north carolina

Pictured here is the snapping, jumping turtle that almost bit Lisa's hand off as she tried to save him on the way to church.





Liam and I absolutely loved our vacation to North Carolina. It was so great to see family. The Carlsons are awesome.
Highlights include: shopping with Lisa, staying up past midnight every evening with grandma, watching HGTV, reading, going running with Brandon and Kaylee, playing blocks with Marissa, Tyler and Liam, learning price negotiation from keith.
North Carolina is absolutely beautiful and green everywhere. I told Brady we'll have to keep it in mind after he finishes his Phd.

Liam's gatorade diet

That gatorade picture nicely exhibits Liam's personality. He went on a strike the last few days where he didn't want to drink absolutely any milk (or anything else) at all. He wasn't fussy about it but he just wouldn't drink it. The only thing he wanted to drink was gatorade, and not out of a sippy cup, but out of the original bottle. Maybe because he sees mom and dad drink it or maybe because he thinks he's beyond milk now, we don't know. So here is a picture of him standing on the counter top (yes, also upon his insistence)and drinking a days worth of fluids in gatorade. Also note the patient, all-knowing gleam in his eye, as if he has just granted special permission for dad to have a photo-op with him.

We got some craigslist furniture this week so we played a bit of musical chairs with our furniture. Brady figured that it was easier to bring the furniture outside and through the back door than get it through the house. I helped him move the hide a bed and I am quite proud of myself for doing it. I kinda whimped out after that and so Brady figured out how he could move them by himself.

Bye Bye

We don't have any video to share, but we can share that today Liam waved and said "bye bye" when prompted. We've been working on it a few days and before tonight he's only sort of wiggled his fingers. But tonight leaving our friends he busted out the full wave and the words. So far he says mom, dad, dis & dat (this and that??), bye, and variations on all of the above with accompanying body language to get across exactly what he wants. He also spurts out about every possible combination of random phonemes as he babbles, talks to himself, and reads himself books.

Nobody Home

It's been a while, so I thought I'd give a quick update. This week Dani and Liam have been visiting the Carlsons in North Carolina (her aunt, uncle, cousins), where Grandma Marilyn is also hanging out. She reports that she's loved spending time with family, is being thoroughly spoiled by Grandma, has had tons of good food and laughs, and loves North Carolina. I'm sure she'll give an update with more details. She'll be there just under a week and has decided that this once-a-quarter trip to North Carolina should definitely become a habit.
I'm just getting back from a consulting trip to Bentonville, Arkansas, which is the World Headquarters of Wal-Mart. The trip sort of came together quick after Dani and Liam left, so it's been nice to have something to do other than be at home doing homework and missing them. I was only there one day to administer some surveys, but Arkansas is actually a really nice place- not counting the miles of Wal-Mart-scape. I wouldn't mind going back. I met a guy here (from Lehi, funny enough) who said that the mountain biking is actually phenomenal. If only I'd known beforehand...

Active Older Adults

-A few of the members in my class-


My favorite class to teach is actualy my 55+ class. Most of the class is comprised of people that are completely new to exercise or haven't exercised in years. It's amazing to see how a little exercise goes a long way for injury prevention, and building strength, confidence, and energy.

liam loves music

Brady's Trip to the War Games Institute in Alabama

Liam's loves bubbles

Free Piano

We found this FREE piano on Craigslist. Liam and I are loving it! Big thanks to Brady and friends for moving it down a flight of stairs. I play piano for the primary at church and it has really made me miss my piano in Alaska. This piano came from a kindergarden and has definately had its fair share of pounding but it's not too bad. I'm going to refinish it and get it tuned and it will be good as new.

Liam has learned to stand up without holding onto anything, take off his diaper, and this week we swear that he said "banana," (his favorite food.) In these pictures here he got into my mascara and got it all over his toys.