Ready or not here we come...

So, it has been a while and we have a lot to catch up on. To begin with, Oliver took his first steps on Monday June 30th. He only seems to enjoy walking when no one is pressuring him to do it, but you can catch him venturing out on his own every once in a while (you just have to be content to watch out of the corner of your eye).

Aside from that exciting event, we also took a trip to Golden, Colorado last week to check out the school and search for an apartment. I have to say that my first look at Denver was certainly not "love at first sight". Fortunately, Golden is tucked behind some big hills so I never even have to look at Denver if I don't want to. We were super impressed with the school and while we were there Sam even decided to switch programs. He has now decided to study mineral and energy economics. This program is much more specific and the graduates get better jobs when they finish. Unfortunately, the apartment hunting was not so successful. We did find a place that we liked but they didn't want to hold it for us and we didn't want to pay July's rent. We have a place reserved in student housing but living there would only be a possibility if we sold all our furniture and lived with folding chairs and sleeping bags (I'm pretty certain that nothing more than that would fit into the apartment). As it is, I still came home and started selling things that we don't think we'll have room for out there. The first to go was our TV and some baby stuff. I imagine I will be selling even more stuff as our situation grows more desperate. The next things on my list are our treadmill and Love Sac.

How much dirt can a baby find, if a baby must find dirt?

This past week Oliver experienced his first camping trip.

Kodak Moment

If you don't know Oliver very well this picture may not seem so amazing to you. But those of you who have spent any amount of time with our little bundle of joy are probably as shocked as we were by the fact that Oliver fell asleep in Sam's arms. Let me just say that Ollie is a great sleeper. He sleeps ten straight hours every night and takes two solid naps during the day. However, he only sleeps in his crib. When he is not in his crib he is going 100 mph and barely slows down long enough to eat. So, when he fell asleep on Sam's lap the other day we just had to take a picture (who knows, it may never happen again).

A week of firsts

Sam and Oliver both found new favorite activities this week. For Oliver it was swimming. He tried out his swimmers legs at the public pool and in his wading pool in the backyard. He didn't appear to have a preference for one or the other, as long as there was water he was entertained.





For Sam and myself, our newest adventure was a night out to see the show "Stomp." It was an incredible group of people who dance and make music on brooms, garbage cans, lighters and anything else you might rummage out of a junk heap. It was awesome and we highly recommend going if it ever comes to your town.

One Dollar Happiness

This morning Oliver and I walked down the street to a neighborhood garage sale and spent a dollar on a new toy; a little baby-walker-thing. It blows my mind that my nine-month old is ready to start walking but I guess that is life. Anyway, he is pretty tickled with his new-found ability to walk across the room. The only trouble is that the walker doesn't turn well so he just walks until he hits a wall and then we have to turn him around and point him towards the other side of the room.

Hello again

So, I have become the blogger that I hate most - the one who doesn't update her blog. I remember that on my mission I was most diligent about keeping a journal when I had a companion who regularly wrote in hers. Not that I was intent upon following her good example, but because if she was busy writing than there was no one for me to talk to so I might as well spend the time writing myself. Since moving in with my parents, I have found the same thing to be true. There always seems to be someone to talk to so I don't have to express myself through my blog so much.

Since it has been a while I will just briefly fill you in on our lives here. We are doing great and having a good summer so far. Oliver and I spend our week helping around the house and waiting for Sam to come home so that we can hang out with him all weekend. The things that we have really enjoyed here are the back yard, having a Target only two miles away, and getting to go running with my mom every morning. In fact, Oliver is so set on running every morning at 6:00 a.m. that if he isn't in his stroller by 6:30 he starts to get a bit grumpy. Last Sunday I had no intention of running but ended up walking him around the block just to satisfy him. I guess that is a good thing, because it is much easier to run three or four miles than it is to deal with a grumpy baby; he is my inspiration.

During the week Oliver and I help grandpa by mowing the lawn:


This is a weekend climbing adventure up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was Sam's first time climbing on granite and he discovered that it not quite as soft or as forgiving as the sandstone that he was used to in Cedar City:

Nine Months and counting....

We took Oliver in for his nine month check-up a little while ago and are happy to report that he is healthy and thriving. He weighed in at 19 pounds 10 ounces and was 28 and 1/2 inches long. Our little dude is so much fun, his newest tricks include clapping, waving, and walking while holding on to our hands. His favorite things are strawberries, cats and playing peek-a-boo. He always insists upon being the loudest thing in the room. He only ever cries when he falls and bonks his head, but he spends the better part of everyday yelling. He is so loud, we love to hear him babble but sometimes wish he came with a volume button.

Beware of falling fence posts....

This concludes our first week living in Riverton and Sam's first week on the new job. I am happy to report that everyone has survived. Sam's new job with B&K Construction (a company owned by my aunt and uncle) has him building fences along freeways and highways all summer. Currently he is working outside of Price, Utah. He puts in a four-day work week and then comes home to rest and hang out with Oliver and I on the weekends. As of right now, he is living in a tent with my little brother. He receives extra pay to pay for a hotel when the job is more than 60 miles from home, but has decided to save that money and camp out instead. What he is really doing is using it as an excuse to buy all of the nice camp gear he has always wanted. With all the new stuff I am pretty sure any money saved by camping will be a wash. Oh well.

Apparently the learning curve when building fences can be somewhat steep. Sam came home this week with a bruised and swollen palm from holding the pliers the wrong way. Nonetheless, he seems to really be enjoying himself (I think he would have been happy to shovel manure 12 hours a day as long as it meant getting out of Wells Fargo). Ollie and I are happy for him, the only thing we could wish for is for Sam to find a place to shower before coming home and hugging us after his four-day camping trips.

He did it!!!

It's official, Sam is now a college graduate. Saturday was a crazy but good day; within a 24 hour period we loaded all of our belongings into a trailer, cleaned our apartment, attended two graduation ceremonies and a family lunch, then drove to Riverton, unloaded everything into a storage unit and unpacked all the rest of our things at my parents house where we will be living for the next three months. Whew, is it any wonder I couldn't keep my eyes open in church today?


I just have to give kudos to Sam for all of the hard work he has put in at SUU over the past three years. Especially this last year as he has been carrying a full load at school as well as working full time so that I could stay home with Oliver. He is a wonderful husband and father. We are so grateful for our decision to come to SUU and for the wonderful professors that have such a profound influence on Sam in helping him to find what he is passionate about, Economics. We hope that our experience at the Colorado School of Mines will be equally as rewarding.

The End of an Era

Our time in Cedar City is winding down and as I am planning to tear apart the computer desk and pack it up today I decided to write one final post from our happy little apartment. I tend to deal pretty well with change and am not the type to get emotional over something like moving away. Nonetheless, I didn't want my lack of tears to be read as a lack love for this town and the friends and blessings that we have received here. Truly, we love Cedar City and will always look back on our time here as a special time in which our family grew in love and in size.


The following are the things that I will miss most about this cozy little town:

1. I will miss the way the whole place mobilizes for war during the deer hunt and the way that even the checkers at the grocery store wear hunter-orange to celebrate.

2. I will miss Friday night dates just wandering around Walmart because there really isn't much else to do.

3. I will miss the fact that there is never any traffic and I can get anywhere I want to go in under 10 minutes.

4. I will miss Pub salads.

5. I will miss watching and laughing about the "foam fighters" that gather every Saturday morning in Main Street Park.

6. Most of all I will miss all of our wonderful friends.

To help me get over the rough spots in the days ahead I will try to think more about what I won't miss about Cedar City, this list includes:

1. I definitely won't miss trying to make it up our steep driveway in the winter and inevitably sliding back down it and eventually parking in the road.

2. I won't miss the wind that never seems to stop blowing.

3. I won't miss all of the hills and never finding a flat piece of ground to run on.

4. I won't miss the way that Cedar City spends all of their money on festivals and doesn't save enough to pay drivers to clear the snow off the streets in the winter.

5. And finally, I will not miss all of the really big trucks with their big tires and the big clouds of exhaust they leave behind them.