Temple Trip

Amber posted:
I am so happy Spencer and I were so blessed on Saturday morning to be able to attend the temple together. We finally left our little guy with great friends and he had a fantastic time. I really appreciate that Angela and her family watched Logan for us. It had been way to long since we've been able to go. I love that the moment we drove thru the temple gates I just felt an overwhelming feeling of the spirit. I told Spencer it is so amazing that just on the temple grounds it feels different. I am grateful for the temple and the blessings I receive from worshiping there. I am so happy to be part of this truth. It was nice to go especially knowing it will be a while again once our little girl gets here. Thanks Spencer for taking me to the temple!!

one more for Bri

LOGAN ROCKS!!!

My "B.J." moment...

So, I had a few projects around the house that required a tool that I did not have so Logan and I took a trip to the Home Depot and found a soldering iron. (Sorry dad, if you are reading this, I was going to do what you told me and buy the electric one but I could not pass up the opportunity to buy a torch)

I have never really used a soldering iron before, I watched my dad use one when I was a kid but never really had the need for one until Logan got a little too excited playing his guitar and he threw the mic up in the air and when it hit the ground, it broke. I took off the top of the mic and saw that one of the wires had broke free. So... I thought what have I got to lose, it is just a cheap toy, so if I break it, what is the big deal.

The guitar fix was a success so I started to muster up the courage to hit the other project I had which required a soldering iron.

My laptop. I have had this computer for about 4 years now and all in all it has been a good one. Before we moved out here my cord got tripped over and the contact inside the power receptical broke loose so that the wire had to be just right in order for it to power the computer. My dad has all sorts of connections in Utah and one of them, a patient was a tech at a computer repair store so he took it and fixed it. He said that he did not know how well it would hold though because he was having a hard time getting the solder in the right spot. As fate would have it, the solder job failed about 6 months ago and we have been really carefull not to move the computer so that it would not be a problem. Every once in a while it would get bumped and the computer would just shut off. Needless to say was annoying. I have been meaning to talk to B.J. about it cause he is really good at fixing things but as luck would have it, he was out of town the weekend I got the soldering iron... so ... I got on line found the manufacturer's schematics for the laptop, broke out the screw driver and went to town.

I started around 8:00pm and didn't have the mother board out until about 10:30. Once I got it out, I found the receptical and was able to see where the crack was in the last soldering job and then came the moment of truth...

I considered just taking the mother board in to a service center to get it fixed but I was impatient and full of a "here goes nothing" attitude so I fired up the soldering iron while amber held the board up on my sholder and I cautiously tried to heat up the contact from the opposite side of the board. I tried everything for about a half an hour to get it to work. My eyes were starting to dry out cause it was late and my hands were shaking and I was sweating so bad I could hardly hold onto the iron. Finally I was able to heat up the old solder to the point it melted and then the new solder went liquid in a puff of smoke and so I pulled it up. Then I started getting scared because though I had repaired the crack, I also closed the circuit on the receptical. So then I scraped away at the bead with a pocket knife till I could tell that the separate beads weren't touching and then I put it back together.

It took about an hour to put it all back together. I was scared to death that once I had it all together it was going to short out as soon as I plugged it in. I inserted the cord and plugged it into the wall and the light came on! I hit the power button and I have never been happier to hear that window's jingle... Nothing ever works out like this for me. (just ask Amber) anyways, I am thrilled cause my computer is working and my soldering iron purchase was justified. Last but not least, Amber has agreed to call me MacGyver for the next little while:)

Like all of you girls give a crap anyways...

Filled with gratitude!!!

Last night was my baby shower for Addysen. Christie said that I was having a different gender baby and so I needed it. It was so nice of her especially since I wasn't planning on having one. (A little secret about Amber: I don't know why but I always seem to get a little nervous about functions that are just for me. I worry that maybe nobody will come.........Oh how wrong was I!)

It was so much fun!! Christie did so much work to prepare the food, house, decorations, all of it was fantastic. She is so talented and a sweet friend. Scarlett made this adorable Welcome Addy cake with a little baby on it. (The cake not only looked cute but tasted good too.) I had so many friends come I was just shocked. The house was packed and we all ate great food, played some fun games (thanks Christina) and visited with each other.

I couldn't even sleep last night because I was still overwhelmed with how much love and support I was shown. I really can't believe it. We were so blessed and received so many cute outfits and gifts. It means so much I can't get over it. I appreciate having so many wonderful friends that would take time out of there busy schedules to come and support me. Thank you all so so much!! I couldn't even carry all the gifts up the stairs by myself. Spencer had to help and he was just shocked too. It was so fun this morning Logan woke up and he was so excited to see all the fun new things for Addy. Then he saw the Hot Wheels Truck that Tracy bought for him.......WOW what joy to see his face light up! He has been playing with it all morning. He said "Oh thank you so much for my new truck." (Tracy thank you thank you I told him it was from Sophia’s mommy.)

So friends, Thanks so so much!! I can't tell you enough how much it means to me to have friends like you when family is so far. I love that we had the time to just sit and visit without our other little ones distracting us! Thanks for spending time last night visiting and celebrating our new little girl that will soon be with us. It sure seems a little bit more real this morning!! We are so excited for Addy to come join our family.

--posted by Amber--

thanks Christie for the great pics!

The White House Easter Egg Roll

Our day started out bright and early. We had to wake up get ready and head to the metro station in greenbelt. Logan was really excited to ride the metro, it kind of looked like the Disneyland Monorail...

It was fun for the first few stops cause the metro is above the ground and it is fun to look outside at everything. There was a little airport at the college park stop, Logan loves airplanes.

Once we arrived, we still had to wait for our time to go through the gate to the White House. There were many tents set up in the ellipse, some served breakfast burritos, drinks, and raisins. There were also a bunch of toys for the kids to play with. Logan was so excited, especially after we bumped into Jeffy and Ethan, he just started running around and dancing.

When it was our time to go, we were herded into a big tent and led across the street to the entrance. It was set up a lot like airport security, there were a bunch of cops and metal detectors and bomb sniffing dogs, they sure worked a lot faster and more thorough than airport security.

On the back lawn of the White House there were tons of activities set up for the kids, and several stages where you could find exotic animals, circus clowns, magicians and the Jonas Brothers ( thank goodness we don't have a 13 year old girl) you would have thought they were the Beatles or something, girls screaming and chasing them around... There were also sections set up for kids to listen to stories being read by important people.

The egg roll was a lot of fun. Logan thought it was great that he could hit an egg around with a spoon with everyone cheering him on.

Amber is so funny, we had half a dozen people take our picture till she was satisfied with the final product. It still wasn't that great. It was funny how many people don't know how to take a picture. There we are standing in front of the White House and people would take our picture, totally cutting out the white house, and in one case, cutting off our heads... This will just have to do:)

The Marine Corps band was set up on the back patio and they were playing the music from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, and The sound of Music. We loved listening to them play, we could have stayed all day. while we were enjoying the music, we caught glimpses of Laura Bush and Barbara Bush. On our way out, we came down a little hill and once he got down it, Logan decided that he wanted to go back up it and roll down it. Now just imagine there are 5,000 people trying to come down this hill and there is our son just pretending like he is the only one there, rolling down the hill. We were cracking up.

The blossom festival starts next week but there were already a few popping on the tree. Logan kept saying he wanted to eat them. We kept telling him that "popcorn popping" was just a song...

Last week when we checked the weather, it was supposed to snow today. It was a little cold, especially in the morning but it was a beautiful day.

Amber is a trooper. I cannot believe that she walked all that way, chasing a crazy kid and didn't give birth to Addy right there on the President's back lawn...

Here is a picture of our spoils. Pretty good prizes, books, recipes, eggs, a book mark...

Here is the wooden egg with the president's and first lady's signatures.

New Cousin for Logan!!!

Berkeley Pauleen Shelton finally arrived early this morning, Mom and baby are doing fine. Logan was sure excited to see her.

only a month and a half to go till Addy gets here...

Taking it to the streets

Last night me and a bunch of friends from the ward slept out in D.C. in hopes of getting tickets to the White House Easter egg roll. There were thousands of people lined up and the line of tents and chairs wrapped around the ellipse behind the White House.

Here is Chad and Kel in front of the Washington Monument. I had originally envisioned sleeping on the sidewalk by some building, it ended up being so much better than I had feared. It was like camping on the lawn back home (in the freezing cold...)

Adrian and Jake setting up their shelter. We stayed up late quoting old movies that we like and at one point we walked to McDonald's cause Jake needed his pie...

just across the road from where we were sleeping you could see where they have set up for the festivities.

We are excited to go and take part in the egg roll, hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Preparing for Addy

The other day, we were getting really excited for baby Addy to come so we decided we would get out the stethiscope and see if we could hear her heart beating. Logan loves the sound, after the first ultra-sound he called her "baby choo choo".

We tried to find her but we have no idea what we were doing so we gave up and started feeling for kicks instead.

He loves to cuddle up on the couch with his doll and just yesterday when we went to the Wall's house he went down stairs and found a baby doll and a bottle and sat down and fed the doll. We are excited to see him as a big brother.

Service Slide Show

Christie Wall made this awesome video with pictures from the service project.

Fun Service Day!

Amber posted:
Today was so much fun. After a lot of work and preparation we had our Quarterly Enrichment Activity where we made items to put in Breast Cancer Survivor bags that Anne Arundel Hospital hands out. It was awesome and we had such a great success. I appreciate all those helping hands that are behind the scenes that make big activities like this come together. It really takes so many and it all worked out.

*We ended up with a lot of donations of small travel size lotions etc.
*We had Sister Brown and her daughters who made beaded book marks that are so pretty in advance because she wasn't able to come today.
*We hand made 24 zipper pulls that were just gorgeous!
*We made 84 pillows today and many took material home to help finish.
*We had sisters in the ward make scarves from about the last two months if that, and we have collected 40 and they are all beautiful and full of love.

It is just so overwhelming to watch something like this come together. My numbers might be a little off and I am sure they will increase with time but I think it is just incredible!! I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many women willing and able to serve. What great friends we have and I am so happy to be apart of the Relief Society organization and all we can do as sisters joined together. We are so blessed! It is also so great just to get together with friends and while we serve together we get to visit and grow closer together. I am sorry for all of you who missed out on a fun, wonderful day!

Church Talk

Amber posted:
I was asked to speak in church today. It is always a very stressful thing for me when I need to give a talk or prepare a lesson. The week or weeks before it really consumes all my thoughts. I am so happy that I was able to speak and to such a wonderful ward full of friends. Today was also special having little Logan in the audience just smiling so big at me. He made me feel like I was the greatest thing in the world no matter what I said. What a great feeling that is to be so loved! The thumbs up from daddy and Logan was great too. I am so glad to be a part of this truth. I love the gospel so much and appreciate the principles and the basis it gives me when raising my own family. I am so happy I was able to be raised with such strong values and hope I can do the same for my kids. I am so glad we have the spirit that can prompt us and give us thoughts on what to say and do.

Island in the sun

Pop Rocks and Kimchi

Well, some parents think it is funny to give their kid peanutbutter or lemon juice and laugh at the faces that result. Call me sick, I took it to the next level:) No children were harmed in these "experiments."

At first the fruity strawberry taste is appealing, but then the little rocks start popping, what a strange sensation...

Not too sure about pop rocks...

Experiment 2: Kimchi (note these were taken on separate occasions due to urban legends that warn of one's face melting if they eat pop rocks and kimchi at once. We love our son to much to risk it...)

Our daring son quickly places the kimchi in his mouth and then...

quickly removed it:) I guess it is an acquired taste...