Rice Cereal

After weeks of having Esther try to pull the food off of our plates (and our plates off of the table) she finally got to try some rice cereal. Bland rice flakes mixed in lukewarm water, a magical floating green spoon, and a beautiful pink bowl to boot - doesn't it just sound so yummy? Here was Esther's first take on it:

Reunion in Michigan

Well, last week we were out of town and this morning Daniel was sick so I have not kept up with our new plan, but here is a quick post before I head to bed. We enjoyed our visit to Michigan where we got to see all of Daniel's siblings who came for a family reunion on their mother's side. It was great to see all of the cousins play together and to share our children with each other while having fun as aunts and uncles. It was 3 1/2 years ago that we were all together and sadly it might be that long before it happens again, seeing how spread out we are now.

The toddler table was a real hit.

Olivia and Charlotte absolutely loved holding the babies, Esther and Sam.

Spencer didn't even care about going into the water after finding out how fun the sand was.

Bedtime.

Who needs toys when there's a screwdriver available?

The two newest grandchildren, who got to meet lots of relatives for the first time.


Esther is just beginning to sit up! It's like magic, one week she can't and the next she can! I feel like we brought a different baby home with us.

More Catch Up

Daniel suggested a Sunday morning routine which included time to make a blog post, taking turns from week to week who makes the post. We'll see how this goes!

We enjoyed two special visitors within our first two weeks here, Daniel's mom coming down the first weekend and my sister Amy the second. Thank you both for all of your much appreciated help!! I'm sorry I didn't get a single picture of grandma's visit (I was fighting an icky cold at the time) but I did remember to snap one with auntie. Can't wait for your next visits!



Spencer was absolutely fascinated the first time Daniel mowed the lawn, running from window to window to watch his daddy hard at work.



Spencer insisted that Esther sit with him while watching a show one of our first days here. Perhaps he was feeling a bit lonely in our new place and needed something, or someone, familiar close by.



Daniel was a real trooper building all of our furniture again. Will we ever get the kind that doesn't come in a box? Spencer was very eager to help, though it might not be until our next move that his help makes the work go faster.






We were so spoiled in Utah by not having to drive to a park, but we're finding it's very much worth the effort to hop in the car and go let Spencer release some of his energy at the end of the day.

Esther's five month picture--what a cutie!!

For the Birthday Girl, Jenny

We wish we could be with you to celebrate, but here's sending you our greatest wishes for a FANTASTIC year of being 21!!

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated the 4th with a few families from our ward on Saturday and had a really good time.  I forgot our camera but someone else took this cute picture of Esther, I just love it!  Spencer was running around without any clothes for half of the time because he fell into the small swimming pool, and cried for about 10 minutes because it surprised him so much, so it's probably a good thing we didn't snap a picture of him.   Hooray for America!!

The Big Move

I started this post almost a week ago, if you happened to notice the date, and I am just now getting back to it! I will have to be satisfied with small snippets since I obviously can't get to the computer as much as I'd like. Maybe that's a good thing. I just wanted to mention our move and to say how much we liked not driving a truck and using these moving pods instead. It was super smooth to have them dropped off in our parking lot and have three days to load them up and then to drive all together in our car across the country. It took a week for the pods to make it to Indiana so we just hung out at my parents' for a few days, seeing as they live right on the way. I would like to put up some of those pictures but I'm on the wrong computer, so that will have to wait.

Spencer was very interested in the big truck dropping off the pods.

Here are the pods in our driveway, with everything still intact:

For those who were asking, we came to Indiana for more school, Daniel just can't seem to get enough of it :) He will be doing his PhD in Physics at Purdue, which we expect to take 4 to 5 years. He was super excited to be accepted here and it was an easy choice to come, especially with family not far away. In fact, we only applied to schools in the Midwest because we were done with the long trips to visit our families, but Purdue had the best research opportunities for his specific field so he's eager to continue in that direction. Because Daniel already graduated from BYU with his bachelor's, he didn't feel the need to stay for a graduation ceremony (and was more concerned with finishing his thesis than getting pictures in a cap and gown) so we've kind of brushed over this big step for him. But I wanted to take the chance to say how amazing he is and how hard he has worked to finish this second degree, while still managing to keep his wife happy and give lots of attention and time to Spencer and Esther. Now he's bracing himself for his third, and last, degree and we are content to stay poor a little longer while we're still used to it. We are happy in our new home and the ward and community has been very welcoming already. It's hard to believe we're really here, that our time at BYU really is over and that we made it all here in one piece. Hooray!!

That was more than a snippet, and I still feel like I left a lot out, but this is a blog and not my journal so that will have to do. Thanks to everyone for your greetings and support--it's great to still feel connected even though we're far apart. Please keep in touch!!

New Home in Indiana

Here are a few pictures of our new home. We definitely have more room to wiggle, we get to park in a garage, and we have the best landlords ever!! We have the Internet in our home now but we have to arrange a few things to get my computer connected, so I may be a bit delayed still with posting. I look forward to the day when we are done unpacking and all settled in (will it ever come?)

Front door and entry way:

Living room, right after the entry way:

Kitchen, taken from the living room (excuse the mess!):