Moving in and out...

So today my wife had to decide to work on our new residence (it is an unorganized mess, but not bad) or cleaning up our old place and checking out of there (lots of small things to clean but basically empty).  I didn't envy her.  I was off to work and didn't have to work on that much at all today (I will later tonight, but not much at all compared to what she will do).  I feel bad.  Ironically most days I feel rather guilty about just heading off to work while she fights what seem to me real battles at home. 

I guess possibly the biggest product of this move and stepping into the reality of being people with jobs and not so much students is that we are considering getting a Sams club card.  We may actually begin to make that worth our while.  That makes me cringe actually.  I guess that it is one more sign of growing up and becoming a bit more established...

I am excited about that prospect a little bit though, we can buy a few things in bulk that will be nice to get there rather than other places that are much higher priced, or worse not even available...

We are also trying to build up our food storage and there really has been a bit of a scare on the availability of flour, rice, sugar and other staples to the point that prices have really risen lately, and things aren't looking much brighter in the future.  This is sad, and hopefully not a permanent thing.

New House!

Well I am in the new house and it is looking like I do have an internet connection that I can leech off of.  That will at least hold us over until I can set up a real connection of our own if that is feasibile...

 

So the new house (it is technically a condo) is pretty nice.  Sadly the neighbor smokes...so that will be a small thing to deal with while we are here but other than that things are good...

 

Robert I hear that you have a hot date on your day after I am home from the mission day.  That is cool...I wish for old times sake I could double with you, that was always fun. 

 

Things are going well, I just have a huge week of work and school this week.  As well mom couldn't believe that I probably won't be there for when you get home...Just in case however what are the details?  Like what flight, time and those things.  So what else is up my brother?  I am actually way tired.  I think you are potentially in the same position so I will not complain about that. 

 

I hope that this is the second email you read from me this week, I might be able to drop you a line monday morning. 

 

The newest thing from the kids is that Zach goes up to Andi while she sleeps and honks her nose to beep her awake.  He was doing this all the time to me before I guess he just thinks it is funny to do to her.  He seriously takes away so much sleep from here...

 

The other thing is that we started our new ward today and in nursery (I think he actually likes it more though) he was fighting with another boy.  Luckily at that age hitting is really not more than laughable.  Still the intent that they have is the actual problem...

 

Have a good day, week cause you only have 12 more days!  That is awesome and really stinks...now is the time to pull the "you need to get baptised before I leave guilt trip"...I hear that works well!

 

I love you brother!

Car and Barf...

Well the last few days have been interesting.

I may not have mentioned it but we are going to move come this Friday and Saturday.  So I am actually pretty excited.  The new place of residence is a condo that we will rent for a year or so and then see what comes next in our lives. 

In getting ready to move I am getting wiped out by the work that I have to do.  First of all it is the end of the semester.  I am wondering why am I trying to do anything but finish my masters degree?  Well I guess I wanted life to be interesting so I threw in the idea of moving, and starting a new job.  This is fine and dandy except that each of these things is actually a pretty big deal in and of itself. 

Really I shouldn't complain because overall none of these things would be overly difficult by itself.  It is just that each of these things is really time consuming and I only have so much more time...

My wife always teases me about my new job and finances.  Like "wow if you were single that would be a ton of money"... Actually for me I have never really been occupied by the money that I am supposedly giving up but rather the time that things take to be a good person for family and all that other stuff.

So before we move we really want to cover the issue of baggage that we have hanging around in our lives.  I have a little truck (big baggage) that I really just need to get rid of.  It has given me fits for a long time on getting repaired.  I just can't figure out what the problem is.  Despite that I feel a good bit of nostalgia over it.  Oh well it will save me lots of money on insurance and grief seeing it daily and knowing that it still needs work (I am trying to lower the number of those things that exist in my life...).

I listed my truck on Craig's list here in vegas and got about 10 responses in less than 2 hours.  Wow internet classifieds are pretty amazing.  They are all trying to low ball me though, so I will have to wait a bit longer...

The other part of the title on this entry is that my daughter isn't feeling well and throwing up a lot (mainly yesterday).  It is amazing how much a little body can throw up...

Sick Day...

So brother,

 

How are you today?  You didn't get sick today as well did you?  I am on the verge of Ralphing and have been so all day. 

 

I woke up at 7 (this is now sleeping in 2 hours...that is sad kind of...), and felt very sluggish.  I just thought I was being a lazy bum.  So I tried to get up and I was not doing well.  So I got into the shower and got one bite of yogurt in and decided I needed to go back to bed.  Well about 5 mintues before my meetings started I thought I can get up.  I got up and immediately thought this is a mistake!  But being the hard head I am got dressed and went to all the bishop meetings (for me church is 6 hours of meetings, not 3) and then church.  The whole time I was wondering what was I doing.  At one point I ran out of sacrament (I like to think I was being quite non-chalant) to the bathroom.  I never barfed, but just felt like it all day. 

 

The big reasons I went were that I wanted to find out how much the Young Womens bake auction made, if the help for us moving was coordinated, and it was our last sunday (and I was asked to teach Elders quorum but the Sick EQP).  So I went through the day, and the times I felt best were when I was teaching and later playing with me kids.  Right now though I feel really worn out and want to be asleep.  Sorry if this is a bit shorter.

 

So before I forget, I want to explore the blue ridge mountians in Jamaica (I hope that I am pronouncing that correctly).  I hear that they are way remote and many people, even Jamaicans, have never even gone into the interior.  Pictures of the places inside there look like fallbacks to the 1800's...

 

Okay, so I hope that the videos are good.  I am sorry about the not being online, my job is moving right ahead at that time of the morning.  I feel really responsible at 20 dollars an hour to not slouch around...

 

Well I am now thinking that we may not be in provo until the 4th of July time.  I don't know.  Anyway, things are good here but we have lots to do, and of course money isn't unlimited.  I am really thinking seroiously about the bus ticket thing.  If we do that I can in good conscience spend more time playing (in cooler places as well) with you.  I have a huge list of fun things to do and photograph or whatever you would want to do.  We can talk about that when you get home.

 

So you heard that Sam is getting hitched?  Good stuff for him.  Hard times for Ben.  He doesn't get to fly or go to Texas for the wedding.  He is fascinated by the way about how he will crash the plane and wonders what the pilots will do when he does.  Anyway, Kathy was trying to soften the blow by getting mom and dad to chill with him.  Hard thing for them is that most all day each day only Melissa will be around.  So I found this out and really quick like called kathy up and told her we heard her situation and said we would love to come and hang out with Ben and tend house.  Alison was the one that talked to Kathy and when she proposed the idea she swears that she could hear angels singing in Kathy's head. 

 

For us it would be a sweet deal, we would get to spend our vacation with ben, camping, watching videos, and I could photograph a ton at a wonderful time out there...

 

We asked Ben what he would thing about that and he was stoked...He was worried if we could really go camping 3 times though.  I assured him we would be set and okay...

 

Anyway brother, that is the latest.  I hope your doing well.  I love you and know what your capable of.  You are amazing.  Continue to make the choices that magnify that in yourself!

 

Chris

 

 

Marathon Crawl...

This is a video of Andrea doing a long crawl to get a phone (my kids love electronics...). I hope you all enjoy...

Zach is in a full body lock on the couch to keep him from getting the phone first.

She really isn't that good at crawling in this one yet, but it is hilarious and adorable!

Here is another video of her crawling a little bit more adeptly...

Okay one last one of Zach telling us he will be right back!

Work and Things...

Well I have started a new job, and my kids still amaze me.  I currently am in a new (still additional to my DRI graduate assistantship) position with the Environmental Protection Agency.  It is good already.  It is interesting that there is such a comradeship there.  I always imagined a government job as backbiting and infighting.  Everyone I have met is enthusiastic and welcoming me to the team. 

I will admit that the office I share is crappy and the computer is kind of a joke (okay, not kind of...).  But the work is actually really interesting.  I am working on developing methods for tracking toxic environmental compounds that are analyzed using Mass Spectrometry and Gas Chromatography techniques.  We are testing if these techniques can adequately identify the pollutants.

The good about this job is that we are going to be in Las Vegas for at least another year, possibly two and we will be able to be near the places we really like to travel to and avoid the harsh winters that are located else where! :)

I am excited because the place I go to work is right in the middle of campus here at UNLV and my commute won't change at all.  Well that is a Lie, we are moving closer and my commute will get shorter.  This makes me happy and sad.  I like the workout.  However, with days like today that are really windy and I am kind of tired this is a nice prospect to be 10 or 15 minutes closer.

So some funny things my kids are up to lately.  My now 8 month old baby (holy cow she is an old woman! To bad that makes me her dad still), hates applesauce but loves yogurt.  Apparently Texture is not allowed in what she eats.  She also really digs carrots and onions, a nice mix that Alison whips up for her.

Zach is crazy.  First he is so compassionate that it blows me away.  He worries about us getting what we need all the time.  He also prefers Oatmeal to Waffles and Pizza.  Make a note of that, cause we can only get him to consistently eat oatmeal.  Argh!  We are going to hold this over his head when he is older!

Another One Bites the Dust...

Today I was back on the ranch in Ruby Valley for a few minutes.  I guess that I had some bad/good experiences with equipment breaking/dying on me and those around me.

 

I thought that when I got to my science lab in Vegas that I wouldn't have to deal with things like that.  Well it turns out that even in the science lab you still have to fix things and get them going.  I have had terrible trouble with two separate pieces of equipment here in Vegas (Atomic Absorber, and hot water bath/circulator).  Both of these machines aren't cheap.  They aren't as costly as tractors for farm use are but they are still up there 50,000 and 5,000.

 

So with the hot water bath it just had its computer system get totally fried by gaseous acid coming off a certain experiment we do.  We do it a lot and well the bath died.  Luckily when we dropped 5,000 on a new one we got one that had a setup protecting from the gaseous acid for this future experiments.  So that wasn't to bad, it did take almost 3 months to get that taken care of however which really put me way behind schedule. 

 

The Atomic Absorber on the other hand has been far worse a nightmare.  For me it worked pretty well for several months then a coolant hose wore out on me.  Well that was easy enough to fix.  Then later another hose died on me.  This one was deep in the instrument and so I really had to tear the machine apart to get to it.  It got fixed and then putting it back together the auto sampler that picks up the samples wouldn't work for some reason.  That was two months and 3,000 dollars ago. 

 

Fast forward to today.  I got the repaired auto sampler back.  I get it all hooked up and things are looking like they will run well (this is when I get the old ranch feeling of this is to good to be a permanent thing).  I start up the machine and I smell something faintly burning.  This is a bad smell in a scientific lab.  In a tractor you don't really worry, in fact it almost had to be on fire to really be worthy of a problem.  Well I thought maybe some coolant that I wasn't able to get cleaned up earlier was burning or evaporating off with a bit of it burning.  This was actually a faint hope, but I actually believed in it for a short time. 

 

Well I turned it off and cleaned it up and then I started it up again.  Because I had to run the thing so off it went.  Good feelings were gone when the burning smell started twice as bad almost as soon as I turned the machine on after 2 hours (this means that something was burning regardless of the machine being warmed up or not :().  So I turned it off.   I told my boss and he was pretty sad/mad/pissed all in one.  I tell him things because he needs to know what is happening, not because he actually knows how to fix anything at all.  So I called the repair rep (he gets $325 and hour if he comes out) to get an idea of what was happening.  He gave me a few scenarios.  Basically I needed to get out the torch and start singing that old song that goes "burn baby burn!!...  Well I invited my old friend over who has had more unhappy times with the AA than even me and my professor over.  We started it up and it was smoking again before it had been on for 10 seconds.  That was not a good thing.  So we possibly can now fix it for about $15,000 to $20,000 dollars.  That is definitely an un-cheap price. 

 

The good part was that since I had my camera I took picture of the broken thing and will send them to the Repair man to see what he thinks.  Basically my professor just has to be sure of whatever it means before he can deal with the problem.  I wish I could have know this would happen 5 months ago when these problems had started that this may be how the poor beast ended.  In my case the hay is in the field rotten and we never even hardly got it cut...

 

Surprising as this sounds I am a pretty happy person today.  Maybe I am just one of the odd ones that is indefatigably optimistic... It really isn't my machine and this is creating bonds with the professor that will last a really long time.  He won't forget me, for good or evil.  Anyway, that is what has going for me the last few days.

 

I guess what really made my day was coming home to hot wings and tending some pretty cute little girls with my wife.  For me this was great because I didn't have time for a pity party that I wasn't interested in.  Now I am excited about tomorrow.  I left that junk at the office, and it will stay there until Monday. 

 

Thinking about that, on Tuesday I think that I will head out on a little camping trip (little is only 4 or 5 days by the way).  This is how I deal with stress...

 

 

Babies...

I must say that for me one of the nicest things to see is my kids happily asleep.  It is amazing to see them totally relaxed and comfortable.  On the other hand if they cry themselves to sleep it is kind of sad because my kids at least whimper almost all night.

My daughter Andrea is so easy to get to sleep.  She is an angel.  We put her down and after a bit of rolling and playing she is usually asleep.  Sometime she just lays down gives a sigh of satisfaction is instantly asleep.  That blows me away.  It is a blessing for me to see my children so happy.  That is a huge refuge for me.  Those quite moments are amazing.

I hope that they can always rest so peacefully.  Sometimes it is hard with kids as they get a bit older but I think that it isn't to bad when we really help them with a good schedule and support and stability.  That is something else that amazes me.  My 8 month old baby knows the routine.  Wake up from a good nights rest.  Eat, play and then sleep.  Wake up, play, eat and rest again.  Do that a few times and back to bed for the night.  She lets us know when something is out of line from the routine.  That is amazing, the support and comfort they have from solid routine.  They want to be trained into patterns.  I guess this is human nature, get a good pattern and stick with it!

A funny memory...

So I had a fun memory the other day.  I was putting shoes on my boy who is now almost 2 1/2.  I remember the first time we ever put shoes on him.  He was an okay walker.  He thought he had everything in life under control.  Then comes shoes.  I think that he didn't know what to think about having shoes on his feet.  The first time I put them on he was blown away.  He just stood there and looked at his feet.  I think the first thing that was wierd is that he couldn't feel the ground anymore!

Well the first steps in shoes were tremulous for him and for us it was hilarious.  Then he had to have them on all the time.  This is something that drives us crazy now!

Anyway, that was such a funny memory that I thought I would write it down before I forgot it again for another year or so...

Home soon...

Well brother,

 

I must tell you that I am having the time of my life with you about to come home.  Mom and Jenny are so possessive of you!  I know that they love you, but they are going beyond that.  Teasing is child's play and they get sucked in every time.  So this is where you come in.  Your job is to tell them that you have decided to take the job in Vegas and live with me, an brush it off as only for the summer.  That will be so worth it to me.  Just tell them you feel it is right and tell them your really excited!  Please man that would be sweet...

 

Also I am supposed to tell you that your supposed to decide what you want to do about getting set apart.  My advice is tell them what you want and then you can ignore the fact of coming home until it happens. 

 

So on to more interesting things.  I am thinking that (once again, I will admit) I want to get an 8x10 camera.  The honest truth about it however is that I would only want to shoot with it once in a while (still have the Medium format, are you interested in that at all?  To use more so than buy...let me know).  Like when I went to Zion once a year, and a few other times.  Just for that occasional option of changing pace on the photography I am doing (I guess I want that flavor of old school in my work as well)...

 

On this subject I am proposing an 8x10 camera time share!  I imagine that you would want it rarely as well, and so we could make having this toy easier for us both.  I feel like we have the same ideal on care of equipment and we could just send it back and forth to each other at predetermined times.  Honestly tell me what you think, but don't think much about it until later...

 

So that is that.  Did I tell you that I call Zach Robert all the time?  I mean a lot of the time.  3 times today at least.  I think about you a lot. 

 

Well on to greener pastures...I hear AnnMarie has a boyfriend.  That is awesome.  She is pretty unsure about the whole deal.  I remember by first flame, I was ready to put it out when I realized what was going on.

 

I almost forgot.  I got a job this week in Las Vegas for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).  So this means that we will be staying in Las Vegas for at least a year from April.  The job is working as a research scientist doing all kinds of research with water, soil, chemistry and safety guidelines.  It is cool because I will have to chance to be trained on all kinds of research techniques and machinery (like having a chance to learn to use all tractors and attachments ever made).  This will prepare me in a big way for a Job later that may be a career job.  This job is also nice because about every serious job out there asks for education and 1 or 2 years of experience.  This will be that experience.  I am excited.  I will get paid about $36,000 a year.   So that is a pretty good start, about twice what I make now.  The nice thing about it is that I will be able to arraigned my schedule to have a lot of time to focus in my photography business. 

 

So this means that I won't be moving to Provo, for at least 2 years.  This makes me sad, but I am okay with staying in Vegas for another year.  The fun is good (outdoors ectera), the wards are good, and the parks are great for our kids.  We live to go to the park.  It is funny what you become when you are a parent.  My kids are my life!

 

So my son is a little raccoon.  He totally has to dip anything he eats into water, and wash it.  Did you know raccoons do that?  They wash food before they eat it.  That is one reason they are always by streams.  I is adorable.  He just has such a happy little world that he operates in.  I love to see him play and be happy.  I am excited for you to see him to.  He is starting to talk a lot as well.  Lately he is using Daddy and Mommy all the time.  It is still cute to.  He says "Daddy, comere, food!" or Daddy vacum truckkk (he really drags the K out on that word).  He is proud that we own the bronco and that we Vacuumed it out. 

 

His Sister Andi is doing well.  She could totally crawl but just isn't putting the separate steps together.  She scoots backwards (that really confuses her, she looks like where am I going?), does the overhand reach (tries to reach out and can't quite get it and then reaches with the other arm moving forward a few inches) and she rolls around.  With all these things she is all over the floor.  She will crawl sometime. 

 

Another fun thing about her (she is 8 months old now, the age that Zach was when you went on your mission) is that she loves to sit up on the counter.  We just sit her up there and she can see everything.  That makes her so happy.  You can see the huge amount of Joy on her face!  I love to see that! 

 

Okay I forgot to mention it earlier.  We have decided that we aren't going to come up for when you come home because we could only spend about a day up there before we would have to turn around and head home.  So we decided that if we can only come up once in the spring that we would come up a week later when we can play and hang out for a week or so and then head back home.  Your invited to ride back to Vegas with us and see what we do down here for fun and then catch a bus back, or not.  That is an open invitation.  I just want you to not be disappointed when we aren't there initially.  Besides you don't want two little kids stealing the Robert show.

 

Hmmm, I am getting blanks now, so I will let you go.  Your time is precious, so write mom and Jenny. 

 

One more things.  Did I tell you that I realized that you and Jenny are like you and me?  Remember how we always hung out and were buds?  Well now jenny had that time with you before you left and she sees it like that I think.  That is really awesome.  I hope that if your in Provo you always have a good time together.  Our family bonds are so important to foster and protect. 

 

I love you man!  I hope that you had a great conference (we are led by an amazing prophet!), and that things are going well!  I hope that you have your best month in your mission to come!  You can make it that way!

 

Chris

 

Home?

Well Alison and I are leaning towards taking the Job in Las Vegas.  It makes me wonder what I am thinking about, staying in Vegas for 3 years.  That isn't that long, but more than 1/10 the time I have been around.  I guess it is becoming a major part of me.  Wow. 

So anyway, we are looking for places to live.  Finding a good place to live is important and a part of deciding to stay or not.  There are actually lots of good deals out there for the taking as far as houses and condos/townhouses go.  I am actually excited.  So is my wife.  She was worried we would be in a dingy apartment for a year.  Anyway, I am optimistic.

We might even be able to keep a place to live in our ward boundaries.  We really like our ward and hope to stay with them if we stay here.  We will see.

Jobs, again...

Well I applied to a job a month or so ago and today I was notified that I was selected for it.  They want to know when I can start...

I am excited but also wondering what to do.  We were set to move out of Vegas in three weeks.  Now we need to start hunting for a place to live in Vegas if we decide to stay.  Goodness decisions come at Alison and I everyday.  They aren't to big though, just little life changers...

So I am considering the implications of not taking it and taking it.  I have also 2 or 3 other positions open to me if I don't take this one.  Not that I have a job yet but I will be able to apply to them.  One is a career job (like I could stay there until I retire...) in Idaho.  Another is a temporary job in Delaware, and yet others will show their faces soon I am sure. 

Today I am really thinking about where I would like my life to go, it is exciting but also kind of stressful because I will be guiding my own destiny in life to.