what to say what to say......well I finally got done with another semester without killing someone......at least I think I did.
For the break The boys and I went to Rexburg just to hang out with family and to get away from Utah (no not get away from Rob, but it was a nice break :) ) It was cold most of the time up there but we did have some good days, I took lots of pictures, some are up on my blog if you would like to see. Michelle had to stay and babysit some girls and work so she was not able to make it with us, I think she liked the time alone....a little to much :)
After getting back to Utah I helped out at my school during the WREB (Wester Regional Education Boards) I was a lot of fun and it helped a lot to know what to do when I take them next year. They are a clinic, anesthesia, and a paper exam for anesthesia. So for 4 days I did that. Mostly it was very boring just waiting for the students to get done.
Michelle has been up to the same stuff, nothing has really changed, Scott and Kyle are getting bigger and smarter, while up in Idaho we stopped by a friends house and they had a Ferret, and I was surprised that Scott wanted to hold it (he is usually scared of getting close to animals...a long story) but he held it (a pic is on the blog).
It has been a year since we lost my nephew Brantly, the time has gone by very quick.
Well that is about it for the Hopes. Hope everyone is great.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
2009 April: Bates
This month was packed. I had all the normal busy with work stuff, but we also did the following:
-Put a swing in our front yard. It's big enough for 2, so Tamara and I can swing together. Orianna loves it, especially now that it's getting warmer.
-We've done lots of yard work (including plucking the same amount of dandelions everyday. No matter how many you weed out and throw away, there is always the same number the next day).
-We went to Rexburg for Easter and had a surprisingly restful Easter. It was nice to be able to just chill and talk a bunch.
-We kicked our dog, Max, out of the house. He is now living in the garage, but has a dog run and a doggie door to the garage, so he pretty much has full reign of the back yard.
-We went to the zoo with Tamara's extended family, and had an absolute blast there. Orianna loves the animals. I actually just went during my lunch hour, but then when I was done with work, they were still there, so I went back and ended up seeing most of the zoo still.
-I went to a ghost town with Tamara's family (Tamara did not wasn't to go, so she stayed with the baby). It was pretty cool. They had a cemetery for all the villagers that were burned to death when the town burned down... twice. It's the town of Mercur.
-We had a BBQ in our back yard, and had a fun time cooking hot dogs. Max loves hot dogs, but refused to eat Tamara's Sister's Tofu-Dog when it fell on the ground (proof that Tofu is not fit for mammalian consumption [Rule of Sanitation: If a dog wont eat it, you definitely shouldn't]).
-We went to Comedy Sportz (an improvisation club) with Tamara's extended family. It was also a blast, though Orianna was very excited and kept talking loudly at the actors, so we had to take her out a lot.
-We had another amazing BBQ at Tamara's Aunt's house. They fed us gourmet steaks and BBQ chicken. I nearly exploded in a delicious blast of BBQ sauce.
-We also sent Erica off to Europe. I dropped her off at the airport for her BYU-I trip all around Europe.
-And finally we went to the Aquarium again (with Tamara's extended family). It was fun, again, and Orianna loved the colorful fish & coral, still. Then we came home and had a game night and played Domino-Train and Killer-Bunnies (2 quite fun games).
I know we sound like an adventuresome bunch, but really it is all Tamara's sister's doing. She is leaving on a mission in May, and organized a bajillion fun activities for us all to do. It has been super fun (but also super time-consuming and expensive). So, after the 13th of May (when she leaves) we will probably take a very boring rest for a few months while we make up for all the money we're spending now.
Hope you are all doing great! Cheers,
-The Bateses
-Put a swing in our front yard. It's big enough for 2, so Tamara and I can swing together. Orianna loves it, especially now that it's getting warmer.
-We've done lots of yard work (including plucking the same amount of dandelions everyday. No matter how many you weed out and throw away, there is always the same number the next day).
-We went to Rexburg for Easter and had a surprisingly restful Easter. It was nice to be able to just chill and talk a bunch.
-We kicked our dog, Max, out of the house. He is now living in the garage, but has a dog run and a doggie door to the garage, so he pretty much has full reign of the back yard.
-We went to the zoo with Tamara's extended family, and had an absolute blast there. Orianna loves the animals. I actually just went during my lunch hour, but then when I was done with work, they were still there, so I went back and ended up seeing most of the zoo still.
-I went to a ghost town with Tamara's family (Tamara did not wasn't to go, so she stayed with the baby). It was pretty cool. They had a cemetery for all the villagers that were burned to death when the town burned down... twice. It's the town of Mercur.
-We had a BBQ in our back yard, and had a fun time cooking hot dogs. Max loves hot dogs, but refused to eat Tamara's Sister's Tofu-Dog when it fell on the ground (proof that Tofu is not fit for mammalian consumption [Rule of Sanitation: If a dog wont eat it, you definitely shouldn't]).
-We went to Comedy Sportz (an improvisation club) with Tamara's extended family. It was also a blast, though Orianna was very excited and kept talking loudly at the actors, so we had to take her out a lot.
-We had another amazing BBQ at Tamara's Aunt's house. They fed us gourmet steaks and BBQ chicken. I nearly exploded in a delicious blast of BBQ sauce.
-We also sent Erica off to Europe. I dropped her off at the airport for her BYU-I trip all around Europe.
-And finally we went to the Aquarium again (with Tamara's extended family). It was fun, again, and Orianna loved the colorful fish & coral, still. Then we came home and had a game night and played Domino-Train and Killer-Bunnies (2 quite fun games).
I know we sound like an adventuresome bunch, but really it is all Tamara's sister's doing. She is leaving on a mission in May, and organized a bajillion fun activities for us all to do. It has been super fun (but also super time-consuming and expensive). So, after the 13th of May (when she leaves) we will probably take a very boring rest for a few months while we make up for all the money we're spending now.
Hope you are all doing great! Cheers,
-The Bateses
2009 April: North
One week from today I will get to join the rest of the Freakish Four in the college graduate club. I’m excited. It’s been 5 long years (and I’m only half way there, I think I’m going to cry). I have my Spanish final on Monday morning. I’m not really worried about that one. My Italian has benefited me a lot during Spanish. I have a friend who served his mission in Brazil who sat next to me in that class. We took turns trying to get the rest of the class to hate the other more (I say very loudly “Oh wow Nate, you really aced that test, you probably didn’t even have to study!” A few days later he says “wow Stewart, you sure set the bar high for that oral exam!”) I don’t know why, but every time I said something to get him in trouble people just looked at me like I was disrupting class, but when he said something everyone looked at me like “you jerk.” Rob, si quieres practicar puedes llamarme, necesito practica yo tambien. Also on Monday I have to turn in a paper for my botany class. It’s about why there are more flowering plants than non-flowering plants, even though non-flowering plants show up in the fossil record first. Now I know you are all dying to discuss it with me, it’s probably something you’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
Becky and I have found a new TV series that we enjoy. It comes from Canada. Becky has a co-worker who bought the DVD’s. It’s called Corner Gas. It’s set in this tiny little town in Saskatchewan. The humor is always clean, and other than a few bad words here and there, we enjoy it. If you’re looking for something new to watch you might check it out.
Well we wish the best of luck to you all, and may God bless.
Stewart and Becky
P.S. Becky reminded me that I forgot to mention one very important thing we did in April. We became an aunt and uncle. Now Jason, you've probably been an uncle your whole life, but for me, it's the first time. Camille and Juan had their first little baby boy on April 26 (I think that's the day). They named him blaz (pronounced blauss if you use the Spanish pronunciation, blaze if you use the English). He sleeps a lot during the day, and plays a lot during the night. Both mom and baby are doing well.
Becky and I have found a new TV series that we enjoy. It comes from Canada. Becky has a co-worker who bought the DVD’s. It’s called Corner Gas. It’s set in this tiny little town in Saskatchewan. The humor is always clean, and other than a few bad words here and there, we enjoy it. If you’re looking for something new to watch you might check it out.
Well we wish the best of luck to you all, and may God bless.
Stewart and Becky
P.S. Becky reminded me that I forgot to mention one very important thing we did in April. We became an aunt and uncle. Now Jason, you've probably been an uncle your whole life, but for me, it's the first time. Camille and Juan had their first little baby boy on April 26 (I think that's the day). They named him blaz (pronounced blauss if you use the Spanish pronunciation, blaze if you use the English). He sleeps a lot during the day, and plays a lot during the night. Both mom and baby are doing well.
2009 April: Robertson
We made it through April. Somehow. We really enjoyed General Conference and spending the weekend with Morgan’s family. The weekend right after General Conference was Easter and also our stake conference. Kyla & Daria had fun that morning looking for Easter Eggs. They found quite a lot of goodies. Daria refused to sit for even a moment during stake conference. She had everyone chasing her at some point or another. The girls are still growing and becoming cuter and more trouble every day. They like going outside and frequently ask for their coats so they can go out and play.
I, Derik, finished my semester at WSU. With everything that happened at the end, I think that I finished decently. I am a little nervous about a class or two, but I think that I will come out decently overall. I can look forward to less hectic schedules for the rest of my master’s degree. This semester was crazy.
I went to Fargo, ND for an English conference where I presented a paper on the political philosophy of Maria W Stewart, America’s First African American Female Political Writer and Lecturer. It was interesting driving through the city. There were sandbags and large piles of sand everywhere. For dinner the night we were there, I was able to talk the group that I was with to go to an Italian restaurant instead of a bar. It was absolutely amazing food. Everyone was glad that we went to the restaurant instead of the bar. However that night a bunch of the group went bar hopping. They wanted me to go to be the designated driver, but I stayed at the hotel so I could call Morgan and get some sleep that night. The next day was the day that we all had to present. The ones who went drinking all night were really hung over and didn’t present so hot. Oh well. I was complimented on my presentation and had some engaging questions afterwards.
We went to an end of the semester BBQ for the English department. The girls were the entertainment for the evening. They had a great time and made some friends among some of the other grad students in the department. The highlight of their evening was when they found a Jack-in-the-box. They thought that is was funny when it popped out of the box even though it would startle them pretty bad. Kyla would tell me to do it again and then she would crawl onto Morgan’s lap and hold on really tight for when it sprang out. There was a grad student from China who had never seen a Jack-in-the-box. She thought that it was just a music box. When the Jack popped out, she screamed. She probably startled the girls as much as the Jack did.
Early in April, Morgan had her first ultrasound. Initially the ultrasound technician told us that everything looked good but a few days later Morgan received a phone call from her doctor telling her they may have seen what is called the “lemon sign” which can indicate spina bifida or other releated problems. So a few days later she had her second ultrasound at a hospital in LaCrosse, WI (about a 30 min drive) so that a better ultrasound could be done. Morgan’s mom was kind enough to babysit on short notice so Morgan could go. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. There was no sign of any problems at all. That was a big relief. Oh, and IT’S A BOY! Yay! We’re very excited!
Morgan has also taken a few trips to Rochester while her parents are on vacation in Hawaii. She has spent 3 nights there helping out so grandma can get a break from the kids and so she can spend some time with them too. Grandma is doing a wonderful job in Jared and Krista’s absence, keeping up with everyone’s busy schedules. It’s been a fun excuse to visit with family while Derik has been busy with end of semester projects and finals.
That’s it from the Robertson family for this month. We hope you all are doing well!
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, Daria, and the very wiggly baby boy on the way (The ultrasound technician even asked if Morgan had recently had caffeine! ...which naturally she hadn't)
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