Dear Aly...

Aly is HOME!!!!

2009-02-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Erie, Round 3!

2009-01-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Aly..As you know we made it to Erie to give miss Faye a welcome to our family. The flight was pretty uneventful to which Mom was very grateful. Dad did a good job driving in the snow..which there was a ton of. It seemed to snow the entire time we were there and it was super cold. We didn't mind though, we were just happy to see Miles and Faye and give them loves. Faye did a lot of this.. but she did have her awake moments. Proud Papa. and proud Gram Gram..We think Faye and Libs look alike. Libby is the favorite Aunt. Miles would be so excited to see her and yell "Leeeby" when she came over to the house.
Ahhh. Miles..so cute. He does well around his baby sister. I think he only went in the naughty corner once while we were there.

Lovely Faye, such a good sleeper.

It was so fun to be with Cicely and David too. We played lots of games and just hung out in their cozy house.

Mr. Miles.

We took this the night before we left. We are missing you! Soon, Aly, soon. Loves.

Best present ever..

2008-12-21T21:52:00.001-07:00

Afternoon at Grandma B's.

2008-12-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Boo-Radley

2008-11-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving..

2008-11-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

This sums up our Thanksgiving. Grandma had had it, and just went for the bottle. Kidding. By the way, I am sorry that I am blogging about Thanksgiving in January.
Matt was a bit late..but nonetheless enjoyed his feast.

Mand surprised us and came home.

And miss Caitlee lost another bottom tooth.

Grandpa Buchanan's 92nd Birthday!

2008-11-22T11:49:00.016-07:00

This was a sweet day! Almost all of our Buchanan family gathered at Grandma and Grandpa's house for Grandpa's 92nd Birthday. We sang to Grandpa, Brian played Happy Birthday on the bagpipes and we gave Grandpa lots of loves. He looked great!

It also turned into a pre-party for the Utah/BYU game that started that afternoon at 4 pm. Even though our partriarch Grandpa is a BYU fan, most of his descendents have chosen to go with red. Lib and Brad were in green, remaining neutral. Here are many, many pictures. We missed you.

Of course to make the day even sweeter, Utah 48 BYU 24 ..

GO UTES.

(click on the collage to expand the view)

I am thankful for..

2008-11-18T23:23:00.001-07:00

the chance to go to the Temple with Grandpa Cain.

What a gem he is! We had such a nice time together.

Miles and Miles and Miles.

2008-10-29T15:17:00.000-06:00

Erie, Round 2

2008-10-28T14:49:00.010-06:00

Aly, our trip to Erie was so nice. When we flew into Cleveland, we were able to stop by and visit Bridgett. It was so nice to see her and meet her two boys, Porter and Hyatt. Her new baby is due in February and it is a girl! Her house was darling and I was just so happy to see her after such a long time.

We had lovely weather our first few days there. We were able to go walking and running along the trail on the peninsula of Lake Erie. Miles had fun walking with us.

This was a Sunday afternoon walk.

The leaves were brilliant and so was Miles.

It really didn't matter what Miles did, whether it was bath time, playing, sleeping, singing or even the naughty corner, we were just happy to see him, and of course happy to see Dave and Cicely too.

It did turn rainy and cold on the second to last day we were there, but it didn't stop Miles from wanting to go outside.

Just chillin in his little chair with his awesome slippers, watching cars.

The bad weather gave us a chance to stay inside and get the kitchen all painted..goodbye to dark maroon and hello to sunny yellow. Sorry..these pictures are kind of dark..it really did look so good and brightened up the kitchen a lot.

We celebrated Davey's 27th Birthday three weeks early. We had special cake that Miles could eat that was super good and opened presents (mostly shirts for school) and played a rousing game of Phase 10 late into the night.

Cicely and David...they are the best. Read this if you want to cry.

Here is another little project that Dad worked on while we were visiting. He fixed a window to the garage that had broken in July and made a new frame. It looked so great. On our way home we stopped in Kirtland to see the temple and finish seeing the other sites that we missed when we went in July. This is looking out of the sawmill.

In front of the Kirtland Temple.

Looking at me feverishly writing you on the flight home. 75 Aly, mark my words.

New Floor

2008-10-18T13:59:00.000-06:00

Dad and Mom have been working hard to put their new flooring down in the kitchen and family room. It looks great. Goodbye linoleum. Mom and Dad have thought about framing the many gashes left by David's and Annie's snowboards over the years...

Meeting Jack

2008-10-17T13:43:00.000-06:00

Finally, I got to meet Jack when Michelle came for a visit. Lauren had to go on a business trip to Canada, so Michelle brought the kids down and stayed with her family up in Logan. We spent the afternoon at the Dinasour park in Ogden. The park in general was ok but the kids had fun and it was just nice to be with Michelle and Tracy.

Hmm, would you say that Jack looks like Lauren? They call him their little man child. So cute.

Miss AvaAuntie Em with the cute babes. Michelle and Jack Tracy and cute Spencer...

Concord Grape Tart

2008-10-12T13:25:00.001-06:00

We have the best mom. She always goes along with my wanting to make random Martha Stewart recipes. This grape tart was lovely. Mom and Dad had a ton of concord grapes growing in the back yard that we used for the tart. It turned out perfect and we were able to make it even though we didn't have a speical tart pan. I miss you.

PJ's Big Wheel Birthday

2008-09-06T10:53:00.006-06:00

For PJ's 28th Brithday his request was for a Big Wheel
race. So on a beautiful September evening we all went over to Weber State and watched Brad (on a little pink bike), John (on a plastic John Deer truck) PJ and Chad race down a hill over and over.

It was downright entertaining. Chad seemed to win every time.

Best quote from Brad.. "that scares the crap out of me, but it is just so fun" , ahh the theme of Brad's life.

I have a feeling that this will turn into a semiannual event so you can come to the next one!

Happy Birthday Wibs!

2008-08-26T10:50:00.000-06:00

Sweet Alyssa

2008-08-20T00:16:00.010-06:00

When people find out where I work as a nurse their first repsonse is.."oh, that must be so hard". I always say, it has it's moments but we see a lot of success and happiness too.

This last week was one of those heart wrenching moments. This is a picture of Alyssa Chappell who I became quite attached to as I have told you in previous letters and emails. I was her nurse when she was first diagnosed in March with stage IV neuroblastoma. I was instantly drawn to her and her amazing parents. A bond of friendship was formed in that first couple of weeks while I was their nurse that will be forever.

Her parents, Lori and David were devoted to Alyssa and in the fight to win the disease that had taken over her little body. Things looked good going into the summer as she had responded well to chemo and the plan was in place for a stem cell transplant. A few weeks ago though, we learned that her neuroblastoma had progressed. This sweet picture was taken a couple of weeks before she passed away.

So to say the least it has been an emotional week for me. Alyssa would always say to us when we were in the room doing some procedure, "all done? all done?" We would reassure her, all done. I was able to attend her funeral where I was inspired by her parents who both spoke. They are amazing examples of people who have great faith in Jesus Christ, I was uplifted by them and their words at her funeral. David, her dad, told us about Alyssa a a few days before she died, where she mostly slept and was comfortable. She opened her eyes for a moment and said "all done, no more, all done".

Sweet Alyssa, I feel so privileged to have been able to care for her and know her and her parents. They have made an impression on me that will stay forever.

Beautiful Yosemite

2008-08-17T10:21:00.000-06:00

Aly... Our trip to California was quick and in my opinion a good time..Lib may beg to differ. Flying there with all of Brad's climbing stuff and our camping stuff was a bit tedious but we lived and learned. Here we are on our first day in San Francisco, David's last day of work at Adobe. We just kind of hung out in the city and then met up with him after he was done working. When Lib and I lived here we never visited Coit Tower so we hiked up the hill to check it out.
On Saturday we headed to Yosemite! I wouldn't advise going in August because of the crowds down in the valley but most of our time was spent up in the Towalame Meadows area so it wasn't too bad. This is Sunday, on our way down into the valley. The view from this spot was amazing.
We found an LDS service in the afternoon held in this little chapel in the valley. It was awsome, 45 minutes long and we could wear our camping clothes.
We visited the Ahwahnee Hotel which has been open since 1927. I remember my friend Suzi showing me pictures of this hotel and had always wanted to see it. It was beautiful.
Behind the Ahwahnee Hotel near the Merced River.

Leaving Curry Village..before we headed up to the Meadows area.

I am not sure what Brad was teasing about here.. but notice the view behind us of Half Dome and El Capitan..

The next day we spent hiking and climbing. Davd and Brad found a easy route for Lib and me.

Brad whipping Lib..to get her moving up the wall.

Brad teaching me my first climbing knot. Make a loop and poke it in the eye.

Look..proof that I acutally tried to climb, it wasn't too bad.

We moved to a more difficult route and watched Dave and Brad climb.

It was a good trip. We need to go as a family and either go in May or September after you get home. Love you!

Happy 89th Birthday Grandma!

2008-08-02T19:04:00.001-06:00

Aly.. We had our annual Cain get together and celebrated Grandma's 89th Birthday. There were lots of greats running around, lots of new babes. We met up at the Spruces and the weather cooperated and was quite nice up there. Out of the 127 people in our family, 70 were there! Not bad. I took lots of pictures of the cousins and Grandma and Grandpa..here are a few. Love you!

Visiting Hometown America

2008-07-15T00:48:00.003-06:00

Aly..As soon as I got home from the river trip, I was on a plane bound for Cleveland, Ohio. I remember as we flew into the city, I turned to the guy next to me and asked him what the big body of water was. He looked at me kind of funny and said Lake Erie! I know they call them the Great Lakes, but I really had no idea how big they really were.
.
I rented a car and drove up to Erie from Cleveland and was happy to see Mom and Dad and Dave, Cicely and of course of Miles! Here is the morning after I arrived. Miles having a rare, happy moment. I think the move along with the fact that we were all busy working on the house caused him to be a bit grumpy.

This was a vacation of work and a little fun. It felt good to help Dave and Cic get settled. Their house is great, truly they live on what I like to think of Hometown America street. Tree lined streets with very cute houses. Before I got there, Mom and Dad and David had refinished the wood floors. More work than I think they realized it would be. Dad worked hard on sanding the kitchen cabinets before Cic and I painted them. I still have paint in my hair!

Here the cabinets are all painted and we are working to put the kitchen back together.
Three generations concentrating on putting the dishwasher back.
Lots of little jobs like making shelfing for a big pantry!

We did take a little break and drove up to Palmyra for a day. We visited the Grandin Press buliding where the Book of Mormon was published, the Joseph Smith farm home and the Sacred Grove. I was so happy to finally visit the Sacred Grove after studying and hearing about it for so long. Emotions just swell as you walk toward the grove and are able to walk on the many trails that are throughout the grove.

We visited the temple and later that night watched the pagent which was great. I didn't have super high expectations because all I could think of was Manti, but it was a really great production.

We visited Dave and Cic's ward on Sunday. There are a lot of LECOM students in the ward so that will be nice. This is kind of a close picture but I wanted you to see the missionary tag that you sent. By the way he is saying "cheeeeese".

Sunday night and Monday were spent and Presque Isle State Park. The shores of Lake Erie are like going to the beach. You would think it was the Ocean but it was warmer and not salty. Beautiful, and it was about 5 minutes from Dave and Cic's house.

By the time we were ready to leave I think Miles was adjusting to his new surroundings. Here he is just lounging on the front porch.

This was the morning we had to say goodbye. This little family is going to do great in Erie, Pennsylvania. We will sure miss them though. Just like we miss you Aly-boo. Loves.

Running Middle Fork

2008-07-01T19:04:00.009-06:00

Aly..I have fallen off the blogging wagon but I am back on. So I will work on recapping the goings on in July and August. First.. the river trip. After 3 years we finally got a permit to run the Middle Fork of the Salmon River up in Idaho. We all applied for the lottery and lucky Brett got a permit for July 1st.

There were 20 of us total and we all gathered at Brad and Libs before taking off. Brad did so much work to get ready for this trip. It is so nice to be able to take private trips and not pay a commercial outfit to take us down the river. Thanks to Brad..this wouldn't be possible without him every year.

It started to lightly rain as we made our way up to Stanley, Idaho. We think this Acura was going too fast and slipped on the soft dirt road as it turned a corner on the way to the put it. Of course we all had to stop and check it out and we think it probably happened not too far before we got there, the lights were still on but no one was in the car.

We also got a flat once we made it to the put- in that became a group effort to fix.

Look at this put-in for the river..it was a bit nerve racking getting the boats down this ramp. We had 9 kayaks, 3 oar rigs and 1 paddle boat. It didn't help that it had rained off and on all night and was pouring as we tried to launch. All of us were cold and the idea of getting in the raft into the cold water was not exciting to me. We lowered all of our oar rigs and gear along with the paddle boat by a rope to the river.

Our fearless leader, Sadie. This is how she rode most of the rapids. Everyone loved having her around.

It was still cold once we got on the river, we were still in our long pants and jackets. Chad was our steller captain, no Mark on the paddle boat this year, he was banished to one of the oar rigs with Sadie. he he.

As you can see below, the sun came out and life got better and warmer. We had a fun paddle raft crew, Kaje and Sally (friends of Brets from Junction), Lib, me, Chad, Shaun and Stacie from Island View. We hit some big rapids and only got dumped a couple of times. Like I said, Chad did a good job guiding the paddle raft.

One of the biggest rapids that we ran..

Our first night into camp it rained a bit more but for the most part we were able to dry out and look forward to a sunny week on the river. During the night Lib heard a funny sound and Brad knew we had a bear in our camp even though we were careful and locked our food away and put the garbage high in the air out of reach.

The next morning we awake to Brett yelling that we have a bear in our camp and of course Brad joined him in chasing the bear out of our camp for the next couple of hours. It wasn't until later that we realized the reason this bear wouldn't leave our camp was because two of her little cubs were way up in a tree next to our camp. So as we ate breakfast and just watched her and the cubs as she kind of hung around moving from tree to tree until we packed up our boats and got closer to shore. As we were leaving she came down from one tree and her cubs from another and they were reunited! Then, better than something straight out of National Geographic she sat down and nursed her babes right in front of us. It was amazing.

Here is most of the group on the 4th night of camping..It made for a great 4th of July!

This was a group of us who hiked to a bridge by this pretty waterfall on Sunday, while a group of the boys kayaked a side creek.

Here is Boo-Radley skirting up to get into his kayak. This trip was possible because of his hard work and dedication to having fun! (And it helped that Brett won the lottery and got a permit). Aly you will be back with us next summer, whether we do Gates or somehow get another permit for the Middle Fork. I can't wait.

The long trip to Erie

2008-06-29T23:04:00.003-06:00

Hi Alyboo..We are leaving for the Salmon River in the morning and have been in touch with Mom and Dad as they make their way across the country to help get David and Cicely settled. Mom just emailed me some pictures of their journey. Here they are in front of the Winter Quarters Temple outside of Lincoln Nebraska.

Mom said they have driven past many farms..lots of corn. Mom said it has been a beautiful drive so far..everything so green compared to our lovely desert.
Mom liked this house in Illinois..she thought it looked very American with the flag flying and the wrap around porch. Love you Aly.. we will miss you on the river.

Sunday won't be the same

2008-06-16T08:58:00.010-06:00

Hi Alyboo.. I am happy that you continue to survive the desert and that you have hit your half way mark! This last weekend was busy so I haven't been able to blog much. We had a good Father's Day which I will write and tell you more about and Mom had a Happy Birthday.

On Friday afternoon I was checking something online and headline news popped up saying that Tim Russert had died at the age of 58. What? What? I had to shake my computer, I couldn't believe it. So sad, he had a heart attack and collapsed while working on this Sunday's Meet the Press.

I was sold on Tim Russert in 2000 when Lib and I stayed up until 3 in the morning on election night watching him and Tom Brokaw trying to figure out where the country was going in electing a new president between Gore and Bush. Russert called it..Florida would decide.

I loved Tim Russert, I loved starting my Sunday mornings hearing, "Our issues this Sunday" and always ending with "If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press". He was so enthusiastic about politics and he taught me so much each Sunday on his program. (Of course I always tried to balance my morning by watching Music and the Spoken word after) Who will cover the election this year? To me he is irreplaceable, Meet the Press and Sunday mornings will never be the same.

More than being an amazing journalist, he loved his family and was devoted to his dad "big Russ" and his son and wife. He also was devoted to his religion. I have listened to a lot of commentary and memorials since he died and everyone talks about how he always gave tough interviews but outside of that he was concerned about others, always looking to lift others up and always wanting others to succeed.

Well.. I just thought I would share this with you, my little tribute to Tim Russert..he will be missed.

Home Improvement

2008-06-07T11:22:00.005-06:00

This was our second time spending a Saturday working with Lib in her yard. We had a sleepover the night before and then got up and got to work digging up grass for a garden berm around the lampost and tree in her front yard.

Welcome Miss Sophia!

2008-06-01T16:37:00.004-06:00

On Sunday the new Dibblet was blessed. Miss Sophia Kait Dibb is so cute! Mike did such a good job on the blessing. It was such a beautiful blessing and she slept right through it which was nice. I looked over during the blessing and mom was feverishly writing it down in short hand so that Sophia can have it and read it when she gets big.

After the blessing we all went over to Mike and Aja's for yummy food. We took turns holding the baby and talking in the back yard. Their yard is so great and the weather was perfect. Not too hot.

This is Sage and me..at first she wasn't too thrilled to be sitting on my lap, that is until we started playing round and round the garden..kids seem to love this because soon she was laughing and happy.

Remembering Uncle Stuart

2008-05-26T21:43:00.012-06:00

Even though this was a cold and rainy Memorial Day, we had such a nice time driving to Aunt Kathy's to be together and remember Uncle Stuart. Grandma's Peony's haven't bloomed yet so we had to use other flowers. Today marks 9 years to the day that Uncle Stuart passed away. It was nice to think about him and what a good man he is. I know it is still not easy for Aunt Kathy but she is doing well. While we were standing there, Zach mentioned a couple of memories that he had of his dad and it was nice to hear him express his feelings.

To REMEMBER is good...

Pancho's Nightly Routine

2008-05-23T21:33:00.001-06:00

Every night when I am brushing my teeth I soon feel some scratching at my legs..and it is Pancho letting me know that he would like a drink before bed time. So he gets a drink while I brush my teeth and all is well.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T21:40:00.002-06:00

We love you Mom!

Davey Graduates from the U!

2008-05-02T11:00:00.006-06:00

Yea, Dave graduated from the U with Bachelors of Arts in Spanish...way to go! Kind of funny that our BYU Dad and Mom now have 4 UofU graduates. We had a great day together and Miles even lasted through both the general convocation and the College of Humanities graduation.

After all of the graduation stuff we went to lunch together and then that night gathered for a little family BBQ and just hung out.

Bread and Jam

2008-04-30T20:25:00.001-06:00

I am not sure if Miles actually ate any of the jam..

Happy 50th Aunt Ruthie!

2008-04-21T18:38:00.000-06:00

What good genes we have!

Seattle, Sweet Seattle

2008-04-10T11:45:00.005-06:00

Dear Alyboo...My trip to Seattle was lovely. This picture above was the afternoon I arrived. Michelle and Ava and I went for a walk and then we just hung out in the yard enjoying the sun. We had two sunny days inbtween rainy days. The next day Michelle and I went to Bellevue for some shopping. Amazingly Ava lasted for four hours at the mall, she started to lose it at the end.

Saturday was the best day! The weather was 80 degrees, similar to when we visited in September. We spent the afternoon at Gasworks Park and had a little picnic. We had watche the Kite Runner the night before and Lauren was excited to try and fly his kite. His kite was a big toucan and the wind wasn't quite strong enough to get it off the ground. It was quite funny watching him try though. After the park Lauren took Ava home and Michelle and I went and did more shopping downtown and at Pike Place.

On Sunday we traveled up to Skagit Valley and visited the tulip gardens. It wasn't as warm as the day before but the tulips were amazing.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T21:33:00.010-06:00

Easter was lovely. These pictures are all from the evening where we spent time with the Buchanan Clan at Aunt Ruthie's house.

Miles was not happy unless he was outside with the "big" kids on the trampoline. The kids had to be a little gentle when he would get on. He mostly just wanted to sit or lay down and be bounced around.

Miles' first Glue...

2008-03-22T11:23:00.002-06:00

Hi Aly.. As you know Dave and Cicely were gone all last week looking for a home in Pennsylvania..which they found. I am sure Cic will blog about it. Miles got to stay with Mom and Dad for a few days at the end of the week. Friday night Miles was walking with his blue blank and tripped and caught his head on the handle of Dad's desk. It opened a nice little hole above is right eyebrow. Dad called Dave and Cicely and they wanted him seen at an instacare..there they fixed him right up with a little glue and some steristrips. It was about a quarter of an inch long but pretty deep. This is after the instacare at Rumbi's enjoying some sweet potato fries and then on Sunday....

Here Comes the Sun..

2008-03-18T20:16:00.003-06:00

The best part about taking a little trip to California...Seeing Sister Cain, and giving her loves and taking her and Sister T. to lunch. (All with the approval of President Sanchez of course)Surreal...

We love Sister T and are so happy that the two of you get to stay together for another two weeks! On Saturday Lib and I headed up to LA to go to the Temple. The lobby area and other parts of the Temple have been remodeled..it was so beautiful. It reminded me of my mission..

On Sunday we were able to attend the Norwalk Ward, where I served for 6 months. After we met up with the Saunders Family for the best lunch. It was so fun to be with them..they mean so much to me and did so much for me on my mission. This is Marcy and me before we said goodbye..

Our last day was Monday and we were going to go to Disneyland but a little thing called Spring break got in the way. Sooo many kids, and so crowded. When we realized this we nixed that idea and headed to Newport Beach instead. It was so sunny..such a nice break from cold Utah. We found Sprinkles the cupcake eatery that Tracy told us about. The line was a bit long but nothing compared to the line we saw at the Beverly Hills store, out the door and down the block. We got our four cupcakes and went to the beach. There we napped in the sun and visited with a seal that came to rest for awhile. All in all it was a good little get away..and a big thanks to Mandy for letting us crash on the bunk beds.

Love you Aly..

I am an Athletic Supporter

2008-03-08T22:51:00.007-07:00

Well Aly..as you know for the first time in 6 years I didn't get picked in the lottery for the Moab Half. It has been three months now and my anger has just recently subsided. I decided to eat my pride though and still have fun and be a true supporter of this fine race.

So, Terry, Clair, David and I went down to Moab, they ran and I supported and it turned out to be great fun. The race was a couple of weeks early this year because of Easter and the jeep safari so it was a little chillier than usual. We stayed at the good ol' Cliff House condo which was great as as usual.

On Friday night we hosted about 30 of David's MBA friends who came over to the condo to carb load on pasta, salad and trifle for dessert.

Saturday, I took the three of them to the race and I went back and ran my own private half, (I ran 8 miles but who is counting) and made it back to watch the first woman to cross the finish line. I must say that watching various runners come in was quite entertaining. There were two guys standing next to me that were hilarious..and it is pretty funny to see people sprint for their lives at the finish. They were so distracting that I missed Clair and Terry and just got their backsides as they flew by. They beat their time by 8 minutes or so ...woohoo.

It was nice of them to let me come and spend the weekend with them and see the Moab Half from a different perspective. I loved just being together and enjoying Moab..

See the guy in the right hand corner..he was so funny, and I totally was distracted from my picture taking duties...

The Next American Idol..

2008-03-02T23:22:00.001-07:00

Welcome Home Colton!

2008-02-24T23:17:00.003-07:00

1st Annual Yurt Trip

2008-02-22T10:14:00.004-07:00

Aly.. Sorry these Yurt trip pictures have taken so long.. Here we are getting geared up for the trek to our first Yurt in the Uintas. The snow was coming down hard but we were prepared and it was so beautiful and peaceful.

Of course the snow wasn't so good for Pancho's long hairs. He would form these big snow balls on his undercarriage...he he.

And eventually would end up in someone's coat to stay warm.

The first yurt that we stayed at was called Bear Claw. It was super cozy thanks to the wood burning stove.
Our many nalgenes that kept us nice and hydrated.. We would melt snow and then filter the snow into our bottles..

Our yurt..like in Mongolia..sort of..

Sadie and Pancho did pretty good together.. they had their little spot in the yurt. This is us all together on our last day. We tried tying Pancho to one of the sleds but it didn't last. Alas he had big snow balls stuck to him when we got back to the car. Later my friend said that spraying some Pam to his hairs would help to keep the snow from sticking.. next year..

Double Three

2008-02-16T22:19:00.004-07:00

There was lots of snow for my birthday..So we (Annie, Mom, Dad and I) decided to do a little hike to Donut Falls..here Annie is geetting a little help with her snow shoes.. The best parents in the world..humoring me and my funny Birthday plans that I make..

This is Annie and me at the top of Donut Falls..we are standing on top of where the water falls in

the summer...

Here is some video that Mom got of us sliding down the hill after hiking to the top..

Annie and Dad heading back...Such a beautiful day! You were missed Aly-boo

Later after going to dinner we gathered for some yummy chocolate Birthday cake that Mom made.. it was fantastic...so good.
Thanks Mom..I have to say the cake even rivaled Clair's famous chocolate cake.. 33 Very happy and good years!

The boy enjoys eating out!

2008-02-15T22:47:00.001-07:00

hmmm...we love the Pei Wei and think of you when we go..Miles has almost mastered chopsticks..genius and the boy is only 16 months old.

Fridays with Grandma & Grandpa Buchanan

2008-02-08T04:11:00.001-07:00

Mom had just finished Grandma's hair and we gathered in the little study for some Oprah and a photo op...
Oh how I love them!
Grandpa and I sat for awhile together and talked about Scotland. He is doing pretty good for a spry 91 year old! He told me I needed to marry a Scot..funny.
Just a lovely Friday afternoon gathered around the table...
We love you and miss you Aly-boo!

Superbowl Sunday

2008-02-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ahhh.. the super bowl. We had a good time together. We had lots of good snacks and some great beer (Henry Weinhard's root beer of course). Here Dad is intently focusing on the game. Of course we always say that we just watch for the commercials but the game was actually quite entertaining..and it was exciting especially at the end. The underdog team won, the New York Giants over the Boston Patriots who had a perfect record.

Lib and Brad helped make the main course. We had super bowl chili with moose meat. It was so GOOD!
Eating good snacks with Miles..
Miles loved the chips and salsa..yea something he isn't allergic to!

Miles..always entertaining us..you just want to eat him up!

Wednesday Nights with Grandma & Grandpa Cain

2008-01-30T19:36:00.002-07:00

So just like Friday afternoons have become our time to be with Grandma & Grandpa Buchanan, Wednesday nights are our time to eat dinner and talk and play games with Grandpa & Grandma Cain. Dave and Cicely often times come and bring Miles which Grandma & Grandpa love. Libby & Brad also make an effort to come down from Ogden and visit.

Here Miles makes a good effort at saying your name.. so when you get a chance watch this one with sound...

Saying goodbye and getting a special ride to the car from Grandpa Cain...

Miles and Miles

2008-01-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dad!

2008-01-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

Dad's Birthday was a success. We all had to work on his actual birthday, January 2nd so instead we celebrated it on the following Sunday.
Dad opened presents and got clothes, some workout gear and a subscription to Men's Fitness from Dave and Cicely.Dad is helping sing Happy Birthday to himself. #62 woo hoo..Mom made her lovely wacky cake..which was super good..Preparing to eat! Group Birthday photo before eating the cake..

Followed by games! We played lots of rounds of Catch Phrase and a game of pass Miles around the table..

Authentic Thai

2007-12-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

I got a call from one of my favorite companions from my mission, Sister Wasanaa Ratchasud, now Herrin. The first invesitgator that we taught together and who was baptized lives in Springville now. His name is Chris Beckham. Since his baptism he has married a woman named Julie who is a returned missionary and they have two boys with another boy on the way. Chris's dad, Jim Beckham was a huge help to us while we served in the area of Norwalk together. He had a big van and was always willing to take us where we needed to go. He also would take investigators up to the LA Temple in his van. So it was great to be able to teach his son Chris and see him get baptized. They are in the top picture. The bottom picture is of Wasanaa's cute kids, Makayla and Eli. We all gathered for authentic Thai food at Wasanna's house..it was great.

Miles is Walking!

2007-12-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Yea..Miles took a couple of steps on Christmas Eve but when we tried to get him to walk again he wouldn't. Dave and Cicely brought him over to Mom and Dad's today and said that just that afternoon he had decided to start walking. So here are some of his first steps...

No more Pictures!

2007-12-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

Miles had just awaken from a nap here and was done with me taking pictures..

Just in case you miss Pancho

2007-12-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

Dickson Dinner

2007-12-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Oh how we love the Dicksons. On the Saturday before New Years the Dicksons took Lib, Brad and me out to dinner. We met at Thai Gardens on 9th East. It was so nice to just hang out and be together. We started doing this three years ago at Christmas time. As we left the restaurant it started to snow...

Christmas is here!

2007-12-25T03:12:00.000-07:00

Miles made Christmas! He really didn't understand what was going on with all of the presents but he had fun..here he is listening to some music with one of his toys and snapping to the music which is what he does when he hears music.
Mom's lovely tree on Christmas morning.
Mom.. has been looking for a clock forever. So for Christmas I bought her a clock..it is just like mine..but I think it will look good in her kitchen.
Here are Brad and David sampling one of the mexifornia treats that you sent to us.. I liked these the best, they were the hard crunchy pastry like stuff that you sent.
What? The cutest dog ever, here with his special toy from Sister Cain.. Miles woke up Christmas morning at about 6am.. I know this because I slept in his room. So I got up with him and tried to keep him entertained until Mom and Dad took over at about 6:45. I went back to bet in their bed until 8:30 or so. Anyway Miles had had it by 9 am and went down for a nap at about 9:30. We opened up our presents while he was asleep and saved his presents in a big pile for when he got up from his nap. He got up in time to eat what he could of rolled pancakes, bluberries. He loved them.

Here he is with his big pile of presents, do you think he was interested?

Nope, he would rather climb on to the fireplace and play with Pancho's toy. This is Dave and Cicely reading their card to him and opening a present for him as he looks and listens from the fireplace. They said in their card "please always be a good boy and never give us any trouble"..it was funny. Still not interested in presents, just prancing around instead.

One of his presents was a play cell phone..he seemed to like that. Here he is in the little rocking chair that used to be yours. The Sheneman family post presents, hanging out with Sadie..

Grandma getting ready for all of the family to eat. Her only request was that we all come over and play games. Aunt Ruthie with a beautiful trifle.

Mom took this picture on Christmas night after all of the snow was shoveled...

Love you Aly..hope all is going well in your new area.

Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

This was Chrismas Eve at about 4:45 pm in front of my house, the big snow storm was just starting to come in. That morning at the gym I was watching the TODAY show and the weather guy said that the only place in the nation that will get snow tonight on Christmas Eve will be Salt Lake City. I was thinking, Yea, I live there! Sure enough it started as I left my house and by the time I got to the Dicksons for a visit it was slippery and accumulation of at least 3 to 5 inches. I got stuck at their house and Terry and Daniel had to give me a push to get out of my parking space. At about 6 I headed to Mom and Dad's house and I couldn't get up the hill. David came down in his Subaru and rescued me and took me up to Stacie Mascaro's house near Wasatch Drive so that I could deliver a little gift. People were all over the place, sliding off of the road and getting stuck. Dave's car was amazing and it never had a problem. It was a magical Christmas Eve with the snow falling..
Here is David talking on the phone with you on the pre Christmas call...
Miles and Grandma hanging out on Christmas Eve.
This is Miles in the red room. David has adopted your shuffle iPod and was trying to find your charger. We went through your boxes but couldn't find it. We found this hat though and put it on Miles and he decided to climb in this bin and go for some rides.

Aly.. This is video right after we saw Miles take a couple of steps on his own. We tried to get him to do it again but it didn't work. He loves to play with Pancho's ears and try to poke him in the eye.

We had way too much fun putting Miles in this grocery cart than I think he did...

A Cain Gathering

2007-12-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

Wow.. This is my first post for December. On Sunday the 23rd everyone came to my house for dinner. Everyone contributed, I bought a spiral ham from costco, Mom made potatoes

and dessert, Cic a salad and Annie carrots. Lib and Brad brought Ticket to Ride. We had fun..this was before dinner. Dave and Cic brought the pac and play so that Miles could go down to sleep and they could stay longer.

This is after dinner, Brad is telling some engaging story about something, I forget what. Oh, I remember, he is talking about the movie I am Legend with Wil Smith, a very intense movie. Look at my cute Red polka dot mugs that Michelle gave me for Christmas..
Here are some tired parents, pretending to be asleep...

Boo-radley's 33rd!

2007-11-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Brad's 33rd Birthday on the 24th. It was great fun. It was a cake and climbing party. He finished the climbing wall in the garage so everyone was invited to enjoy a little climbing on his birthday. Mom and Dad's neighbors (the one with the cats) were getting rid of their old blue couch so Lib and Brad put it in their garage so that people could sit and watch. It worked great. We had a space heater in there too..and some hot chocolate. I didn't climb, but David C., David D, Brad, PJ, John, Doug and Annie all climbed. They played the game where you keep adding different holds to create a climbing sequence. If you fell off you were out. It was entertaining to watch.

Miles trying to climb, grunting and all.
David did really good..I will have some actual video for you soon.
Brad.. the best of all..he is like a little monkey..
Dave Dickson with his climbing skills..
Cicely and I had fun watching it all..

Lib made this great pumpkin cake from a recipe that she got when they got married. We brought the cake out and sang in the garage. It was fun times and of course we missed you!

Happy Turkey Day!

2007-11-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Shawn, Kathy and Zach came. Look how big and tall Shawn looks here. He has been working construction until the spring when he will get his mission call. Libby is excited to eat..

Perfect Thanksgiving feast.. The happy newlyweds. There weren's a lot of cousins this year, because it is the off year when everyone is visiting their in-laws..so it was kind of nice to have a smaller group.The lovely hosts sitting down after helping serve everyone..Happy 91st Birthday to Grandpa..I love this picture. Pumpkin cake for Grandpa's Birthday..I found the recipe in everyday food. It was great, I made it for practice and it turned out so good that I made it for Grandpa's Birthday. There was a lot leftover though because everyone had pie!
He did a good job blowing out his candles..Three generations

We played a round of Ticket to Ride with funny group, me, John (Brad's friend), Aunt Debbie, Matt and Brad.. Here Brad is explaining things to a pensive Matt..

We missed you..but it sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving. Good job on creating your own Turkey Run.. Love and miss you..

Happy #26 Davie!

2007-11-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

At the Cheesecake Factory..Look we gave Mom a new Boston sweatshirt to replace her old standard.

Gathering together at the Cheesecake Factory. Luckily we put our names on the wait list at 3:30 pm and only had an hour wait!

Ahh the famous soap cake. Look how cute it is. Cicely did a good job, unfortunately it tasted like Tide.

So instead of cake we just finished off the cheesecake that we had ordered to take home.

David opening up our gifts.
We love you Aly!

Nikki says Hi

2007-11-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

The day after the Temple on David's birthday, I went and got my hair cut. Nikki says Hello, and of course she did a great job on my hair!

I love Grandpa Cain

2007-11-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I already told you about going to the Jordan River Temple with Grandpa Cain. Seriously, one of the best experiences that I have ever had. I loved it..Here we are after our day at the Temple. I was tired so you can imagine how Grandpa felt. Such a great day.

Good Times...

2007-11-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well.. Our good times on this blog consist of eating out with various people and places. Here is Miles at the Citrus Grill last Monday, November 5th.. I met Mom and him and we thought the Citrus sounded good. I got the sweet potato chowder and Mom and I split a wrap and gave Miles our fries. It was the only thing safe that he could have. He loved them..ate them all up.

On that Wednesday, November 7th..we took Grandma and Grandpa Cain to Paradise Bakery. Every Wednesday it is our turn to bring dinner to Grandma and Grandpa or take them out. I don't think they had been here yet. They had a good time, the music was a little loud and Grandma asked them to turn it down which they did. It was good times..
Finally, eating out again last night for Annie's 28th Birthday. We met at Tsunami in Sandy. It was great and the food was good. Miles sat at the end of the table and entertained us with his signing skills and eating skills. Happy Birthday Annie!

I love you..love you..

Emily

Miles Weekly Video

2007-11-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Annie turns 21...

2007-11-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

whoops I mean 28, dang!

This is Michelle and I, Jeff's sister... We love Tsunami!

Lib and Brad, cute as can be!

I love Miles in this picture.. we have the best nephew!! He was signing to us, so cute!

Mom and Dad, and yes she ate raw fish!

This is a pic of the fish Michelle got me for my birthday! I named them "The" and "Pants".... (Good thing they have a short life span I guess!)

I love you Aly! I recieved your birthday message on my birthday! I opened it this morning and started crying! I think it's setting in that I miss you more than anything, and would give anything to sit around and laugh with you! I love you, keep working hard!

Hi Sister...

2007-11-01T15:50:00.000-06:00

Hi Alyboo... I hope things are going well. I just wanted to drop a quick note to tell you how much I love you, and miss you! Mystery Dinner is just not the same without you.. I'm sure Em will post some pics of it for you! Love Annie

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T00:51:00.001-06:00

Halloween at Primary Children's is the best. All of the nurses on my pod dressed up. Of course Irish was his famous Dorothy. This is one of my favorite patients, Brendan. He got to go home that day and was so excited to get into his skeleton costume. Irish's dress started getting too worn out and becoming quite see through, not a pretty picture...thankfully his wife made him some bloomers. Another patient who we love and who has been on our unit for a long time. We were so happy to see him come out and visit in his duck costume. Doesn't nurse Suzy look good in her costume as Jack's girlfriend (on the Nightmare before Christmas) I forget her name..It isn't everyday that you get your central line dressing changed by Jesse the cowgirl. My very best patient this day, so easy going and had fun going along with all of the Halloween craziness..A little green Dino on the loose.. After a good day at work..I got to leave a little early and so I went to visit Mr. Miles. He was in his little devil costume sort of. He wasn't loving the hat. As soon as it went on his head he was tearing it off. So you will just have to imagine.
A little devil with some wings.
Aunt Jesse..He liked my hat..and pulled it off with any chance that he got. Cicely got a good picture of him with my hat on..
Amazingly he wasn't scared of Cicely..I kind of was.
After rounding at Dave and Cicely's and stopping in at Mom and Dad's house, I ended the day at Grandma and Grandpa Cain's house. I found them with all their lights off in the corner of their little office playing their favorite game..Spider. It was so fun just to chat and visit and give them loves. Grandpa had come home from the hospital that Friday before and that is where I had last seen him. So I was happy to see him home and looking good. I am sure Dad told you that the scare we had with him was NOT a heart attack but some angina, which is pain associated with stress on the heart. He just needs to take it easy and watch it. Anyway..they are the best and send their love to you.

I love and miss you..

Emily

A Halloween Ava

2007-10-31T00:51:00.000-06:00

I thought you would enjoy some pictures of Miss Ava that Michelle sent me. She is so cute! Michelle and Lauren just got back from Hawaii a couple of weeks ago for Michelle's 30th Birthday. They were there the same time that we were in Boston. Anyway enjoy these Halloween pictures of Ava..

Murder Mystery #3

2007-10-30T19:39:00.000-06:00

Pancho was anxious to get to our 3rd Annual Murder Myster dinner. He came as a little Sherlock Holmes. We mingled a bit and took this picture before dinner.Inspector Cluseau sp? and Sherlock Holmes..The mustaches were itchy so they didn't last through dinner. Of course we all had to take turns wearing Cicely's mustache. This picture is funny to me. Look at Libby peeking. Dad played Hercule Poirot and mom was Miss Marple.. Dad was the murderer..none of us suspected except for Annie or Cicely, I can't remember. Do you like Dad's mustache? He drew it on with mom's eyeliner pencil.
Brad played this New York detective and Libby this famous British detective with ties to royalty. Brad looks like a New Yorker here, downing the Ginger Ale. He had a good accent.

The mustache fun begins. The lovely host Lady Penelope with some added facial hair.
A couple of mustaches can go a long way.
Lovely
Look at mom.. she is pronoucing something..not sure. Ok..all done with the mustache. We had a great time and missed you. Don't worry we will save the mustache for you..

Miles in Real Life

2007-10-28T22:15:00.000-06:00

Hello my sister..

I have been taking some little videos of Miles. Hope you enjoy..I think this may need to become a weekly installment..

Love you..

Emily

Fall Fun with Miles

2007-10-26T23:38:00.000-06:00

What? Could not this be the cutest boy ever?

Even cuter in his bat camo jamies that I gave him.

We carved pumpkins about a week before Halloween. I tried to do another Jack from the Nightmare before Christmas but got too tired and didn't finish his mouth. Mom, Dave and Cic's turned out great!

Again the latest and greatest..he is well loved..

Pancho Says Hello

2007-10-24T06:55:00.000-06:00

The first two pictures with my camera...

We loved Boston..

2007-10-20T03:14:00.001-06:00

Hello..my Sister Aly..alright are you ready for a recap of our wonderful trip to Boston? Here we are on our way last Saturday the 13th of October. I bought a new digital camera last week so this was just the beginning of many, many photos much to Brads dismay. I think I took around 250 pictures but I tried to whittle them down for the blog.

Day 1 ...Sunday, October 14

Essential to our trip, Dunkin Donuts. They are everywhere in Boston, every corner. We found out while there that the state doughnut is the Boston Creme filled Doughnut. Every morning we would get up and walk out of the Marriott and head down the hill where a Dunkin Donuts greeted us. I stuck to bagels, Libs and Brad went for doughnuts and muffins which I of course had to taste too. Each morning our destination was the Quincy Adams T Station, their much superior form of our Trax. Here it is, kind of like the underground but less complicated. It was awesome. We bought a 15$ pass that lasted for the week and it took us everywhere we needed to go. We mostly used the Red line but were excited when we branched out to the green and blue lines. It was great..
Our first destination on Sunday morning was Cambridge and of course Harvard.

Libs standing in the Harvard Yard. Harvard has expanded way beyond it's original gates. The weather was a bit cool but in the sun it was just right. The campus is beautiful especially in the fall.
We walked around campus a bit and decided to visit the Natural History museum. One thing it is known for is it's botanical museum, it holds 3,000 models of 847 plant species and each one is created out of glass. It has many other interesting exhibits, Brad's favorite was the bird eggs, I don't know what Lib's favorite was. I loved the flower display..it was pretty amazing.

Yep..All made out of glass..
Lib..and a big swimming dinasour..I think.
After touring the museum we hopped back on the T to a family ward, the Cambridge 2nd Ward. They met in this really unique old building. The missionaries were there and we spoke with an Elder who was from Arizona.
After church in front of the church building.

A little shout out to the Dickson boys. This was a shop on Harvard square, the crossroads of Cambridge. Lots of shops and restaurants line the streets.

Here we are in front of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home. The famous American poet who crafted the poem about Paul Revere's midnight ride and many, many other poems. I didn't realize how many poems he had written that were familiar to me but that I wasn't aware were his. This was probably my favorite thing we did this day. Our tour guide was amazing, as he took us through the house, he quoted a ton of Longfellow's poetry. After our tour Libby told Brad that she would like a book of Longfellow's poems for Christmas..This was Brad's first taste of the many tours and sightseeings to come..oh dear. Here I had a little bit of a meltdown. You know how I can be on trips Aly. Here I was actually just coming out of my meltdown which happened because I wanted to see particular things and it wasn't happening (partly my fault because we went all the way to that Cambridge ward near MIT when we could have just gone across the street from the Longfellow house where another ward met, lack of planning on my part). I got upset and at one point we actually parted ways to just do our own thing and meet back at the hotel that night. We separated on the streets of Cambridge and I was sad but Lib and Brad made plans to secretly follow me because they knew or thought that I would get lost. I got to the end of the street and realized that I needed to go back down the same street to buy a map and they were still where I left them. At that point we reconciled and went to the Longfellow house together. Here I was just venting to Libby as to why I can be such a stinker and she just was like I don't know and Brad snapped the picture. I simmered down and the rest of the week was smooth sailin. Remember Idaho Falls on our road trip to Seattle? ..It wasn't that bad. Hey did you notice my pack?..Just like yours, I bought it before the trip and really liked using it.

Day 2...Monday, October 15 (Michelle's 30th Birthday!!)

Ahh..another fine picture that Brad captured. Here we were beginning our 2nd day in Boston in the Beacon Hill area. This was our first stop off of the T, in front of the Park Street Church, an old church built in 1810 that many historians think the most beautiful in New England. Sadly it was under renovation so we didn't get to see inside. Right as we were going to take a picture I got this super bad cramp in my leg and Brad took the picture. It is more entertaining than the one of us just standing there smiling. Below is the church with it's surrounding scaffolding. This was the first of many, many churches.

and this was the first of many, many burying grounds. This one is called the Granary Burying Ground. So old and famous for John Hancock and Paul Revere's final resting place. The picture on the postcard that we sent is found on many of the graves here.
Here is Paul Revere's grave, the little being the original and later the bigger monument after becoming famous for his midnight ride to warn the colonists that the British were coming.
This was the chilliest day that we had. I wore my coat for most of the day. The wind would pick up and we would get cold so we decided to go inside somewhere, so we toured the State house. It was amazing, it makes our state Capitol building look boring.
Here we are in front of the building, famous for it's big gold dome which Paul Revere crafted.

Inside we were able to catch a formal tour given my this native Bostonian below. She was so great with all that she knew about the State house and the history of Boston. She had this great Boston accent. Above the Nurses Hall honoring nurses, especially those that have served in various wars. Below is our little tour guide in a neat hall that honors various Mass. women.
So after touring the State house we had lunch at a restaurant called the 21st Amendment. Libby's book gave great recommendations for places to eat. Her book said to go try this place if you want to hear all of the lastest political gossip. It was a great place and the food was really good. While we were sitting at lunch Brad mentioned that the guy sitting at the table next to us looked like John Kerry, Lib and I looked and it was John Kerry! We were kind of star struck. We tried to take undercover photos of him..look close he is in the background.

After eating we wound our way throught the streets of Beacon Hill. These streets are so quaint. While doing this we also followed the Black Heritage Trail which consists of houses, schools and churches that were built by free blacks in the 17 and 1800's. Houses like the Lewis and Harriet Hayden house, a home of freed slaves turned abolistionists and was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Below is the most photographed street in America. It is Acorn St. on Beacon Hill.

All of the lamps were gas lit lamps and the streets are still the original cobble from Colonial times.

This is Lib and I in a place called Loiusburg Square..super quaint. This is where John Kerry lives. We ran into a lady walking two Beagles and struck up a conversation. She said that a one bedroom townhome or row home in this area will sell for 750,000..I really loved walking Beacon Hill streets, probably on my top Ten favorite things about Boston. This is where we mailed your post card from.
Parking is a joke there.. signs like this everywhere..We were glad that we took the T..
We ended our day walking along the Charles River Esplenade and through Boston Common, the oldest and first public park in the United States. As we were leaving there was a Loew's Movie Theater across the street that we could see. We stopped and noticed that they were getting ready for the premiere of Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck's new movie. It is getting great reviews by the way. It was premiering where it was filmed, in Affleck's home town of Boston. I wanted to stay and wait and watch for Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Matt Damon but Lib and Brad were done. I said if Aly were here she would totally stick it out and wait and watch..remember the Be Cool premiere that we saw in Hollywood for my 30th Birthday?

Day 3..Tuesday, October 16

Ahh ..such a nice, sunny day. We had the best weather all week. This was at the Boston Public Garden. Ironically they were filming a movie here called Bachelor #2 with Kate Hudson. We barely got this picture in before it being kind of roped off for the filming of the movie. We could see Kate Hudson running up and down the park pathway from afar.

Famous statue.."Make way for the Ducklings" after a children's book by the same title written in like 1939 I think. Kids loved to sit on the little ducklings.

THe Trinity Church is a "masterpiece in architecture" according to our book. It was very ornate and pretty. The stained glass windows were nice.
THe church sits at the head of Copley square and this tortoise and hare mark the end of the Boston Marathon.
We shopped this day, Lib and Brad needed better walking shoes and I bought a Red Sox hat. We ate at a cool restaurant called Fire and Ice. We ended our day here at the Boston Public Library. It was built in 1890, and is full of art and history..loved it.
This was how we ended our days..back at the Marriott..tired and ready for bed. We watched baseball, the Red Sox were in the playoffs and won so now are heading to the World Series against the Colorado Rockies. Of course we watched the Office, The Biggest Loser and Lib's favorite, Dancing with the Stars..

Day 4..Wednesday, October 17

This was an amazing Holocaust memorial. Glass pillars with 6,000,000 random numbers representing all of those who died. Each column represented a different concentration camp and had quotes from survivors from each one.

Blackstone Block, the city's oldest commercial block, home to the Union Oyster House, oldest restaurant in continuous service in the United States. ..1826Quincy Market..restaurants and shopping..tourist stuff. I found my charm and tile here. The Marriott's Custom house..where Mom & Dad can trade their timeshare for. We wished we were staying there.

Part of the Freedom Trail that takes you all through historic places in Boston. This is Paul Revere's house.

The old North Church where Paul Revere had two lanterns hung in the steeple to warn the colonists that the British were coming by sea. We liked the walled in pews..we should have them in our church to keep little kids from running around..he he..Families would pay for and claim these boxes for church.

The narrowest house in Boston..10 feet wide.
On to tour the USS Constitution ..oldest ship in the US fleet, helped to defend the country when it was brand new in 1797..
Monument to the Battle of Bunker Hill. You can climb up inside to the top, 294 steps. It was a work out.. but the view of Boston at the top of the pillar was fantastic. This is a statue of Colonel William Prescott who led the battle and was famous for saying "don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes" .. we nicknamed him jazz hands..for his funny stance.
This day was spent mostly in the North End, the Italian section of Boston. We stopped at a famous bakery and ate Cannoli's and ended the day at this pizza place called Pizzeria Regina, a little whole in the wall, small and authentic. Boston Kathy recommended it..it was very good. By the time we left there was a line out the door waiting to get in.

Day 5, Thursday, October 18

We stayed at the Marriott in Quincy..which used to be Braintree, home of John Adams. So of course we had to visit to tour his home. It was just one stop away on the T from where we were staying.

This is on the Trolley to John Adam's home. The home where he was born and his son John Quincy Adams the 6th president are both preserved. It was amazing especially because I just finished 1776 and am listening to John Adams by David Mcollough in my car.
On the porch of the Old Home as John Adams referred to it..the home that he and Abigail lived in and died in. It was lived in by 4 generations of Adams, until 1927 and the was turned over to the country. It has been so well preserved.

After John Adams, we went to the city, Lib and Brad went to the aquarium but I decided not to go and finish the Freedom Trail and go to the top of the Marriott's Custom House. This is the oldest burying ground in Boston, King's Chapel Burying Ground. This skeleton looking design is on a lot of the tombstones.
Marriott's Custom House lets people go to the top observation deck every day at 10 & 4. Unfortunately the fog rolled in so I couldn't see a lot.

This is the Old State House.. famous in Boston..stands out amongst all the new skyscrapers..
This was one of our favorite nights ..Lib really wanted sea food. Her book recommended the Barking Crab. IT was great, right on the water. We ate outside on a covered deck overlooking the water and looking toward foggy Boston. They had heaters that kept us warm. Lib got Lobster, I stuck with clam chowder. We were all entertained by her eating the Lobster and smashing it with the granite rock, that is the way they do it at the Barking Crab which made me think of a Barking Spider.

Finally back to the hotel on the T.. tired ..

Day 6..Friday, October 19..The Temple!

Yea..This day we rented a car and drove to the Boston Temple. It was rainy, but deceivingly warm. The temple is beautiful like all temples. We made it for the 10:00 session..The celestial room was beautiful, kind of like the many churches we saw, long oval shape, with 12 chandeliers that lined the ceiling. It was so nice to be there.

This is looking out from the back of the Temple..

THese are pictures from the Plymouth Plantation. After the Temple we drove down the coast to Plymouth where the first settlers of America landed. This plantation is the same that Mom and Dad visited. It is like going back in time, the early settlers, Puritans, pilgrims (whatever they were called) stayed in character. This lady noticed my cold and picked some sage from her garden and told me to put it up my nose to help clear it out. It was just like Vicks that mom used to use on us.
This is the supposed Plymouth rock. Kind of little..but interesting..
ANd a recreation of the Mayflower..

Last Day..Saturday, October 20

One of Brad's happiest moments.. we would see this big slab of rock everyday on our walk down to the T. Finally on our last day walking down Brad climbed it. His happiest moment of the trip. Look at the smile..

This was the Marriott we stayed in.. We would climb the hill each night..sometimes we were lucky and got a shuttle ride, but we didn't mind walking it usually.

On our last day we went to the Head of the Charles Regatta, a rowing event that brings crew teams from all over to compete on the Charles River. I had read about this in the book and we just happend to be there.. It was fun to watch..Dad also had heard about this and told us about it.

Before we left we tried some Boston Cream Pie at it's birthplace the Parker House Hotel. It wasn't that good..I came home and made it on Sunday..using Clair's famous recipe..so much better.

And finally on our way home. Our flight was pretty uneventful until we got into Denver where there were 31 mile per hour winds..we couldn't land and had to circle. The worst turbulence that I have ever had..Libby and I both got way nauseated. It wasn't fun. Finally home to Salt Lake..Mom and Dad picked us up. I wish you were with us..but I am SO PROUD and HAPPY that you are serving away in California. I love your letters. You are great example to me!

I LOVE YOU. .and miss you

Emily

Miles turns One!

2007-10-07T17:00:00.000-06:00

As you know, Sunday was Miles First Birthday..Yea!! It was a pretty chilly day although the sun did come out. It was a nice day to just hang out and listen to Conference. I kept thinking about you knowing that you were listening to the same words just in a different setting. I really thought Conference was so good. What did you think? Any talks stand out to you? I just remember eating Conference up on my mission, it gave me a boost. You only get three on your mission and I always looked so forward to them. Saturday night was Priesthood and it was pretty mellow. Mom, Lib and I went to Rumbi's for dinner and then went over to Grandma B's to hang out. It was just Hill and her kids, Aunt Ruthie and Grandma. Grandma hasn't been feeling well for quite some time. She has just felt weak with a sore/stiff neck and a headache. Her Dr. just told her it was a virus and kind of blew her off, but it went on for like 3 weeks. Ridiculous! Finally she just felt so sick and weak that she went to a Instacare where they drew blood and put her on some antibiotics. At last she is starting to feel much better. Anyway it was nice to be with her and talk with Aunt Ruthie and hang out. Aunt Ruthie passed her pharmacy test so she is happy and relieved.

Brad came down and went to Priesthood with his Dad and then Lib and Brad slept over at Mom and Dad's. I came over in the morning and we watched Conference together. I really liked President Hinckley's talk and Elder Oaks talk and the talk on service..I can't remember who gave it but he talked about the little boy who shared his butterscotch candy by giving licks to all of the other kids.

Anyway later it was just me, Mom and Dad again. Annie was moving her stuff out and into her new place so she was gone for a good chunk of the day. After Conference we went to Grandma & Grandpa Cain's for dinner. We ate Taco soup. They both are looking very good..Here is a picture that I took..

After dinner we headed over to Dave and Cicely's for the party and cake & icecream. The Suites were all there including Grandma Libby and Grandpa Tony and his new wife. When we got there Miles was crying. I think he was overwhelmed by all the people. Plus I think he was tired. He started opening some of his gifts inbetween some cries. I got some happy moments of him pulling the tissue out of a bag, otherwise he just wanted David to hold him. So Max and Tatum were loving it opening his presents instead. Lib, Brad and I bought him this car from Costco that he can ride on, most popular toy at Primary Children's. When I got there.. Annette and Steve had bought the exact same thing, funny, you can't beat Costco. Oh well, hopefully they can buy some books or other good things in exchange. I think it was a bit too much for Miles, he is so sensitive and he was a bit overwhelmed. To top the party off, the cake. It was a Monkey cake and it was dairy free, part of it being made out of zuchinni. They lit a 1 candle and put it in front of him. What did he do?..reached out and touched the lit candle and burned himself. It was all down hill from there. He cried and cried (he didn't get badly burned, but I think it hurt) and Cicely fed him and down to bed he went. Happy Birthday Miles..too funny. So we all sat around and ate some cake which was good and watched Tatum and Max play with Miles presents. Grandma and Grandpa Cain came and really enjoyed themselves. They really liked watching Max play on the car that we bought and Brad and Grandpa put it together. Brad and Lib left pretty soon for Mia's 5th Birthday and we left shortly after. Don't worry you didn't miss out..I think his 3 year old party which you will be here for will be a lot more fun for him and you! Nevertheless here are the pictures.

Well my little friend..I miss you more and more the longer you are gone. Mom was really missing you on Sunday. She cried..I think it was Conference and then she shared an experience about the conversion story of a man in their ward (I think she sent the story in a letter to you) and then missing you all together made her emotional.

I am so anxious to hear how you are doing after a week in the field. I have been praying much for you and for your companion. I hope that things are becoming better as you become more familiar with how things run in the field. Don't stress..I wish I wouldn't have stressed so much as I look back. Just work and enjoy the work, don't stress about numbers and how others perceive those numbers.

I love you so very much..I know that the Gospel is true, so true. I know that our chuch is true and that when people align themselves with it there is happiness and peace. I know that there will be people who are drawn to you because of who you are and because of the Spirit that is in you..Do good..and I love you..

LOVE.. Emily

Miles at the Zoo

2007-10-03T13:14:00.000-06:00

Well I have been thinking a lot about how I should communicate with you..should I write letters or should I email? I think I will do both! Yesterday I tried piecing together an email with pictures that didn't seem to work very well as you probably have realized by now. So instead I have created this little blog where I can send you pictures with commentary each week. I will still write you a letter each week and then blog my email with pictures. I will invite the rest of the family to add their pictures and emails also. I sent you a letter on Saturday, so I am hoping it reaches you by Tues or Wed. Yesterday was Columbus day, so mail will be a little slower.

Well as you can tell we made it to the zoo with Miles for his birthday. We went last Wednesday, your first day in the field. I was so happy when I got home from the zoo to see your email that you had sent. The day was gorgeous and nice and warm right before the weekend which turned cold and rainy.

First stop, the Ghost of the Bayou. As you can see he made Miles a little nervous.

He will only be here until the end of the month..

He wasn't doing much, just hanging out in the water.

The happy family posing by the elephant exhibit

This was looking at two black bears who were kind of wrestling with one another. Then the one kind of played on this rope apparatus. It was pretty entertaining

The Zebra was in fine form..happy to see us.

Miles enjoyed drinking out of my water bottle..
hasn't quite figured out the straw thing yet.

Like I said the weather was amazing. How is your weather in California?
Are the J. Crew dresses working? How strict are they with nylons in the field?
Working hard on a graham cracker..
I think the smell was starting to get to him..I know it was getting to me..nast
Miles reaction after learning he wasn't

going to see his Aunt Aly for awhile..
Just being his cute self..

After watching all the animals nap we got tired but stopped at the playground so that Max and Tatum could play. Miles stuck to this bench and played with me and mom. Practiced his walking skills. No first steps on his own yet.
Worked on eating the comb..
and then combing his hair. Just hamming it up for the camera..
Ahh.. a little post zoo fun. Miles loved this balloon from Grandma Suite. It was the hightlight of the trip. Acutally I think he had a lot of fun and was pretty happy for most of the time.

Miss you and love you..

Emily