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Update

2011-11-23T01:15:00.000-07:00

Warren is 5 months old now and holding strong in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. With his size and his thick hair, he looks a lot older than he is. There is a man at church who calls him our little 5 year old baby:) He discovered his toes a couple weeks ago. He always has ahold of them whenever he's on the floor or during bath time. He frequently has his toes from both feet in his mouth at the same time.

Hippie Halloween

2011-10-31T23:00:00.000-06:00

Little Foodie

2011-10-18T16:00:00.000-06:00

This was Warren's first time eating real food.

I've been making his baby food which has been really fun. We've mostly been feeding him bananas, yams, and avocado. He seems like he'll eat anything. It only took him a couple feedings to really figure out how to eat. He's a pro now.

2011-09-27T03:46:00.000-06:00

Our friend Brooke Schaaf just decided one day that she wanted to start pursuing photography and asked if she could practice on Warren. "Of course you can!"

He's so cute

Football Fan

2011-09-24T00:31:00.000-06:00

We put Warren on the couch with Dad and Grandpa while they were watching a football game. Warren couldn't take his eyes off the TV!

Cabin again

2011-08-24T14:56:00.000-06:00

We went to the cabin one more time before school started up again. This time with Doug's whole family. Seneca had to collect bugs for a school project which was fun for everyone.

Bedtime snuggles with Dad

Apparently Warren was having a fat day...

Some of the fam went on a hike that was still too intense for me. My joints were still a little loosey goosey.

Grandpa pointing to where they are headed

the view of the cabin from the top

Seneca had a fun idea:

Which turned into a funny accident :)

Baby Blessing

2011-08-07T19:00:00.000-06:00

Doug gave a wonderful blessing. Warren's grandparents, uncles, Bishop Soffe, and Bishop Monk were in the circle. Good day.

Hiking

2011-08-05T00:14:00.000-06:00

Doug was eager to take Warren on a hike over 10,000 feet. We weren't up to hiking anything that big so we drove up to Guardman's Pass and climbed up the nearest peak overlooking Park City. It was beautiful on the way up.

Warren slept.

When we got to the top a little storm came in and we had a few sprinkles. After that, on the way down, the mosquitos were horrific. They were so thick, Doug had mosquitos trapped IN his hair. We all had lots of mosquito bites except for the babe. We kept him covered up.

Vegas

2011-07-31T11:30:00.000-06:00

The next week we went to Las Vegas with my mom and sister. We were able show Warren off to my extended family and got to be at my cousin's mission farewell which was fun.

We got to see our BFF who moved to Vegas. We also got to meet her husband, and her cute dog, Stella. Stella loved Warren. Actually she just loved everyone:)

(H- I stole this from your facebook b/c I love this one)

Warren got to try swimming for the first time! Doug and I were more excited about it than Warren was. You could just put a hand under his head and the rest of his body would float because he's so chubby.

Even in the Vegas heat, he still got chilled after a few minutes.

But he loved the warm, poolside snuggles.

cabin

2011-07-20T23:19:00.000-06:00

When Warren was a month old, we went to the cabin for a couple days with our friend and his cute little girl. She loved Warren and apparently couldn't stop talking about him for three weeks after. It was kind of a foggy trip for me because I was still too exhausted to think straight. But it was nice to get out of the heat and enjoy the outdoors. Warren was a good little hiker and was a happy guy.

4th of July

2011-07-08T12:22:00.000-06:00

Our first "trip" away from home after Warren was down to my parent's house over the 4th of July. They're only an hour away. They live in a very rural, picturesque community. We went to the town parade with lots of cute little floats, marching bands, and tractors. We set off some fireworks and watched all the fireworks over the whole valley. They have an amazing view. There is a fun dirt path that runs right past their property that's perfect for evening walks after it has cooled off. Warren LOVES being outside. If he ever cries all we have to do is walk out the door and he's immediately happy again.

Warren pics

2011-06-30T17:19:00.000-06:00

9 lbs 2 oz!

poor little guy on his breathing machine

CHUBBY Warren with my midwife, Gretchen. She said he looked like a fat little eskimo

Warren on his bilibed for jaunice. He hated it. Doug called it his jedi bed.

Coming home

First bath--not very fun

Baby Warren

2011-06-24T08:09:00.000-06:00

The good, the bad, and the ugly of childbirth:

When I was a week overdue they sent me to get some tests done to make sure everything was still healthy with my pregnancy. Standard procedure. Warren was having "late decelerations" (his heart rate was dropping with my contractions because he was no longer getting enough blood/oxygen) so they said they were keeping me at the hospital to have my baby right then! So exciting!

The bad:
- Having my water broken. Ouch! Luckily it only takes a few seconds.
- 14 hour labor.

- Wearing an oxygen mask and having to lay in the same position the whole time because Warren's heart rate would drop too low if I moved.

- My epidural wearing off several times.

- Not getting to see or hold my baby for 4 HOURS after he was born because his lungs were struggling to open.

- Uncomfortable hospital beds.
- Post epidural headache on and off for a week afterwards--already one of the most painful things ever and add that on top of the pain and exhaustion of just having a baby= not a happy camper.

The good:

- Unlimited banana flavored popsicles during labor :)

- Epidurals. Even after getting a post epidural headache, which is horrible, I will still get an epidural for all my babies.

- My midwife, Gretchen, and my labor and delivery nurse, Tracy. They were so great.

- When they told me Warren had a full head of hair.

- Only having to push for 12 minutes. 4 contractions- he came out fast!

- Doug showing me pictures of our guy from the special care nursery since I couldn't go see him.

- Getting to take a shower for the first time after he was born.

- Getting to go home.

The wonderful:
- Doug watched the whole delivery and loved it.
- Doug's nervous/excited encouragement while I was pushing.

- Holding my baby for the very first time.

- Being so sad each time they had to take our baby away for shots and tests and feeling how much I want to protect him.
- Watching Doug be a daddy.
- Watching how carefully Doug drove home from the hospital.
- Snuggling with my sweet, perfect little baby.
- Our family of two becoming a family of three.

- Feeling so much love for my little baby I could exlpode.

- Knowing he's mine forever.

9 months

2011-06-05T19:01:00.000-06:00

We've almost made it! No name baby boy Evans is due in three days and we are READY. (except for a name) I'm going crazy waiting for this guy and it makes me even more crazy to think about him possibly being late. Doug and I are watching LOST on Netflix to pass the time. Besides being anxiously waiting, always tired, incredibly uncomfortable, and unable to sleep well, I've been feeling pretty good! Doug has somehow gained 12 lbs of sympathy baby weight but we have no idea where it's hiding. He looks exactly the same. (he's sticking it out in the picture) He's also developed sympathy heartburn. He goes through almost as many tums as I do. I just have an extra-supportive husband who doesn't want me to go through this alone. He's a sweetheart :) And I'm huge.

6 months, trip to st george

2011-03-07T12:09:00.001-07:00

I've been soo bored since I haven't been able to work for several months. Doug helped out my cabin fever by taking me to St George for a couple days. We did some really good shopping at the outlets, went to the movies, went out for ice cream both nights and spent an afternoon in Snow Canyon. We went on some nice, short trails- easy enough for a big pregnant lady to do.

Things to remember about being 6 months pregnant: I eat all the time, I'm exhausted all the time, I get up 2 or 3 times a night, I've started getting charlie horses in my legs, people are always surprised when I tell them I'm not due til June. This makes it sound bad but I really feel fine most of the time. Not sick much anymore and still able to get around.

5 months

2011-02-09T18:42:00.003-07:00

Things I don't want to see again after I have the baby:

-saltines
-my maternity swimsuit
-the scale at my dr's office
-the word 'kegel'
-the inside of my belly button

Its a boy!

2011-01-21T17:29:00.005-07:00

Its a boy! I was positive it was a boy in the beginning, then thought it had to be a girl because of how sick I was. We hope this doesn't mean I could be MORE sick with a girl! I've been starting to feel better the last week or two. I still have sick days, but I have good days too so I'm very happy. I started feeling him move around last week which I LOVE.

And due to popular demand, here is a picture of me and our growing guy. I finally feel like some of my other pregnant friends are catching up to me in size, but I still feel huge and even my midwife has made comments on my "large uterus"...

Dinner

2010-12-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight for dinner I had dill pickles, kiwis, and mellow yellow soda. Mmm. At least its healthier than the mcdonald's cheeseburger and fries I've had every other night this week. Cravings have been a blessing lately because those are the only things I can keep down.

Three is a magic number

2010-11-29T17:54:00.003-07:00

A man and a woman had a little baby,
Yes they did.
They had three-ee-ee in the family,
And that's a magic number.

I'm almost 13 weeks along which means our little one will be here June 8th! YAAAAAAAAAAAAYY! I'll try and take a picture of my little belly soon. I'm suprised how pregnant I look already. But I like it. Its fun and makes it seem more real. I've sure been feeling pregnant. I've been living on the couch (and in front of the toilet) for almost two months- I've been sooo sick. I keep expecting to start feeling better soon but I think its getting worse. I honestly don't know how anyone decides to have more kids after they know what they're getting into! Doug is usually gone at least 14 hours a day between school and work, but when he is home he's very helpful and somehow finds time to grocery shop and keep up on laundry and dishes. And he doesn't even complain when I get hormonal and grumpy or when I look scary from my lack of grooming. I have the best husband.

temple

2010-09-29T14:23:00.001-06:00

On July 30th, Doug's sister, Brenna, and I went through the temple for the first time! (Brenna's the one with brown hair)

The next day Doug and I were sealed! These are all of our family and friends that came all the way to St. George to be there with us!

We picked St. George because Doug's grandpa used to be a sealer there, (he officiated our ceremony) Doug received his endowment there, and my parents were sealed there- 30 years earlier in the same room!

good day

SoCal VaCa

2010-09-12T20:38:00.002-06:00

Back in July we had great plans for a return vacation to Cancun with our friends Tyler and Stephanie again. We had been given a free week at the condo we stayed at last time and our friends gave us free buddy passes so we were stoked for an awesome, FREE, beach paradise vacation. ...But then our friend at jet blue with our buddy passes lost her job which meant we lost our plane tickets. We all had work off so we decided to quickly throw together a trip to San Diego so we could still see a beach. It ended up being a little chilly- in the 60's, not exactly bikini weather, but we made it work.

The first night we went down the the gaslamp district downtown and enjoyed some yummy, overpriced italian food.

Later we took a walk along the boardwalk at our hotel. We had a great view of the harbor and downtown San Diego!!

We went to the Maritime museum. They have several old sailing ships, steam boats and submarines you can explore. They were really interesting. I am super senstive to motion sickness and the swaying of the boats started making me sick so I only did a few, but the others got to see all of them. They were so cool.

Next we went to La Jolla beach where sea lions like to hang out. Look at the cute little white baby! She was our favorite. The sea lions were so funny and so interesting. We just sat and watched them for a long, long time.

La Jolla has these cool cliffs and coves along the shore.

We went to sea world! I was the only one who hadn't been before. We went to every single show they have and got our fill of dip n' dots and junk food. This was the dolphin show which was my favorite. Way more impressive than Shamu.

After that the plan was to drive to Palm Desert, California, spend the day swimming at our hotel, and drive through Joshua Tree National Park the next morning. As soon as we pulled into town the A/C in our car decided to go out. And Palm Desert is HOT. So our nice men let us girls go to the pool while they tried to fix the A/C. No Luck. It couldn't be fixed for 2 days so we bought spray fans from the store, filled our little cooler with ice, wore our swim suits, and pressed on:

We got to Joshua Tree the next morning and it was AWESOME. It was really hot so we just did one short hike and enjoyed the rest from our car--not that the car was any cooler.

This is a joshua tree- a really big one.

there are lots of cool rocks to scramble and play on

We got about an hour away from Joshua Tree when the car started making a weird noise. We happened to be by a teeny little gas station on Route 66 which was the only the civilization for a at least an hour in any direction and the car broke down. Seriously, the "town" had a population of 5. Five people. We tried adding some oil and got the car kind of going again so we decided we'd better keep going while we could. The car completely broke down about two miles down the road. SO, we took turns hitch hiking back to the gas station and called a tow truck. It took a couple hours for it to get to us but we were just happy to be at the gas station with air conditioning rather than on the side of the highway!

This was not a good day. We got about a half hour down the road when the tow truck had a blow out.

So we got to wait another two hours for another tow truck to tow our broken tow truck. This time outside. On the side of the highway. In the mojave desert. In 115 degrees. The tow truck took us to Needles California which is on the Arizona border. We sold the Subaru for $150 to a junk yard. We had a to take a taxi to the nearest rental car place which was almost an hour away. We drove to St. George where Doug's family has a condo and decided to stay the night there. We went swimming at the pool and saw 'Salt' and the day ended on a good note. We made it home safely the next morning. We are now the proud owners of a Subaru Forester and a second car payment.

Horton Family Reunion

2010-08-17T01:31:00.000-06:00

In July we attended a family reunion for Doug's mom's family to celebrate Doug's grandpa's 80th birthday. The family rented out this awesome historic courthouse in Junction, Utah which has been renovated for family reunions!

the old courthouse

Our Evans family with Granny and Grandpa Horton

Granny and Grandpa with the grandkids

a fierce marble tournament

On our way home we made a couple stops. The first one being the Fremont Indian State Park. We learned all about them at the museum then walked through the park to see all the amazing rock art panels. There are SOOO many and some of the coolest we've seen.

-these guys remind me of aliens-

there's a big guy that looks like a ghost with horns to the right of Seneca's head in the dark orange varnish

This one is across the freeway up high. Its HUGE- 3 feet tall and 12 feet long!!! Its called the Indian Blanket. The legend is a group of Indians were passing through the canyon and a young baby died and was buried here. The mother was so sad to think of her baby being alone in the cold, so when they passed through again she painted this blanket for her baby to use to keep warm.

After the Fremont Park we stopped at Cove Fort. The prophet, Brigham Young, asked my great, great, great, great grandfather, Ira Hinkley, to build a fort here to offer protection for the pioneers who were traveling to settle farther west.

its made out of lava rock from the surrounding area

Girls Camp

2010-07-18T22:50:00.004-06:00

I was so lucky this year and was called to be our ward's girl's camp director! It was a BIG job but so much fun. I absolutely loved girls camp when I was a teenager and I loved being a part of it again. We have a small young women's group- we had nine girls come to camp, and they're all so great. I had SO-MUCH-FUN. We had a lake day, played fun games, did lots and lots of cute crafts, sang silly songs, had a fun outdoor movie night, and ate waaaay too much junk food. I think that was the longest time Doug and I had been apart from each other. But Doug had a lot of fun living the bachelor life again with all his single work friends and got to stay out late every night.

*love them*

desolate june

2010-07-09T00:39:00.002-06:00

This june was desolate for us for two reasons. We never posted anything on the blog and we went down the Green River through Desolation Canyon.

First Lys and I went down to Moab to go to our friends, Christa and Verle's wedding reception. While down there I recertified my wilderness first aid course for the trip and Lys and I went on a drive on the La Sal mountain loop.

the view looking down into castle valley where we want to live someday.

We also hung out with the Hazlett kids and rigged the boats and the food for the trip with Mark, our other guide, who went through training with me four years ago.

The drive to Sand Wash (where you put in the boats) takes 5-6 hours with a big heavy trailer. Unless you want to spend time changing flat tires on the rocky dirt road. We arrived without incident and unloaded the boats around ten p.m. Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning the family showed up (my dad, three sisters, one brother, and a grad student who is living with my folks for the summer while he works for my dad) and another family of four from SLC flew in. And we launched:

lunch on the water

Desolation canyon is a very remote, very beautiful place. You launch from the Duchesne side of Utah and float along the Ute indian reservation on your east and BLM land on your west. In places it is over 5'000 ft from the river to the top of the mesa. The landscape changes every few hours and it will feel like a new canyon every day. We were floating from Wednesday thru Saturday and covered 84 miles. The first expeditions through these canyons were by John Wesley Powell in the mid 1800's and many of the features in the canyon were named by their group, including the name Desolation. There are 75 marked rapids and riffles in the 84 miles, the largest they get are class III.

down river on the right you can make out 'light house rock', named by J.W.P. you can also see our boats on the water.(click to enlarge)

There are two types of water in Deso.

Slow:

And Fast:

(enlarge to see how the girls liked the wave that came in the boat)

(not the biggest wave, but Parker thought it was)

Video of the biggest rapid:

two years ago there was a big flash flood that rolled some boulders and turned this rapid from a class II to a III. The water was so high when we were there that it was more like a IV

Desolation is a great place to see Utah's wildlife. On the Ute land it is common to see wild mustangs and deso is known for bear sightings. We missed both of these this trip although we did find some very large, very fresh bear poopie. The list of animals was still very large: several lizards, ravens, blue heron, turkey vultures, mud swallows, bats, hellgrammite, crawdad, river otter, and desert bighorns. Most of the list is pretty common to see on a deso trip. The hellgrammite was a second for me on a river trip though, and river otters are shy and seeing one was a real treat. It was my first time seeing an otter leave the water and shake himself dry, fortunately the girls on the boat squealed so loud that my 'oh-my-gosh-that's-adorable' whimper was hidden.

lizards on a wall at the McPherson ranch where Butch Cassidy would hide

hellgrammite. this thing later becomes a flying bug called a dobsonfly. can't imagine this thing with wings.

Now desert bighorns are not that uncommon to see. normally you see a couple females and a youngster or two. This is because the males are not usually with a herd, they leave the raising of kids to the moms. What is really uncommon to see is six or seven different sighting on one trip. One sighting had eleven baby sheep! By far a record for me. Another unusual sighting was three males hanging out together. Desert bighorns were hunted and driven out of their land by ranchers to near extinction. But over the last couple decades the numbers have been coming back up due to conservation efforts. I think this herd shows good promise.

one mom watching eleven babies. enlarge to count.

three rams grazing.

While going down the river you get to stop and see a lot of different things from different time periods.

a moonshiner's cabin from prohibition times

mark searching my soul, or considering a career in alcohol production.

petroglyphs from the Fremont indians

awesome granary with bent wood and giant stones

old homestead ranch

mulberry picking at the ranch

the canyon was so pretty and the wind was blowing the cotton out of the trees and mark was peeing and I had to take the picture. I did not get permission to post this.

old farm equipment at the ranch where Butch would hide out.

this is the before mentioned grad student Reeve. he was a natural on the oars, great on all the adventures, helpful at camp, and a huge overall asset to the trip. but I choose to show him instead pretending to use an old outhouse. sorry Reeve, I just liked it too much.

this was our last camp

a human skeleton left in the desert. no one knows the story

the Evans' group

Canyonlands

2010-05-28T15:20:00.006-06:00

A couple weeks ago we saw some of these:

while driving this:

through places like this:

with all of these people:

to camp here!:

Then drove passed these:

to get to here:

(the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers--notice the left side is light and the right side is dark)

We went up places like this:

down places like this:

through skinny places like these:

and even skinnier places like this!:

We hiked way up here:

to catch views like this one:

We had meals in this cave:

so did our friend:

But my favorite was driving through this:

to get to here:

where we climbed up there:

to get to these:

and to see more of these:

Some memorable moments:
-Driving down the freeway with the top off the jeep in the rain. And hail. And we left the top back at the rental store because there was a "zero percent" chance of rain.
-Dad Evans was in charge of timing how long our rice was cooking because he was the only one with a watch. The timer was never turned off and he ended up waking us up at 5:45 in the morning the next day thinking it was 8:00. Oops. We had some great morning hikes and adventures though.
-We were too tired to make it all the way home to Salt Lake Saturday night so we pulled over and slept on the side of the road. Doug and I slept in the car. The others slept outside under the stars and woke up wet (and freezing) from frost and dew.

Race for the Cure

2010-05-10T10:56:00.001-06:00

Last saturday we got up early and joined in the race for the cure 5k. It was a really fun thing to be a part of.

There were about 17,000 people there!

If we decide to do it again we might have to walk it because we are getting OLD and our knees can't handle running anymore.

So naturally, after running to support breast health we went to our favorite breakfast place, Over the Counter, and clogged our arteries with ridiculous amounts of cholesterol. Our next race better be for heart health.

April with a touch of May

2010-05-09T11:46:00.004-06:00

In April Doug and Matt were supposed to have a "man-cation" road-trip to southern California. But Alyssa's friend Stacey just moved down there so Lys invited herself on the drive. The rule was she could come if she sat in the back and didn't talk. That lasted about ten minutes.

Alyssa hung out with Stacey and Cody and did a lot of baby holding/playing with their two little ones. Doug and Matt meanwhile resumed the mancation; Wii ninja battles, dinner with the family, bow tie shopping, movies, and long walks on the beach sipping hot drinks and talking about our life plans were the highlights from the Man trip. For some reason though we didn't take very many pictures, oops. We were all pretty excited for some warm sunny weather, but it was in the fifties in Cali while Salt Lake was in the mid-seventies.

Lunch out on Ocean Side pier. Notice the pelican on the left is getting a little fresh and leaning in.

Last Monday Dave and Doug headed for the mountains to do some trail Reconnaissance/warm up hiking. Our hour and a half easy going hike ended up being a four-five hour serious hike. With some bad sunburns and tired legs we returned to civilization and had a smash burger.

Dave overlooking the Bonneville Shoreline Trail

Resting my legs.

We ended up hitting a lot of snow and had to finally turn back down. Can't wait to get back up there.

Spring Break

2010-04-08T19:10:00.002-06:00

For my spring break we headed south for warmer weather. First we stopped by Beaver to see the grandparents. Great food and company as always, although the ladies bested the men 2 out of 3 in marbles.

Moving on we headed to St. George and decided to go for a drive up to Pine Valley and through the beautiful country surrounding. While we were up there we stopped by the mountain meadows massacre site.

mountain meadows

one of the church's memorials there

While in St. George we went to explore the desert tortoise preserve called Chuckwalla. Funny enough they have a rock that looks like a giant turtle there. That preserve connects all the way up to Snow Canyon if you go far enough. We did not see any tortoise while we were there.

Tortoise Rock

Lys in the tortoise head

A cool arch in the park

We meant to head down to the Valley of Fire next but when we saw a sign for Hoover Dam we decided it was something we should see. I had been to the Glen Canyon Dam before and thought it would be the same kind of thing. Hoover Dam is a lot more impressive then I would have guessed. Part of it was probably because you still drive across the top of the dam. They are building a huge bridge that was amazing to see them working on and we were glad to have the chance to drive across before they start using the bridge.

Lys and I on the Dam

The Colorado far below with the amazing bridge above

Workers on the bridge

(click to enlarge)

On our way back from the dam we found a really cool rest site called Redstone. Again we meant to head to Valley of Fire but ended up hanging out at Redstone the whole time.

Amazing rocks

Some of the local creatures are shy. but curious.

Lys found a little rock house.

mini arches in the making.

Never got to any of the places we meant to, but had an awesome time. We made a stop at the other grandparents in Overton and then made our way back home. Great trip!

my new baby

2010-03-16T19:04:00.002-06:00

I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite possession:

my sewing maching!

My cool husband got this for me for my birthday last month. (He also got me the complete works of Jane Austen and took me out to my favorite restaurants) Isn't it perfect? Not too many buttons or knobs. Its SO easy to use. Do I know how to sew? Not really. But I want to learn. So far I've just used it for mending, but I've got big plans for some microwaveable rice bags, bathroom curtains, and a purse!

Cancun part two

2010-01-26T12:03:00.003-07:00

This entry is all about the Mayan ruins we saw while we were in the Yucatan. The first site we visited was called Coba. Coba is the largest of all the Mayan cities and one of the least uncovered. It also has the tallest pyramid of all the Mayan cities(above) and they still let you climb it. There are three main areas where they have uncovered buildings for tourists to see, but the majority of the city is still jungled over. They have uncovered an ancient road in Coba that connects all of the other Mayan cities in Mexico and runs down into Guatemala.

A jungled over entrance to a temple

Inside a temple

working hard to keep the structural integrity sound

One of the several game courts. Apparently if your team lost you were all sacrificed.

A temple that has not been uncovered yet. We maybe weren't supposed to be on this side of the 'do not cross line'...... Maybe.

The other site we visited is called Tulum. It is completely uncovered and very touristy. With good reason, it is an amazing city that has walls on three sides and cliffs over the ocean on the other. It is very protected with only one small beach with access to the city and small gates on each side.

The building on the left is an astrological building. The Mayans had their own zodiac symbols and calender system that was really advanced. The building in the back, on the right is the main temple of Tulum.

Amazing carving in a building. If you blow up the picture you can see the red paint still on the face.

There are three Gods carved into the three recess on the top of the first story of this building. The one in the middle is carved upside down, and means the God that came down from the sky. The one on the left is his father. And the there is no God in the right one, but all of the radiance of a God is there. That is because the third one doesn't have a body. Hmmm.

Some stupid view out to sea.

Amazing Trip! Amazing places to see! Amazing girl to see them with! Only regret was that we didn't have more time to explore more sites.

Cancun part one

2010-01-25T18:15:00.008-07:00

We had been planning for months to go to Costa Rica after Christmas...but when one of us broke our hand we weren't going to be able to do a lot of the things we had planned on (surfing, white water rafting...). Then our friends who were coming with us were flying standby (she works for Jet Blue), and all the return flights filled up so they weren't going to be able to go. So they offered to give us buddy passes and we all went to Cancun instead! We flew on 6 different flights, spent 16.5 hours on airplanes, and 27 hours in 4 different airports, but it was all worth it for 7 lovely days in Mexico!! And we're still doing our Costa Rica trip in August

We stayed in a condo on the beach. Most hotels are hundreds of dollars a night but this was extremely affordable and still nice. (We'll give you the info if you're interested!) Most of our time was spent at the beach. Doug and Tyler bodysurfed while Stephanie and I soaked up the warm sun.

Tyler and Doug bodysurfing

this adorable puppy (with his equally adorable owner) was our friend on the beach

here is doug holding me up in a wave

this is after he pushed me into the wave. trouble.

at the very end of the beach we found some fun tide pools and this blow hole

-We got really comfortable with the bus system but drivers there are CRAZY! Especially the bus drivers- weaving in and out of traffic and merging whenever they feel like it. I'm glad we weren't driving!

-I hated the food. They try to make "American" food but it doesn't taste the same. And they don't cater much to vegetarians, so I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for almost every meal.

-We were at a restaurant on new year's eve and got to participate in a fun mexican tradition: everyone gets 12 grapes and at midnight you eat a grape each time the clock chimes and make a wish on it.

Hallowgivingmas

2010-01-15T17:03:00.001-07:00

Blog announcement: We are not bad at keeping up with our blog. We are bad at uploading our pictures from our camera.

Just before Halloween we got together with Chris and Lisa and carved pumpkins. The cute kitty was ours (lys's). Chris' lady still let's them carve cool stuff. That will change Chris.

On Thanksgiving we headed down to Beaver, spent the night, and headed back early. Gotta love work. The family that came was big enough that we had to rent out the basement of the city library for our dinner. Granny and Grandpa gave us a marble board for Christmas, which we opened as soon as we got home. The marble game is a family favorite and we are so excited to have our own. Below is a picture of Bren and Dad losing to us.

One of the two of us did something dumb and broke their hand. I don't think names are important, I'm sure whoever it was feels stupid about breaking it doing a superman dive onto the couch and we don't need to say anymore. We don't have insurance, merry Christmas.

For Christmas we were in Fort Collins for probably the last time. The Warrens are moving in the next year and we were really glad to spend one more Christmas there.

christmas shopping, long time friends and NBA stars.

2009-12-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

The other day Lys and I had a chance to get some of our christmas shopping done and spend the day together. It was a rare treat to have us both not working on the same day. The shopping was a little harder than expected, as expected, but we got a lot of our list taken care of. Then in the evening we went to dinner with an old companion of mine and his girlfriend with our mission president and his wife. Regretfully I had not been keeping in contact as I should and it was wonderful to catch up and introduce my wife to them. Also while we were at dinner we noticed that Patrick Ewing was eating behind us at the other table.

Chris, Lisa, President Edwards, Sister Edwards, Lys, Me

(in the background is Patrick Ewing)

Lys didn't know who he was. Which I must admit I kinda love about her. Just not that important to her. A great day, great friends, and a celebrity sighting. Check, check, check.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-11T19:20:00.002-07:00

Since we're not sending christmas cards this year, CLICK HERE to see our christmas greetings!

WEDDING!!

2009-11-28T18:11:00.015-07:00

July 11, 2009- we were married at the Evans family cabin up the Weber Canyon. It was a small gathering with a few family members and close friends. We had a nice ceremony and dinner afterwards. We had been praying and praying for good weather. We checked the weather forecast that morning and it looked hopeful but there were still scattered storms possible. We had an indoor backup in town but we were really excited to get married outside in the beautiful mountains. About half an hour before the ceremony was supposed to start, just as everyone was arriving, the rain came, and it came hard. Guests were being ushered in with umbrellas and everyone was asking if we were seriously going to do it! Thankfully, the rain stopped just in time, the sun came out, and lots of people helped wipe down all the chairs. (thank you!!)

The wonderful Nicki Schmidt (who also did our announcements) played Canon as I walked down the aisle. Check out her cool guitar.

This is Doug's best man, Matt, who also took some of our engagement photos and did ALL of my BEAUTIFUL flowers

My pretty sister / maid of honor

(hint: click on any of the pictures to see them bigger)

Watch out BYU fans

2009-11-23T20:26:00.002-07:00

Doug was recently accepted to the University of Utah! Booyah! Which means we don't have to move to Utah Valley! Double Booyah! He's joining the U's 'Outdoor Recreation' program in January with hopes of eventually becoming an outdoor rec professor. This will be a great fit for my little outdoorsman. He gets to take as many adventure classes as he can fit into his schedule and then he will get to teach them!

We've both been on a reading kick lately. Between the two of us, we have recently read:
InkHeart, by Cornelia Funke **** 4 out of 5 stars
Part of Inkspell (the sequel) ****
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott *****
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams ***
The Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist *****
The Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist *****

I'd also like to give a birthday shout out to my best friend since I was 5, Stacey, who's celebrating her golden birthday today!

Mtn+Man Time=Mtn Man Time!!!!

2009-10-28T23:50:00.001-06:00

So my boss Dave is a guy who gets stuff done. And when he gets an idea in his head, it happens.

Dave's Idea: 'Doug lets go hike Lone Peak in October'

Happens:

A nice early start from Draper

Dave looking majestic with the early morning sky.

Once the sun hits, I really hit my stride, and the true mtn. explorer comes out.

The south slope of Lone peak. (notice the peak in the upper left corner)

A high meadow with a view of the cirque and the summit

Doug and Dave in the Cirque. Due to the snow, and impending storm, and the late hour, and because we were really tired this was the end of our assent.

Lone Peak's summit is one of a kind. It is a platform in the sky with three sides of cliffs with a sheer drop of anywhere between 600 and 900 feet. And on the fourth a steep slope of boulders. We will return when there is less snow and longer days. The cirque was well worth the effort and we hiked back feeling victorious.

A Millcreek Autumn

2009-10-28T23:08:00.001-06:00

So Lys and I found some free time a week or two ago to go up Millcreek canyon and do a little hiking. There is something that is so nostalgic about autumn. It reminds me of elementary school and of childhood adventures in the woods.

The canyon and the day were so pretty.

The leaves were already falling, but still had so much color.

Leaf Carpet

Lys

Some leaves I quickly arranged and misted so they looked pretty.

we liked it so much that we think we will buy an annual pass to Millcreek so we can go and enjoy it more often. In the winter they have a bunch of cross country ski trails and I have decided Lys will love this with me.

Spider Check

2009-10-14T22:17:00.001-06:00

Since we've moved into our basement apartment this summer we've found, on different occasions, THREE bugs IN our bed. The first two times they were gross black beetles and the third time was a very large spider. Really traumatizing! All three times ended in hysterical crying on my part. So now every night before we go to bed we check the covers, pillows, under the bed, and around the room for any unwanted visitors.

Autumn Extravaganza

2009-10-13T13:56:00.004-06:00

The weather is cooling down and the holiday season is about to start, and we decided it was time to get out of the city and enjoy some quality mountain time with friends. We headed up to the weber and spent three days at the cabin with a whole crew of people. The weather was great though a little cold as expected the first two days. And early Sunday morning it snowed a couple of inches.

Most of the time was spent doing really important things: hiking, disc golf in the meadow, bocce ball in the yard, reading, marshmallow roasting, squints battle, twister, phase ten, speed scrabble, visiting horses, visiting a waterfall, ping pong, watching movies, playing the guitar, and of course making and eating delicious food all the time!

A small tributarie of the Weber near the cabin

some cute chick I saw wandering around out there.

A huge beaver dam out in a small lake

my new friend

the extravaganza crew(minus Dale, Katie, Derek, Brett, and Leah)

Alyssa spending a hectic day reading

one of the many epic twister battles

some stupid view to the west

and our winter morning

The Birds

2009-10-08T22:48:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we got to stay at Doug's parent's house to take care of their pets and be with his sister, Seneca, while they were at Granny and Grandpa's house in Beaver. Our other sister, Brenna, and her boyfriend, Sven, were there most of the weekend as well. I think they were more excited about having the kitty there than us:) We loved watching conference, playing phase ten, and Sven's burritos! The Tracy Aviary was having a promotional weekend with free admission so we went with Seneca. The Tracy Aviary is a little zoo, but all birds. They have about 400 birds and 135 different species, many of them rare or endangered. My favorites were the pelicans. I think Doug's favorite was the Andean Condor. He has a 9 foot wingspan and is 50 years old!!

Alyssa's Pelicans: so pretty

Doug's Condor: kinda creepy

Golden Eagle

Flamingos- notice the grey baby in the middle

Sisters

Kitty update: The kitty is doing great. I think it might be a girl now but we're going to the vet on Monday so we'll find out for sure. She's eating lots, playing lots, and is pretty much the cutest kitty ever! She has the best personality. She loves to play but is equally cuddly, always snuggling in our laps.

Dumpy the Dumpster Kitty

2009-09-29T19:00:00.002-06:00

A few days ago a lady came into Lys' work with this little guy in her arms.

He was meowing loudly behind a dumpster in the parking lot all alone. Now some of you who know Alyssa might jump to the conclusion that it was her idea that this little guy needed a mother and that it was written in the stars to be her. But the truth is the little guy, who's name is not really dumpy, actually wanted a daddy and he choose me from the smell that was on Alyssa's clothes. So Warrens, we want you to know that this is in no way Alyssa's fault that we now have another kitty that we are not allowed to have. (For those of you not in the loop, Lys already had to pawn off one kitty to her mother because we're not allowed to have animals)

Our best guess is that he is 4 weeks old, and the 'he' is our best guess too. But just to be safe we aren't going to name him until we are sure. He was very malnurished when we found him, and is apparently hungry still because he is bitting my toes right now. Our big breakthroughs with our kitty saving project have been: He ate, He pooped, He pooped in the litter box, He drank, and now is playful and happy. Still working on getting number one in the box. But because I'm worried about him having gender role confusion, Alyssa deals with that part mostly. Okay that's the important stuff, here's the pictures:

State Fair

2009-09-13T18:47:00.003-06:00

We celebrated our two month anniversary at the Utah State Fair. It was so fun and we went on opening day so it was only $2 to get in! We visited all the 4-H animals, had fun at the rodeo, went down the big yellow carnival slide, listened to a fun two man band and got sick from so much cotton candy!

I've never seen such cute cows before. And we decided that we really need to get a bunny as a pet when we move (no pets allowed here). You can litter box train them so you can just let them hop around the house--you don't have to put them in a cage. Doesn't this bunny almost look like a furry little dog? They were so cute.

Doug totally beat me to the bottom.

What a great guy, and what a great two months its been!

Over the River, and Through the Clouds, on our Sunday afternoon we go.

2009-08-27T16:22:00.008-06:00

This last Sunday we wanted to go up in the mountains, have dinner and read together. When we got up Big Cottonwood canyon we were in a rain storm. So instead of reading we talked in the car and then when the rain slowed went for a walk around Silver Lake. A lot of the trail is actually over the lake on boardwalks. It was so pretty and we made friends with ducks who mistakenly thought we were bringing dinner. After our wet walk we got back in the car and started driving, but we were not ready for our time up there to be done. About this time we were coming up to Guardsman Pass and we decided to go for a bit more of a drive.

The road over Guardsman Pass is a little two lane highway that is moderately maintained in the summer and not at all in the winter. As we climbed up the canyon wall we entered the low hanging rain clouds and our world became white. Every now and then we would catch glimpses of the mountains around us and of the canyon far below. As we made it over the pass the clouds cleared and we could see clearly down into summit county. We descended down past Deer Valley Resort and then through Park City. It was not the evening we had planned, but it turned out to be one of the prettiest drives we have ever been on, and one of the most memorable Sunday afternoons.

Alyssasaurus and Dougodactyl

2009-08-26T19:31:00.013-06:00

We took advantage of "two dollar tuesdays" at Thanksgiving Point to visit the Dinosaur Museum. They claim to be the largest dinosaur museum in the world so we asked about it and they really do have more dinosaur skeletons on display than anywhere else in the world! Apparently we weren't the only ones who wanted to go on two dollar tuesdays because we were there with HUNDREDS of crying, whining, snotty nosed toddlers. We normally both love kids but this was really, really good birth control. It was cool though and definitely worth 4 dollars!

Doug and Alyssa with a Utahraptor

Alyssa with a Triceratops

Doug with a Struthiomius

This is a giant Crestaceous turtle

Lys with a huge dinosaur leg

Supersaurus: its more than a third of the length of a football field and extends 5 stories tall!! You can just barely see the end of its tail in the back of the picture.

T-Rex

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

2009-08-24T21:56:00.001-06:00

Cody and Stacey gave us a really cool wedding present. It was a jar with a bunch of different colored pieces of paper in it. On each piece of paper was an activity to do together. We have to complete the first paper before we can get another one. Our first paper said 'go to an aquarium together'. And this is the adventure:

Caiman

Sea Nettle

Really Cool Orange Fish

Alyssa and a Stingray

Lys and a turtle

Doug and a Stingray

Not bad for Salt Lake, and a surprisingly good time. Bam Blog number one done!!!!