R.I.P Dell

It is a sad, sad day.  Last night, at approximately 6:00 pm, our beloved Dell desktop computer shut down for the very last time.   This unfortunate event was sudden and unexpected.  We shall miss our Dell computer.  We are not looking forward to replacing it and moving onto another model.

I currently do not have access to my pictures and documents saved on the desktop.  Brad says these things will be recovered once we get the files transferred onto a new computer, but until then I will not be able to post all of my vacation photos or work on my monthly newsletter as I would like.  I am hopeful we will have a new computer up and running shortly.  So long, Dell!

Highlight of My Day: July 2012

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in July 2012:

Sun 7/1/12: I loved spending Sunday afternoon lounging on the couch with my husband's head in my lap while watching Mormon Messages on YouTube. Makes me want to smile and say, "I'm a wife, homemaker, and stay-at-home mother. My name is Rebecca North, and I'm a Mormon."

Mon 7/2/12: David is crawling on his knees! He also claps his hands and can sit himself up without help. He is getting so big!

Tue 7/3/12: I bought some ingredients at Harmons for the 4th of July BBQ. I'll be making firecracker cookies and a red, white, and blue salad (strawberries, blueberries, and feta cheese).

Wed 7/4/12: We had a fabulous 4th of July! We went to our ward's pancake breakfast at the park. Lizzy got to go on the swings, wait in line for a horsey balloon, and ride the train. She loved that! We went to Marian's house in the afternoon and had a swimming party. It was fun visiting with Chris & Nick, Bob & Nadine, and Matt and Jenny's family. Brad and I played Nerts with Marian in the evening. Lizzy loved looking at the fireworks on the way home.

Thu 7/5/12: There's nothing quite like home-grown California lemons when you have a sore throat and cough. I'm so glad I grabbed a few from our vacation! I love fresh lemon juice with honey.

Fri 7/6/12: It was nice having the older kids come home today! I loved Emma's company in the kitchen. She helped me get done a couple of loads of dishes.

Sat 7/7/12: One of the good things about getting sick is that it gives me an excuse for watching chick flicks. I enjoyed watching "Sabrina" this morning, with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond.

Sun 7/8/12: Brad and I gave our talks in our new ward today. I'm grateful I didn't have a coughing fit on my turn. That was my biggest fear. I think I did a good job considering how crummy I was feeling.

Mon 7/9/12: We went to the pet store for FHE tonight. Lizzy's favorite animals were the hamsters and the reptiles. I really liked the agouti Berkshire dumbo rat the best. I like rats.

Tue 7/10/12: Brad and I took Lizzy and David to the Days of '47 Horse Parade in Sandy. Lizzy wore her pink cowgirl hat. She loved seeing all the horses, but did not like seeing the horse manure in the street. Brad and I got a kick out of her reaction to the poop. She was quite disturbed.

Wed 7/11/12: Little D can climb the stairs! He showed off to his papa yesterday, and today he did it some more. His large motor skills are developing fast.

Thu 7/12/12: I felt well enough to get done some cleaning today. The nursery looks a lot better now. It's always very satisfying to gather clothes to send to the DI. I like the thought of my house becoming less cluttered.

Fri 7/13/12: My living room if finally starting to look the way I want it to look! Brad put up the last bookshelf tonight and we got start putting away DVDs. It's looking good!

Sat 7/14/12: We accomplished so much today! Our house is turning more and more into our home. We also went over to Brad's dad's house this afternoon and did a final clean-up.

Sun 7/15/12: I enjoyed crocheting Emma's Nyan Cat hat today, and I started on Scott's Inspector Capanela scarf. Let's see how many crochet projects I can get done by the end of summer!

Mon 7/16/12: We have family photos hanging up on our living room wall!

Tue 7/17/12: I enjoyed my ward's Relief Society cultural night tonight. This has been my second Relief Society activity since we moved in, and I've been impressed both times.

Wed 7/18/12: I enjoyed eating ice cream and watching the show "Merlin" with Bradley tonight. I love movie nights with my husband.

Thu 7/19/12: Brad and I went to see the Broadway musical WICKED tonight at the Capitol Theater. We enjoyed it immensely.

Fri 7/20/12: Little David mastered stair climbing today! He made it all the way to the top of the staircase by himself. He has become a busy little boy.

Sat 7/21/12: Scott came back from camping in Flaming Gorge with the Scouts. It was nice having my whole family home again. I love Scott and Emma.

Sun 7/22/12: I got through my first day teaching in Primary. It was a little overwhelming for me, teaching the 3 and 4-year-olds, but it was enjoyable, too. My highlight of the day was relaxing with Brad on the couch after church and watching The Fellowship of the Ring. I love my husband. He makes me so happy!

Mon 7/23/12: Emma and I made a whole bunch of freshly squeezed orange juice today. We must have squeezed over 20 oranges! It was YUM!

Tue 7/24/12: Pioneer Day was a blast, as usual! We enjoyed spending time at the Harman's house: visiting with Ann and Dean, going swimming, playing Catch Phrase, eating yummy food, and spending time together. Brad, the kids, and I enjoyed doing fireworks at our house in the evening.

Wed 7/25/12: Lizzy liked going to our new neighborhood library tonight. It was her first time. She grabbed a bunch of "B" titled DVDs to watch at home. She picked two Barbie movies, Bambi, and a Barney movie.

Thu 7/26/12: I cut Bradley's hair tonight. I like being his barber.

Fri 7/27/12: Scott got his braces off today! He has a lovely new smile.

Sat 7/28/12: Brad fixed the dishwasher today! YAY!

Sun 7/29/12: I really enjoyed teaching my primary class today. They are such sweet children. I love their different personalities and learning more about them.

Mon 7/30/12: We watched "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" for Family Home Evening. It was Emma's first time seeing it all the way through. It's one of my favorites out of the Harry Potter movies.

Tue 7/31/12:   Emma and I went to Activity Days tonight.  We made family trees together.  Afterward, we went home and continued packing for our upcoming trip to Oregon.  We're excited!

Scott's New Smile

Scott has a new smile!  His braces came off yesterday morning and his smile looks fantastic!  All those years of metal on his teeth finally paid off.  

Congratulations, Scott!  You look great!

Seven Years Ago Today...

Seven years ago today, I jumped on a plane and traveled 700 miles to spend five days with a man I only knew through emails and Yahoo! Messenger.  I was terrified!  I had come to really like the man I wrote to and chatted with online every day, but what would it be like to meet each other in person?  Would he really be as wonderful in real life as he was online?  What would he think of me?  I was pretty confident that he wasn't a weirdo or a creep.  We had been writing each other for four months, and I felt I knew him pretty well.  Still, I knew I was taking a risk meeting him in person.  I also knew that taking the next step in meeting him would mean that our relationship would be making some changes.  I was both scared and anxious to see what those changes would be.

I remember getting off the airplane with my heart pounding and my knees shaking.  The first thing I did when I walked out the Gate was search for the first restroom I could find.  All I could think about was making sure my hair and makeup looked okay after the two hour flight.  I remember looking at my reflection in the mirror, wondering if my looks would make a good first impression.  I left the restroom with butterflies in my stomach, trying to follow the signs to the baggage claim.  The hallway seemed to go on forever!  Every turn I took my heart would leap, thinking I was finally at the baggage claim and Brad would be standing there waiting for me. 

I did not see him right away.  In my mind I was expecting him to be waiting at the bottom of the escalator, watching me descend from the upper floor down to the baggage claim.  I was actually kind of relieved when I realized he wasn't there yet.  I needed a minute to catch my breath and calm down so I would not look too nervous.  After a few minutes of waiting, I looked toward the end of the baggage claim at the glass doors.  I saw a tall young man enter wearing a white collared shirt and tie.  I immediately noticed how tall he was and knew that it must be Brad.  The first thought that came to my mind was that he looked like a walking scarecrow-- he was so tall!  I told him the night before that I would be wearing red, so he spotted me instantly.  We greeted each other and hugged, and he helped me carry my bags.  I loved how polite he was.

That was the beginning of what later became a very special night.  Brad drove me to his house with U2 music playing in the background.  I met his family and we had dinner together.  Brad asked his mother to make corn-on-the-cob for me, since he knew how much I liked it.  After dinner, Brad changed into a red shirt to match mine and we drove to Salt Lake City to go on our very first date.

Prior to me flying out, Brad and I created a long list of date ideas.  We knew we needed to plan as many inexpensive and fun dates as we could in order to use our limited time together wisely and get to know each other better.  The first date we planned to go on was hike up to Ensign Peak, which I learned was just a couple miles north of Temple Square.  I picked that activity on purpose, because I knew it would be something fun for us to do on our first date together. 

I was not used to the elevation as we made our way up the mountain.  I felt completely out of shape as I huffed and puffed up the trail, wondering where all the air was.  Where was the air?  I needed air!  I felt kind of silly, because I had been working out at the gym three days a week for two months in preparation to meet Brad, and the trail was supposed to be "easy," according to what we had read online.  Brad was very patient and sweet the whole time, stopping whenever I needed to catch my breath.

The view at the top of Ensign Peak was beautiful!  I loved seeing Temple Square below, the Wasatch Mountains on the left, and the Great Salt Lake and the Oquirrh Mountains on the right.  We made it up just before the sun began to set.  The Salt Lake Valley was a beautiful sight, all lit up with pink and gold light.  I remember being surrounded by dragonflies and butterflies, and feeling like I was standing on a little piece of heaven.  Brad asked if he could hold my hand.  I gladly gave it to him.

Below are some photos of our first date to Ensign Peak.

 

I am so grateful I decided to take a chance on Brad and flew out to meet him in July 2005.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made.  We went on many fun dates together on my first trip to meet Brad.  We toured Temple Square, hiked up to Timpanogos Cave, swam at the Harman's house, went to Wheeler Farm, fed ducks by the Jordan River, toured the Kennecott Mines, and spent the day at This Is the Place Heritage Park.  It was a lovely week.  I'll treasure those memories always.

David's 9-Month Stats

Weight: 16 pounds 14 ounces, 2% for his age (Mr. Midget)
Height: 28 1/2 inches, 47% for his age.
Head Circumference: 17.7 inches, 33% for his age. 

9-Month David

David is a very happy, content, and social baby.  He loves to smile and babble when he meets new people.  He is extremely easy-going and trusting with others.  He is definitely a go-with-the-flow baby.

New Developments In The Last 2 Months

• He can pull himself up into both sitting and standing positions.
• He has become a speed crawler.
• He can climb stairs.
• He eats lots of finger foods now, including vegetables and cheese.
• He has mastered his pincer-grasp.
• He takes baths in the big bathtub now.
  

Little quirks:

• He is obsessed with finding things on the floor.  Any little piece of paper or plastic ends up in his mouth. 
• He loves bouncing up and down while sitting on his legs.  It looks like he's trying to hop like a little frog.
• He LOVES climbing stairs.  He just learned how to do this in mid-July, and he won't quit! It's now his favorite thing to do.
• He likes to pinch Mama when he nurses.  Mama does NOT like this new habit.
• He loves to drink water in a sippy cup, but he refuses bottles and formula.  Apparently those are nasty things.
• He is far from being a picky eater.  He eats everything given to him, including vegetables.  Cheese appears to be his favorite finger food.  He always eats that up the quickest.
• He says "Ma-ma" when he's sad or hungry.
• He loves playing with phones and remotes.  As soon as he spots them he's after them!

Quick Catch-Up for June

I've had little time to make updates on my blog, so I'm going to write a quick blurb to catch up.  We did a LOT of things in June.

Lagoon Day
Del Sol had its annual Lagoon Day on June 2nd.  We had lunch with Brad's co-workers and executives, and Brad won two small prizes in the raffle: a Harry Potter DVD and a floating lounger for the swimming pool.  Only Lizzy and David were with us this time, so we went on some toddler-friendly rides that we thought Lizzy would enjoy, like the Odyssey ride, Merry-Go-Round, and the train.

Brad's Birthday
We had a very small celebration for Brad's birthday on June 3rd.  We were so busy with unpacking and organizing the house that weekend that we planned nothing special to do for Brad's birthday.  Loralee came to the rescue and invited us over to her house for dinner and cake.  Thank you, Loralee!

Lizzy's Birthday
Lizzy turned 3 years old on June 9th. We took her out for lunch at Carl's Jr., and we bought her a Cinderella dress, a purple ball, and a princess dinner set at Walmart, then we went to Sam's Club and bought a cake.  We sang happy birthday to her and had her blow out her candles, then we took her to the park to play.

Marian's Pool Party and BBQ
Marian had her annual summer pool party on June 16th.  We enjoyed being with family and keeping cool in the pool.  We sang happy birthday to Lizzy and she got to blow out candles on a second cake.  I forgot to bring my camera that day, but Natalie was nice enough to take a video with her cellphone.  Lizzy was very excited to have her extended family sing happy birthday to her.  She had been waiting for that all week.

Father's Day/ 6th Wedding Anniversary
Father's Day and our wedding anniversary fell on the same day this year.  The kids made Brad some cute gifts and we all wished Brad a happy Father's Day by bringing him breakfast in bed.  We visited Brad's dad after church and brought him a homemade banana cream pie. 

Brad and I celebrated our wedding anniversary at home this year.  We drank Martinelli's cider and enjoyed reminiscing our courtship days and honeymoon.  I love my husband!

California Vacation 
We drove to St. George on June 21st and stayed the night at a Best Western hotel.  We enjoyed playing in the water fountains on Main Street and swimming in the pool at the hotel.  The next day we finished the drive to Long Beach.  We celebrated Lizzy's and Eric's birthday on June 23rd, which meant that Lizzy had a third birthday cake and was sung to again for the third time.  Three birthday cakes for the three-year-old-- what a lucky girl!  We saw Anissa on Monday and enjoyed spending time with her.  We went to the Signal Hill park, the Dollar Bookstore, the Cerritos Library, Heritage Park, and Rachel's condo.  Susie got married to Chris in the Los Angeles Temple on June 26th.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  We took family pictures outside the temple before heading over to the Olive Garden in Cerritos for a family dinner.  I loved being with my family!