Jack, Sausha and soon, Baby Esther

24 weeks and we finally found out that we will be having a baby girl! We are very excited, and she looked healthy and seems to be developing correctly. Yeah for babies!

An Ode to the People I Love

The following was written over a year ago. I could blame how nostalgic and sentimental it is on the fact that I was pregnant when I wrote it, but the fact of the matter is I am quite nostalgic and sentimental all of the time.

Do you ever look at pictures from your life and feel extremely grateful for the people who surround you? I do. Life tends to lead lives together and apart, but the gratitude and love that I feel for people who I may not see as often as years past never changes. Here are a few of my favorites…

Friends! There are so many people who fall into this category who aren’t pictured here, but here are a few of the women I love and admire. Growing up sometimes implies growing unintentionally apart from people with whom you’ve shared your life. Even though I don’t see my friends (old or new) as much as I once may have, I think about them daily, and pray for them often. If you are my friend, thank you for being a part of my life.

Mom. This is a mother that few remember, maybe just 5 adults who had the opportunity to call her mom. This mom was not ill, but energetic and capable. This is a mom who made cookies, built forts and made her children feel loved. This is a mom who was independent and strong. I wish more people had known or could remember this mom in her glory years when we depended on her and not the other way around. I often wish she were here to tell me I am ready to be a mom myself and not to worry about how much I don’t know or how inadequate I feel. Yup, she is definitely a favorite, and a person I’ve missed for some time now.

Sisters. These are the women who I depend on now. They make me laugh, encourage me, tell me when I am being stupid, and listen to me vent about whatever it is I need to. They are unassuming SUPERWOMEN and I would be lost without them. (You may wonder what on earth is going on in this picture. Let me tell you. Please notice the mischievous look on Meredith's face. At this exact moment she grabbed my butt and that m dears is a candid expression captured by a great photographer. )

Brothers. There is never a dull or prideful moment (well, for me) when I am with my brothers. I’ve always sought and often fought for their approval. They are always up to mischief and are surprisingly smart…well, considering some of the shenanigans they try to pull.

Dadman. This man has unconditional love for the people around him. He keeps me young and helped me to keep on track while I was growing up. And he always welcomes us home when we need, even if it is just for an afternoon free from homework. One of his best qualities in recent years… that he married Vicki.

My husband. (by the way, isn't this picture great! I really hope we eventually have sons) I am still trying to figure out how I managed to trick Jack into falling in love with me. I have never once felt unappreciated or unloved with this man. He works without complaint and strives to better the community and world that he lives in. He is my best friend and my favorite part of every day. He keeps me laughing and encourages me to be my best self.

I would be lost without all of you and just wanted to throw a thank you out into the universe and hope you get it.

Labor Day Weekend

A few weeks ago the Fife crew decided to take a trip to visit Blanding’s head librarian and his beautiful wife the social workerThe Head Librarian and Royal *picture courtesy of Zachattack

Jack and I drove down with Morgan and Jennie. Other than Myles’ slight spat of car sickness, the boys were fabulous. Touching on that car sickness though, Myles threw up all over himself. Since the boys were on the backseat of the van and Morgan and Jennie were in the front, we knew it was going to have to be either Jack or me who had the honors of cleaning up the little guy. At first, Jack handed me a wipe and I returned it with a look that said, “You are crazy. You want the pregnant woman to clean up the vomit?” He was a trooper though and managed to clean Myles up while only dry heaving a few times.

We left the next morning from Blanding and headed to Mesa Verde National Park. It was amazing. Jack and I did take a camera but I haven’t downloaded the pictures yet, so these are courtesy of some of my siblings.

We had a good start at Mesa Verde. While looking at some of the recovered artifacts at the Visitors Center Dashiel "junk punched" a complete stranger. Dustin quickly tried to apologize to the man, after witnessing the event. When Dustin told Morgan what had happened he tried to restrain his laughter while sternly telling his 3 year old that he shouldn't "junk punch" strangers.

*picture courtesy of Dusty

We had to climb up some pretty tall ladders in order to get to the cliff dwellings. It is crazy to think that people have been inhabiting the American Southwest as long as they have. If you haven't made it down to this area, I would suggest it.
*picture courtesy of Dustin

Jennie, Baby Chase, Sloane, and Meredith *picture courtesy of Dusty

Jack and me at the Balcony House
*Dustin

Here is one of those lovely ladders. Keep in mind there were 3 little boys who had to be carried up that.
*Dusty

Balcony House
*Dusty

Another view of the Balcony House
*Courtesy of Zach

Here is a great picture by Zach that kind of helps you understand where on these cliff sides these dwellings are.

By the end of the day the little boys were all tuckered out.
*Zach

After church on Sunday (by the way, when the Fife siblings attend church together reverence is sometimes hard to find. Dustin and I played the classic game of switching a letter in the closing hymn another letter. I know that it is probably not the best way to sing a hymn, but, well, it is really funny to hear your 27 year old brother switch every “e” in a song to “o”) the majority of the clan headed to Monument Valley. Dustin, Sloane, Jack and I stayed behind.

Monument Valley. If this looks familiar it is because it appears in practically every Western movie made before 1970.
*Zach

Have I mentioned that Myles has incredible strength? Here he is lifting up a boulder.
*Zach


As a side note:

Although the scenery and company was fabulous, sleeping arangements were not so wonderful. Jack and I shared a hotel room with my Dad and Vicki. That man, Dad that is, has the oddest variety of snores that I have ever heard. There was gurgling, puffing, snorting, and just your classic snoring. Jack commented that one of the nights he woke up and was sure Darth Vader was in the bed next to us. I really should have taken ear plugs…Vicki, I don’t know how you do it.
*Zach

The time that passes...

Often I wonder how time seems to go by so quickly. But then I remember the schedule that Jack and I continuously run on and remember quite well. The summer has come and gone and Fall will be upon us in a matter of days. I won’t bother to go into detail on the happenings of the summer, but I will shortly highlight a few (really, more than a few) things.

• Hoping to finish his undergraduate degree as soon as possible, my sweet husband took a full schedule of classes over the summer. His class free summer didn’t start until August 6th and ended August 24th.
• Dustin and Sloane moved to Blanding, UT.
• Mid-July Jack became the official bread winner of our household. We found out at the beginning of June that I am pregnant. We then found out that “morning sickness” should actually be called inconsolable nausea and discomfort. Weeks 6 through 14 were what my own personal hell will be (definitely going to avoid sin…) and with approximately one semester left of school we decided that I should just focus on that. Sorry Stone Hill National and thanks for that promotion a few months ago… :S
• We spent a few days with my family in Central Utah at the Sevier River in July. I don’t know that I have ever, or ever want to see, that much hair on men who haven’t even made it to 30 years old yet. (Zach, your back “wings”, as you called them, were especially disgusting). And I also found it funny that my 3 year old nephew could put sunscreen on more efficiently than my 61 year old father. (In response to us noticing his burn he replied, “Sunscreen never works for me”. Well, it had worked in the places he had applied it. He had handprints on his chest were the sunscreen had made it and was red everywhere else). A big thank you to Hot Rod and Vicki for planning and executing such a fun weekend.
• Kevin Taylor proposed to my sister Megan. He treats her very well and doesn't weigh 540 lbs. This is promising.
• Jack bought me a Kirsten American Girl doll for our one year anniversary. I cried. It was something that I had always wanted growing up but my parents were never able to afford… isn't he sweet!
• I bought Jack a power drill for our one year anniversary. He almost cried.
• Cole and Vanessa moved to Japan.
• We moved into Cole and Vanessa’s apartment. Considering the fact that I was still feeling rather sick we were especially grateful to good friends and family who helped with the mvoe!
• My dad sold his house in Spanish Fork (sniff sniff). We were moving at approximately the same time and weren’t able to offer a lot of help (Dad is a bit of a packrat though so I was somewhat grateful for that). I loved growing up in that house. My family, friends and neighborhood made it my home and I will always have tender feelings when I think back on it.
• I started feeling alive again…I lost 10 lbs between week 6 and week 10 of pregnancy. Not throwing up 5 times a day is something I will appreciate much more than I ever could have imagined.
• School started. Jack is not only taking 20 credit hours but is also working at least 34 hours a week and volunteering as an ESL teacher on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. I’ll still have 4 credit hours after this semester, but am so happy to finally see the end…well, of this degree.
  

A slumber did my spirit seal...

We had a devastating loss yesterday. My wife was visiting family most of the day yesterday and I was at work. When I got home, as is my norm, I went to feed my fish Albert. If you've studied previous posts, you'll know that I received Albert for my birthday. When I went to feed Albert I looked in his bowl to find him. He generally likes to hide in his castle, so I looked in there first and when I didn't see him there I looked at the bottom of the bowl. To my horror, Albert the fish was not moving at the bottom of the fish bowl. Naturally, I tried to shake the bowl and thus revive him, but to no avail. Although Albert had lived a good life, as far as Beta Fish go, a small void filled my heart. I was in all honesty, kinda sad about it. I know that fish are usually looked upon as mere decoration, but Albert was unique. Unlike your general Beta, he did not sit motionless at the top of the bowl. He swam around tirelessly as if on a quest to find something in his bowl. He would swim and stay the night in his castle, it was charming.
I gave him the ceremonial fish burial, namely the big flush, and the bowl remained half empty in memory of his legacy; kind of like the flag at half mast. I have a small hope that like the movie Finding Nemo he was just pretending to be dead so that he could escape the confines of his bowl. If that is the case, more power to him. I feel I was a good master but if he desired his freedom I wouldn't deny it.

A Taste of Sophistication and the Lehmitzes

So, with our good friends Will and Tiffani we went to the Springville Art Museum Ball. It was a blast. We sauntered through the museum looking at different works of art pretending to be more sophisticated than we actually are. Will and I both agreed that dancing with a wife is a lot easier than when we danced with girls in high school. This is mostly because we don't have to pretend to be cool or pretend to be able to dance. Our wives are stuck with us despite our awkwardness. However, the food was good and the company delightful. All together it was a wonderful evening.

I felt a little underdressed after seeing all of the high school kids there in their tuxedos and what not, but Sausha was still willing to sit in for a picture.

Here are Will and Tiffani. I feel bad we don't have more pictures, I was charged with bringing the camera and, it appears, failed to take enough pictures to actually portray the evening.

There and back again....

It's about time...Jack and I have been back for a month and we are finally just getting to documenting our fabulous trip to London and Edinburgh. Let me go ahead and explain how this trip came to be. One day while at work I decided to take a look at plane tickets to Boston, Seattle, etc. Then, I decided to see how much more expensive it would be to fly to London...we discovered that if we could go before the middle of May we could find round-trip tickets for $500. After clearing it with our bosses we worked it out so we would leave the day we finished finals and get back the weekend before we started summer semester.
This wasn't Jack's first trip to England or Scotland (Karrie, his mom, was a flight attendent while he was in high school which allowed for quite a bit of international travel for Jacky), but it was our first international trip as a married couple. We arrived at 9 a.m. London time and decided to fight jetlag by acting like we had just woken up from a wonderful nights rest. After taking the tube in to Victoria station and walking the rest of the way to our bed and breakfast (by the way, it turns out it was just bed...if you wanted breakfast you had to pay more)we set out on our first adventure. We walked to Green Park...

where I frolicked...

and then continued on to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, due to a senior flower association convention we were unable to go in.

But here are a few pictures from the outside.

Jack in front of Big Ben

We walked along the river Thames to Trafalgar Square, and on past Piccadilly Circus to The British Museum.

Pillaging and looting are to thank for the amazing treasures found in this remarkable museum. Above is the Rosetta Stone.

By this time of the day, jet lag was setting in. We took 3 separate cat naps. We would sit down for a minute and wake up about 15 minutes later feeling refreshed enough to go a little further, but still exhausted. Thus, the seemingly unhappy faces in the next few pictures.

This was the most amazing collection of artifacts and history that I have ever seen in my life. If I lived in London I know where I would spend my weekends.

cheap shot

Earliest version of the Rubber Ducky...Ceramic Ducky

Jack looking a little more lively after a cat nap

Sausha still looking sleepy

My husband still has an obsession with swords.

The section devoted to Buddhism.

This is from the African Exhibit. When we left the museum it was probably about 7:30 p.m. We went straight back to our hotel and were asleep by 9 p.m.

Let's just say Day 2 we were feeling much more refreshed.

Tower Bridge. As this was my first trip to London I wanted to make sure and see as much of the city as I could in the small amount of time that we had. Jack was a good sport when I suggested walking from our bed and breakfast to the Tower of London (it was only 9 miles...) We walked down the Thames River almost the entire way. It was a beautiful day and although my feet hurt a bit, it was totally worth it.

This is a stain glass window from inside of the tower of London.

It was an amazing thing to walk where so much recorded history has taken place. The crown jewels are also kept here at the tower of London, but I have to say, I had a rather sick feeling in my stomach as I saw the amount of wealth the kings and queens of England flaunt and knowing that many of these rulers could have stopped poverty in their kingdom by merely selling their jewels and providing food with the profit. There was also an eery feeling walking through the gift store which is located where the political prisoners of the tower were tortured and often killed. Eery...

The rest of the day was spent visiting the Winston Churchill Museum, The National Gallery (also amazing!) and watching The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre.

Day 3. After we attended church (we were very disappointed to hear an American accent from the speaker...)we caught a train to SCOTLAND! It is somewhat cheesy, but going to the area that a large portion of my ancestors come from was a great experience. The train ride was 5 hours from London to Edinburgh, but the scenery was incredible!

We spent the rest of the day just roaming around parks and looking at centuries old chapels. I would highly suggest taking a trip here at some point in your life time. I hope I will have the chance to go back and spend time in the country side.

This is me in front of my castle...nice huh.

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This was when I (Jack) had posession of the camera. Here are some action shots of some of the wildlife in Scotland. Above is a rabid squirrel. Well, possibly rabid.

A seagull, one of the rarities ever seen in the animal kingdom.

Sausha took this picture which she brags about and I reluctantly admit is better than any of the photos I took.

Day 4. Here we are in Edinburgh Castle. Unlike the Tower of London, this castle has a good feel to it; despite knowing that people were probably tortured here as well. It sits on top of a rocky hill giving it an almost mythological feel. Sausha has officially claimed it as her own and has graciously allowed me passage any time I like.

Here is a view from the castle of the city.

After Edinburgh Castle we went on a walk through one of the many parks in Edinburgh. This picture is in the middle of the city. Needless to say it is a somewhat picturesque place.
Another view from the park.

Also from the park, showing off my cameras incredible zoom capability.

STONEHENGE! no not really, still the park.

We then went to the Scottish Royal Natural History Museum. We went in with low expectations having just come from the Brittish Museum, however, we were blown away by how much they had. There were seven floors of artifacts, some dating back to 6,000 B.C. They also had a science section that was designed for kids, or immature adults like us. The above is a robot that spelled out your name with blocks after you input your name. You will notice the spell-o-bot is in the process of spelling JACKATTACK.

An immature adult fascinated with the children's science section at the museum.

Another immature adult testing to see if his reflexes were as quick as a race car driver's. Turns out that nascar is not in my blood.

Day 5. After taking the train ride back to London we checked into our box called a hotel. It was called the easy hotel, which sounds a little promiscuous, but turns out is just small. This is our whole room. I am standing in the doorway taking this picture. Where Sausha's legs are is the only way to get onto the bed because it is completly enclosed by the walls. Needless to say we felt like we were going to suffocate.

This is St. Paul's Cathedral. We wanted to go inside here also but another senior citizen convention foiled our plans. I was also dissapointed at not seeing the bird woman selling here wares on the stairs. We absolutely would have spent two pence to feed the birds.

Once again Sausha showing everyone that she is much more artisically inclined then her husband.

St. Paul's from the front. You'll notice the seniors lining up at the bottom left hand side of the picture. We ended the evening by going the play Les Miserables which was fabulous. I had only read the book, but suddenly understood all the music I had heard on my mission from the play. We both decided it was our favourite of the plays we saw.

So the next morning we caught a train and went to the airport and hopped on our seemingly endless plane back to the states. It was uncomfortable, what with the crochety old man sitting behind me who successfully woke me up everytime he had to use the facilities which occured frequently, and also succeded in biting Sausha's head while sitting down. The flight was long and by this point I had had enough of seniors ruining my fun. We got back however and were happy to be home. We loved our trip, but more than anything else I think we enjoyed being together for a week without the constrictions of school and work.