ice fishing 12/17/11

We just got back yesterday from our much awaited and long anticipated ice fishing trip. I may have been more excited about it than the whole Christmas schbang. We hit up Mantua since it is one of the first to freeze that I know how to fish. We brought along a fishing skeptic (a dude in our ward that almost doesn't believe in fishing) and he went home a skeptic. We all caught fish except for him. He got bites but was unable to bring them to the surface. We ate many sunflower seeds which I was expelling when this picture was taken.



We got to test out Molly's snow gear in full force - snowpant bibs, double layer coat, mittens, superman hat, and of course, moonboots. Her and Sara came fishing starting about 11 and did just fine for the hour and a half they were there. Her cheeks were a little chilled but she wasn't complaining and seemed to be having fun. She got to fish all by herself (with dad closeby)



got pulled in the sled by everybody, and had tons o fun with Jon (the skeptic).



Keith came and got a squirmy one.



And Dave who previously had only caught a bluegill that I would categorize as "fun size" was able to snag a couple 9 inchers.



Ice was about 7" thick and it was a new record for early ice fishing for me. In the past I have never gone before Christmas. We came back that afternoon and had a fish fry with Keith and nobody got sick. There will be many more ice fishing excursions and this was a good start!

Pink

Holy man it's been a long time since I posted! But I don't feel like writing a ton so here's some interesting tidbits about the past few months:

1. We're having a girl! Since learning this, I've given Sara full permission to buy the pinkest, girliest clothes she wants because we are committed to it for the long haul.

2. We got iphones a few weeks ago and are loving them! I got a huge discount on phone service with verizon through my work so we made the switch.

3. Molly is very much into reading books. One night after scriptures she grabbed a book and plopped down on my lap with it. We've read book(s) every night since then. This picture is in one of the mercer meyer books we have. It's supposed to be a happy bunny but I'll let you decide...

4. We've taken advantage of every snowstorm we've gotten. So far we've made 4 snowmen with the 2 big snowstorms. This is all in preparation for ice fishing starting mid December. We got Molly some moonboots last week and I think we're all ready for some good times on the ice. Well, me and Molly anyway...

5. Sara went to see the new twilight movie and somehow did not barf at the cheeziness. Amazing!

6. I went pheasant hunting a couple weeks ago. Didn't get one but it was fun anyway.

7. Molly likes to copy everything Fred (me) does. EVERYthing. It makes tickling Sara twice as fun (and considerably more efficient!). I'm not going to ask her, but I think Sara likes it a whole lot too.

Disneyland

We just got back from our much-awaited trip to Disneyland! We went with Frank and his family who got us an awesome deal on a Marriott hotel room and helped us get around in California. Getting to Disneyland was like an intense rollercoaster ride in itself. If I were to derive the rules for motorized vehicles solely based on those we met on the way there, these would top the list.

1. Blinkers are optional - maybe even frowned upon. (The few times I saw a blinker used it was for less than a second and half the time it happened AFTER the lane change.)

2. The 2 second rule between vehicles is non-existent. Since we were following Frank we wanted to be right behind him so we didn't get lost. If there was more than a 4 foot gap between the back of Frank's van and the front of our car then it was as good as a mile gap. The gap would always be filled by a blinkerless vehicle.

3. Motorcycles can do whatever the heck they want. They can go in between vehicles, lanes, etc. Turns out this is also legal.

4. The speed limit is a number you should always be 15mph over. Otherwise you become a dangerous obstacle for other drivers (not to mention the motorcyclers).

5. Parking spots are never open for more than 30 seconds. In order to park at Laguna beach we had to stake out a spot and wait for someone to leave. Then we were blessed to be able to pay 5.00 for it.

At disneyland we mostly did kid rides with a few exceptions. Molly was just under the 32" height for a few rides. She had a lot of fun at toon town which is where we took these pictures. We discovered that Molly has learned to smile on cue for the camera.


Sunday we hung out with my sister Mern and her family where Molly painted a lovely picture with fingerpaint.

Monday we finished up disneyland and watched the world of color at california adventure. It is music/picture/video show projected on large water fountains with the videos and pictures projected on the mist of the wide fountains. Who'da thought to use mist as a backdrop for pictures?

Tuesday we went to Laguna beach and Molly loved getting in the sand and feeling the waves crash on her feet.


We went to Vegas that night and ate in a casino buffet the next morning with my old buddy who lives there . We made it back Wednesday night about 8 just in time for us all to start our colds.

#2

Here's a summary of what's happenin' around here:

1. Molly loves to wear this backpack that we've had for a while. We may have stolen it from an unsuspecting cousin but we're using it until it's reclaimed. She has us put it on her and wears it around like she's ready for class.

2. We went camping a couple weeks ago with Sara's family and Molly loved hanging out with the cousins and getting very dirty.
3. Fred found a really cool slug in front of our door that he had to take a picture 0f.

4. Sara is pregnant and is due April 6th.

Lagoon

We have been having an awesome summer. In August freds company paid for us to go to lagoon for the day and even fed us dinner, it was awesome. Here are a fews photos to update:

Molly went on the boats and loved it. Especially because she got to ride with a complete stranger.


Molly also loved the Merri go Round. We rode that One a few times

She also discovered how to smile on que and gives us this awesome smile everytime the camera turns on.

We rode the train and had some fun waiting in line.

Molly Loved the train with grandparents:

After about an hour Molly was done and so she left with the grandparents while me and fred enjoyed a nice date night. It was fun to go on the rides without a kid but I have to say that the highlight of the day was seeing Mollys super excited face on the rides.

Update

Wow we are really falling behind on this blog thing. I haven't given it up nor do I plan to give it up soon for something like a book of many faces. Since the last post we bought a new (to us) car! We had been watching for a CR-V for a while and almost bought a 2003 model. One day this 2004 showed up on KSL at a chevy dealer in woods cross. We went down there that day right after work. We had a list of things to check and features that were important to us. When we went to test drive it the salesman wanted to ride with us. I told him it would probably be 45 minutes or so because of my checklist. He was somewhat surprised but came along anyway and was a bit thrown around - literally. Here are some of the items on my checklist:

Performance at 75mph - observe rattling or veering
Air conditioning endurance - 10minutes on max through the front vents
Heater
Child safety lock
Radio (bring CDs)
Reverse
Cruise control uphill, downhill, and find minimum cruise control speed
Brake tests - gradual stops (squeaking), slamming(screeching)
Engine fluid colors or oddities
Idle for 5minutes after the drive

So we did all these tests with the dude in there. We got the car ice cold and then cranked up the heater and did some speeding. Then we got down to 25mphto test the cruise control. Went to a parking lot to drive in reverse (quite rapidly I might add). Then the brakes - that was the best. I announced that I would be testing the brakes and to hold on. Apparently the salesman didn't hear and he went flying into my headrest because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt when I slammed on the brakes. Then we did it again - he was slightly more prepared the second time.

Our tests were pretty exhaustive but I felt like we had a good vehicle. They let us take it home that night and had us bring it back in the morning for a checkup (the dealership had only got it that day). For the time they were doing the checkup they gave Sara this gangsta Cadillac to drive around.

The cadillac was cool but we were glad to get back to our new CR-V. It has a lot more room than the accord (which we kept) and is much more off-road worthy. The back seats tumble forward so we can fit long things even with Molly in the car because the back seat is split. It also has a fold out picnic table in the back. The only problem we are having with the car now is coming up with distinguishing names for the two vehicles. My accord has always been known as "the Honda". Now we have 2 hondas. Jury is still out on what to call the CR-V. All we know is that "the Honda" is out.

We have been spending a lot of time on our balcony. It fits 3 camp chairs nicely and is a good place to relax after work.
We spent some time with Becky and her kids catching carp by Willis's Pond and going to the lake. At the pond we hooked 7 nasty carp. Brayden and Ethan both caught 5 pounders (relatively big for the pond). I had forgot to bring my net so we had to use a pitchfork to get the fish out of the water once we brought them in. I think we all increased our spearfishing skills as well as our angling skills. Tons of fun.

Easter, Graduation, and fun with Molly

We have a bunch of pictures that I have been meaning to post for a while.

FIRST: Easter Pictures
Our church starts at 9 am. This year because I was so excited for easter we got Molly up 5 mins earlier than her regular wake up time. This picture shows how she felt about that decision.

After a little bit she did warm up to the idea of cool presents.

This is Molly's Easter dress. The bunny she is holding was in last years easter picture when she was 1 week old. I thought it would be cute to continue the tradition.

Molly has started to like tv. We have one channel called baby first tv. Its great, and has a bunch of developmental programs for babies. It was created by the same people who made the baby Einstien videos. Molly loves it and its the only time in the day when she will sit down without being restrained.

SECOND: Graduation
Here is our happy family at fred's graduation. It was a great day.

Molly loved the end of the graduation when they called the names one by one. Everyone clapped over and over and she got a real kick out of clapping a bunch.

Here is fred and his parents. We were so glad to have them there to watch him graduate.

THIRD: Mothers day
We spent mothers day up in laketown with Keith and Danielle. Kathryn gave me and Danielle a pair of socks she got but didnt want. They were so soft I wanted to put them on molly so she could feel them. One thing led to another and thats hows this picture happened:

Molly loved those socks and kept them on most of the afternoon. There was a bunch of sliding. But that did not stop her.

Your might think Molly is mad in the picture. For those who see Molly a lot you know that she has many fake smiles that she uses. But this is her super happy genuine smile. It looks much cuter in real life.

Molly's Haircut

Here is a picture of the after math of Molly's Haircut. It was intense because I wasnt really sure I wanted to cut it until afterwards. Plus Molly never sat long even to even up all of the edges. I do love it now because it really was a mullet before. Now its a cute little bob.

Picture Post of Molly's Birthday!

Here is a picture summary of Mollys birthday. For her Birthday this year we took advantage of her interest in animals and had a zoo theme. As part of the birthday on saturday we went to the Hogle Zoo. It was so much fun and Molly loved every minute of it.

Here is Molly with her Cousins: Weston, Braxton, Boston, and Savannah with my Dad

Here is Molly and Fred Checking out the Giraffes. I love the way Hogle Zoo is designed. Almost all of the Habitats having an indoor viewing area. The zoo really seems get Utahs crazy weather.

Here is Molly playing in a giant egg at the zoo playground with her friend Kelby. They are really cute together. Me and fred always tell his mother how lucky she is to have a redhead.

Here is Molly with her aunt Katie playing the piano just before her birthday party. She had a blast at that piano and was very upset when her mean mom turned off the piano and forced her to a have a birthday party. But she did seem to get over it after she opened the presents.

Here is Molly's birthday outfit. I completely forgot to get a picture of the cake. But it was awesome and delicious.

This is the after party when molly got a chance to go wild with all of her presents. It was a great birthday! And I will make sure to tell her how much fun she had when she is old enough to understand the concept of a birthday.

Videos of Molly

I guess it's about time to post again seeing as it's almost been a month! March was a lot of birthday power. Sara's birthday was last Saturday and Molly's was the following Monday (2 days apart). We partied hardy at Hogle Zoo and Kaysville. Molly liked the animals at the zoo and didn't get eaten by any of them. We went to Rodizio grill to celebrate Sara's birthday and then to a movie afterward. It's been a long time since we've watched a movie and it was pretty nice! (but we still dig Netflix) Sara turned a grand old 25 years old and I was able to find a 1986 quarter in her honor. This also begins the period of the year when I am younger than Sara. It's short-lived (2 months) but it's always a fun taunt til my birthday.

Molly got lots of toys for her birthday which were not quite as interesting as the paper they were wrapped in. In true fashion we reduced her to a diaper and let her dig in on her cake. Well, "dig in" is not adequate. She ate like she was at a fancy ball wearing a prom dress. It was about as girly as it gets and I think she was even lifting her pinky half the time. Not so exciting but a good laugh.

One of Molly's old toys has become her new versatile multi-purpose toy that occasionally doubles as fancy bracelets. She also likes to hold Mom's purse and strut around but we didn't have good video of that.

Molly got a block bucket for her birthday that is severely flawed in that the lid comes off way too easy. We tried to teach Molly to put the blocks in the corresponding shaped hole but she thinks that is silly and takes off the lid so she can put the blocks right in the bucket. She is definitely in control with that toy.

Molly also got a tea set from Frank and Amy. She hasn't figured out how the sounds work or what it is for, but she has figured out that the teacups and cupcakes fit very nicely into her ball popping toy. I found them in there today when the toy was all jammed up. Luckily we got them out and the ball popping toy is recovering.

Other than that we are lovin Cottonwood Heights. We are mourning the passing of the ice fishing season (Fred more than Sara) but excited for the resurrection of the golf season. Sara is loving the warm weather and thus the end of her boredom inside the apartment while it's so dang cold outside. We are also thinking about a summer (or any time of the year we want) vacation! (This sentence was followed by Fred's maniacal laughter upon realizing that the shackles of school are no longer binding)

Picture Update

Its been awhile since we have updated with any pictures of molly. So here is a post full of them so we can catch up.

This is molly getting into her favorite cabinet at our old apartment. Suprisingly she was able to replace it rather quickly when we moved.

This is to show how long her hair is getting. And dont worry I didnt allow her to go outside looking like that.

One good thing about mollys hair is now I am able to do pig tails. Its hard to do because not only do you have to comb her hair and even out the pig tails, you have to do it while wrestling with her to stay still. They are really cute though.

And here is molly rocking a sombrero.

eye-kuh

We finally have real internet! So much better than the ghettoness we had with our old internet. In celebration we're going to post a video of Molly walking! She's taking steps on her own now and is having a blast.



Sara has been loving being at home all day... not so much. It can get boring to be trapped in the little apartment. I come home for lunch most days to break the boredom and squelch the daily chaos. We were considering getting a car soon but decided to wait for a bit.

We've been watching 'hoarders' on TV. Very interesting show. You might check it out. These people have nasty houses because they have OCD for hoarding. Note to Frank L. this is not to be confused with CDO -(OCD in alphabetical order.) We've decided that we are a bit of packrats ourselves, well me especially. For instance I went through the bills before we left Logan and couldn't bring myself to get rid of my old bank statements from 2004 from a bank where I closed the account in 2007. So I watched hoarders and put myself through enough therapy to throw away those bank statements and some other stuff that was just plain junk. I have yet to throw away my old mission tracting shoes that had holes in the soles when I bought them. And for the record I don't foresee it happening in the near future. But throwing away some junk was nice. Especially when I realized that it would make room for storage of more junk!

Sara finally bought a new diaper bag from Babies R Us. We've cycled through a couple cheap ones and finally invested some dough to get a good one that we hope will last long. I would take a picture of it to show you but Sara is refusing to let me take a picture. Blame her for lack of a picture here. I guess I'll just describe it - it's black with some green on it. You'll have to fill in the blanks with your imagination.

Final note (this is getting long) we went to ikea the other day in hopes of getting a paper towel holder, curtain, and a crib teething protector. We spent 2 hours lost in the maze of ikea before we settled on a nasty sheer curtain and an okay teething protector. Paper towel holder was as hard to find as a drop of water in sawdust. I'm officially giving ikea two thumbs down until further notice. There will be no capitalization of ikea and I only pronounce it eye-kuh. Sara is undecided on eye-kuh.

We're still alive

Yes indeed. As the title reads we are still breathing and existing in our new apartment in Cottonwood Heights. We were looking to rent a house for a while but a combination of no time, less than ideal houses we had looked at, and the thought of closing on a house in the future... we decided to save some money and get a 2 bedrooom apartment. We have an amazing walk in closet that could double as a 3rd bedroom if we consolidated our clothes more. We had a lot of junk that we put in a cheap storage unit in the complex. The complex has nice amenities - pool, hot tub, tennis courts, volleyball court, etc. We're digging the hot tub especially. Our washer and dryer are finally living together in the same closet. In our Logan apartment they were separated by a long skinny hallway about 20 feet long and tucked in a corner. Now I don't have to throw the wet clothes down the hall in a lame attempt to land it in the dryer! My work is a 5 minute drive from the apartments.

We signed up for this ghetto internet on our first day here. Internet speeds are usually measured in megabytes per second. I think ours is measured in millibytes per hour. The only thing that really works is facebook which is always a sore disappointment anyway.

My work has been great. I have my own office (with my own phone and personal extension!). We will have insurance kicking in on the first of May which is convenient because that is the time I was planning on having a severe debilitating injury! At my last job we could only afford free 2d drafting software but here all the engineers have a seat of solidworks 2011 which is about as good as it gets in drafting software these days. My computer has 2 large screens so I don't have to cram it all into one little window. My boss is a pretty decent guy and so far things have gone well. All this and I was just excited to get a decent office chair (one that didn't come from DI!). Oh one more thing the company has season tickets to the Jazz games and they are distributed to employees. Somebody didn't want their tickets for this Friday so we are going to the Suns game courtesy of the company!

Thanks again everyone who helped us move. It only took us a trailer, dad's truck loaded to the gills like we were picking up pigs, and Sara's dad's truck loaded so much Steve had to drive with a vacuum cleaner in his hair! But it all made it to our apartment in good shape.

Funny Laugh

The whole moving thing definitely has its funny moments. Tonight was a funny moment for us. Our landlords have said in the contract that part of the cleaning process is to wipe down every wall with ammonia water. Well a couple nights ago we were chugging away and I started to notice that I popped a whole in one of my cleaning gloves. That was a sad but I pressed on and after a while I popped another whole in the other glove. Well I noticed that the ammonia water had no lasting effect on my hands so I decided to press on without any gloves.

Moment of Truth:

Tonight Fred and I were cleaning and I decided to read the instructions on the ammonia bottle because I was bored waiting for the bucket to fill up with water. And there on the side of the bottle it said: caution do not allow long exposure to skin or there will be burning. Yikes! I was a little freaked out so I turned to Fred for some comfort.

His exact response:

Wow! Well don't let your hands burn and dibs on the good gloves.

I probably would have been really upset if I wasn't too busy laughing.
Oh well no stinging yet so we're good.

new job

For those of you who haven't heard (through the grapevine or through the book of many faces) I was offered a job down in Cottonwood Heights. I will finally have a job as a mechanical engineer! The company (Dynatronics) makes medical devices and I will be working on the new design and maintaining documentation for past devices. Some other stuff too but that seems like the main things right now. This job came at us like a freight train. I applied for it (online) about 3 weeks ago. They called me the next day for a phone interview and I had a site interview on Friday. The next week I had a 2nd interview and offer by Friday. I start on the 31st.

We haven't found a place to live yet and that has been frustrating. We spent all day today trying to find a house to rent anywhere from Lehi to Bountiful. If anyone knows of a decent house to rent let us know. We looked at one today in a place where my uncle said a lot of people get shot. The house looked really nice inside and out but I don't want to have to get a pressure washer to clean dead bodies off my front porch.

Once upon a time we had a routine that we tried to follow. We'd get Molly to bed around 8:30-9 and then we would be in bed by 10:30. Now that we are in cleaning mode our schedule has gone through the window and we are feeling the effects of it. Oh the joys of moving in a rush!