Craig wants me to post something right now, but I'm not feeling very motivated. I spent about 2 hours in Walmart this afternoon grocery shopping, buying winter pj's for Rachel and aimlessly wandering around. I was SO scatter-brained. "Heather acting scatter-brained?! NEVER!!" I know that's what you're all thinking. No, really I have been way more scatter-brained lately, and don't know why. I would go down the aisles and half way thru forget why I was there. Any ideas why? I know I'm not pregnant yet but I'm open to theories.
Rachel's 5th birthday is today!! I can't believe it, I feel so old. Thankfully, I'll never be as old as Craig (by 10days:) She's not a baby any more, she looks like a little kid and likes Barbie and Polly Pocket and Candyland. Where did my little baby go? Today has brought me to reflect on what's been going on my life in the last 5 years. I started out being married, then went thru a yucky divorce and did the single parent thing. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been but was still tough. Then, Craig came into my life and everything has been so much better. But still, where did all that time go? I'm starting to realize what an age difference there'll be btwn Rachel and our next baby. It'll be like starting over, but not quite as bad because I already have stretch marks and my hubby will give more support. Rachel will be like an only child though she'll have siblings which is kinda weird but logical. There will always be a special place in my heart for her because she helped me thru the darkest parts of the last 5 years without knowing it. There's the special kind of guilt that I have for being gone so much when she was so little although my mom took care of her while I was at work. I have the inner struggles with being a divorced parent-is she comparing me to her dad when she's with me? How much quality time is she getting with me as opposed to over there? I know these kinds of questions aren't fair because when she's with her dad, it's not all day every day. If I just played with her all day nothing would get done around the house. The situations at his and my houses are very different but still hard not to think about sometimes.
It's time to go, I've written my thoughts of the day down and the last piece of chocolate satin pie is waiting for me. I'm going to try to put pictures up this week so stay tuned. Until then, party on dudes!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Oct 4, 2008 - Heather's Birthday
One of the joys of having so much family around is that we celebrated Heather’s birthday multiple times. First, on Saturday morning Craig and Rachel made Heather breakfast in bed (toast and Ovaltine) and gave her a card (with a basset hound on front) and her presents: a 12-pack of Cherry Coke (each can represented some things she does that make us love her so much) and money for new blinds. Yep, Heather would like some new blinds because all (except for the ones in Rachel’s room) are very old/ugly/etc. Over time, she plans to replace all of them. Yes it sounds vain and prideful but she’s at home all day looking at the copper colored things. They can look really bright when the sun’s on them and show all the dust too. She’s thinking of getting those cool fake wood ones and hopefully have enough birthday money to update 2 small windows. Then we went to the Bolton’s (Heather’s parents) where there was cake and birthday gifts. Then the scene was repeated at the Christensen’s after Sunday dinner. Among other things she received was a kit for a relaxing bath including Pepsi, chocolate and bubble bath.
We spent most of the weekend with family watching conference, although we did find time to look at Lolcats with Stephanie and play Candyland with Grandma Leslie. Rachel tried to persuade Craig to play Polly Pocket, but Craig elected to turn it into Polly racing with the Lego’s. Leave it Craig to improvise and negotiate.
This was a busy week for Craig at work – it was the end of the quarter for his clients, so he spent most of Friday, Monday and Tuesday working on making sure the numbers were correct. The instability in the markets made for a lot of last minute adjustments (Lehman’s fall made for a lot of ripples in the financial markets). But after a lot of work, the reports went out.
Heather is planning for Rachel’s birthday party. Rachel wanted both boys and girls to come, but when she found out that “boys don’t like Tinkerbell,” she decided it would be better to make it an all girl party. This is the first birthday party with friends Heather’s done and she was nervous about figuring out what to do as far as games go. Thankfully there is something called Google and she found a website to help. Heather scored some great ideas for activities so she’s really looking for ward to the party. Within the 30 minutes it took to find/read the site Heather went from feeling really nervous to feeling like she can do it.
We spent most of the weekend with family watching conference, although we did find time to look at Lolcats with Stephanie and play Candyland with Grandma Leslie. Rachel tried to persuade Craig to play Polly Pocket, but Craig elected to turn it into Polly racing with the Lego’s. Leave it Craig to improvise and negotiate.
This was a busy week for Craig at work – it was the end of the quarter for his clients, so he spent most of Friday, Monday and Tuesday working on making sure the numbers were correct. The instability in the markets made for a lot of last minute adjustments (Lehman’s fall made for a lot of ripples in the financial markets). But after a lot of work, the reports went out.
Heather is planning for Rachel’s birthday party. Rachel wanted both boys and girls to come, but when she found out that “boys don’t like Tinkerbell,” she decided it would be better to make it an all girl party. This is the first birthday party with friends Heather’s done and she was nervous about figuring out what to do as far as games go. Thankfully there is something called Google and she found a website to help. Heather scored some great ideas for activities so she’s really looking for ward to the party. Within the 30 minutes it took to find/read the site Heather went from feeling really nervous to feeling like she can do it.
Sept 28 - Living next to the drug house
I apologize for not writing last week. Heather’s grandma Pat (paternal grandmother) was in town from Denver, so we were spending a lot of time with her. Heather spent a lot of time learning about her grandmother’s history, including her grandmother’s grandparents and her childhood. Heather also made dinner for the whole family, and did a wonderful job. Both Heather and Grandma Pat spend a lot of time with Rachel.
Craig had his birthday, which was more like a birthday week since I received calls, letters, cards, e-mails and presents through most of the week. Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and generous gifts.
Rachel and Sadie (our new cat) are adjusting to each other. Rachel is practicing walking through the house instead of running and Rachel has learned that Sadie bites. Sadie is learning how to be patient with children, and but still likes to sit in the middle of Heather’s scout stuff. And for some reason, she likes to nibble around the edges of the paper and cardboard in the house.
Heather helped put on a fun pack meeting. She’s looking forward to a Harry Potter pack meeting next month for Halloween. Heather also picked up Halloween and fall decorations that’s she’s looking forward to decorating the house with.
Craig is gearing up for a busy few weeks at work – the end of September is the end of 3rd quarter for his clients. And Craig’s BYU Cougars are in the top 10, so he’s happy.
The really notable thing that happened was on Wednesday. When Craig and Heather came home, there were two police cars behind them. The officers assured us nothing was wrong, so we went inside. The police were there for several hours, and more police came, including a K-9 unit. In the end, we found out that the parents were arrested for felony endangerment to a child and booked in the county jail. Apparently the house was filthy, there was drug paraphernalia all around, and there wasn’t edible food in the house. So the kids were placed in foster care for the time being.
If you want to read the local news report, go to:
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-sep2508-meridian_unsanitary_home.af8b40a0.html.
So part of me is relieved, hoping that this family resolves their problems somewhere other than next door. Part of me wishes that I had known what was going on so I could have reported this earlier. And part of me thinks that everyone will be back to their house next door in the next 6-12 months. It’s hard to watch kids growing up in a home where it’ll be tough for them to be successful. But we do what we can, and leave the rest in the hands of the Lord.
Craig and Heather
Craig had his birthday, which was more like a birthday week since I received calls, letters, cards, e-mails and presents through most of the week. Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and generous gifts.
Rachel and Sadie (our new cat) are adjusting to each other. Rachel is practicing walking through the house instead of running and Rachel has learned that Sadie bites. Sadie is learning how to be patient with children, and but still likes to sit in the middle of Heather’s scout stuff. And for some reason, she likes to nibble around the edges of the paper and cardboard in the house.
Heather helped put on a fun pack meeting. She’s looking forward to a Harry Potter pack meeting next month for Halloween. Heather also picked up Halloween and fall decorations that’s she’s looking forward to decorating the house with.
Craig is gearing up for a busy few weeks at work – the end of September is the end of 3rd quarter for his clients. And Craig’s BYU Cougars are in the top 10, so he’s happy.
The really notable thing that happened was on Wednesday. When Craig and Heather came home, there were two police cars behind them. The officers assured us nothing was wrong, so we went inside. The police were there for several hours, and more police came, including a K-9 unit. In the end, we found out that the parents were arrested for felony endangerment to a child and booked in the county jail. Apparently the house was filthy, there was drug paraphernalia all around, and there wasn’t edible food in the house. So the kids were placed in foster care for the time being.
If you want to read the local news report, go to:
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-sep2508-meridian_unsanitary_home.af8b40a0.html.
So part of me is relieved, hoping that this family resolves their problems somewhere other than next door. Part of me wishes that I had known what was going on so I could have reported this earlier. And part of me thinks that everyone will be back to their house next door in the next 6-12 months. It’s hard to watch kids growing up in a home where it’ll be tough for them to be successful. But we do what we can, and leave the rest in the hands of the Lord.
Craig and Heather
Sept 14
Heather and I are now the proud owners of a 1 year old female tabby named Sadie. Being first time cat owners, there have been a few adjustments to make. Heather has gotten three cat books, which she has been reading cover to cover because she doesn’t know much about cats, being raised with dogs and a mom who dislikes felines (The pictures are fun). We picked Sadie up from the Idaho Human Society on Monday, and after spending a day or two mostly hiding under the bed, her curiosity got the best of her and she started exploring.
Sadie likes pouncing, and biting her cat toys, and having her head scratched as well as sleeping on our bed. Last night, she playfully bit Heather’s toes while she was sleeping. Heather must’ve been dreaming and moving around and Sadie just couldn’t resist. Heather eventually tried to hiss at the devious kitty and then slept in peace. We learned that she does not care to have her back petted – supposedly if a cat isn’t petted on the back when its a kitten, it won’t care for it as an adult.
We also found out Sadie likes catnip. When she gets it, she’s pretty wild, zipping around and going nuts. Pretty funny. (Yes, we’re still working on the dosage).
I thought it was pretty funny that Heather didn’t like how quiet the cat is. Cats are known to be fairly stealthy, and carpet is a good medium to be silent. After being surprised by the cat a few times, she asked that I put Sadie’s collar on her. Now there’s a little jingling to give us warning when she’s around.
Rachel is enjoying school and playing with some of the next door neighbors. She played with the two three year old twins and a 1 ½ year old baby. It’s nice to have people close to play with.
The uncle of the kids Rachel was playing with commented on how BYU was going to get trounced by UCLA. I almost went back over to put his nose in a stunning 59-0 win over UCLA, but I decided not to.
That said, it was awesome to watch a BYU team that looked outstanding. Admittedly, UCLA handed half of the points to the Cougars, and didn’t play well at all. However, it was fun to see Bronco Mendenhall pull out the BYU starters in the third quarter so the second-stringers could play.
We also cleaned the garage, which lead to some discussions of how best to store children’s old clothing and baby stuff. No one ever told me that one side effect of babies is a huge amount of STUFF. Thank heavens for taking stuff to DI when Heather isn’t looking.
Heather here: Due to inexperience (thru no fault of his own) Craig may not realize how much mobiles, bottles, lap pads, crib sheets can add up to, so I saved them. I have also saved some stuff from when Rachel was younger like PJ’s, church dresses and pants and some shirts. Anything that I didn’t think would be in style in maybe 5 or 6 yrs was traded in to Other Mothers, a used childrens’ clothing store, in exchange for store credit. Buying everything from scratch each time you have a baby doesn’t make sense.
Sadie likes pouncing, and biting her cat toys, and having her head scratched as well as sleeping on our bed. Last night, she playfully bit Heather’s toes while she was sleeping. Heather must’ve been dreaming and moving around and Sadie just couldn’t resist. Heather eventually tried to hiss at the devious kitty and then slept in peace. We learned that she does not care to have her back petted – supposedly if a cat isn’t petted on the back when its a kitten, it won’t care for it as an adult.
We also found out Sadie likes catnip. When she gets it, she’s pretty wild, zipping around and going nuts. Pretty funny. (Yes, we’re still working on the dosage).
I thought it was pretty funny that Heather didn’t like how quiet the cat is. Cats are known to be fairly stealthy, and carpet is a good medium to be silent. After being surprised by the cat a few times, she asked that I put Sadie’s collar on her. Now there’s a little jingling to give us warning when she’s around.
Rachel is enjoying school and playing with some of the next door neighbors. She played with the two three year old twins and a 1 ½ year old baby. It’s nice to have people close to play with.
The uncle of the kids Rachel was playing with commented on how BYU was going to get trounced by UCLA. I almost went back over to put his nose in a stunning 59-0 win over UCLA, but I decided not to.
That said, it was awesome to watch a BYU team that looked outstanding. Admittedly, UCLA handed half of the points to the Cougars, and didn’t play well at all. However, it was fun to see Bronco Mendenhall pull out the BYU starters in the third quarter so the second-stringers could play.
We also cleaned the garage, which lead to some discussions of how best to store children’s old clothing and baby stuff. No one ever told me that one side effect of babies is a huge amount of STUFF. Thank heavens for taking stuff to DI when Heather isn’t looking.
Heather here: Due to inexperience (thru no fault of his own) Craig may not realize how much mobiles, bottles, lap pads, crib sheets can add up to, so I saved them. I have also saved some stuff from when Rachel was younger like PJ’s, church dresses and pants and some shirts. Anything that I didn’t think would be in style in maybe 5 or 6 yrs was traded in to Other Mothers, a used childrens’ clothing store, in exchange for store credit. Buying everything from scratch each time you have a baby doesn’t make sense.
Sep 9
Rachel made friends in Sacrament meeting. For some reason, she thought that the kids sitting behind us were more interesting than fast and testimony meeting. I can’t for the life of me imagine why. Heather is planning on following up with some playdates.
The weather has been beautiful the last few weeks. Instead of highs in the mid 90’s, it’s been high 70’s and low 80’s, which has been delightful weather for playing in the park, going for walks, and (much to my dismay) yard work. Heather says, “Yay for fall! I’ve been here for more than 10 years, and I still can’t get over how cool the leaves look when they change.”
I also enjoyed the weather going shooting with Chris, his father in law. We shot Chris’s MAS 90 (a close relative of an AK-47) as well as Chris’ “sniper rifle”. The tide bottle never had a chance. Another group of shooters set up on the other side of the hill from us, but we didn’t know that until we heard shots ricocheting over our heads. I was initially concerned, but Chris explained that they were only shooting .22’s, and they didn’t have enough velocity to go far or do much damage after ricocheting.
I also enjoyed a good weekend of college football (a good weekend of college football is defined as a weekend when my team, BYU, wins). I’m excited, although pretty worried, for their upcoming game with UCLA. This game will undoubtedly define the rest of the season for the Cougars.
While Craig was watching football with Chris, Heather went out and got a pedicure. She liked it a lot; and now she has bright white daisies on her red toenails. Heather says, “I’m just glad that my mom paid for it! It’s too expensive to do on a regular basis, but it was fun. I like my soft feet!”
I have switched to a new function at my job. Instead of working as an operations manager at Clearwater, I’ve moved into the data team. The data team plays a support role for development and operations. I’m still not used to not having team members leaning over and asking me questions every few minutes. But I’m learning a ton of new things and growing into my new responsibilities.
Right now, we’re looking at getting a cat from the Idaho Humane society. Not only do they have a great selection, they’re also significantly cheaper – having a vet do the spay/neutering and shots can easily be $100+, whereas the humane society only charges $50. Heather says, “and we’re saving kitties too!”
The weather has been beautiful the last few weeks. Instead of highs in the mid 90’s, it’s been high 70’s and low 80’s, which has been delightful weather for playing in the park, going for walks, and (much to my dismay) yard work. Heather says, “Yay for fall! I’ve been here for more than 10 years, and I still can’t get over how cool the leaves look when they change.”
I also enjoyed the weather going shooting with Chris, his father in law. We shot Chris’s MAS 90 (a close relative of an AK-47) as well as Chris’ “sniper rifle”. The tide bottle never had a chance. Another group of shooters set up on the other side of the hill from us, but we didn’t know that until we heard shots ricocheting over our heads. I was initially concerned, but Chris explained that they were only shooting .22’s, and they didn’t have enough velocity to go far or do much damage after ricocheting.
I also enjoyed a good weekend of college football (a good weekend of college football is defined as a weekend when my team, BYU, wins). I’m excited, although pretty worried, for their upcoming game with UCLA. This game will undoubtedly define the rest of the season for the Cougars.
While Craig was watching football with Chris, Heather went out and got a pedicure. She liked it a lot; and now she has bright white daisies on her red toenails. Heather says, “I’m just glad that my mom paid for it! It’s too expensive to do on a regular basis, but it was fun. I like my soft feet!”
I have switched to a new function at my job. Instead of working as an operations manager at Clearwater, I’ve moved into the data team. The data team plays a support role for development and operations. I’m still not used to not having team members leaning over and asking me questions every few minutes. But I’m learning a ton of new things and growing into my new responsibilities.
Right now, we’re looking at getting a cat from the Idaho Humane society. Not only do they have a great selection, they’re also significantly cheaper – having a vet do the spay/neutering and shots can easily be $100+, whereas the humane society only charges $50. Heather says, “and we’re saving kitties too!”
Sept 1
I was called to the elder’s quorum this week. I will be the new second counselor in the Tully park ward. I thought that as to yet I was too unknown to receive this kind of calling. As another brother pointed out, “you’re never unkown to the Lord.” We also gave our talks, and Heather did a great job. I chose not to clarify any her version of our family’s history.
Heather had a good pack meeting for her cub scouts, and Rachel started school. We met our new neighbor across the street, who has a very adventurous 3 ½ year old. Hopefully in the future Rachel might have a friend to play with.
Speaking of friends, we haven’t seen Bella the cat for a few weeks. Despite my initial thoughts that we would be adopting Bella, she seems to have returned home and no longer comes by looking for love in all of the wrong places. However, Bella did start us thinking about a new pet.
Rachel started school again (pre-school). She knew a few of the kids from her class last year, and she knows the teacher. However, this has been a great time for her to get to know new children. She has a new friend named Molly who lives nearby. She insists that we name our new cat Sara or Ally.
As a family, we took a walk along Boise’s greenbelt. For those from out of town, the greenbelt is a biking/walking path that goes through Eagle into Boise clear up to Lucky Peak reservoir. Much of the path is shaded, and was very relaxing to walk along (except for when Rachel dramatically states, “I can’t take it anymore!”). We walked for some time (perhaps a mile or so) and saw the Anne Frank memorial, which was really interesting. We also took a rest break at the Boise Library where we played with the dinosaurs.
Heather had a good pack meeting for her cub scouts, and Rachel started school. We met our new neighbor across the street, who has a very adventurous 3 ½ year old. Hopefully in the future Rachel might have a friend to play with.
Speaking of friends, we haven’t seen Bella the cat for a few weeks. Despite my initial thoughts that we would be adopting Bella, she seems to have returned home and no longer comes by looking for love in all of the wrong places. However, Bella did start us thinking about a new pet.
Rachel started school again (pre-school). She knew a few of the kids from her class last year, and she knows the teacher. However, this has been a great time for her to get to know new children. She has a new friend named Molly who lives nearby. She insists that we name our new cat Sara or Ally.
As a family, we took a walk along Boise’s greenbelt. For those from out of town, the greenbelt is a biking/walking path that goes through Eagle into Boise clear up to Lucky Peak reservoir. Much of the path is shaded, and was very relaxing to walk along (except for when Rachel dramatically states, “I can’t take it anymore!”). We walked for some time (perhaps a mile or so) and saw the Anne Frank memorial, which was really interesting. We also took a rest break at the Boise Library where we played with the dinosaurs.
Aug 24 - Starting a brand new thing
After a fair amount of badgering (mostly from Sonic and Dan), we’ve decided to follow Amy and Blair’s example and start writing biweekly e-mails to keep family and friends up to date with the happenings of our family.
So to catch up anyone who hasn’t heard from us in a while, Craig and Heather were married
It was an eventful month. Now, a year and a half later, Heather and I have purchased a home in
Rachel is excited to go back to preschool. Already at 4 she has more fashion sense than “her Craig” does. She loves matching clothes with her mother and looking cute. To her it comes so naturally.
As for what I do, I tell people I’m a glorified accountant. I work for a company that helps big and rich companies (like E-bay or Best Buy) report on and manage their short term investments. It’s been a very good position for me and I’ve learned a lot. I also work in the same office as my brother Bryce, so it’s interesting mixing family with business.
Some of Craig’s old friends, Dan and Jenny, came into town two weeks ago, and we spent a good afternoon floating down the
The last week we almost adopted a cat. A white adult (we think female) was wandering around our yard begging for attention. Heather instantly liked the cat because “it wasn’t snotty like most cats are.” Because it actually purrs when you pet it, unlike Michelle’s snotty cat, Callie. We fed the cat, affectionately called “Bella-Kitty,” a can of tuna. I was sure we’d just received a new member to the family, but we haven’t seen the Bella-Kitty for several days.
This week, we’re looking forward to Becca and Andrew coming into town. We think we might float the
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