Philip's Summer Jobs

Philip had two really awesome job opportunities this past spring and summer. In April, May, and June he was able to work on the landscaping for a historic home that was re-purchased by our brother-in-laws family. This house is one of the oldest that is still standing in Utah, well over 150 years old. He wasn't able to finish the landscaping before we had to leave for Seattle, but perhaps he will be able to this year. 

A plaque on a road near the property that commemorates the home and its historical significance

Before picture of the house from the road, shrubbery in the front that was completely grown over so that the house was not even visible from the road

Side view of the front yard, house to the left and road past the bushes to the right, also completely grown over

View of the front of the house before it was landscaped

Process picture, now you can see the house from the road!

Philip's final plans for the house

After landscaping

The front after landscaping

Side yard after landscaping

View from the road after landscaping, it was getting dark out, the portion near the road  has not yet been landscaped

Philip wished he had more time to work on the house to get farther on it, but he was attending classes and working at BYU while trying to find extra time to work on this house. This house was also a 45 minute one way drive from home, so that also made it challenging to get up there too often. He really did a lot of work though and the property looked substantially better from the work he did. Pictures don't do justice!

Philip's summer job in Seattle was a much larger one. Due to the generosity of Rob and Susan Damiano (Susan is Philip's sister), we were able to go to Seattle and Philip was able to gain valuable experience by working on landscaping their front and back yard. Philip was also not able to completely finish this project before we left as we were only there for 8 weeks, but the yards still looked drastically different when we left! 

First for the front yard:

Before

Before

Before

In Process

After, and no, Philip cannot reasonably take credit for the house getting painted, added bonus =)

After

After

After

After

After

After

After

The back yard:

Before

Before

Before

Before

In Process

In Process

After, still not finished, but you can get the idea! Oh, and Rob built the deck, not Philip, its not finished either here.

After

After

The differences of before and after in their yard were just incredible! The new landscaping really helped to create a usable and fun outdoor space. There is definitely still work to be done on the backyard, but its off to a great start! Philip and I are both so grateful to Susan and Rob and their kids for taking us in this summer and giving Philip this awesome opportunity. It really was an invaluable experience for him and one that taught him a lot about being a true landscaper.

Oh, and this is what Philip looked like at the end of every day, not even sure you can tell just how dirty he really is in these pictures.... and I've never seen my hubby with such a big farmers tan! Too bad we didn't get a picture of that!

Summer in Seattle

Philip worked hard in Seattle this summer, and even though he was working 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week, and even though I was feeling miserably sick with first trimester hoopla, we were able to have some fun!

While Philip was getting all sweaty and dirty working outside, I had some fun with my little niece and nephew. We went to the park together, played outside, watched cartoons, built forts, read books, hunted for snails, and did lots of other things. They were my little buddies while Philip was busy at work!

Devony eating something......

The fan blown fort they built! Devony is popping her head out, Jett is in there too, but you can't see him. One of the best fort ideas I've ever seen - credit will have to go to the older brothers, Seth and Dakota.

Successful snail hunting, we got 3 on one leaf!

At the park! Devony, Seth, and Jett.

 We were also able to do several things with the entire Damiano family while there. We went on walks around a beautiful lake and at a wetland perservatory. We were able to celebrate Rob's 40th birthday. And while I was gone visiting my family, Philip went with them to a Japanese garden.

Susan, Seth, and Devony walking along at the bog. 

Philip & I with Devony & Jett at the bog

Rob, Susan, and Philip with Jett on his shouldars

Rob's 40th birthday barbecue, putting the new landscaping to use!

Philip & I at the party

Rob and his cake that should have been covered in 40 candles, luckily we went easy on him

Me & Devony & Jett at the party

Rob, Seth, Devony, and Dakota at the Japanese garden

My family was also able to pay us a short visit while we were in Seattle! The two main things we did when they visited were to go on a hike to the beach and to go whale watching!

Baylee on the whale watching boat

Philip and I on the whale watching boat

Drew, Cody, Dad, and Opal killing time till we got to where the whales were

Cody and Baylee being goofs through the window

Opal and Baylee sitting out to watch the whales, it was chilly!

Dad & Opal

It was so picturesque out there in the sound!

So pretty!

The best picture I got of seeing the whales in the wild

Philip

Drew

Me & Opal

Philip, Me, Baylee, & Opal

Cody and Drew looking disgusted and Dad and Philip looking happy

Baylee after successfully hiking to the beach

Using my jacket for some shade

Drew, Opal, Dad, Baylee, and Cody at the beach

That's all for our summer fun in Seattle!

Baby Update!

It's definitely past time for a baby update! So here one is!

Pregnancy has gotten so much better during this second semester! The nausea and food aversions have almost completely disappeared, and some days I almost feel like a regular person! The fatigue has stuck around though.... and boy am I thankful that things have gotten better because I am doing my student teaching right now, so I need to feel good! I'm student teaching at Salem Jr. High and Emily (Stott) Gardner is my student teaching partner.... and I am so grateful to have Emily around because she acts like my crazy pregnancy symptoms are no biggie and she's my pregnancy guru (apparently you don't have to be pregnant to be an expert ;) ). And on a side note, I seriously love student teaching. Sure some kids drive me crazy, but overall they work hard, and boy are they funny.

So we were scheduled to find out the gender of our baby on October 4th..... but we ended up finding out this last Saturday because I got to join the kidney stone club! Friday night and Saturday morning I was having these terrible pains on my right side, like my body may have been imploding type of terrible, so after consulting with my doctor, Philip took me into the emergency room. At this point they were thinking it might be my appendix, so they did an ultrasound. During the ultrasound Philip asked the tech if he could tell us what the gender of our baby is, and so he showed us, and yep, its a boy! They couldn't see my appendix in the ultrasound, so I also got to do an MRI (which baby boy mistook as a techno dance party) in which they saw that my right kidney was inflamed, suggesting that it had just passed kidney stones. Sooooo bad news is kidney stones plus many hours and lots of dollars at the hospital, good news is we have a happy and healthy baby boy!

Now for just about anyone who has talked to me during this pregnancy, you are probably shocked that I sound so happy at the prospect of having a baby boy.... It is true, I did want to have a girl first, in my experience (which many people tell me that their experience is different), girls are easier, and if a girl is the oldest of her siblings she will pretty much turn into a super helpful, kind, and overall wonderful human being (I have 6 nieces who are oldest to prove this). So yes, I wanted a girl first. Plus, we already had a girl name picked out, not so for the boy. But I should have known that I would be doomed to have a boy first, please, how did I miss these signs:

1. Since we will have a boy first, it makes it so that 5 of Philip's siblings will have had a girl first, and 5 will have had a boy first, let's keep things even folks
2. I wanted a girl too much, and planned for one too early - getting what I need, not what I want
3. Soon to be grandma Opal went and picked out a boy outfit the day after I told her at six weeks (it's the one pictured above)... I've always heard that somehow grandma's just know things
4. Philip's sister Susan gave us boy bedding before baby was ever seen 
5. Baby's future room has disgusting green carpet that would have no chance of looking cute in a girls room, but with a boy it might just be possible to pull it off
6. More boys will need a momma like me to whip them into men, and a daddy like Philip to lead by example (I probably will raise better sons than I do daughters... but I guess we'll see)
7. 90% of the pregnant women I know are having girls, someone has to have a boy, and the options for who that would be were running out
8. I always get kind of stressed when I see how cute  people make their baby girls (with dresses and headbands and bows) and I don't know if I can muster the patience for that, and with a boy, I don't have to worry about it, stress level decreased
9. Out of our nieces and nephews on Philip's side, there are 22 boys and 13 girls, 63% are boys, clearly a trend
10. My chromosomes had no choice in the matter, and Philip wanted a boy, so a boy we will have

But you know why I am so excited to have a boy first? Because if God wants to prove me wrong and show me that having a boy first can be the most wonderful thing that ever did happen, I'll gladly let Him. But let's not push it and have a boy be second too........

More pregnancy pictures to come soon! And you get a gold star if you actually just read this whole post!

Baby Picture!

Our first doctors appointment was when I was 11 1/2 weeks pregnant and it was wonderful! I loved getting to see the ultra-sound of our baby! It was seriously the most amazing experience of my life and I still just can't believe that a little human is growing inside me! Seeing this little 3.6cm baby wiggle and stretch was just incredible! And seeing the little heart going pitter-patter was amazing too! Unfortunately, the ultra-sound machine didn't take that great of pictures, and posting a picture of a picture makes it even more blurry, but you can still make some things out. On the right is the baby's head and to the left of that you can see the baby's tummy, arms/hands, and legs/feet! Our next doctors appointment is in just over a week and we cannot wait to see our baby again! I worry so much about whether or not our baby will still be healthy, but something I have definitely already learned in this pregnancy is that I cannot let fear in and I have to always just trust in the Lord no matter what happens. God has given me the strength I need every time I have needed it and I have to believe He will continue to be there for me and our growing family. It's amazing how much we already love this little baby that is still so small that we have only seen once. I can't imagine the love a parent must feel when they actually hold their baby for the first time, I really look forward to that. 

I'm a Math Teacher.... So I Like Arithmetic....

... and the answer to 1+1 should be an easy elementary problem right?!?! Well it turns out that sometimes in real life, the answer isn't what you would think!