Trip to Cali

 

We just got back from a great trip to California to visit my family. It was the first time in a long time since my whole family had been together so it was time to take a family picture. Since the last family picture there has been 5 additions. Spencer, Ambers' kids, Gavin, Tatum and Colton, and our Maren. We celebrated a number of birthdays in the months of May, June, and July and enjoyed BBQ's and family dinners. Just how I envisioned it would be and just how it should be. Spencer and I were able to have a date night out to a movie and also to attend the temple. Thank goodness for grandmas! Thanks mom for watching Maren. My dad, the sweetheart he is, made sure we had a car that stays in good condition. The car needed a tune-up and replacements that we would have never known about if it wasn't for the handyman of a dad we have. Thanks dad! Every time I go home to visit I feel grateful for the wonderful family I have been given. Though we are imperfect, life's lessons are invaluable and can teach us a lot if we let them. It always comes back to love as love is a healing agent and will bring us back to what is most important. May we always have love.

Summer Has Begun!

Spencer had a successful first year of Op school and we are now ready to enjoy the summer sun. Can't say I've seen it too much as this week has been cold and rainy. We did get a bit of fun out of the last two weekends where we went to both Rockaway and Cannon Beach and had a fun day camp BBQ at Browns camp. Spencer started his new job at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course last week and lets just say the 4:30 wake-up time is kinda hard on him. I can't say that it hasn't been an adjustment for me too since my day revolves around when my husband gets home! We will get used to it and soon enough we will be on vacation as we have a couple planned for the summer. In a week we will go visit my family in California for a week. I am excited to have family pictures taken and to enjoy the family time by the pool and in the sun. It just sounds so relaxing just thinking about it. Maren just turned 10 months and we are realizing that she will always have something to say as her babble contains more of a variety of consonants and vowels and she looks at you as if she is really telling something important. It's fun. It's silly but I am excited because I bought her some jelly sandals like I had growing up and it makes me happy to think she will be walking around in them by the end of the summer. How they grow. Hope you enjoy the pics we post of our summer so far!

Can't seem to get the girl to smile at the camera anymore.

 

Time flies

I cannot believe that our first school year in Oregon is coming to a close. Spencer has only two finals left this next week and then the summer will begin. He got a job doing landscaping maintenance at a fancy golf course where the WPGA comes to play. It will be nice for him to labor physically and take a break from the mental labor. He will have pretty good hours working from 5:30 am to 2:30 pm. May not sound fun for people who hate getting up early, but for me, its exciting because then I have him home the rest of the day (as long as golf doesn't become his new favorite pastime!). I am looking forward to a fun summer with lots of beach time and family time. Maren is approaching a year in July which will provide for a lot of new exploration as she gets more and more curious with age. As usual we are enjoying the little girl she is becoming. We are always grateful for the abundance of blessings in our lives.

How time does fly.

How time does fly. Spencer is in the middle of mid-terms and is working hard and doing well. I am enjoying beautiful weather, good friends, and spending my days watching Maren grow. She is in the stage of life where it seems like you can see the mind-body connections happen right before your eyes. This may seem like an obvious statement if you understand the development that happens in the first year of a child's life, but when it happens to your own child, your own flesh and blood, you see the masterful power of God and the feel the special and specific love He has bestowed upon women to create and be nurturing teachers. Spencer also spends every spare moment he has, helping her explore the abilities of her growing body and mind. She has not shown too much interest in crawling yet but wants to skip ahead to walking. She loves to bounce in her jumperoo and gets excited when we show her how to walk. You can see how much she loves to learn. We have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of learning and growth that we have experienced with her in her first eight months of life. Though Valentine's Day has come and gone, we still wanted to post pictures of our little cupid as we like to treat this blog as our family journal. Hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

The weather here has seemed to take a turn -- a break from the never ending blanket of gray clouds that often loom overhead. It has allowed for some really beautiful walks, gatherings at the park and just a sign of renewal and change that brings a happy feeling. The trees around here are blossoming beautifully with pink and white flowers. It is fun to live in a new place to experience the vast array of God's creations through seasons of change. We are loving the new experiences we are having and recognize the hand of God in all we do. For His blessings we are eternally grateful.

Our last couple months-Double Click to view larger

 

Our little big girl!

Maren is now 5 months old. How the time has flown by. She makes every day so much fun as we get to see the development happen right before our eyes. I never knew it would be so quick and apparent. She can almost sit up by herself, she eats rice cereal, peas, green beans, squash and carrots, she grabs things and stays entertained by them because her fine motor skills are working, she can roll over, and she even knows how to kiss and hug her mom and dad. She is quite the loving and affectionate baby. We love it. One of my favorite things to do is read the scriptures to her because she loves the black and white contrast on the page. I can get through a whole chapter before she loses interest. It's all too much fun. I couldn't ask for a better baby.

Since Spencer and I will be flying this year to see family, we decided to have our own little Christmas starting on the first of the twelve days of Christmas. Maren loved to rip the paper off the packages and was thoroughly fascinated by the ribbon. Spencer is in the middle of finals right now and is finding it to be quite challenging. He has eleven finals total. Lets just say he is ready for a break.

I recently lost my wallet at Winco where someone probably stole it. I have to say I did not endure the trial well to begin with. I lost faith in the world for a few days feeling really sad that we live in such a place. I can see now that when I changed my attitude and pressed forward to begin replacing the needed cards, etc things worked out and life did not end. I feel blessed that it wasn't worse and can see that life really is good and its not such a bad place after all. I am grateful for trials.

We hope that all who are reading this will have a great Christmas filled with joy and love and can be surrounded by the ones you love. Merry Christmas!

Fall!

It has been too long since I gave an update on life in Oregon! Fall is truly beautiful amid the green farmland and rolling hills. The trees are changing from green to gold, orange, red and purple. The crisp autumn air and beautiful sunsets seem to make Fall Oregon's prettiest season. I can already foresee that we will look back on our days spent here and remember the beautiful Falls. Our little Maren is approaching her third month of life. It is amazing how much she has changed in such a short amount of time. She has been many fun places so far. The coast, Tillamook for the cheese and ice cream, blueberry picking at a U-pick farm, Portland to the open-air markets, Washington Park to see the rose gardens and the arboretum, and all around town as she rides in the jogging stroller. She goes with her mama everywhere and is a great sport. Spencer has jumped full-fledged into his first year of Optometry School and is finding it interesting and challenging. He still manages to make me feel like I have a husband by giving me time and being such a great dad. I feel blessed to know that his priorities are aligned. I love this time of year because there are so many fun projects to create. I am glad as I have had to adjust to the changes of being a stay-at-home mom. I made Maren's halloween costume with the help of a new good friend. She will be a ladybug. It just seemed to fit a newborn don't you think? Before we know it we will celebrate Thanksgiving, which will be here-our own for the first time. Then, we will celebrate Christmas in Utah this year with Spencer's family. It's nice that Spencer has a long Christmas break so we can see my family also for a week after the holidays. All in all, life is good, safe and happy. Hope all is well with you. We love and miss you all. Stay tuned for more fall fun!

2nd Year Anniversary

I have decided to dedicate this posting to be a message to my wonderful husband Spencer. I have just celebrated my second year with him and want all who see our blog to know what I feel for him and how grateful I am for the man he is. Let me first recap the last year for you. Below is a slideshow of the 2nd year of our lives together. You will see that it has been a very eventful year for the both of us. We have grown together in ways that only change can bring such as the new addition to our family, our sweet little Maren. We began this last year in August with Spencer's last year of college at BYU. We attended our last football games as students and lived on campus in married student housing. I worked at a junior high teaching dance so it was nice for me to be able to still experience the amenities of BYU before we officially left. We also attended General Conference in person for the last time. I almost cried thinking that we were leaving a place that we had created all of our memories together. So Spencer graduated and we had but a few months to prepare for the two biggest changes we would make together. For his graduation trip we drove to Oregon where he will be attending Optometry School in the fall, to find an apartment and have some fun exploring our future new home. We enjoyed days at Cannon Beach and Seaside, and also got to see the Portland Temple. It was a great trip. While I was in the last days of pregnancy we took a miny family trip to Snowbird resort in the Cottonwood canyon, and also hiked up to the Timpanogos caves. Also during this time the Oquir Mountain temple was dedicated and we were able to go through during the open house. It was truly beautiful. July came and so did our little girl Maren. She has blessed our lives in so many ways and has brought us closer together as a couple and as a family. Two weeks later another huge change came as we packed up and moved to Forest Grove, Oregon where we are now enjoying our third week here. We love our new apartment, ward and area. It is so beautiful with farmlands, the ocean, the city and forests all within close reach. We are enjoying the last days of play time before Spencer starts school. I would say that our 2nd year together has been a great one.

I would like to let my Spencer know that as we have journeyed many places in the last year and have experienced the changes life brings, that it has been the greatest journey ever. Though I cannot see the future ahead, I can tell by the past that life is only going to get better. I know this because you have given me that vision as you have lived life with an optomism and faith that if we live life right it will only get better. I am seeing that every day through the hard times and the good. Thank you for being the man you are. I could never feel the true joy I feel without the blessings of the priesthood you so faithfully hold and the dedicated and and loving husband and father you are. I love you and am loving the journey. Thank you for going with me!

Love, Anna

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Maren Elaine Is Here!!!

Little Maren Elaine has arrived!!! She came to us on July 17 at 11:11 pm. It was a long hard day starting at 2:03 am and ending that evening. She weighs 6 lbs. 14 ounces and is 18" long. I feel so overwhelmed with many feelings but especially with such love and gratitude for our Savior Jesus Christ who made it all possible for us to feel such tremendous love and compassion for such a little person. I feel so grateful for so many things that I know I will not be able to say it all but I am especially grateful that God sends angels to assist us in all we do. The first angels I can think of are Maren's great-grandmas that she is named after. We know without a doubt that they were with her and loved her before she came to us. They will assist her always. Second, I am grateful for our parents! They sacrificed so much to bring us here and continue to dedicate their lives to making ours wonderful. With all the meals, time, and service they constantly give I don't know how to express how much gratitude I feel. Third, all the people in our lives, extended family and friends have contributed so much to us three that we can feel God's love through his heavenly and earthly angels. We feel truly blessed and want to share our lives with you and hope that we can have the same influence in your lives. Stay tuned for more Maren fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Two weeks and Timp Caves

Well, Spencer just sent off the last district he will ever teach at the MTC and had a bit more time with me this week to play. We called it "vacation" as we discovered different parts of Provo and the valley that we never took time to see. We saw art exhibits, walked the Provo river trail, and hiked up to the Timpanogos Cave. We scheduled a tour of the caves for next Tuesday but Spencer felt very strongly that we needed to move it up to this week since I am due in two weeks! I was surprised to hear that response because I didn't feel like labor was coming just yet. I don't know if you can ever feel too ready for such an event in life. We rescheduled the tour for Thursday, June 25 to hike the caves. It is quite the steep mile and 1/2, but I felt great all the way up. People, mostly ladies, were cheering me on saying things like: "Good for you!" It felt good knowing I can still be up and moving this close to labor. We joked about the possibility of her being a cavebaby. The cave was really interesting and it felt good to be in a 46 degree climate.

I can definitely feel changes in my body. More than a week ago I was 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced. I am sure I have progressed since then as I have felt more Braxton-Hicks contractions and I waddle a bit more. I can't seem to get comfortable at night and its hard to do anything. I feel like a 70 year old who says they are still 25 at heart. It still shocks me everytime I can hardly bend to paint my toe nails or tie my shoes. I think Spencer is even more anxious than I am to have this baby out, which may be because I am scared of all that comes with it (labor, delivery, post-labor etc.) He gets to be my cheerleader. I have to say he has been my angel as he is sensitive to my every need and has learned to be even more patient. I couldn't ask for a sweeter husband. I can see what a wonderful father he will be. Well, the next time I report we will have a new addition to the family. We'll be sure to have pictures posted for all to see. Thanks, for visiting!