Day Eleven

We’ve been here over a week and it’s thunder-stormed almost every day or night. I’m very pleased! They call this the monsoon season for Los Alamos. I’ve always missed the storms back home and am glad to hear them again, though the lightning isn’t quite as vivid here. The temperatures have been kept nicely to where we don’t need our AC ever. It’s nice to keep the windows open all day long- and our big sliding door too. Though it may not be super hot, you have to be extra careful in the sun here because it’s closer and more harmful to your skin-- something we’ll have to keep in mind.

As I said before, the view here is beautiful! Canyons and green hilly mountains. There are tons of trails for hiking and biking here that we can’t wait to explore. There are still yuckier desert sides to this area, but not so much in Los Alamos, which I appreciate. The adobe houses I still have to get used to. I’m excited to explore more of the housing areas here on the different plateaus.

We’ve been to Santa Fe a couple of times. A 45-minute to 1-hour drive. The roads there seem more confusing and narrow. Parking spots are really tight. Other than that, I’ve discovered they have more stores than I expected, which I’m happy about! They have ROSS and a walmart, target, and many others I’m forgetting.

The only grocery store in Los Alamos is Smiths (actually they may have an Albertsons too but that’s out of the question). Regardless of this, I’ve found that Smiths can have decent sales and aren’t as overly expensive as I expected. Their produce is usually the most expensive to me, but I’ve found out that SUNFLOWER marketplace is being built in town!! I love their deals on produce. Problem solved.

Our apartment is very nice. It has more space and a bigger KITCHEN! Funny thing is that we STILL have more stuff than we can fit, so Brian built shelves in our super tall storage closet on the balcony. Perfect. Kristy and G&G came to help us move in, which was really a big help to us! The smell in our apartment is strange to me and the people smoke below us. Plus we’re noticing more and more dog hair (especially in our vacuum) from the previous owners. Other than that, we really can’t complain. Avery not only has her own room now but her own bathroom too. Spoiled kid. But it won’t be for long! Haha.

In case you were wondering, my belly has grown much bigger within the last two weeks. It seems like it came out of nowhere. I should really get a maternity dress in Santa Fe; the only one I have is wintry. The baby kicks often and it’s strange to think I’m at that stage of the pregnancy. Surprisingly I’ve gotten some good nights rests here so far and it’s been a while. I’m liking that. Forget left side sleeping because I’m all about right side and back. That’s how it was with Avery and I’m not even going to fret about it because I sleep well!

Avery is adjusting well. She likes the stairs. Stairs, stairs, stairs. We have lots of stairs to our apartment. She likes exploring around the apartment and playing in our shower. She is taking frequent naps or having crib down time which is great by me. We’re getting more into doing time-out with her when she pitches a fit. We’re also limiting the binki to sleep times only.

Brian has biked to work a couple of times. Twenty-five minutes there and 10 minutes back. (It’ll be closer when he gets to his permanent building). Right now he’s doing a lot of reading on the computer. He’s okay with it, but he REALLY looks forward to what he’ll be doing after his security clearance. He’ll be doing everything having to do with product development (like research, development, prototype, the nine yards).

The transit system in Los Alamos is free for when Brian (or I) can’t bike or take the car. Nice. Everything is close to our apartment: the indoor pool, library (with very equipped children’s section and playground), the park and pond, grocery store, putt-putt (bring your own ball and club), etc. The library has free and efficient wi-fi, which brings me to our next point: We will NOT have Internet at our apartment! This does scare me, because I rely on it so heavily, but we decided we want to try saving that money (and weaning me from so much internet). We’re trying this for a few months to see how it goes. This means very long blogs and fewer between. Sorry! We’ll also be switching to Alltel/Verizon soon and down to one cell phone. Updates on that to come.

The ward here is nice; our neighbors are nice. The community is great. However, we miss you all and wish you were here with us!

Above is us at 4 corners on the way down to Los Alamos.

Welcome to Los Alamos

Thursday our movers from United Van Lines came; they were 3 rippling tattooed guys who knew how to get the job done and were super friendly. It felt odd to sit back while they did the work, but we got to visit with them while they worked so efficiently. I was impressed.

Friday we said audios to our beloved Provo and headed straight to our half-way point in Cortez, CO. We left earlier than expected and arrived in plenty of time for dinner at Pizza Hut!

Saturday's drive was filled with sage brush and rocky landscapes, plateaus, and lots of boarded-up back-country communities.

As we climbed altitude into Los Alamos, there were rocky plateaus accompanied with beautiful green covered peaks--more picturesque than I expected. We were tucked away in the mountains! (Side note- they get a lot of thunder storms this time of year- I am SO siked!)

Driving through the small town, everything seemed a lot nicer than I expected (especially after what we'd previously driven through). Brian was pleased with my reaction. I truly love where our new apartment is situated: it's right by one of the canyons and our "backyard" looks like a forested campground area!

I was excited for church on Sunday. It's a very nice ward, and large too. The big surprise to me was how normal or average everyone was (not to be offensive). I was expecting some "big-wigs" because of how well the Lab pays here. (80% of the ward are engineers or scientists who work at the lab.) As we had dinner with a member of the church and of Brian's lab group, I began to realize that we won't be living high on the hog just because Brian has a nice paycheck. Real estate here is majorly expensive and you need a sizeable paycheck to pay for any average abode. Humph. I suppose there's more to life than a pretty house, right?

On the bright side, the communities here are super. Everyone is nice. I do wish the neighborhoods were more kept up because many yards are overgrown with weeds or have lots of clutter. I'm sure some places are better than others. The nice people are what counts.

I got some pointers on doctors and so forth from our new friends (Dan and Amber) who we had dinner with. They are a great couple with four kids and one on the way (due the same day as ours- crazy!). We're thankful to be in good company.

Each new day brings more thoughts and wonders into my head about the future that lies ahead. Yesterday was Brian's orientation at work. I wonder how he'll like work here. I wonder where we'll end up with a house and when that'll be. I wonder what I'll grow to like and maybe not like about our new community. I wonder what it'll be like to have a permanent (or mostly permanent) hometown. Wow, it's a lot to think about.

Great news- our stuff has arrived from Utah and we get to move into our apartment tomorrow!!! More updates and *pictures* soon. We haven't set up our internet there yet, so it may take a little while to post again.

20-week Ultrasound

Announcing our second baby GIRL! We are so thrilled that Avery will have a little sister to be good friends with (hopefully)! I'm glad to have a girl because I feel more confident that "I've been down that road" already. Plus, we can use the same baby clothes (they're born a month apart)! We can probably get them bunk beds too when it's time! There are lots of fun things to look forward to! Just a reminder: Our due date is January 6th. The picture above shows a classic profile of her head and arm (head is on the right).

Eighteen Months!

She's still got beautiful curls in the back and at the bottom though you can't tell here.

Look at that hippo mouth... with the two bottom teeth and the top two spread apart. I'd say it's a good likeness- funny girl!

Avery is eighteen months tomorrow! She's a growing girl. Always, always growing and learning. It is so fun! She likes to mimic what I do around the house and she's decent at quite a few things. Here is a picture of her helping me pack... maybe not so helpful there:

Homage to these people and this place

The fact that we're leaving Utah TOMORROW is setting in on me with great excitement but I feel twinged with remorse over what's being left behind!

We've had the pleasure of being in the company of some stellar people here--truly treasured friends and family--we will be missing their company greatly as we start from scratch in New Mexico and I wanted you all here to know it! We couldn't have had it any better than this.

These are our friends below. You guys are the elite. Jenni & Jared & Katelyn, Nate & Kimber, Me & Brian, Russ & Adri, Taylor & Jen & Logan & Gavin.

These are some good times:

(Above) To Taylor & Jen & Logan & Gavin: Jen and I are college roommates and have really had some good times. By fortune, we ended up in Provo together with our families... And in the same ward for a year! The Burtons will always be there for you at the drop of a pin and we like to chat and relax when we get together. Thanks for taking us trick or treating (especially me) and for bbqs and babysitting and always being there when it matters and for making things count (making sure we party when we should!) haha.

(Above) To Russ & Adri: My goodness, what to say? You have been our golden Provo-made friends; met you when we first got here and it feels like we've been friends for ages now. This picture is special to me because I think of the numberless evenings we have spent together on a very regular basis, just chatting for however long and playing games constantly. We're glad we could live it up like this. What are we going to do now???

(Above) To Nate & Kimber: So what is it that took us so long to start hanging out with you guys? Nate and Brian are both in the CMR lab at BYU (and they like to gossip about lab stuff when we're together). We've had some fun trips to the Magleby's cabin and other times here like golfing and pizza! Thanks for putting up with my slap-happiness at late hours playing games. You guys are lots of fun.

(Above) To Jenni & Jared & Katelyn: Jenni and I start way back in the cradle. You can't underestimate friendships like this because they're solid--as are Carol and Cidne, too, who also deserve a shout-out! Fortune has landed the Hirschis and us together for this season in Provo and we couldn't be more grateful. You guys are classic. It's so fun watching Katelyn and Avery together- they'll be playing again someday!

(Above) This is our family here in Provo (two of my brothers families). Louis, Katherine, Benton, McKenna, Matthew, Savannah, & Steve, Jenn, Jacob, Kara, Evan, and Emma! It is always a big party when we get together! We've so much enjoyed having Louis and Steve close. It's tons of fun to see Avery grow up with her cousins. They really adore her and I know she will surely be missing out on them. Thanks so much for the good times! We will miss them!

Lots of Bear Lake

This weekend we dropped everything and headed up the canyon to Bear Lake for two nights. The Burtons invited us and we knew that this would be a well deserved and rewarding trip with our friends. It turned out to be more than so. Taylor had connections with a cabin-owner up there so we got to just pitch our tents there and even let the kids sleep inside the cabin with the windows cracked! It was the perfect arrangement (and free!).

Avery LOVES the dogs. Look at that bed head!

Avery laughs when Logan goes "Rarrr!"

The kids

The Lake was slightly chilly but bearable, especially when the sun is so hot and you need a cool dip.

We're so proud how well Avery did in the water. She went all the way out with dad.

The water was clean and beautiful!

She could do this for HOURS.

Learning to not be afraid.

Let me tell you about Avery's poo-poo nap. We stopped at G&G's on the way home to visit. Avery's clothes were washing so we put her down with just a diaper. That's a no-no! Apparently she pooed during her nap and started digging, smelling, and wiping... then fell back asleep. This is how we found her!

More on Avery:

She's really a smart child. She sorted some blocks and picked out all the white ones (that shouldn't surprise me because she can easily sort her food if she doesn't like something). She'll even spit out a bite, pick out what she didn't like and put the rest back in. She's cuddly and sweet, has a ton of expressions, has issues with sharing and tells other kids NO a lot, is always getting better at using the stairs, can drink from a water fountain, can run, says Thank-you, and she understands a TON of what we say (except for No and Stop and Come back here...). Here's an example of some commands she understands:

• Rub your hands together
• Lick your fingers
• Go give mom a spanking (dad's favorite)
• Turn off the lights
• Throw it away
• Go get a book
• Put it back
• Can I have a hug/kiss/head butt