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.