Our Little Republican

Olive insisted that we attend our local Tea Party today, and being the indulgent parents that we are, we obliged. She has some pretty strong convictions for a person young as she is. She made her own sign and everything. I think it's the start of a long life of political activism. Seriously though, she drew so much attention, it was great.

Thanks For Coming, Brandy Sanders

We've been dying for friends and family to come see us since we moved here, and Brandy kindly obliged over Easter weekend. It was fun. I'm behind on my to-do list, so please read about it on her blog. But here are a couple pictures.

Me and Brandy at the London Bridge

Chris and Brandy (and Maeby, and Olive in the bassinet) in our backyard

I still love Raymie Humbert!

Happy Easter!

Here we are on Easter morning before church.

Olive's lovely yellow Easter dress. She's so pretty.

Amen, Brother Letterman

I never fall asleep very fast when Chris is in Henderson, so I've taken up a little Letterman watching. Why have I never watched him before? He's impeccable in his humor. Ugh, it's fantastic. Yes I hate most everything he stands for, but if I boycotted every celebrity I didn't agree with I'd subscribe to zero entertainment at all and who can do that? Not me. Anyway, I digress. He had Julia Roberts on last night - I guess it was a rerun but whatever - and my point in posting this clip is that I love something he said about having children. I know the clip is like 10+ minutes long, but the part I want to share happens before the clock strikes 1:15, so don't fret. If there's a way to cut up Youtube videos I'm not smart enough to know about it. But again, I digress. I love what he says about having children. It's so true. I can't talk about it. I can't articulate it. But it's the biggest fattest feeling I've ever had. And it's like Chris said, I just want the world to be a better place now that Olive is here.

4 Days Straight

We just got back from a weekend in northern California. Thanks to Brandy for letting us crash on Friday. We wanted to break up the 9-hour trip, and we wanted to see where Charlie Manson lives (he doesn't live at Brandy's house, he lives at her work), and we wanted to hang out with Brandy cuz she's one of our favorite people. We watched some good television, ate some good food, and had good conversation. We can't wait to see her again this coming weekend.

Saturday we went to Half Moon Bay - stopped by Alena Jean to show Alena her new niece, went to Mikey's baseball game (see him waving to the camera?), and had pizza and good conversation at their house later on.
Drove to the Wilsons' in Santa Cruz that night (after a quick stop at what Chris said was a must). It was so fun hanging out with Britain and Dawn that night. We were pretty tired, and when we retreated to Ella's room, we were greeted with a big comfortable bed and a neato flat screen TV. There were also 2 big fluffy white towels folded on the bed, and some chocolates and bottles of water, and a gift for Olive. Dawn is adorable!
Sunday morning Britain made a big breakfast of french toast, hash browns, bacon, fruit, and juice. We watched conference and then played Uno and munched on some yummy appetizers courtesy of Dawn. After the second session of conference Britain grilled steaks and Dawn made some great side dishes. Who are these people and why are they the funnest eaters ever?
We met some more Wilsons for a walk at West Cliff that evening. It was lovely, and the company and brownies were fantastic.
The whole time they and their kids showered Olive and us with affection. Cody was especially smitten with having guests in the house. He asked me about 100 times to watch him ride his bike or run 80 miles per hour. And he brought me a little purple flower. He also fed Olive and burped her (as pictured). Ella read to her, and all the kids were just really sweet with her. And Britain and Dawn were as into her as any of her aunts and uncles are, which I thought was so cute.
Chris and I took a drive after that, and stopped in at the Madsens' to show Olive off some more. After all of that, it was down to business on Monday morning and then a long drive home that day.

I loved being with my little family for 4 days straight without Chris having to go to work or even check email and voicemail. We had great hosts, great company, great food, great laughs, great conversation, great scenery, great weather; such a great weekend.

We were born to travel but this is a little too much.

I got a phone call last night from my manager. I am currently in a fixed duration position with my company for three years. Its a bit of a scary endeavor. You try your best to perform. If a permanent position opens and your manager thinks you're ready he recommends you and off you go. I never expected it to come so quickly. Today I officially accepted a position as an Osteoporosis Specialty Rep in Juneau Alaska.

Brooke and I must be out of our minds. In the short space of four months we've moved from Salt Lake to one of the hottest place in the country (Lake Havasu, AZ) only to move to the cold Alaskan frontier. The good thing is the position doesn't begin till May so we have this month to wrap things up in Arizona. The more difficult thing is packing again. We're flying up to Alaska next week to meet with my new manager.

Here we go again. Maybe we should just keep our suitcases packed.

I'm Cured

I finally went to the doctor today. I'll spare you all the undignified details, but I'm on antibiotics now and should be good as new in the next few days. The exam was pretty painful and I'll admit I even cried a little bit, but I still think I earned myself a chocolate milkshake. Unfortunately we can't afford a chocolate milkshake, so I just thought really long and hard about one and that was good enough. Anyway, thanks for your input and stuff.