The BBBBlog

They are getting soooo big!

2012-01-11T20:51:00.003-07:00

We sent this out to family a few weeks ago but here are videos of the boys walking. They are much more stable now and it is so cute watching them walk around.

I am also in love with Sandra Boynton board books. They not only make me laugh but Dean thinks they are pretty funny as well!

2012-01-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some picture that we had taken right before Christmas. The boys were NUTS that morning and the only way we could get them to focus was giving them Christmas ornaments.

It ended up being kind-of cute. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Trip Part II: Utah

2011-12-03T20:44:00.001-07:00

We left Arizona on November 21st and made a quick stop in Las Vegas to pick up my mom at the airport who had just flown in from Alaska. We harassed her so much over the past few month that she finally decided to spend Thanksgiving in the civilized part of the world. We arrived in St. George, UT that afternoon to stay with my grandparents for several days.

The boys got to take their very first carousel ride. Dean was freaked out while Isaac really enjoyed it.

Both of them really enjoyed watching the other kids ride.

Getting ready to eat on Thanksgiving...

Dig in!

Isaac was running a fever for a good chunk of time while we were in St. George. I bet you can guess who made it all better.

The best part of this leg of the trip was lots and lots of cuddles with the Great Grandparents.

St. George has a wonderful outdoor theater at Tuacahn, a performing arts high school. We try to hit a show at Tuacahn any time were are in the area and we went to see their live nativity. We weren't supposed to take pictures during the performance, but we took a few before the show started.

It was past Dean's bedtime

Thank you G&G for the wonderful time while we were in Utah!

Thanksgiving Trip Part I: Arizona

2011-12-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

For Thanksgiving this year we went on a little road trip and now that we have a minivan our whole family can fit! We still haven't officially named the van, but I think there are two names in the running. I like Cindy Well's idea of calling it the Terry Ferry. The other name came to us while visiting the Phoenix area. In Southeast Phoenix is an area called San Tan so the other name that's in the running is SanTan the Minivan.

Here's a map of our route for our visual readers:

View Thanksgiving Trip 2011 in a larger map

This was the first road trip we've taken with both the boys and getting in a car with a 9-month-old and a 13-month-old was a intimidating, but they did really well for such little guys.

We left on November 16th and the first stop on our trip was to stay with my aunt and uncle in Gilbert AZ. We really enjoy spending time with them and their family. Here are some highlights:

One of my cousins (Landon) has some friends that just had a litter of Beagle, Pug, Boston Terrier mix puppies. There were six of them and they took a liking to Emily. Or should I say that she took a liking to them?

Dean wasn't sure about getting into the tub with them, but he warmed up to the idea in the end.

Nancy has a piano that the boys just couldn't resist

Eating is always on our agenda when traveling. We've heard a lot about Chipotle and decided to see what all the fuss was about. We just might be in trouble when Chipotle opens up their first Albuquerque location this month.

We also went to LoLo's Chicken & Waffles on a double date with my cousin Jordan and his wife Casey. LoLo's brags that "This Ain't Your Momma's Chicken." How true that is. The atmosphere was great and they had a very interesting menu which included the "PHAT AZz Chicken Samich." Yes, that's how it was spelled. I decided not to have the Chicken Samich or the chicken & waffles, but the item I chose was called, "Yo Mamma's Biscuits and Gravy." It was pretty good.

Emily decided to have the Chicken & Waffles. Yum yum!

For the second half of our double date we went to an Improv comedy club called Jester'Z. If you are ever in the Phoenix area and need some good clean comedy we would highly recommend Jester'Z.

Landon and Isaac loved hanging out with each other. Here's a priceless shot:

Most of our LDS readers have probably heard that the Church is building a Temple in Gilbert. If there's anyone out there who has no idea what I'm talking about, you can read more about temples here.We went and saw the progress on the Temple and Isaac loved exploring.

We also took the boys to see their first parade, the Gilbert Days Parade. Isaac wasn't very interested and ended up falling asleep. Dean watched everything, but was mostly confused. Here's a short video I took:

To the Arizona Brough family--Thank You sooooo much for letting us stay with you!!! We loved it.

Laughing with Isaac

2011-12-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

It took us a long time to figure out how to get Isaac to laugh, but I think we've got it now...

Minivan Mama

2011-10-31T13:58:00.001-06:00

I always swore that I would never buy a minivan. I'm not sure exactly when that changed but I ended up getting one this week and I am thrilled about it. We were quickly growing out of our Saturn Vue and I was worried I was going to have to leave Bob at home on our next road trip just to fit everything. No need to worry now Bob, you can come!The best part is that it has stow-and-go seating on the 2nd and 3rd row so for right now I have the backseat permanently in the stow position and never have to worry about fitting the double stroller and all the groceries in the back. Loading the car after a Sam's club run was always an adventure.
Now it is time for your help: Bob and I always name our cars and we take this on with as much serious as when we named our children. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T13:42:00.000-06:00

This year for Halloween I dressed the boys up as monkeys and Bob and I were zoo keepers. Bob had a costume contest at work that we all went to this morning and we ended up winning a $50 gift card to Dion's (a local pizza joint that we LOVE) for the group category. The cutest part was that as we were parading across the concourse so the judges could see our costumes the crowd was cheering for us and Dean thought that was the greatest thing ever. He started clapping along which of course made the crowd cheer louder and Dean burst out in fits of giggles. It was a fun time for all.

Happy Birthday Dean!

2011-10-11T12:46:00.012-06:00

My little Dean turns one today and I am having a hard time excepting that fact. My baby isn't a baby any more. He is almost walking and can say a handful of words including "Hi", "Isaac", "Doggie" "Go on" and barks like a dog. He eats everything that I do and his favorite meal is Taco Soup, the spicier the better. I was looking through pictures the other day and decided to let you reminisce with me. Here is a few pictures from every month of his life:

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011
It is so amazing to me how fast they change. Before I know it he will be going to school, driving, and becoming a man. I miss my little baby already but I am so proud of how he has grown. I love you Dean!

Solitary confinement sounds appealing...

2011-09-22T12:33:00.003-06:00

I used to find blogging stressful and as you can tell by all my blogs this week, I am finding it rather therapeutic. Isaac reminded me this morning of something else I needed to share:

I clearly remember my mother complaining that she couldn't even have 2 minutes to go to the bathroom without one of us shouting "mom" and running in to find her about something. I always thought she was being melodramatic but I am starting to see what she meant.

Taking a shower is one of my favorite things to do. It is that time of the day where I can clear my head, take deep breaths and mentally organize my day. Since having the boys I have found it next to impossible to find a time when both the boys are down for naps for me to take a shower. So, I usually just lock whoever is awake in the bathroom with me with some toys to occupy their attention, the toilet seat down and the trashcan up on the counter. Usually I can manage to have at least one down for a nap but a few weeks ago on a Sunday Bob was at meetings and I desperately needed to get ready to go so I had both the boys in there. This is the day both boys found out where mom went and all the fun I was having and decided to join. This is what Bob discovered when he got home:

Both of the boys LOVE water but Dean only loves it when it is not in his face. When it is he sputters, coughs and holds his breath like the trickle of water down his nose is drowning him. Isaac on the other had isn't bothered at all and both boys don't let that stop them from joining mom every, single, time. So long relaxing shower time!

Happy thoughts...

2011-09-21T12:37:00.005-06:00

All the negativity in the last post was getting me down so I decided to post these to perk everyone back up.

I need to vent...

2011-09-21T11:58:00.002-06:00

I was raised by parents that were very demanding about companies providing excellent customer service to their costumers. And not in a bad way either. If the service was below their expectations they would answer honestly and politely when they were asked. In fairness they would also praise for a job well done and not only continue to do business with the company but also send more business their way. Sometimes as a kid I was embarrassed by the all the free deserts, meals and deals they got but now that I am older I realize that I am exactly the same way. I feel it is only fair to give a company a chance to make it up to me before I stop doing business with them and give them a bad review to everyone I know.

Over the last couple weeks I have been astonished at how many companies basically tell me they do not want my business by not showing up to appointments or calling me back. Since Bob has been at his new job we have lists of projects that were neglected in the past that we are slowly working through. Everything from building dog runs, buying furniture, fixer-upper projects in the house and car shopping. This morning I waited for a guy to come give me a quote on putting in a dog run and new grass in the backyard. An hour after the end of the time window he set-up I called and his exact words were "Oh, yeah, I was working on stuff for my house and I completely forgot. Can I come tomorrow?" I had just set up this appointment yesterday and this was the third company I have tried. The first one lost my phone number and showed up unannounced only to give me a really inflated estimate and the second came and looked and then never called me with a quote. Needless to say I told this third guy that this was a poor message to me about how he ran his company and I was no longer interested in working with him.

I have also been less then impressed with a few furniture companies around town as well as untrained car salesmen (the last one didn't know what stow-and-go seating was). I think I may be on to something about why so many companies are going out of business. Its not the economy- its poor customer service! I guess I will just be hanging onto my money until someone proves to me they really want it. Thanks Mom and Dad for making me so picky :-)

Super Productive Morning!

2011-09-19T12:12:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite things in life is to cross things off my list of things to do. With two little ones I have resorted to putting really easy things on my list to make myself feel better but today I really have been productive. Here is all the things I have done before noon:

1.) Ate breakfast and feed both the boys breakfast.

2.) Vacuumed the whole house using my new Dyson vacuum that I LOVE!

3.) Mopped the floors

4.) Worked out for 1/2 hour on my new elliptical that I won for free on-line. Just in case you are curious that equals 1.5 miles and 200 calories-woohoo!

4.) Cleaned our spare bathroom

5.) Watered the plants

6.) Changed 4 diapers

7.) Ate lunch

8.) Blogged

Pretty impressive right? Now I think I will go have some chocolate before the boys wake up from their naps...

2011-08-25T21:51:00.006-06:00

August has been such a fun month for us. Bob getting a new job was a highlight but we also had lots of Bob's family in town for the first part of the month. It was so good having them here and I promise I will blog about the details later but I had to do this post tonight. Since it has been about 5 years that we have had all the siblings together we decided to have family photos done and I am so pleased with how they turned out that I had to share a few:

A Cardinal Position

2011-08-17T06:44:00.004-06:00

You may recall our blog post "Spilling the Beans" from about a year ago where we formally announced the pending arrival of our two sons. We did so using a picture that included a fortune from Panda Express that fit our situation. I don't think Chinese fortune cookies really foretell our future, but I find it interesting when a fortune cookie fortune lines up with real life events. This is in contrast to the fortune cookie I got a while back that said, "Ask your mom." I'm still not sure what that means. I asked my mom and all she said was "MmIiLlKk." Anyway...

Here's my latest fortune cookie fortune:

I hope you don't think I have been advertising for Panda Express. That's what I intend to do here: Panda Express Orange Chicken has changed my life forever! Mmmmmm...

For a minute there I almost forgot what I was blogging about. I got a new job! Starting at the end of this month I will be working at Cardinal Health as a Senior Analyst in their Finance Operations department here in Albuquerque.

I know a lot of people aren't very familiar with Cardinal. I didn't know much about them until I applied for a job with them recently. Here are a brief history of Cardinal Health:

The company started out in 1971 as a food wholesaler called Cardinal Foods before making it's way into the wholesale drug industry after acquiring a drug company in 1979. They've continued to grow over the years, mostly through various acquisitions and they are now the 19th largest company in the U.S., according the Fortune's annual ranking of the 500 largest American companies. They employ over 30,000 people worldwide.

As a finance nerd the Fortune 500 list is pretty fascinating. Based on their revenues, Cardinal is bigger than Wells Fargo, Proctor & Gamble, Target, Boeing and Microsoft. It's also more than twice as big as Intel or Coca-Cola and over three times the size of Sprint, Allstate, or Google. I'm not sounding like a Finance Analyst or anything, am I?

Emily and I are extremely excited about this opportunity and we feel like this change will be very good for our family.

Gavi-Dean-O

2011-08-02T16:46:00.002-06:00

Dean and Gavin were supposed to be taking a nap, but we caught them hanging out and having a good time. Naughty boys!

Our Anniversary

2011-07-23T06:48:00.010-06:00

This weekend (Sunday the 24th) Emily and I are celebrating our Seven Year Anniversary and I thought I'd write up a little blog post in celebration. As a side note, there are several links in this paragraph to other posts. Just click on the underlined words and do a little bit of reminiscing with us. In the past seven years we've done a lot. Emily and I have both completed Bachelor's degrees, I finished an MBA, we both have some work experience under our belts. We bought a house and got three dogs (one, two, and three). What else am I forgetting? Oh, and we now have two wonderful little boys! Here's a few pics I've picked...

Our Engagement Photo

The next few pictures are included because as I drive around Albuquerque, there are handful of landmarks that remind me of our engagement and wedding.

Emily and I decided to be very frugal with our wedding. Emily found a beautiful dress at a little local shop called "Surplus City." Seriously!

Our first stop as a married couple was at the local Shell station. We were both surprised that the car didn't run out of gas on the way there.

Now that we've been married for so long I can pretty much speak for Emily when I say that for both of us the best part of the past seven years has been the arrival of Dean and Isaac.

The last pic here is a little camera experiment I tried recently. I heard you could make a heart shape with a book and a wedding band. Do you see it?

Love you, Em!

What's New?

2011-07-02T11:19:00.002-06:00

I know some of you are wondering what the boys have been up to lately. Well, let me show you...

Isaac partook of his first solid foods this week. Take a look at the video and let us know how you think he likes it based on his facial expressions...and shuddering.

Dean also had a first this week when he started crawling. This video was taken Sunday morning and he has already improved his form (and speed) significantly. Also, Isaac isn't too far behind Dean in the crawling department. We'll keep you posted...

This is a video of the boys playing (and laughing) together. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Our baby anniversary

2011-06-01T10:23:00.004-06:00

So, one of my favorite things to do lately is to think back on what was going on exactly one year ago today. Our lives have changed so much in such a short time and today is an especially special day to reflect. June 1st 2010 was a day that I will never forget. We woke up in the morning to an e-mail from our birth mom and here is part of what it said: "And yes, to answer your question, I would like it if you two would be willing to....sorry not quite sure how to put this, but if you would be willing to accept an addition to your family." I remember reading over that e-mail a million times ecstatic that our dreams were finally coming true. We were approved and waiting since August of the previous year and hadn't received any contact at all until we met this birth mom just a few weeks earlier. I was scheduled for surgery (for fertility purposes) the next day and that night I was NOT feeling good about the operation. It was the first time since we planned it that I felt this way and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I had Bob give me a blessing and I didn't feel better at all (not your fault hun!). I sent poor Bob to Walgreen's at 10:30 that night to get a pregnancy test. I stopped keeping them in the house because the last time we got pregnant was with fertility treatments 9 months before and the only time we got pregnant on our own was over two years before. It was positive and I remember almost feeling mad because I didn't want to have another miscarriage in the middle of our adoption experience.

Well, I'm sure you figured out that it was a much happier story then I thought it would be. Dean was born just 4 months later and Isaac 4 months after that. I can't believe that it was just a year ago that I was completely unaware of the wonderful family we would have now. These boys are my world and I think about how blessed I am every day. Just this last Saturday we took Dean to the temple to be sealed to him for time and all eternity. Having both of my sons in the same room that Bob and I were sealed in almost 7 years before was a moment that I will never forget.

When we were in the middle of struggling to have children I couldn't understand why I was being denied the blessing of being a mom. Reflecting back over the last year has let me see that the Lord had so much more in store and he was just making sure I was ready. I'm sure that the patience and faith I learned during that time will come in handy in the future...! Dean and Isaac, Mommy loves you so much!

Officially ours!

2011-05-15T10:30:00.002-06:00

This last Thursday we were finally able to go to court and have Dean's adoption finalized. It was one day after his 7 month birthday and I was so relieved to have it all done. It took all of 5 minutes with a judge and now there is no turning back. He is stuck with us forever...Woohoo!!!

Easter

2011-04-28T13:28:00.016-06:00

So, I still haven't got over the need to dress the boys in cute matching outfits. The one for Easter takes the cake. I got the shirt and vest from Carters and I had the hats, socks and pants from the gift Bob's aunt Nancy gave us when Dean was born. Thanks Nancy!

When we got to my parents house for Easter dinner the grandkids started the hunt for eggs. I was busy taking pictures of all my nieces and nephews when I got yelled at for not letting my boys hunt for their eggs. I was thrilled because I didn't think they were big enough to be included this year and Dean and I immediately went to work (Isaac was still asleep in his car seat).

Since I am on here and the boys are being good for me I will add a few more details about our life recently. On the boys last appointments (their 4 and 6 months) Dean was in the 97th % for his height and 95th% for his weight. He weighed in at almost 22 pounds and I love every roll! Isaac on the other hand is small for his age. He is in the 15th% for his height and 25th% for his weight. I'm working on getting him some rolls like his brother but it is nice that he can still fit curled up on my chest.

This is what I call "The Man Corner". When Bob gets home from work the boys can't get enough of him and that gives me a much needed break.

Dean can finally sit up on his own and this opens up a whole new world of playing possibilities. I went and found blocks, cups, balls and other fun toys for him to put his hands and mouth all over. He loves every minute of it. He is also big enough now to go outside and play and swing with Grandpa. This is a treat that all the grandkids love.

Isaac is starting to like life more every day. As long as he is moving he is perfectly happy. He slept in his swing for the first two months of his life and we are finally starting to have successful nights with him in the crib. He is still obviously happier in motion though.

Ever since we got the boys the dogs have been wonderful with them. Oscar, however, has continued to surprise me with how gentle and concerned he is with how our boys are. I guess that is a trait that boxers have but it is still super cute. I highley recommend the breed for anyone with small children. I constantly find him curling up next to them and is really happy when Dean attempts to pet him which mostly consist of grabbing his nose and hitting him. Whatever makes him happy!

Isaac

2011-03-20T11:58:00.001-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Quick!

2011-02-24T08:52:00.013-07:00

Both boys are taking naps so if the blog feels a little rushed thats why. I am also going to attempt to eat lunch or shower (maybe both!) durning this blissful moment of quiet so here is a super fast recap of the last couple weeks. I apologize in advance for the many typo's that I am sure you will find:

Bob had a week off work after Isaac was born and the poor thing didn't even find time to shave because he was nursing me back to health and looking after both boys. And I will proudly add that I didn't change a single diaper (Dean's or Isaac's) for 9 days after giving birth. I love you Bob! Here is a look at the stock we keep on hand. We go through about 100+ diapers a week, yes, thats right, a week!

I think Bob really enjoyed his time at home. It was super cute watching him bond with his boys.

I have been loving matching outfits for the boys. The "Mommy" one I wasn't able to get a picture of both before Isaac leaked out of it. Gotta be quicker next time...

One of my favorite things to do is give the boys baths. Dean hated his first one but Isaac was very calmed by the warm water.

And of course Dean loves them now. Can you count the rolls?

Dean was also introduced to his booster seat and rice cereal after we got home with Isaac. I don't know how much he is actually swallowing but he does enjoys it.

Having a little brother around sure is hard work! Everyone has enjoyed taking naps...

Now to fill you in on Isaac: Dean was and still is such an easy baby that I forgot that babies can be fussy sometimes. Isaac is definitely more challenging but I am learning the tricks. The first is that I'm not aloud to eat green chili for a while. It is something that I LOVE about NM but Isaac doesn't agree. Second is that as long as he is cuddling with someone or in his swing he will sleep. Bob and I invested in some rechargeable batteries because that swing is running day and night! Here are some pics of Isaac and the beautiful blankets that that Great-Grandma Brough made for him. I had to do a photo shoot because he looked so cute wrapped up in it.

I love watching the boys watch each other and I can't wait till they get old enough to play with each other.This picture warms my heart every time I look at it. Dean just seems thrilled to have his little brother there and I hope they always feel this way about one another.

Oh, Brother!

2011-02-09T14:07:00.004-07:00

Monday was our first night at home with our two sons. We have been absolutely amazed at how huge Dean has gotten. He will be four months old on Friday and Isaac is four days old today. Here are a few pictures of their first few days together.

Separation Anxiety

2011-02-06T21:31:00.005-07:00

We are getting ready to spend our 3rd night in the hospital away from Dean and both Emily and I are are missing our little guy like crazy. He's staying at Emily's sister, Natalie's house with her husband and four kids. We have no doubt that he is being very well taken care of and entertained by his cousins, but we can't help but miss him. This is the first time we've ever left him with anyone, for any length of time. Thank you Aries for your help! We just spent some time looking at the videos and pictures we have of Dean and we can't wait to be at home with both of our little men. Here's a video we've taken recently that has helped us cope during this difficult time (of being away from Dean).

Isaac Is Here!

2011-02-06T13:10:00.006-07:00

Yesterday afternoon Emily and I welcomed Isaac David into our growing family. He was born at 4:02pm, weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 19 1/4 inches long. Isaac has beautiful blue eyes, golden blonde hair and really cute lips that Em just can't get over.

Here are a few pictures from his first 24 hours:

Isaac's first visitors were Emily's parents and her brother, Matt.

Nothing is better than cuddles with Mom...

...or Dad

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

2010-12-26T16:07:00.012-07:00

We know every parent thinks this, but Emily has been reading a lot of child development books and we've come to the conclusion that Dean is the cutest baby ever and that he is also highly intelligent. Oh, and just to rub it in he's been sleeping for at least eight hours every night since he was seven weeks old. Here are a few (a lot of) pictures of our little man since our last blog about him.

He's been to a few choir concerts and is the best behaved baby there.

We have officially been inducted into the parent club. Dean went through a little phase where he would save up his poops and have one huge blowout every few days. We had no choice, but to strip him down and throw him in the sink.

For Halloween Dean and Baby February went as pumpkins, Emily was my fertile garden and I was Farmer Bob, the Pumpkin Farmer.

This is an outfit my Aunt Nancy gave the boys...there's a matching on for February when he rolls around.

He loves bath time now...

...and he puts himself to bed at night.

He loves "hugging his brother" and is going to be slightly disappointed when Emily's belly disappears in a few weeks.

We got him this toy when he was about six weeks old. He immediately started batting at it and talking to it which made us feel like we had neglected him just a little.

"What did you say to me?!"

This is the rocking chair Em received for her birthday at the end of November and since then Dean (and February) have spent many hours there and I'm sure it will continue to be very well used.

When Dean is hungry he will latch onto just about anything...

Take a close look because this is one of the only times we've caught him crying.

Here are a few cute Christmas pics. We can't believe that by this time next year he will be running around getting into everything and his brother won't be too far behind...

Here's a funny video of Dean talking. This was several weeks ago and he's getting to be even more expressive now. Hopefully it won't take us two months between now and our next post.

Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)

2010-12-11T15:19:00.011-07:00

I thought today would be a fitting day to send a shout-out to my wonderful wife since it was seven years ago today that we went on our first date. I'm pretty sure she still likes me, too. I've always thought she was awesome, but I have gained a new appreciation for her since Dean arrived and throughout her pregnancy. She is an amazing mom!

Speaking of this thing called pregnancy (and the fact that this blog post is all about her) here are a few belly shots:

Before She Started to Show

18 Weeks--Just a Little Bump

21 Weeks

23 Weeks

29 Weeks

32 Weeks

Now, at the risk of sounding a little sappy I want to dedicate a song to my wife. However, please don't think I'm insensitive or anything for the song selection. I promise she actually likes it when I sing this to her. After all, she has turned into a big girl over the last few weeks. Love you, Em!

Dean

2010-10-28T22:07:00.001-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Spilling the Beans

2010-08-12T19:12:00.004-06:00

I'll get right to it. We are having two babies, but they're not technically twins. Confused yet? Let me explain...

Part I: Most of our readers know that we have been approved to adopt for about a year now. It's been an interesting journey learning about the various aspects of adoption and how in a lot of ways adoption is misunderstood. About 2 1/2 months ago we were contacted by a Birth Mother who started off asking a few questions about us and before we knew it (quite a few emails later) she said that she wanted us to adopt her child. Over the past few months as we have corresponded with our Birth Mother we have grown to love and respect her for the tough decision she's making. She is a truly amazing person and getting to know her has been a real life-changing experience for us. She has taught us that the heart of adoption is love. We can't wait to welcome this boy into our home in October. Did you catch that? It's a boy! And he's due in

October!

Part II: As if it wasn't a crazy enough day for us--we found out that were expecting on the same day our Birth Mother told us she wanted us to be the ones who adopted her baby. (We know, it's ironic) Our Birth Mother made the decision that if we were okay with having two children so close together in age that she was okay with us still adoption Baby October (that's what we call him). I'm sure you want to know what we are calling Baby #2, huh? We don't know the gender yet, but we call #2 'Baby February' or just 'February' for short.

A day or two after we found out all of this exciting news Emily went to Panda Express and her fortune was very fitting. Here's a pic of what it looks like hanging on our fridge:

We hang all of our ultrasounds on our fridge and the one pictured is from 11 weeks. Today we are at 15 weeks. Just in case you can't see the fortune very well, it says: "A sudden change in plans will lead to good fortune." That's exactly how we feel...

Outer Banks

2010-08-09T20:02:00.008-06:00

After driving through the night we arrived in Raleigh, NC on Sunday morning at about 9am. We arrived at just the right time to be able to caravan with Emily's family to Outer Banks, NC. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Outer Banks--it's a group of barrier islands just off the coast of North Carolina that stretches for roughly 200 miles. Here's a pic for those who are visual learners.

Historically the area is known for being the place where the Wright Brothers achieved their first flight (it actually occurred in Kill Devil Hills, NOT Kitty Hawk). Also, nearby Roanoke Island is the place where the 'Lost Colony' mysteriously vanished in 1587. For those romance novel lovers--Nicholas Sparks lives near Outer Banks and many of his novels are set there. He's the guy that wrote The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Dear John, Nights at Rodanthe, etc.

Emily's parents rented this awesome beach within walking distance of the beach.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse near Corolla

Hanging out with Bam-Pa!

We saw a few people crabbing--they used raw chicken breasts as bait.

It worked!

Back at the beach Matt caught plenty of crabs without bait...

I think the girls were checking out a rooster

My cute bride wave watching with Ceilidh

Sarah (Emily's neice) and Andy (Emily's uncle) came with us on a kayak trip on the Alligator River. We saw a lot of wildlife, but no alligators.

The only thing better than wearing flip flops all week was wearing flip flops while eating flip-flop-shaped cookies. Thanks, Andy!

The Wright Brother's Monument

Matt and Cameron flying kites near the Wright Brother's Monument

Sarah practically lived in the water. She only got out to eat and sleep. The jellyfish didn't even keep her out of the water!

Why use a spoon when your face is right there?

Em just loves the beach. Sometimes I feel guilty that we don't live a little closer to the ocean.

When we got up to leave on Sunday morning we found that we had been tagged. We love you, too! Apparently Emily didn't ask to take off work, she just called in and said she was really sick.

Here we are! Thanks for making it such an awesome and memorable trip, Jewell's!

If you want to see more pics of our trip, check out this link:

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1881885028/a=3550255028_3550255028/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Six Years!

2010-08-09T19:31:00.004-06:00

On our way to North Carolina to spend a week with Emily's family, Em and I decided to stop by Arkansas and celebrate our anniversary. We didn't just randomly pick Arkansas, either. I lived in there for seven years or so and that's where I graduated from High School.

On a side note--there is a fitting Anniversary-related quote on our quote board (look to the right-hand side of the blog) "I can't believe it! She's still with you." Yeah, I can't either, Bry.

We left Albuquerque on Friday, July 23rd and drove to Gentry, Arkansas. We found a cute Bed and Breakfast there called the Apple Crest Inn. Here are some pics...

That evening we went to a nearby restaurant called the Wooden Spoon which is run by the Mennonite women in the area. It was awesome home-cooked goodness! If you are in NW Arkansas it is worth a detour to eat there.

On Saturday (our 6 year anniversary!) we got up and drove to Central Arkansas, spent the afternoon visiting with old friends, and eating some great food. Those fans of Man vs. Food might have heard of a little place in Cabot, AR (where I used to live) called the Mean Pig BBQ. We ate there for lunch. It would have been nice to spend a little bit longer there, but we just had to get to the beach! After eating some awesome dinner with great company (thanks Brother and Sister Williams!) we left Central AR at about 8pm Saturday evening and drove straight through the night so we could make it to Raleigh, NC.

P.S. If anyone is looking at buying a bed and breakfast, the Apple Crest is for sale.

Alaska Trip: July 3rd

2010-07-17T08:08:00.000-06:00

Last Summer Emily left me for a couple of weeks to spend some time in Alaska. This time I decided to go with her. We left after work on July 2nd and arrived in Fairbanks late at night...or maybe it was early morning. It's light pretty much all the time right now in Alaska which threw us off the whole time we were there.

A major highlight of the trip was getting to hang out with my mom, my two brothers (Mike and Nick) and Mike's wife, Melissa. Oh, and Emily.

Another bonus was that the airline misplaced our luggage so after traveling for 12+ hours we didn't have any toiletries or clothes when we arrived. After arriving in Fairbanks we went to my parents condo and slept for a few hours before heading out to see some sights. Our luggage had arrived by the time we woke up.

Our first stop was the Tanana Valley Farmer's Market. Don't worry if you can't pronounce the word 'Tanana.' I spent four days in the Tanana Valley and I have no idea how to pronounce it.

Em, M&M at the Farmer's Market waiting for...

Popcorn!

Afterwards we headed out to see a portion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The pipeline carries 42 million gallons (or 1 Million Barrels) of oil every day. While we're on the topic of oil I thought I'd mention that the Gulf Oil Spill was spewing less than 1/10th of that at it's worst point. It makes me hope that the Alaska Pipeline has a shut-off valve or something...

These types of signs about the sunrise and sunset were common to see around town.

We just had to stop in for a little treat at the Fudge Pot...

Alaska Trip: July 4th

2010-07-17T08:07:00.000-06:00

Mom's dogs, Ziggy and Zeus caught on really quick that I am a dog lover. And what are dogs for if they don't get your church clothes hairy before you go to church?

I've got an interesting 'fact,' but I'll tell you my source and then you can decide if it's reliable enough to repeat next time you need an interesting Alaska fact. It was painted on the wall in the Fudge Pot: One in ten earthquakes in the world occur in Alaska.

Alaska Trip: July 5th

2010-07-17T08:06:00.000-06:00

Monday was a busy day. Here's what we did:

Checked out The Great Alaskan Bowl Company
Walked around the University of Alaska-Fairbanks where Nick goes to school
We went to the University of Alaska Museum which had a lot of cool exhibits about the history and wildlife of the area.
After that we drove out to the nearby Knotty Shop in the town of Salcha
Then it was off to Santa's house in North Pole.

Here are the pics...

Bowl makers

Some of the hundreds (thousands?) of bowls on display.

These guys were hanging out at the Large Animal Research Center at the University

Nick, there's something behind you...

A couple of Santa's reindeer

Our next little bit of trivia: Reindeer are actually domesticated caribou.

Alaska Trip: July 6th

2010-07-17T08:05:00.000-06:00

Our first stop was to the Alaska Raw Fur Company which was a combination of cool and creepy.

Emily discovered just how soft chinchilla fur is

We took Ziggy and Zeus with us for a lot of our outings and every once in a while we were nice and we let them run around. This is Ziggy.

Later in the day we went on the Riverboat Discovery

We made a stop at the late Susan Butcher's house (4-time Iditarod winner) where her widower and children still raise and race dogs--even in the summer. Here's a team of dogs pulling an engine-less 4 wheeler.

Taking a break...

We watched this plane take off and land in the water several times.

We got to stop and walk around the Chena Indian Village and learn things about the natives. Like how they dried and smoked fish both for themselves and their dogs to eat.

Emily would be sad if I didn't share a picture of this cutie with everyone

That evening we went to the Alaska Salmon Bake which has been serving up some great food for 30 years. The buffet included a really good salad bar, prime rib, grilled salmon (of course), and beer-battered cod and halibut. Also included was some fabulous company!

Alaska Trip: July 7th

2010-07-17T08:04:00.000-06:00

Wednesday was our trip to Denali National Park. Mt. McKinley (or 'Denali' as the natives call it) is the tallest peak in North America. We had the privilege of actually seeing Denali which we hear only about 30% of visitors get to see. One of the best views we got of 'the Mountain' was before we reached the park.

Another sledding demonstration. This time with people.

Then with dogs

We decided to walk back to the visitor's center before our bus tour. The walk was beautiful.

Denali on the bus tour...

Emily enjoys seeming moose. We saw this momma and not just one calf, but two.

Alaska Trip: July 8th

2010-07-17T08:03:00.000-06:00

Hmmm...the only thing I've got on my camera from this day is flowers. We spent the day driving the rest of the way to Anchorage, going to the Anchorage Temple, and recouping a little bit before Friday's adventure...

Alaska Trip: July 9th

2010-07-17T08:02:00.000-06:00

We left Anchorage Friday morning to drive down to a little town called Whittier. The population of Whittier is less than 200 people. Getting to Whittier was interesting, too. The only way to get there by land is through a one-lane tunnel that traffic going both ways must use, plus trains! To accommodate all of this traffic cars trade off every half-hour going through each way with trains mixed in there somewhere.

Once we arrived in Whittier we grabbed some hot cocoa then we walked around for a while before catching our cruise: The 26 Glacier Cruise. I took WAY too many pictures and have also uploaded way too many pictures to the BBBBlog. I just couldn't resist snapping pictures of some of the most gorgeous scenery in the world. You can find ALL of the pictures I snapped here: http://picasaweb.google.com/BobBruff/Alaska2010Pics?authkey=Gv1sRgCLu_yb3--ZmjnQE#

You should be able to click on the pictures to view them in a bigger size.

Apparently dogs in Whittier aren't supposed to poop

Alaska Trip: July 10th

2010-07-17T08:01:00.000-06:00

Saturday we drove around Anchorage and saw a few things, most of which isn't too BBBBlog-worthy. We did go on a nice little hike to a waterfall. After the hike we went to eat at a restaurant in Anchorage called the Moose's Tooth which is a favorite among locals. They serve pizza and we waited for 1 1/2 hours to be seated, but in the end we all felt like it was worth it. The pizza was that good.

It seems like everything is bigger in Alaska (sorry Texas)--we know about the mountains, but look at these leaves...

Any guesses on what this is? A swarm of mosquitoes! Mosquitoes, by the way, are MUCH bigger in Alaska.

Yikes!

A little bit of fun with trees...

Emily sure is cute, huh?

Well, that's our trip to Alaska! We had a wonderful time. Thanks Mutti for hosting! You're awesome! Again, if you want to see more pictures look here: http://picasaweb.google.com/BobBruff/Alaska2010Pics?authkey=Gv1sRgCLu_yb3--ZmjnQE#

We Love Dad, Too!

2010-06-17T19:38:00.003-06:00

So, I don't want to copy my sister, but I wanted to also express to my dad that we love him a ton as he celebrates his 58th birthday. I only mention his age because I think he looks pretty good for being an older guy! Anyway, check out Rachel's tribute here: http://englishpatience.blogspot.com/2010/06/birthday-wish.html

We love you, Dad!

Roswell, New Mexico

2010-06-11T14:20:00.010-06:00

Human Population: 45,293

Alien Population: Unknown

I got to go on a little adventure this week. I was expecting to go to Roswell on Sunday night so I could attend some training on Monday. I left Sunday at about 3pm and the training went well. I headed home Monday evening (a three-hour one way trip), but due to a death in the family of one of our employees I had to attend more training in Roswell on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't make it home until Thursday night.

My first thought when I drove into Roswell was that it's actually bigger than I expected. I know 45,000 people isn't a lot, but I thought there were a lot less than that.

My second thought while driving through Roswell was that there are a ton of banks in town. I probably only noticed this because I work for a bank.

I know most people think about aliens and UFOs when they think of Roswell, but there is more to see than just alien-related sites. Who am I kidding? That's the ONLY thing in Roswell. Enough of my rambling, here are some pics:

Other than some pretty scenery there isn't much between Albuquerque and Roswell.

There are two tiny towns between I-40 and Roswell: Encino (population:94) and Vaughn (population: 539). A majority of the buildings along the highway looked like this:

The employees of Comfort Inn made us feel welocme...

Arby's was catering to a different crowd

I guess this one surprised me because normally Wal Mart keeps things pretty uniform.

This copy shop is pretty proud of the fact that they've got aliens laboring away in the back. There were a ton of murals like this around town.

As far as I could see this is the only financial institution in town that has incorporated UFOs or aliens into its official signage.

Ah, the sun setting on my last full day in Roswell. The thing that sucked about this sunset is the fact that I couldn't share it with Emily.

Rake In Town!

2010-05-31T20:06:00.004-06:00

You may remember me blogging about my sister and her husband coming to visit last year. You can read about it here. Rachel and Jake are back in the U.S.A. and they've been staying with us.

Rather than me trying to tell you about their trip I'll just show you a few things they've posted on their blog.

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010
In the USA

We're just hanging out in the USA right now. Jacob's at a class in Mississippi, and I'm at my brother Bob's house in Albuquerque. I've enjoyed spending time with him and his awesome wife Emily and their 3 lively dogs: Deviny, Zeppelin and Oscar (pictured with me above, fancying himself a lap dog).

I also got to see my sister-in-law Micaela and my fabulous nephew Jacob and his equally-fabulous sister Emily. My father-in-law Jim was even in town, and we all had dinner tonight after nephew Jacob's T-ball game.

I've also been working in the office, which has been wonderful! More updates to come...
MONDAY, MAY 31, 2010
New Mexico

Jacob came to Albuquerque for the weekend; it was wonderful to see him, and it was also really fun to visit some of our old favorite places together! One of the things we love most about New Mexico is that my brother Bob and his wife Emily live here. They're fabulous! We're also fond of their dogs. I love this picture of Bob holding Deviny (who is way too big to be held) and Emily laughing in the background.
And then there's the food. Truth be told, it's the real reason Jacob came to Albuquerque for the weekend. :) Here's a carne adovada omelet from Weck's and the world-famous El Pinto nachos.

Hey, this is Bob again. You can read more about Rachel and Jacob's journeys (both here and in Europe) by heading to their blog at http://englishpatience.blogspot.com/

Straight No Chaser

2010-05-22T11:41:00.030-06:00

On Monday, May 10th, Emily and I headed to Santa Fe to see the men's a cappella group, Straight No Chaser. If you don't know who they are you really need to look them up.

We left early so I could do a work-related inspection and so we could have a 'romantic' dinner together at the Plaza Cafe.

The concert was held in the 'historic' Lensic Theater. I'm not sure if something historical happened there or if it's just old.

This is the hallway leading to the restrooms at the theater. I just thought it would make a good picture.

The vocals were amazing and the group was really funny.

A semi caught on fire on I-25 the evening of the concert and our trip home took us 3 1/2 hours--a trip that normally takes 45 minutes. Here's what that looked like:

Here's a video to make you feel better after having to deal with all of that traffic...

Appliances

2010-05-21T22:51:00.005-06:00

Over the past several months our appliances in our kitchen have been doing their best to crap out on us. The following are some pictures of our old and new appliances. Can you guess which are old and which are new?

The installers actually carrying in our fridge...

Easter Funny...I mean, Easter Bunny.

2010-05-21T22:44:00.001-06:00

Painting

2010-05-21T22:16:00.004-06:00

Ever since we moved into our house we have called one of our spare bedrooms the 'blue room.' Surprisingly, we called it the 'blue room' because it was blue. Really, really, blue.

This is Deviny's confused face

We still haven't painted the fan

But here is a splash of one of the new colors in the 'blue room.' We also painted parts of it white.

Hummingbird

2010-05-21T21:10:00.004-06:00

Emily and I have finally come to the realization that what people have been telling us is true: we are terrible bloggers. Actually, let me clarify that we just have a really hard time blogging when we are both in school. Now that at least one of us (me!!!) is done with school I thought I'd work on catching everyone up on what we've done for the last few months...

On March 5th and 6th Emily and took a group of about 40 of her students to a nearby music camp called Hummingbird to work on some of their competition pieces and to have a little bit of fun. Emily and I had an awesome time and I think most of the kids did, too. Oh, and they learned a lot as well.

Troy gets one-on-one time with one of the clinicians.

Streeeeetch. FYI: the three guys in the middle never actually figured out how to bend at the hip.

Time for a break...

...and a hike!

As you can see, the views at Hummingbird were awesome!

Time for more work...

Bus ride!

Invested Here.

2010-04-02T07:33:00.007-06:00

The bank I work for is currently undergoing a re-branding and along with that they are spending a little bit of money on advertising. The name of the bank here in Albuquerque has changed from First Federal Bank to Washington Federal.

Here's are a short ad we will be showing in movie theaters. We've got a bunch of billboards going up here in Albuquerque and we're advertising in the newspaper, radio and on buses, too. If you live in Texas, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon or Washington--be sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled over the next few months for similar adverts.

Bob's New Job

2010-02-08T19:11:00.010-07:00

Most readers of the BBBBlog know that I graduated from UNM in May of 2008 with a Bachelor's Degree in Finance. The Monday after graduation I started work at First Federal Bank as a Commercial Credit Analyst. Basically, when a business wanted a loan from our bank I would analyze the businesses' tax returns and financial statements and help make a decision as to whether or not we should loan them money.

Staring at tax returns and crunching numbers all day long was interesting (for a while), but a few weeks ago another opportunity opened up. The Branch Manager at our branch left unexpectedly and my boss told me that he wanted me to apply for the job. There are several aspects of this job that I don't have any experience with, including working with deposits, producing loans, and managing workers, but I feel like it could be a very good experience for me.

Well, I've just completed my first full week as the newest Branch Manager at the First Federal Bank. It was a crazy first week on the job--our deposits were up 22% and I'd like to take all the credit for the deposit growth, but most of it has to do with the awesome employees we have at the branch and a recent bank failure in Albuquerque that has driven a lot of deposits our way.

On a related note, First Federal has now been owned by Washington Federal Savings for three years and we are finally going to be changing our name over. I'll keep you posted (with pictures) as we get new paint and new signs at the branch.

I've got a lot to learn over the next few weeks and months, but I'm really excited for the opportunity and the challenge. Let me know if any of you need a CD, a checking account or if you need a mortgage loan!

2009-12-31T23:10:00.002-07:00

The following posts are just a few pictures we failed to post over the last several months.

I Made an Apple Pie!!!

2009-12-31T23:07:00.001-07:00

2009-12-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

Balloon Fiesta

2009-12-31T22:46:00.006-07:00

Mike and Melissa (my older brother and his wife) came to Albuquerque in October to spend a few days and to attend Balloon Fiesta. You can see M&Ms post about their trip here. Check out a few of our pics that we never posted...

More Alaska Pics

2009-12-31T22:29:00.007-07:00

Our Lawn

2009-09-26T12:03:00.003-06:00

We've been through a lot this Spring and Summer with our back lawn. I'll give you the short version of the story...

Once upon a time Bobily bought their first house and they loved it! If you don't believe me, just look at this post. Pay particular attention to the last 3 pictures on the post. Well, from the time we moved into the house until Spring of this year we tried to maintain and improve our green lawn.

Enter an unnamed utility company that was given the job of doing underground work in our neighborhood. Here's what they helped us do:

1. They dug a trench down the center of our lawn (we didn't know this was going to happen) which contributed to the our new grass seeds' stunted growth--at least in the area where the trench was.

2. They broke a sprinkler line.

3. They didn't tell us about the line break.

4. They buried the line break so we couldn't see the problem.

After a while we noticed that our grass was dying. By the time we discovered the problem it was already too late. When the sprinkler line broke it caused the whole sprinkler line on one side of our lawn to loose pressure so that most of the lawn didn't get any water.

Here's what it looked like

We spoke to the unnamed utility company numerous times and here's what they did (or didn't do):

5. They came out and fixed the sprinkler line.

6. They refused to compensate us for the dead grass even though them not telling us our line was broken was pretty much the cause of the dead grass.

Anyway, I spent a good chunk of my Labor Day reseeding. I tilled, added soil & compost, seeded, covered the seed with peat moss. Here's what it looks like so far (less than 3 weeks later):

The Post Compost Post

2009-09-26T11:52:00.003-06:00

I thought I'd write a quick post to update our readers on how the composting went over the Summer. It actually went pretty well. We have been trying to revive our lawn after a very rough Spring (long story) and we used our "home-grown" compost the help us out. We didn't use any manure in our compost or gardening over the Summer, but maybe next time. On second thought, maybe not. Here are a few pictures of our composted compost--remember while looking at the pics that if composting is done correctly it shouldn't be stinky. In fact, if you compost pile stinks it's an indication that something is a little out of whack and needs to be fixed.

August 2nd and 3rd

2009-08-27T20:00:00.011-06:00

Sunday we took it slow. We went to church and then did some service cleaning up at one of Mutti's friend's house that is out of town. We watched "P.S. I Love You" that night and if you haven't seen it you need to.

Monday was full of fun. It was Mutti's birthday and we packed it full. First we drove up to the Knotty Shop which is a great little store just outside of Fairbanks. I got a cute sign made out of wood that said "My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am" and a couple birthday/Christmas presents.
Next, we went to Santa house in North Pole, Alaska. Unfortunately, Santa was off for the day and left a little note telling us when he would be back.
I got to sit in Santa's sled and there were even a few reindeer that were hanging outside. I think the one in the picture was Prancer.The whole town was decorated with candy canes and Christmas decorations even though it was only August. Even the Wendys was getting in on the North Pole bit. Then we left and went to have tea at Phillis'. She is a friend of Muttis and it was a really nice visit with yummy treats.

August 1st

2009-08-27T19:46:00.006-06:00

Today we got up and went to the local farmers market. There was a ton of pretty jewelry, good food and fun booths. I bought some yummy soaps made out of goats milk and really had fun looking around at everything. We also went to check out an artwork display that one of Mutti's friends was doing. In the evening we went to the Great Alaska Salmon Bake. Yes, it was as wonderful as it sounds. It was all you can eat salmon, halibut, cod and prime rib as well as an amazing salad bar, dessert bar and drinks. YUMMY! I was in heaven.

July 31st

2009-08-27T19:12:00.008-06:00

This morning we went to do one of my favorite things: Raspberry Picking! One of Mutti's (my mother-in-law) friends had a bunch of bushes by her house and we spent the morning avoiding the bees as we picked. There are a lot of bees because of the gorgeous flowers but they didn't mind sharing.

(Raspberry bushes)

We also went to a couple local shops. The Alaska Bowl company and the Alaska raw fur company. They had the softest teddy bear made out of beaver fur. I'm serious, I have never felt anything so soft. I didn't even know there could be something so soft. I couldn't stop petting it and it would have come home with me but I wasn't willing to pay $80 for a stuffed animal- All though I had to admit that I was seriously considering it.

I have also been enjoying the local fire weed that grows wild all over Fairbanks.

Amazing flowers

2009-08-27T17:50:00.007-06:00

One of the first things I notice when I got to Alaska was how beautiful all the flowers were. Everyone has huge hanging baskets outside their home and they are sooo big! They get this way because of all the extra sunlight and the beautiful weather. Here are some pictures to enjoy-

July 29th

2009-08-27T17:31:00.004-06:00

Thursday we got to sleep in a little, then we explored Fairbanks Alaska. Its about 300 miles north of Anchorage and there are about 35,000 people that live in the city. There is an Army base there and I have a feeling that is where a lot of the population comes from. We went shopping at P.X. and commissary to stock up on food and then hung out for the evening. I got to chat and catch up with Nick (Bob's brother) in the evening and I was amazed when I looked at the clock and found out it was 10 at night. Here's what it looked like outside:

Better late than never July 29th

2009-08-27T17:22:00.003-06:00

So after Bob dropped us off in the airport we had to sit and wait for the plane. The plane rides went smoothly and there were no delays. The only sad thing was that Mutti had her lime curd in her carry on and they made her mail it home. We had to switch plans in Seattle and got to Fairbanks Alaska at about 2 am Thursday morning. The most amazing this was that it was light outside and felt like right before sunrise instead of the middle of the night. I also had my first wildlife sighting on the way back from the airport-a fox!

July 28th & 29th: Wrappin Up Our Trip

2009-07-30T21:57:00.003-06:00

After we checked out of the B&B we went to the St. George Temple with my parents. It was a nice experience to be there with my parents and my amazing wife.

We then went to lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. FYI: Ruby Tuesday's has the BEST flavored lemonades. Go get some! They have a pretty good salad bar, too.

We did some more shopping that afternoon before heading back the the Brian & Kim Brough Bed & Breakfast (aka B&K B B&B) to spend the night. They fed us a wonderful meal--lasagne is my favorite!

Emily and I went that evening to watch another production at Tuacahn. Unfortunately we didn't get to watch all of Footloose due to incliment weather. We made it through the whole first act and only one song of the second act before they cancelled the show. We were disappointed that we didn't get to see the rest of the show, but the lightning show sure was pretty!

Wednesday morning we got up and picked up my mom (she was staying with her parents). I drove to Las Vegas and dropped my mom and Emily off at the airport before beginning the long drive back to Albuquerque. Emily is spending almost two weeks in Alaska with my parents. Stay tuned to the BBBBlog for updates from Alaska...

July 27th & 28th: We Finally Got To Celebrate Our Anniversary

2009-07-30T21:11:00.004-06:00

We spent Sunday night with Joye and Kim and on Monday morning we got up and did some shopping in Salt Lake (at the LDS Distribution Center) and then we took an interesting tour of the LDS Humanitarian Center.

Monday afternoon we drove back to St. George, but instead of staying with Brian and Kim we decided to spend the night at a Bed and Breakfast called the Seven Wives Inn. I know it's not the best name I could think of, but it had what we were lookng for. Spending the night in a tent with my parents wasn't exactly the type of romantic getaway we were looking for on our Anniversary which is why we decided to go for a B&B. My mom and dad actually stayed at the Seven Wives Inn back in the 80s and they were surprised to hear that it was still around and under the same name. Here are some pics from the SWI website.

Here are a couple of pics from our room: Julia

Pics from some of the other rooms...

Yes, this is a Jacuzzi tub built inside a 1927 Model T Ford!

The SWI might just become one of our favorite get-aways when we're in southern Utah.

July 26th: Temple Square on Sunday

2009-07-30T20:51:00.006-06:00

Sunday morning we headed to Temple Square to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's performance of The Music & the Spoken Word. It was really cool to be in the Conference Center and to hear such a large (and talented) choir perform.

Sunday evening we hung out with my cousin Janalynne (Joye's daughter) and her family. We also took a very educational (and fun) trip to see some elk that Kim owns.

July 25th: The Rodeo

2009-07-30T20:13:00.009-06:00

After finishing up at the Terry Reunion on the 25th, Emily and I headed to West Jordan to stay with my mom's sister, Joye, and her husband Kim. They were kind enough to take us to Red Lobster and to the Days of '47 Rodeo at the E Center in Salt Lake (technically it's in West Valley City). This was Emily's first rodeo and the first time I went to a PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) rodeo. Emily couldn't stop talking about how much fun she had at the rodeo and we have already started scoping out PRCA events in the future that we can attend. Here are some pics and videos.

July 24th-25th: Our Anniversary and the Terry Reunion

2009-07-30T19:47:00.006-06:00

We got up Friday morning (the day of our 5th Anniversary) and headed to Nine Mile Canyon near Price, Utah for a reunion with my dad's side of the family. There were a total of 123 people at the reunion. FYI: I haven't been to a Terry Reunion in quite a few years and I don't think I could tell you who all the people that were there.

"I want a Dr. Pepper that big!" ~Emily

Grandma Terry, her ten kids and their spouses. Grandpa Terry passed away 30 years ago and we were celebrating his 101st birthday at the reunion.

July 23rd: The Narrows

2009-07-30T19:17:00.003-06:00

On July 23rd we got up and all had breakfast at Grandma's house. The baked french toast was awesome!

Afterwards we headed to Zion National Park to hike the Narrows. The Narrows hike is one of the most unique hikes you can experience. The total hike is 16 miles long, but we didn't do the whole thing.

You can't hike very far up the Narrows without getting your feet wet. In fact, you're often hiking in waist-high water.

Driving to the Narrows

Getting our feet wet

The wildlife really enjoys having hikers around. So much for not feeding the animals.

Lots of rocks to climb...

I bet Cannon would tell you that dinner was just as good as breakfast and lunch. I sure think it was.

July 22nd: Lots of Driving, Lots of Fun

2009-07-30T18:02:00.004-06:00

On the morning of July 22nd Emily and I left our house at about 5:45 to begin a 9-hour trip from Albuquerque to St. George, UT. After arriving in St. George we had a few hours to kill until the Broughs (my mom's side of the family) got together for some pizza. After dinner some of the family went to the nearby Tuacahn Ampatheatre to see a production of Annie.

For those of you who are not familiar with Tuacahn, let me give you some info (and pictures).

Tuacahn is an outdoor theatre nestled in a gorgeous red rock canyon just outside St. George (about an hour and a half from Las Vegas). The cliffs stretch 1500 ft high. The theatre puts on multiple productions throughout the year so if you're ever in the area we highly recommend checking out their schedule and going to a show.

The theatre seats 1920 people and on the 42,000 square foot complex there is also a 330 seat indoor theater, a dance studio, a black-box theater, a recital hall, a costume shop and scene shop, studios, classrooms, and a gift shop. Tuacahn is also the home of a public performing arts charter school. Emily knows what she's talking about when it comes to musicals and she thinks Tuacahn does a great job. Just ask her. Click here to learn more about Tuacahn.

Can you spot any family members in this pic?

We spent the night at Brian and Kim's (my mom's brother and his wife) in Santa Clara that evening. It was a great touch to arrive and see actual mints on our pillows. Brian and Kim have four kids that are a lot of fun to hang out with!

Can this possibly be comfortable?

2009-07-17T07:41:00.003-06:00

Emily and I were doing some reading last night before we turned out the lights and we looked over to find Oscar sleeping like this:

Sarah's Visit

2009-07-10T22:00:00.004-06:00

Emily's neice Sarah is spending the night with us tonight. Earlier this evening we went to the BounceU and had a ton of fun! For those of you who don't know, BounceU is a great place for kids of all ages (including 27 year olds like myself) to have fun and get some excercise. There are huge inflatable toys and bouncy games and slides all over the place. It's sort of hard to explain so here's their website. Check it out, go, and have fun! http://bounceu.com/

When we got home Emily and Sarah made mint chocolate chip milk shakes. They were just going to have ice cream, but decided to do the shakes instead. I guess they had already gotten ice cream in their bowls and didn't want to dirty any more dishes. That's why they're drinking their shakes out of bowls.

We are now watching a movie called Akeelah and the Bee. It's a great movie about a girl from South L.A. trying to break down socioeconomic and racial barriers to make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. We definitely recommend it. In fact, we'll let you borrow it if you want to watch it!

If we do anything fun tomorrow we might just have to blog again about Sarah's visit.e

Mutti's Visit

2009-07-10T21:24:00.005-06:00

Mutti (my mom) came to stay with us for a week and we were so excited to have her! The week was spent mostly just hanging out with each other and eating some really good food. We were so busy having fun that we let her leave with her camera before we got some of the pictures off of it from her trip. We do have some pictures here, but we will post the rest of the pictures of her trip in a few weeks as soon as we get them from her.

Mutti's nachos from El Pinto. It's just a half order. If it was a full order we'd still be eating the leftovers!

Emily's taco salad from El Pinto. Yum!

Bobily after dinner at El Pinto. We realized that we don't have very many recent pictures of us.

Bobily at the Albuquerque Temple after going through a session with Mutti.

Me and Mutti at the Temple

Mutti watching Deviny and Oscar eat each other

Oscar giving me some 'ruv'

We didn't want Zeppelin to feel left out--here's a pic of him. Oh, and those are some cute piggies, Emily!

Another picture of us at the Temple.

Mutti, thanks for coming to stay with us! You're welcome back any time!

Arizona

2009-06-27T10:58:00.003-06:00

Last week we went to Arizona to spend time with the Broughs (my mom's side of the family). One of my cousins, Zach, just got home from his mission in Brazil. We had a great time, but we didn't really take many pictures. We were having too much fun soaking up the sun.

Emily dipping her feet in the pool.

Bobily enjoying each others company (poolside).

We do love the Broughs...and ice cream cake.

Monsoon Season!

2009-06-27T10:42:00.004-06:00

People new to New Mexico or those who have never been here might laugh when they hear that there is actually a New Mexico monsoon season. This rainy season lasts from June 15-September 30th. Here are a few pics of our recent monsoon storm.

The storm only lasted about 10 minutes, but that was enough to flood our backyard and patio.

Memorial Day

2009-06-04T11:45:00.007-06:00

Memorial Day in the U.S. often signifies the beginning of Summer. School kids are most definitely excited for the holiday, but I think teachers are even more excited. For them it means a nice long break from the classroom. It was a stressful first year of teaching for Emily and so for her Memorial Day was all about relaxing. In the mountains. With our dogs. And me! Here are a few pictures:

Setting up Camp. We got to break in our new tent which came complete with a closet and a loft. Seriously.

Our puppies love camping!

Chillin' and Grillin'. Deviny is never too far from the food. Mmmmm...salmon!

Maybe we should've sensored this one? Deviny wants to know how Oscar can sleep like that. So do I.

Zeppelin and Emily really like reading together.

This picture could probably go in a Saturn commercial, right?

The Compost Post

2009-05-17T15:27:00.004-06:00

Those who know us well know that we enjoy gardening and green things. In fact, one of the major reasons we bought the house we did was because of the many flowerbeds and lawns (or potential lawns) in both the front and back. Emily LOVES growing flowers and I'm holding out for the day when we start growing vegetables. I LOVE veggies!

Ever since we bought a house we have talked about composting to help our garden become more "green" (in more ways than one). Some stores sell composters, but most are well over $100.

That's been more green than we've wanted to spend to become "green," especially when the composting is somewhat experimental for us.

If you aren't familiar with composting click here for a Wikipedia article explaining it in a little more detail.

A few weeks ago I learned that composting can be done in a makeshift compost bin made from a garbage bin. I took my trusty drill and drilled a bunch of holes in my $10 garbage bin (it was made from 100% recycled plastic) and added the necessary ingredients.

For those of you who aren't familiar with composting (and didn't look at the Wikipedia link

above), composting requires 4 important elements:

1. Browns (carbon-rich materials) such as wood, cardboard, newspapers, leaves, lint or even hair.

2. Greens(nitrogen-rich materials), including grass clippings, carrot peels and other kitchen waste.

3. Water--just enough to make the browns and greens as damp as a wrung-out sponge.

4. Oxygen--this is the reason I drilled a bunch of holes in the garbage bin.

Now we turn the contents weekly and wait for the end result: compost. And just in case you're still wondering, compost basically a super-organic fertilizer. Or something like that.

I'm going to Alaska!!!

2009-05-12T19:08:00.007-06:00

Yep! You heard me. For mothers day I called Mutti (Bob's mom-its German for mother) and told her that I would like to plan a trip to come and see her. Like I said in the last blog Bob doesn't have that much time off so I will be going by myself. I am sure some of you are scratching your heads trying to figure out what sane woman would be doing spending 2 weeks with her in laws without her husband even there. That's because you don't know my in-laws. I have always been very close with my mother-in-law and am thrilled that I will be able to go up and play with her for two weeks in Alaska after not seeing her for so long. She moved up there about two years ago and I have missed her terribly.

Another exciting thing about this trip is that I am in love with salmon and they have lots up there (it is their state fish).I plan on eating more then my fair share while I am up there. It is making me salivate just thinking about it....

Another good thing is that I am planning on being up there in the end of July and early August. It is not too cold at that point and will actually be nice after a hot summer here. The highs are in the mid forty's and the low is in the thirty's. Even this summer girl can handle that for a couple weeks. I told Mutti that Christmas was out the question when she moved up there. I really don't do cold very well.

I love you Mutti and will see you soon!

Summer Visits

2009-05-01T17:45:00.002-06:00

I (Emily) have decided that the coolest thing about teaching is that I get 2 1/2 months off work in the summer but the pay checks still come in. Its amazing and makes the stress during the school year sooo worth it. So I would like to invite myself over to your place durning the summer if you want me. I love road trips and never get many chances to see family and friends. So, if you want a visiter this summer drop me a line and let me know. Bob doesn't get that much time off so he might not be able to come but I still will. Also, if you know of any cool day trips or weekend trips from Albuquerque let me know those too. I am itching to get away and will probably be willing to go anywhere, anyone recommends. Literally!

more info on Oscar

2009-04-29T18:17:00.003-06:00

About two weeks ago we heard that this cute 10 week old boxer/pitt bull mix needed a home. We were not looking for another dog but couldn't resist. Boxers are really smart and great family dogs and we have loved our pitt mix, Deviny. He gets along so well with her and Zeppelin and is really a sweet puppy. We picked his name because he is a boxer and there is a famous boxer named Oscar De La Hoya. We also thought that "Oscar the Boxer" sounded really cute.
The potty training has been a challenge but I really think he is trying and starting to learn. We have also learned that if we don't walk him in the evening he has a hard time sleeping through the night. Still alot of puppy energy I guess. We are working on fattening him up because his previous owners wernt feeding him enough. Keep us in your prayers for getting pregnant because we might end up with more puppies to satistfy my needs for cute little things to cuddle if we don't!

Update

2009-04-29T17:59:00.003-06:00

I (Emily) figured it was about time that I filled everybody in on my job situation. As most of you know I have been teaching at two high schools this year and it has been really stressful trying to juggle both. I just recently had both high schools offer me full time next year. I have accepted the position at Del Norte. The program over there is really growing. My first day in class I had 1 choir made up of 18 kids. Now I have almost 40 in my choir with almost 100 signed up for choir next year. I have had so much fun over there with very little stress. La Cueva (the other school I have been at) has been very stressful this year. It is a very time consuming program and the students and parents have had a very hard time adjusting. I have loved my administration and co-workers over there but it just isn't worth the stress. I have put my poor husband and health in second place way to many times this year to want to do it again. I just told my students at both schools today. I wanted to wait till the end of the year but La Cueva has already posted the job on line and some students saw it and started talking.
Another excited thing about Del Norte is the classes that I will teach. Right now they are talking about 3 choirs, an orchestra, and a dance class. The orchestra hasn't really existed this year so they will mostly be beginners and I can learn along with them in a lot of ways. I took some classes in college so I know the basics and I am really excited to learn more. The dance class I am thrilled about because it will keep me in shape and help keep stress down. The only excercise I have had time for this year are occasional walks with my dogs. O.k, not occasional, rare (Sorry puppies!). I am going to look into class in strings and dance for this summer/fall to keep me learning and maybe even start my masters while I am at it. I really miss taking classes and want to go back. I know that I am in a classroom all day but its different.

Rio Grande Distributors

2009-04-22T09:16:00.002-06:00

I did a little bit of experimenting a while back and set up a website for Rio Grande Distributors, the candle company Emily owns and operates. I help a little with the operations. Anyway, I wanted you guys to see it. Keep in mind the site is not fully-functional yet. Here's the link (save it!):

http://sites.google.com/site/riograndedistributors/

Emily's...oops, I mean Bob's Birthday Gift

2009-04-20T12:29:00.004-06:00

This post is to thank all those who chipped in with either money or accessories so that Emily could buy herself...so that Emily could buy me a grill for my birthday. It really was a gift for both of us since Em pretty much likes anything from off the grill. And now that it's BBQ season we are grilling several times a week. Yum!

Here are some pics. Please don't drool on your keyboard.