After-church photos

Sometimes we call Jordan "Air Jordan" -- short for Aaron Jordan. If he had his usual tongue-sticking-out look, this photo would really do justice to his nickname:

Our "only princess"

At our first ultrasound with this baby the doctor was quite certain it was a girl. Looking back,we should've waited to tell the kids, but we didn't. Maya was SOOO excited she would be having a little sister. Anyway, at the second ultrasound we learned the baby was actually a boy. Maya cried when we told her, but she's turned her attitude around and is excited to have the baby that "Heavenly Father wants us to have". We keep reminding her that she's our "only princess", but the kids are sure that "when" we have another one it'll be a girl. Only time will tell...

End-of-Year School Events

Maya recently graduated from preschool. She is VERY excited to start kindergarten next fall!





We also went to Jordan's 1st grade music concert. It's amazing they can keep so many kids under control for so long...it was easier for the teachers than for those of us with small children in the audience. :)

"Does anyone in your family have a big head?"

That is the question we were asked during the ultrasound at my last OBGYN appointment. If I remember correctly, the doctor said the baby was measuring at 35 weeks for his head, 36 weeks for his abdomen, and 37 weeks for his femur (leg bone). He had me do the blood glucose test AGAIN, but it still came out normal. I'm supposed to eliminate carbs and sugar as much as possible or I could deliver a 10 1/2 - 11 pound baby (no wonder the stretch marks just keep getting higher on my belly). None of my maternity clothes fit very well anymore, but I'm too cheap to buy more at this point (I'm almost 33 weeks). It's also very difficult for me to make these dietary changes because 1) I'm a very long-time addict of sugar, and 2) it's just not fair that I have to be so miserable already PLUS not be able to satisfy my late-pregnancy cravings! :) I do have to say, however, that I'm very grateful that the baby appears to be healthy. That's my venting session for now! :)

10 years, baby!

I'm late with this post, but I want Aaron to know I'm so grateful he's been officially mine for 10 years!!!

My man is 1 year older....

Aaron's birthday was on Friday, but I still want to add some of my favorite photos of him:










Happy Birthday, hon!

Lisa finally made a decision...

My baby sister (12 years younger than I am) has decided to go to the University of Washington for grad school. She'll be moving out here at the end of the summer. Her major is opera so I hope to score some free tickets and hope to get some of my friends to go with me to future performances. She probably won't be in an opera during her first year, but maybe that will change once she starts the program. If she would've gone to BYU she would've had a major scholarship, been a T.A. with her own studio, and would've been the lead in the opera next year. (No, I'm not bitter than she didn't choose my alma mater.) I guess her time at the U tainted her views of the Y. Aaron and I will be working on correcting her misguided views once she moves up here. :)

Editor's note

Kerry will not be happy with me :).

She has been wanting to change the blog background because she didn't know how - she pointed out how the collings blog looked so cool. So - I saw the template link on their site and of course ended up DELETING all of Kerry's links in the upgrade process.

So...I tried to recreate as many links as possible - but may have missed a few. If you are out there - and aren't linked - could you leave a comment so we can get you back on?

thanks! (currently sleeping on the couch, Aaron)

Jordan's Sick Note

Jordan came down with a bad cold/cough/sore throat last Sunday. This is one of the notes he wrote to enlist our help (since it hurt for him to talk):

Happy Birthday, Katie!!!

Today is Aaron's sister's birthday. She and I became fast friends when we met before Aaron's mission (she was 14 and I was 23). Our birthdays are exactly a week apart, and we had our last babies about a month and a half apart from each other. We seem to have more and more in common as the years go by. Below are a few photos of her at different stages of life:









We hope you have a wonderful birthday, Katie! Know that we love you!!!

My shiny new camera

Hello - Aaron again.
I got a great early B-day/Anniverary present from Kerry - a new DSLR camera.
I love it! - it takes spectacular photos (its defintely not the guy shooting the pictures).

Anyway - now that I am part of the DSLR club (joining the Dillon's and Kidd's and Collings) - I'd love any constructive criticism on the pictures.

Also note - we have linked an online photo album (upper right nav) where we will upload many of our pictures.

It is amazing the quality of photo a good camera can make...I can't believe we waited this long. Enjoy the new pics! (the soccer slide show below was done on the new camera).

BTW - its an Olympus Evolt 510. (sorry all you cannon and nikon lovers :)).

SOCCER!!!

Here are a few shots of the kids at their soccer games on a Saturday that was actually SUNNY:

Felíz cumpleaños, Papá! You're freaking 70 years old!!!

Such a cute little boy!



Such a cute older boy!



Most people have known you as this stern guy who was always wearing a suit.....



....but I know how funny you really are AND that you're the only person I know who wore pantyhose on your head when you went to bed at night in order to keep your hair flat the next day. By the way, thanks for killing that mouse (you're holding in the picture) that scared the freak out of me at the cabin that one time. :)



I'm so grateful for the appreciation you've given me of the mountains, as well as the joy I feel when I spot a deer or elk.



You've always been so supportive of me, and I can't remember one time you were critical of me.





I'm glad you're always willing to share your love for me and that you remind me that I'm you're "treasure".



TE QUIERO!!!

The pencil doesn't lie.....

At a girls' night out a while ago a few of us used the pencil method http://home.earthlink.net/~sproutanderson/id6.html to see how many children we would have (or have had) and the gender of each. It was just for fun....don't worry, we didn't start playing "light as a feather" or anything like that. Anyway, my little "test" went in this order: boy, girl, boy, boy....then maybe another girl. The first three were correct because that's what I have so far (boy, girl, boy), but I wasn't even pregnant yet with the fourth one. Anyway, during the 12th week of pregnancy with this fourth child the ultrasound guy told us he was really confident we would be having a girl, which reminded me of the pencil predictor thing and just made me laugh (I was supposed to have another boy). Then at the 20-week ultrasound, the same doctor informed us that the baby had "grown a p----", and he snapped the picture below capturing the "proof". Anyway, I have no idea if this gender predictor method has any validity, but in my case the pencil didn't lie. :)



The picture below is of the baby's face. It was our first 3-D ultrasound. The little guy wouldn't hold still so the picture is a little freaky:

Ah-ha!!!

I've been having my usual pregnancy cravings of sweets and everything else I always promise myself I won't eat so I don't gain a ton of weight this time. :) Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Aaron bought some donuts. I was so excited to eat them when I woke up the next morning, but there were only one or two left. I was bummed and confused. Then I downloaded these pictures from our camera:





I guess I should actually thank Jordan for saving me from the extra fat and calories!

Ode to Lisa (Pooker) Prina

HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY to my baby sister LISA!!! Three days late is okay, right? I was almost 12 when she was born....dang, time goes by fast!!!

What matters most

It's Aaron again - posting an update to my earlier post about my friend Rob Epperson. Rob passed away on Thursday morning. I got the news as I was leaving the house - about to start an hour commute to Redmond. After a couple of calls to friends and family I had about 30 minutes to drive - no radio or distraction - just to let it sink in. It is a heartbreaking loss for anyone who knew Rob and it really is a shock to each of us that have been hoping and praying and wishing for the best and not really accepting that it was happening.

I know through Kerry's link to the Epperson's that some of you have read Rob's online journal and have been blessed by Patti's daily updates of faith, courage, determination, and example. I don't think I could have been so strong. I think I would have crumbled under the weight of it all. What a great example of humilty Patti and Rob are to all of us that watched them.

I have paused often the last couple of days - just staring really, at my wife or my kids - thinking how fast things change - how fast things changed for Rob and Patti. 12 weeks ago they were probabaly planning disneyland trips this summer or the roadtrip to seattle to watch BYU play UW in September. I think about our new baby coming in 18 weeks and how precious every last second must have been for them. Truly an extra second would have been priceless...I think how much I would be willing to give for just an extra minute with my wife and children...

As I put in a post on their site - it was an honor to know Rob - to be his room mate for a year at BYU and to be there when he met, fell in love, and married Patti. There was no doubt when they met that they were for each other.

So - to the title of this post - The simpleness of what matters most to me is my family, my faith, and what I'm doing about both of those things.

Thanks to those who have read Rob and Patti's website - and have prayed and hoped alongside them. The Lord was truly with them and I know Rob is with Him now and He is carrying Patti through this time... Please remember what matters most to you - and it will honor people like Rob and what they lived for.

Answers (my epistle) to Melissa's questions about my "tag" questions in the post below:

1) what ever happened to Robby Meidel and Danny Azure??
No clue....in 5th grade Robby asked me to "go around" (go out) with him and I said yes...our relationship lasted until lunch recess because I felt so guilty about it because I wasn't 16 yet. I gave him the excuse that our parents may find out about us at a PTA meeting (even though my parents didn't actually go to those meetings). :)
2) was it worth the 19 year wait??
You know, I still have dreams about some of the guys who tried to kiss me before I was 19...sometimes I wish I would've kissed them so that I wouldn't have these random "unresolved issues" dreams. But when it comes down to it, I'm glad that my conscience and fear were so strong because the sooner most people start kissing, the sooner most people can get into trouble. ;)
3) I had no idea you lived "abroad" ~ was that before or after you got married?! Oh wait -- your mission??
My family has a business in Chile (furniture, rainsticks, etc.) and I lived with my sister and bro-in-law (who were running the Chilean end of the business) in Temuco for 4 months. I moved from there up to Concepción (I love to say I lived in Conception for 4 months) to do BYU Study Abroad. The whole experience was so awesome! The Spain places are where I served my mission. Malloco, Chile is where Aaron and I spent the first year of marriage. By that time the family business was moved up to Malloco (outside of Santiago), and my oldest brother and his family were living there running it. He and the other owners started a donut company and needed help to run it. Aaron accepted the job offer and went down there...I followed him a month later after I trained someone to take over my job in Utah. Aaron did the basic management of the company while I attempted to do the bookkeeping/accounting stuff which is done way differently than in the U.S. We had to shut down after a year, but it was an amazing learning experience and since we were the only young American couple with no children living in that area, we were able to get to know the mission presidents of the 4 Santiago missions and sometimes stay with their kids while they traveled for conferences. Very cool! I also was the camp director for our ward's Young Women....the very first year they ever had a Girls' Camp in Chile. Now THAT was an interesting experience.....staying in an established vacation camp (with tents, though) where there was a pool and the Young Men were there at the same time. I remember wondering what universe I was in when I looked at the pool and saw a bunch of the youth (boys and girls) dancing the Macarena by the side of the pool (most of the girls in bikinis). It was also bizarre when some of the girls got sick and one went into seizures because the owners had put rat poisoning down in the campground just before we got there. Good times....good times! There are the answers with probably WAY more information than ever expected....again, this is a good journal for me. :)

Another Game of Tag...

10 years ago:
Aaron and I both lived in Provo and were getting engaged right around this time.

5 Things on my to-do list today:
Get my hair and make-up done at some point
Do a ton of laundry
Organize bonus room
Help Maya clean up her disaster…I mean room
Go to bread-making class tonight

5 Snacks I enjoy:
French bread with havarti--LOVE IT! (thanks to Aaron's mom)
Dark chocolate
Fruit
Glass of Nesquik
Mashed avocado with just enough salt spread on French bread

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
Feel very surprised and humbled about becoming steward over that much money/potential to help others.
Pay off our mortgage as well as those of our family members.
Try to find out needs of those around us and secretly help them out.
Establish major savings accounts for any future needs of our family.
Give major contributions to Church programs (missionary, education, temple, etc.) and other charities.
Help out our friends in Chile, Mexico, and Spain.
Send Aaron’s parents to visit Samoa (where his dad served his mission).
Get Invisalign braces (even though I had the metal kind for 4 years and wore a retainer for 10 years….no, I’m not bitter).

3 of my bad habits:
No regular exercise
Don’t eat enough healthy foods
Worry so much about everything

5 Places I have lived (all that I can remember for my record…my brain is starting to forget things):
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Provo, Utah
Temuco, Chile
Concepción, Chile
Palencia, Spain
Valladolid, Spain
San Sebastián, Spain
Irún, Spain
Malloco, Chile
Pleasant Grove, Utah
Sammamish, Washington
Maple Valley, Washington

5 Jobs that I have had (all that I can remember for my record):
Babysitter
Claims processor at Talbot Insurance Agency
Secretary at New York Life Insurance (for Karen Alarid)
Paper route in UNM district
Manager at Sunrise Bookstore (LDS bookstore) on Saturdays
Exam processor at BYU Independent Study
Office Manager / Shipping Manager at Prina International, Ltd.
Teacher at Missionary Training Center
Spanish teacher at private school (Ivy Hall Academy)
Receptionist at Flickinger & Sutterfield (personal injury law firm)
Office Manager at Rafiner Mills (cabinet maker)
Office Manager at CALI Inc. (software company)
Office Manager for Country Fresh Ltda. (donut company in Chile)
Office Manager for Mechanical Insulation Specialists

5 Things people don't know about me:
I studied Italian (can’t remember much now though).
I used to love to go Latin dancing.
When I was in 2nd grade I used to pray for Robby Meidel and Danny Azure to fight over me.
My dream job would be as a stand-up comedienne.
I didn’t have a major kiss until I was 19 because I was so afraid I’d mess up.

I tag:
Jenni, Katie, Kiera, Monique, and Tracie