The verdict is....

A BOY!

We are really excited for Camden to have a buddy.

Camden and Santa...he he he

So, here's last year's picture of Camden when he saw Santa. Very happy.

And here is this year's picture! Even now, Camden is pointing to the picture and saying "Hooo, hoo, hoo," as if he's crying. He did like the candy cane, though.

Priceless, really!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas festivities

Here is a little glimpse into our Christmas festivities this year...

Camden quite disliked snow on his first encounter with it this year. Well, we got about 3 feet in 1 week! But, after it warmed up, he found that he really likes to crunch it!

We went to temple square to see the lights. Camden's favorite things were the sheep and the grates in the sidewalk--which wiggled a little when he stepped on them. We chased him around, trying to keep him from running into people while he galloped and baa-ed like a sheep. We had a wonderful time!

Finally, a pair of gloves Camden will wear! They are sharks and have little fins that stick up on the top. Thanks, Aunt Natalie!

My Christmas tree skirt in progress--I really hope that the sides will connect when it is all finished.

Camden's Christmas ornament for this year

So cute! (About 20 seconds long) Sorry it's a little dark

We hope you have a Merry Christmas this year!

PS. We find out in 5 days whether we get a boy or a girl! Can't wait!

Brigham City Temple!

They finally made a decision! After months of work, breakouts, re-pricing, and revising we have finally been awarded the woodwork package for the Brigham City Temple. I've been working on it since a couple of months after the announcement between giving budget numbers to the contractor and producing our final bid. We actually heard from our competitors that we were the mill worker for the temple last week. Usually word on the street is pretty accurate, but we can't officially celebrate and hand off the job to a project team until we have a definite award from the general contractor. We were invited to a meeting at the architect's office this morning to discuss scope and schedule, and they awarded us the job during that meeting.

For those of you who don't know, this is especially exciting because I grew up in Brigham City. I've already told the project manager that one of the requirements for him to be assigned to the project (all of our project managers were fighting over it) is that he has to take me with him to do field measurements and help with other site coordination. I'm excited to see the work go through our shop.

November goal...

I'm here to report on the goal that I'm most excited about this month...Camden's Christmas stocking! I started it in January, and hoped to finish it by Christmas. I'm so excited to have it done just before Thanksgiving!


Hmmm....I wonder if I can get the new baby's stocking finished by next Christmas. :)

PS Keep reading...there's a new post below this one about Camden's 18 month update.

18 months...

Camden's 18-month mark was actually a few weeks ago, so I figure I better give an update before he's not 18 months anymore. :)

A few funny anecdotes from this month...

~ I locked myself out of my house. Brian was able to come home a little early, but while we waited, we took a 3 minute walk to a close store to keep warm. We looked in the Christmas section, and Camden saw a stocking with Santa on it. He excitedly pointed and said, "ish sheeshush!" (It's Jesus!) It was so sweet to me. :)

~Soon after, we've taught Camden to pat his belly and say "Ho, ho, ho!" when he sees Santa, who he doesn't get mixed up with Jesus anymore. It has a remarkable resemblance to his gorilla chest pounding.

~A few days ago he started calling the refrigerator magnets "A". All of them are "A", except "S", which looks enough like a snake that he makes his snake "ssss" for them.

~I think it is really good that Camden is so cute. He can get into more stuff that he's not supposed to get into faster than I ever thought possible. It leaves us feeling exasperated one moment and laughing at how silly he is the next. I know it will get worse before it gets better, but it's a wonder anyone survives toddlerhood.

~He's finally learned that all vehicles (covered wagons, bikes, skateboards, cars, trucks, planes, trains, strollers) don't have the same name! He's been calling them all "trucks" for about 6 months, despite our best efforts to teach him otherwise. Brian has a train game from when he was little, and Camden often asks for the "chooches". We think it is adorable and are glad he has a new word. :)

~He absolutely loves nursery and playing with other kids.

A few things that cause melt-downs:
~diaper changes (sometimes)
~putting on winter coats, hats, and gloves (really bad)
~getting carried, rather than walking (the worst)
~sun in his eyes in the car (really bad)
~putting away his scripture story picture book to say prayers at night

Anyway, we sure love him! We are so grateful he is part of our family, and couldn't imagine life without him.

Wedding

Click here to view this photo book larger

Cabinets finished!!!

We are finally finished with our kitchen upgrade! We never took before pictures, but they looked like our bathroom cabinet, so that will have to suffice. If you're not that interested in the process, scroll to the bottom for pictures. :)

Step 1—Routine cupboard cleaning: Scrubbed white cupboards to clean them; white paint came off, revealing grey paint; cupboards look worse than before cleaning them

Step 2-Take down doors

Step 3—Remove Paint:Attempts-5, lasting several weeks (1. Sand with palm sander, took too long 2.Sand with industrial belt sander, melted paint 3. Lacquer thinner and scrape 4.Lacquer thinner, scrape, sand 5. Paint stripper, sand)

Step 3-Cut and apply trim Attempts-2, lasting about a week (1. Borrow friend’s tools 2.Use extra trim from work 3.Cut all day 4.Don’t have enough. 5.Buy 1x3 6.Cut to right size at work 7.Fill nail holes 8.Wait to dry.)

Step 4-SandAttempts-1, lasting about a week (Sand corners of doors for “distressed look”. Sand excess nail filler.)

Step 5-Wall paperAttempts-1, lasting 1 evening (Drive to 2 different Lowe’s to find bead board wall paper. Moisten and apply. Scrape extra glue. Let dry)

Step 5a-Unexpected new sink(about 2 weeks) See that the sink has rust stains coming through where a previous owner cracked the sink and attempted to repair it. Find new sink on KSL for fraction of cost of new sink. Plumbing needed to be partially replaced. Other problems ensued. Remove and replace cabinet base due to water damage. Scrape wrist apart (still healing). Replace sink. Love it!

Step 5b—Decide that you’re not doing any more big projects for a long time.

Step 6—PaintSeveral attempts, lasting longer than expected (Find out friend’s paint sprayer is only for lacquer paint, which is very expensive. Think for awhile. Find latex paint sprayer for $10. Find 4 gallons creamy latex paint for $20. Problem solved. New problem: paint sprayer not good for fine application. Think some more. Find paint roller for smooth application. Coat #1 on back. Wait to dry. Coat #1 on front. Wait to dry. Repeat 2 more times. )

Step 6—GlazeAttempts-2, lasting 1 day (Find Sherwin Williams store. Find glaze. Apply on tester spot. Too dark. Buy paint thinner. Perfect solution. Apply glaze and wipe off with paint thinner. Reapply paint thinner following day to clean it up. Beautiful!)

Step 7—Top coat Attempts-several (similar process to painting: apply a coat, wait to dry. Keep Camden from climbing on, driving trucks across, or otherwise destroying doors)

Step 8—Hinges Attempts-4, lasting all day (Hinges were painted white, and we wanted to return them to the original bronzy finish. 1. Scrape off dry paint. 2. Boil in water and baking soda, then scrub. Boil again. Scrub. 3. Try vinegar and baking soda. Scrub. 4. Try Magic Eraser. Scrub. 5. Try WD-40 and steel wool. Sigh of relief.)

Step 9—New screws. Everything needed new screws. One trip to Home Depot. Then Walmart. Then Lowe’s.

Step 10—Attach hinges, drill new holes for screws, hang doors (lasted several days)

Step 11- Paint knobs red (2 coats red paint, 2 coats clear lacquer)and reattach knobs (several days)

Step 12-Enjoy!!!

Here it is!

Halloween!

We were pretty sad that it was so cold and rainy for Halloween this year. I know Camden would have loved to see lots of kids dressed up while we tromped around the neighborhood. And, I think it would have taken him about 3 houses to figure out the whole trick-or-treating business. But, the weather wasn't cooperative this year, so let's hope for better luck next year. :)

Here are some pictures....

Camden...never holds still for very long.

Brian's dress rehearsal for his Gene Simmons Kiss costume

Winners of the costume grand prize
End result of pumpkin carving

Forget the knives...jigsaws work much faster

Camden's participation in pumpkin carving

We couldn't get a good picture of Camden's costume, because he seriously would not hold still.

He loved his dinosaur (not a dragon!) costume and growled all day before we got dressed up.

New post soon to come about finished (and unfinished) kitchen remodel...

One more thing...

I forgot to add this movie. We don't know where he picked this up, but it cracks us up.

Camden--17 months

Camden seems to be getting more cute and more fun each month. He is definitely a full-fledged toddler now, and he has a little boy look instead of a baby look. He really loves his trucks, eating, and climbing up things. He has only 3 weeks until he is a nursery boy!

Halloween preview....Camden the Dinosaur!

See you!

Wrestling with Daddy

Got him!

This picture reminds me of Shamuu at Sea World.
Notice all the things Camden threw off the table.

The computer whiz. I wonder what Camden will be able to do on the computer when he's a teenager.

Camden's first attempt to feed himself with a spoon without my help.
Guess it was too much work!

Cabinet update--going slower than anticipated. Our goal is to finish painting by Saturday.

Baltimore Harbor, Arlington, and National Cathedral

Here's our final post about our vacation, and a few more things. We were pretty tired after our touring, so we decided to take it easy for the last few days there.

Baltimore Harbor and Camden Yards


National Cathedral--It was really beautiful. They pretty much let you wander where you want to go. It is the highest point within DC, so you can see all around from the top. I was surprised that it serves an Episcopalian congregation. I guess I just assumed that all cathedrals were Catholic. They also have many interfaith assemblies.



Arlington Cemetery: We watched the changing of the guard, and it was really amazing. We learned that even during hurricane conditions, the soldiers will still guard the unknown tomb. I thought the heat was oppressive, but I couldn't imagine how the soldier felt in his wool uniform and gloves. It reminded me that I can do hard things, too. At the bottom, our little Camden was marching up and down a drain grate. We thought he might have been imitating the soldier!

Overall, it was a very beautiful, reverent place. What an honor it is to live in our country!





As for the rest of September, we've been getting cars fixed, bodies healthy again, and refinishing kitchen cabinet doors. Much bigger project than anticipated...will post pictures when finished.

Happy October!

Maryland Trip Days 3 & 4

These were some of our favorite places to visit. On our third full day in Maryland we took a trip to Mount Vernon--George Washington's Estate. One amazing thing was how cool it was inside the house. It felt like they had air conditioning even though there wasn't any. We wished our house had been designed to stay cool like that house. It was a beautiful, peaceful place. We wouldn't mind taking up residence there.

Here is the main house at Mount Vernon. It's really nice inside, too.

This is the view from the back porch of the main house overlooking the Potomac.

The next day we went to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. This was an amazing place to be. The Liberty Bell was pretty cool to see, but the best part was this room.

This is where the founding fathers hammered out the details of the Constitution. Here they fought, argued, prayed, and compromised to finally bring the states together to form a nation. There's a reason that our constitution has been imitated by so many countries: it is definitely an inspired document. It was a humbling experience to look through these buildings and realize what great things happened there.

After we finished looking around the Independence Hall neighborhood, we decided to go farther into Pennsylvania to find some Amish villages. We went through the main road of Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand, but we got there kind of late when most of the shops were just about ready to close. We don't quite understand the principle that they're trying to uphold by the way they live. They can't drive cars, but they can ride in them if someone else is driving. They can use gas engines to cut their hay, but they have to pull the cutter with a team of horses. On a side note, they do have very beautiful horses. Every horse we saw looked like it could win a competition.

Anyway, those were a couple more days of our vacation. More to come soon (depending on your definition of "soon").

Maryland Trip Days 1 and 2

Our flight into Maryland was great. There were a ton of open seats, so they gave us our own row. It was great to have an extra seat for Camden to move around at least a little bit. He fell asleep about an hour before we landed, and as soon as he woke up he was pointing out the window saying "truck." We made it in without a hitch and got settled in at Grandma and Grandpa Marchant's house with a big box of trucks and horses (and some other less important toys). Camden loved diving into the box and playing with all of the toys and saying "truck" about 5,000 times a day.

On our first whole day there, we drove up to Gettysburg. It was a lot bigger than we imagined. It was interesting to see the battlefields mixed throughout the actual town. There also was an amazing painting of the battle--40 feet tall and 360 feet long, all one big canvas painting. You go into a circular room and stand in the middle of the painting.

There are several towers to climb and look out over the fields. This one was at least 8 flights, but probably more. It was really pretty at the top, though!

Beautiful Gettysburg--It's hard to imagine it filled with a battle.

Civil War cannon

On the second day, we went to several Smithsonian museums. First, we stopped in at the Natural History Museum--mostly for Camden. The huge elephant in the entrance makes elephant sounds, which Camden really liked. He also liked the dinosaurs and the bears.


Next, we toured the American History Museum. Michelle liked the exhibit of all the first ladies' gowns. Grandpa Marchant felt so "inspired" that he promptly walked back out to wait for us. :) We both liked to see the giant flag that flew in the War of 1812, and which our national anthem was written about. Brian's favorite exhibit was exhibit about all the wars involving American troups. Camden slept through most of it (hooray!) and woke up just in time for his favorite exhibit--the transportation (trains, cars, trucks, boats, etc.) section.

Camden couldn't understand why all the cool toys were behind glass.

Camden and Brian standing in front of a big train and a horse.

Finally, we stopped in at the Air and Space Museum. We were all pretty tired--3 Smithsonians is too much for one day! We saw some really cool things and got to climb in several different planes and space craft.

More coming soon!