fulfill, "Bradley," he said, "I want you to take a picture of a lizard for me." As adults, old and long since desensitized to requests on our time, we would probably have thought, "Sure, maybe someday, if I happen to come across a lizard." To a young 3 year old however, a request from Grandpa is like a sworn in mandate. For several months after we moved, Albuquerque occasionally reminded his parents that he needed to take a picture of a lizard for Grandpa.

Well, today, Grandpa gets his wish. Bradley, with a little help from Titan, who we think brought the lizard into the house, and a lot of help from Mom (Mom couldn't bear the idea of living, sleeping, etc. with a lizard running around), managed to capture a lizard for Grandpa.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Doctor Mike

Yes, that is right. I am now married to a doctor. The best kind. The kind that isn't on call, and doesn't work strange hours. A math doctor. And it feels good.

We were able to go to Utah for Mike's graduation. It was so good to see family and especially just to celebrate all of Mike's hard work. And he did work hard. I was amazed at what a good dad and husband he was even as he spent his days working at a new job and his nights and weekends working even more on his dissertation. Despite that, he made time for his family. Most of his work was done in the wee hours of the night so he could play with the boys while they were awake. I don't know how he did it.

Mostly we celebrated the fact that his PhD is over. Oh happy day. Mike smiles now, and actually laughs, and cracks jokes, some of which are quite funny. :) He even gets a full 8 hours of sleep on occasion. He still gets up at 5 am though. Perhaps some of the side effects will take awhile to wear off? It is just so nice to have him home on the weekends and to see the weight lifted off. I am so proud of him.

Mike being hooded (I think that is what they call it)

Mike receiving his diploma. Luckily, they just give you the cover, because I later put it in the diaper bag, which got stolen. I was pretty smug about the fact that the people that stole it got absolutely nothing of value. Unless they have kids and needed some size 4 diapers and wipes. :)

That stick really needed to be a part of this picture.

Us jumping in excitement. Don’t judge me. Jumping when you are pregnant is not an easy task.

Pretty much the coolest beard ever, which makes this my favorite picture.

My dad just really needed a picture of him shaking hands with Dr. Mike.

Oh, I also have to mention that Mike's sister also graduated the week before him with her Master's degree. Mike wasn't able to go to her graduation because he was funding the party (working). But the boys and I were able to come down a week earlier and it was awesome.