Progress

We are going through several changes. They are good changes, though, so it is progress. Sarah finishes work on Friday the 19th. It is coming quickly. Our anniversary is on the 17th. We were planning a trip to Vegas, but, as many of you can attest, pregnancy and long trips don't jive. We're planning to stay in Salt Lake somewhere. We will have been married 3 years! Is that no longer newly married? Not that I mind. I don't care how new it is as long as I'm married to Sarah. She does so much. The 5:30 am alarm and the daily 45 minute-each-way commute has been challenging for her, but she's not one to complain. We're glad we decided to have her be work-free for these last 8 weeks. She looks so good. I'll see what I can do to get recent pictures of her progress.

I'm currently taking a course on tax planning. I have a final and a big paper due on Monday, and then I have a break until January 15th. I'm contemplating job possibilities. We're planning to use COBRA for a while until we get that sorted out.

Our OBGYN, Dr. Gordon, passed away a few weeks ago of Lou Gehrig's disease. We are trying to decide if we are going to go with the other doc in the same office, Dr. Judd, or if we will go to Dr. Thorpe, who we hear has a good reputation, too.

The quote on the tile in the background of one of the birthday shots is a quote from Helaman 5:12. The part we have displayed is in italics:

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Happy Birthday to Mom/Jane and Roger

We just had the pleasure of hosting Mom's ___ (irrelevant #) birthday. Becca made a mouth-watering, shrimp pasta. Yummy garlic and butter sauce. We also had a salad with three kinds of lettuce, avocado, basil, tomato, cukes, and mini sweet peppers; garlic bread; and OLIVES. For dessert we had a delicious strawberry shortcake with ice cream. Here are some more pictures:











We hope Roger had a happy birthday!

Jeep Trip!

Michael was able to go on a three day Jeep trip with my dad, Tona, Ben and Tim.  Click photo to see pictures:

Jeep Trip

He had a blast!  They played in the Colorado River, drove in very precarious places and laughed a lot of the time.  It was a great trip. (Michael here: it was absolutely beautiful. Lots of rugged, bouncin', cliff-defying, off-roading. We went to the Dollhouse - a fascinating group of monolithic spires, cliffs, and boulders from the Cedar Mesa Formation in the Maze district of Canyonlands.  From a distance it looks like a house or castle. You can only get there with a 4x4 vehicle, via the river, or a really really long walk. We ran around in the shallows of the icy Colorado going "Whooo Whooo Whooo" because it was so cold and had fun skipping a frisbee off the surface of the water. We also brought Tona's mountain bike that I had fun with on the rocky and rugged jeep road as we started heading back. I guess the best part was talking with the Nielsens. Lots of fun.) 

The doctor found something....

When we went in for our monthly check up, the sonographer found something.  We saw it before, but it was bigger this time.  There was a cyst next to the baby.  The sonographer couldn't tell what it was attached to or if it was affecting the baby (not shown in this picture).  We were referred to a specialist.  Luckily there was an opening the next day.  We wouldn't have to wait long.

At our specialist appointment we found out that the cyst is a placental cyst and does not affect the baby whatsoever.  It was a relief to us.  We also found out that our baby is COMPLETELY healthy.  We got everything checked out and all is well.  We feel VERY grateful!

We went to the doctor and had a wonderful ultrasound!!!  We saw the spine, heart, brain, nose, mouth, legs... and that it is a GIRL!!!  No more calling the baby: it, the baby, or our kid!  The sonographer tried to see the sex of the baby first off, but apparently we have a modest little gymnast.  She kept moving everywhere.  Her favorite move is anything twirling or spinning as long as her knees are tightly pressed together.  We are now going through names to see what ones we like the best.  

Our trip to St. George!!!

We were able to go to St. George for Labor Day weekend and stay with Aunt Bev and Uncle Al.  They are such great people and we had a great time. We were able to go down at the same time John and Jen Babcock were going down with their family.  

We started our trip on Saturday in Goblin Valley.  It's such a unique and wonderful place.  We enjoyed walking through the mounds of hardened mud.  John and Jen's kids loved it.

We got to Uncle Al's and Aunt Bev's Saturday night and had a nice time talking before bed.  Sunday was relaxing with church, lots of talking, and two dinners (just as it turned out).  We also celebrated John Babcock's birthday.  It was great.

Monday was also very relaxing.  We had a leasurely morning and spent a lot of time at the swimming pool.  It was great fun.  

Our Baby is Growing!

We are so happy to have the beginnings of our wonderful family grow! We don't know yet if our baby is a boy or girl, but we think it might be a boy.  Just a feeling we have.  Consequently, we are thinking more about boy name's than girl names.  We want the name to be manly (if a boy), to have character and a connection to family history. These are some names we thought of:

Kevin Fox Babcock (Fox is Michael's paternal grandmothers maiden name)

Edward Dale Babcock (Edward and Dale are Sarah's grandfather's names)

Bradley Fox Babcock

Jackson Fox Babcock

Aden Fox Babcock

Jaden Edward Babcock

Jackson Edward Babcock (Michael's paternal grandfather went by Jack in his early years)

We find out the sex of the baby on the 15th of September!  Maybe one of these names will be our little boy's name!  We also have some girl names, but the list is much less developed and 'gone over.'

Abigail Hannah Babcock

Ellie Barbru Babcock (Barbru is a big time family name for Sarah's family)

Adeline Eve Babcock

Katelynn Erma Babcock (Erma is Sarah's paternal grandmother's name)

Sabie-Jane Babcock (Sabie is Sarah's maternal grandmothers maiden name and Jane is Michael's mothers name)

I guess we'll just have to be patient and see what we are having.