It's a ...

Baby Girl!!!

She's yawning and obviously not doing an Edvard Munch's "The Scream" impression.

She kept hiding her face with both hands but they were able to capture a few pictures when she moved them. She was constantly moving and turning away.

They said she is healthy and we are very happy about that.

Families are wonderful

Uncle Jonathan and Kloe

We visited with Jon's family this weekend in Orem. Some friends/neighbors had a wedding shower for Amanda Saturday morning. We helped set up for the wedding reception in the afternoon. Then we had a wonderful family dinner with turkey using china, crystal, and Grandma Phillips' silverware. It was for Amanda and Brendon and kind of a belated Easter dinner for all the people who ate crackers in the car on Easter Sunday.
The reception was very nice. Orem/Provo trees are all blooming and the tulips are out. Jon's sister's husband- Ray used to take wedding photos. He took pictures of Amanda and Brendon at sunset by the pretty trees in the church parking lot.
Jon and I enjoyed going to Colin and Katrina's 8:30am Sacrament meeting with them. Katrina participated in a musical number.
Afterward we drove up Provo canyon a few feet and took the road that goes to Rock Canyon campground. It was a nice little drive. We went to Jessica and Micah's and walked to church with them. It was Kloe's baby blessing. All went well accept that Kloe tried to jump out Micah's arms during the blessing. No one in the congregation could tell. We met a lot of Micah's family at the potluck after the meeting. We all had a great time. Jon fed Kloe so he got his food last but now he's her favorite uncle.
Jessica lent me her maternity clothes. I am very grateful for that.
We stopped by Katrina and Colin's to visit them. They showed us Jackson's hiking carrier. He loves it. Then we stopped at Mandy's. She fed us brownies and showed us pictures taken with her amazing new camera.
Next we stopped in Kaysville and Jon's best friend Matt's house. He and his wife had just gotten home from the hospital that afternoon where Keeley had had a c-section to deliver their adorable little one, Van Jeffery (named after his grandpas.)
It was a wonderful weekend.

A few glipses of Amanda and Brendon's wedding Updated

We had a fantastic trip to Seattle last week. We got to play with Amanda and meet Bendon and his wonderful family. It was firmly decided that all the members of Brendon's family are kindred spirits.

On Thursday we checked out the wedding chapel with adjacent chocolate factory. We picked up Amanda and drove as close to Mt. Rainier as we could get. We had a picnic at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort which has peaks around it that look like the Matterhorn. Mt. Rainier was covered in clouds but the drive was lovely. It took a good chunk of the day. We stopped at a park/campground with access to the waterfront where Amanda and I waded out up to our knees. In the evening Kaylene helped Amanda hem the best man's suit pants and we enjoyed the piano that Amanda got off Craig's List for free.

Phillips Family at waterfront

I told Amanda that this was her wedding rainbow.

Waterfall near Mt. Rainier

Fish hatchery park adjacent to reception center

Fountain next to wedding chapel

Boehm's Chocolate Factory

Ceiling of chapel

Chapel and Jon

Chapel sans Jon

Wedding rehersal: front two are Brendon's two siblings, next best man Uriah- who is stationed a Guantanamo Bay and maid of honor Brandi from Salt Lake, next is Brendon's mom Gayle and a niece acting as flower girl.

Bridal shot after the wedding. I was using the bride's camera for the main event and the pictures afterward. That is why I have very few here. I was so happy that Brendon's family is full of picture takers and Brendon and Amanda will have plenty of photos to choose from.

Happy couple

We had BBQ ribs and chicken, corn on the cob, rolls, and salad.


We had half an hour to set up the tables and decorate before the reception. Everyone helped.

Head wedding table: David, Kaylene, Amanda, Brendon, Gayle, and Bjorn
with some of Gayle's sisters in the background.

Wedding cake with friend who stayed up until 6am to finish the cake. Top two layers were chocolate, next cherry cordial, and finally carrot on the bottom.

After the reception Jon, Diana, Troy, and I drove through downtown Seattle. Jon found a wonderful overlook where we could see the skyline. What a view!!!

Caption contest!

On Saturday, Kaylene, David, Diana, Troy, Jon, and I visited Downtown Seattle again. We saw the waterfront, Pike's Place Market, the Space Needle, a singing fountain, and the music project building. Then we had a picnic on a park bench by the waterfront.

Coming home the pilot tilted the plane so we could see Mt. Rainier really well. Jonathan was finally happy because he had wanted to see it the whole trip. :)

We're on our way...

To Seattle for Amanda and Brendon's wedding! Jonathan won $20 in a radio call-in contest this morning. I have a lucky man.

Happy General Conference

After Conference, Jon and I took a scenic drive to the south end of Cache Valley. We started up the road to Liberty, but the road was still closed for the winter.
There was a nice view of the Nome King's Mountain (AKA Gunsight Peak) which is just north of Fielding and also Oxford Peak in the Portneuf Range.
Then we drove to Porcupine Reservoir. If you look closely at this photo, you can see the water coming out of the bottom of the dam at high velocity.
Porcupine Reservoir was still frozen. There was a teenager there throwing rocks at the ice. I wanted to throw rocks at the ice too.

Grandma Martineau's Candied Easter Eggs

Mandy suggested that I post this Easter recipe for all to enjoy. It is the real recipe.

Grandma Martineau's Candied Easter Eggs
2 Cups coconut
2 Cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick margerin, melted
3 Cups chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can Eagle Brand Milk
Maraschino cherries drained and diced

Mix all together. Chill at least 3 hours. Form into egg shapes. Dip in:
1 large pkg chocolate chips
1 large Hershey bar
1 cake paraffin wax

One of my favorite memories was that every time we visited Grandma and Grandpa Martineau, my mom would sneak down to the freezer in the basement and eat some of these.

Jonathan's adventures

Something I did not know about Jonathan before we were married was that he likes to climb things... (He says "What? you know I like to climb mountains!)




Between snow storms Jonathan and I had a picnic at the pumpkin walk park (next to a climbing wall) and Jonathan pruned the apple tree in the backyard. We played basketball outside yesterday. Today it snowed a ton.