July 31st

Hi Everyone,

Jessie, I am sorry about Chloe. That is a hard choice to have to make. I am sure she is happy in dog heaven--maybe she has even figured out how to fetch.

We have been busy this week. Our biggest announcement is that we have a new roof! Monday the guys came and took the roof off and put on new sheeting, Tuesday we had inspection and materials delivered--by a huge forklift, which Jens loved, and yesterday they put everything on. It is a big improvement, and it is nice to know we have a roof that won't leak. Here are a few pictures of the house--notice that it is a total mutt now--nothing matches anything else. Maybe we will paint the exterior sometime in the next year.





Our next big news is that Jens has been registered for preschool! On Wednesday we went and met his teacher, Miss Dena, who showed him how to do some jobs and talked with him a little bit. She said he is VERY ready for school and was impressed with how well he could follow directions and how quickly he caught on to the jobs. He even wanted to try the binomial cube, which is pretty hard. He is very excited about going to school and often says "We should go right now!" He will be the MWF from 9-1, which means he will even have lunch there. It will be such a wonderful thing for him, and the school, Sundance Montessori, is very highly recommended. Here is the boy himself with some serious bedhead. Isn't he so cute?

Third up, Jens continues puking randomly, so yesterday we went to the doctor and today we went to have a blood draw. I explained pretty carefully what a blood draw was, so he kept saying he didn't want that, but I didn't want him to be surprised when we got there, and I think it is important to be honest, so I told him it would hurt but just for a minute. Luckily, a big 8 year old boy was there for one, too, and he went first and was very brave, so Jens had a positive role model to follow. He sat very still and didn't cry or wiggle, even though it was clear that he was hurting and it took at least a minute. I was very proud of him for being so brave.

This weekend we went to the Friday night concert in the park (Jens puked all over our blanket) and did more house projects--a ceiling fan in our room, a light fixture in the hallway, more garage cleanup, reseeding the back yard, and one last trip to Lowes. This really was the last trip--I think we are totally broke now :) Mike also attended a Scout swimming activity at 8:30 AM--doesn't that sound like a great time for swimming?

We are gearing up for the beach, although I haven't gotten out a single suitcase or packed a single thing. I have a list and I am doing laundry! Mike and Jens both got handsome beach haircuts and we are ready for a week of sun and fun. Hopefully barfing will stay at a minimum.

See many of you soon!
Love,
Alison

Miracle of Miracles

About 6 weeks ago we went to Lowe's to pick out tile for our bathroom and buy all sorts of other house-y stuff. Some time during the trip, Jens set down his "Happy Lightning" and we couldn't find him anywhere. Mike and I both felt a little sad--Jens had had this Lightning for a year and had worn a great deal of paint off the front from playing with him so much. Sadly, we gave up the search, but every time we have gone back to Lowe's, we check the lost and found. Jens does have another Lightning--the "Cactus Lightning," who isn't smiling because he is covered in cactus prickers, and while it is better than nothing, he doesn't love that one as much as the Happy one.

Saturday, during our REALLY last big trip to Lowe's (new garage door opener, grass seed, leaf blower, light fixtures . . .) we checked the lost and found, more out of habit than anything else, and GUESS WHO WAS THERE? Jens was SO excited. When we got home from Lowe's, he ran into the family room to show all of his other cars that the missing Lightning had returned, and I don't think Lightning has left his grip for more than a few minutes since then.

July 23rd

Hi Everyone.

We have been busy this week, mainly because Mike was gone for the weekend and Jens has been throwing up a lot.

On Thursday Jens and I took Mike to the airport so he could fly to SLC for a weekend of backpacking with his friends, some of whom he has known since elementary school. According to his report, they had a great time and even caught fish which they ate for dinner. Sounds very outdoorsy to me!

In the meantime, Jens and I stayed here and hung out. Friday we had the Littles here for nap time and for a pizza movie night--their house was getting new carpet and all of their belongings were packed into two rooms, leaving no usable space. Jens was happy for the company and we watched The Sword and the Stone, then the kids played Candyland. Friday night was puke number one, 2 am.

Saturday, Jens and I went to an open house at Folsom Montessori. Jens had the best time, and the teachers who interacted with Jens really liked him and thought he was so nice, which he is, especially to people other than me. He loved doing all the "jobs," which he called games, and I loved the school. I am excited that he will have the opportunity for preschool next year--I think he is so ready, and that he will love the interaction with the other kids and teachers. It was supposed to be over at 11, but I couldn't drag him away until almost 11:30.

Sunday we had dinner at the Nielsens'. Natalie made us delicious homemade pizza and we walked to the park. Later, on another brief walk/bike ride, we had a dog fight! A dog broke through its fence and attacked Natalie's dog, Linus. It was pretty alarming. Natalie pulled Linus away while I grabbed the other dog's collar and hit it on the face until it let go of Linus, who I was sure was going to have an ear ripped off. Once the dogs separated, the bad dog slipped its collar and ran back to its house--I think it knew it was outnumbered, plus, Natalie was screaming and working hard to scare it away. Linus is okay, but it was an alarming event. I am glad that 1. I have never been afraid of dogs--I wasn't even worried about grabbing that strange dog and never even considered that it would turn on me and 2. the dog didn't turn on me. It was a retriever boxer mix, and I guess the attack was the boxer coming out.

Monday we had puke #2 and picked Mike up at the airport. Jens was very happy to see him, and so was I. I don't know why it is so much more nerve wracking to sleep in a house alone, but it is. I am glad not to be alone in our big house anymore!

Tuesday we had puke #3 and Jens went to the Littles' house to play while Natalie and I went to the outlet malls. I needed a few pairs of maternity capris or shorts or something. Now I have them. Maternity clothes are weird and costly, especially when you know you will only be wearing them for a limited amount of time.

Today we had the Little girls over to play and made potato stamps and did painting. The kids had fun and stayed busy, and Jens had puke #4. I would like to say, with all of this puking, the kid isn't sick at all. He doesn't have a fever, he isn't listless, no loss of appetite, nothing except that he spontaneously pukes every 24 hours or so. I called the doctor and if it doesn't stop by Friday we are going in. I am not enjoying the prospect of a big travel day next week with a kid who pukes all the time.

In house news: bathroom hardware is all put up in the new bathroom and ac vents have all been put back on. I even hung some pictures. We still need to change out switches and put face plates back on upstairs (the previous people changed all the face plates to white and left all the outlets and switches tan. It doesn't look good.), put up some ceiling fans, and replace the light fixture in the hall, but things feels pretty good here now. If only someone wanted to come paint while we are out of town so we don't have to be here for the smelly.

July 15th

Hi Everyone.

We have been busy here! And we are finally seeing progress! And no longer feel like we are living in a horrible hole!

We got home from Utah last Sunday after a nice but short visit with Mike's family. The 4th was a bit of a let down because Jens was sick. He had been looking forward to the parade at Grandma and Grandpa's ever since last year, but woke up feeling pretty subdued. He enjoyed the parade, but wasn't as excited as we thought, and by the time it was fireworks time he was full blown sick (read: threw up on Grandma's floor). We watched fireworks for 15 minutes, then took him home when we realized he was laying his head on Mike's shoulder and not even looking. We did enjoy seeing Loren and spending the afternoon at the cabin with the cousins, though, and by Saturday night Jens seemed to be on the mend.

We drove home Sunday, stopping in Battle Mountain to pick up Gramp's Intrepid. It made it about 30 miles, to Galconda Summit, before overheating. We left it at the summit and drove home. The shop picked it up and took it back and put a new radiator in it. and Mike and JP drove out there this weekend and brought it back, so after many hours spent by Karen and Mike, it is finally here in CA.

Mom and Peter came last Monday and Mom was very helpful in doing all sorts of cleaning jobs that needed to be done but aren't very fun. She and Jens washed the screens and windows, she spray painted our hideous gold and turquoise chandelier (I put new glass in, too)
She cleaned the tracks on my closet doors--an unpleasant task that involved a putty knife and a Q-tip
She washed and painted the inside of our linen cupboards And helped vacuum (and admire) our new carpet. Yay carpet!

It was fun to have them here, and Jens loved playing with Peter, specifically watching him play many hours of gameboy.


They left on Thursday and on Friday I was able to really start putting things away. We actually have the living room mostly empty and even vacuumed!
Saturday we made another monster trip to Lowe's (those have GOT to stop!) and Mike installed a new:

Garbage disposal! This one is nice and quiet and actually gets rid of food. It was very exciting and Mike got many bruises trying to unscrew pipes that have fused together and don't want to come out.

We actually are in decent enough shape that we had friends over for dinner on Sunday, which was fun. We still have a long list to do, but nothing is super urgent at this point.

Monday we had our ultrasound, which was really fun. Natalie came and stayed with Jens, which was really nice, so just Mike and I got to enjoy the experience. After hearing about Abbie screaming bloody murder and Doug having to take her out we decided this was a better just mom and dad experience. It lasted about 45 minutes and we got to see the baby so much! It is amazing how thorough they are and how much you can see. We are having, for those who haven't heard, a GIRL! We are both excited and a little daunted--we feel experienced with the boy thing, so now we are entering a new arena. Her little profile is darling, though, and she kept putting her hands by her face and trying to suck her fingers. Cute.

Today was our regular doctor appointment, which Jens came with me for. he was very good and liked hearing the baby's heart go bump bump. Jessie, he loves the book you sent and we have read it many times. He occasionally spouts a fact from it, especially about how babies don't know how to do anything but cry and sleep.

Hope you are all doing well--I am especially thinking of the wedding people and hoping all is well.

Jens on the Web

A neighbor of Boyd and Betty's took some cute pictures of Jens and Boyd and posted them on her blog.
http://lynnewsnyder.blogspot.com/2008/07/they-will-have-it-
so-much-easier-if.html

Sorry. I couldn't figure out how to make it into a link, and to get it all to show I had to put a space in between, so copying and pasting isn't working. You can copy the first line, but you have to type the second line on after.

July 3rd

Is it really July already? Time seems to be flying by! Just to warn you, this is a long one because I am writing down the details of our Yellowstone trip so we don't forget what we did. I will put up pictures next week when we are home. But first I want to say that Alissa, I appreciated your patriotic thoughts. All of your classes sounded interesting (except for the one taught by the boring teacher), but especially the Mt. Vernon one. As much as I may dislike many things about politics, some of our current leaders in particular, I am always so grateful for such an amazing country, and especially the foresight of the founding fathers which truly must have been divinely guided. It is pretty amazing to realize that they thought up this new political system which has been tested over and over and has lasted in spite of all of the changes our culture has gone through. I always get a little sappy around the 4th of July--it might be one of my favorite holidays. I know Jens is excited about it!

Jens is in heaven here at Grandma and Grandpa's. Endless people to play with, to push him in the swing, to pull him in the wagon, to ride bikes with, a big sand box to dig in, a box of trucks to drive around--I am pretty sure this is his ideal world.

We got back from Yellowstone last night, tired and happy to be done driving for a few days. Yellowstone was so beautiful, and we had such a good time. We managed to see almost every corner of the park, and even on the last day Jens was still excited about the geysers. He loved seeing the steam billow out. I would venture to guess that his favorite geyser experience was when we sat inside the Old Faithful dining lodge eating chocolate ice cream while watching Old Faithful go off through the window.

Our "cabin" made us laugh out loud--a tiny room with a double bed, ancient bedspread and curtains, a constant musty smell, and a tiny little shower cubicle with the pipes running up the outside of the wall, but we were right on Yellowstone Lake by Lake Lodge, our friends were all close by, and it was wonderful staying inside the park.

On Sunday we went rowing on Yellowstone Lake. All the dads had the dubious honor of rowing their families around--it looked like very hard work, but we all enjoyed being out on the water, and the kids had a good time trying out the oars themselves. In the afternoon we went to Old Faithful for the first time and walked around one of the geyser trails. Jens was such a trouper--he walked the whole way by himself and was quite cheerful about it. Of course, having the Thygerson boys to chase after helped a lot. We cooked our own dinner at a picnic area--chili and ht chocolate--and Jens played in the snow before heading back to our cabin.

Monday we spent the whole day seeing the park and the animals. We saw wolves, bears, and of course, tons of bison (we got stopped so they could cross the street) and elk. We saw the Upper and Lower Falls, the Mud Volcano and lots of other geysers, and Mammoth Hot Springs, which were initially a disappointment--the bottom half is barren and dry now, but the upper half is still active. The geysers create travertine, some of with was the palest pink. It was really beautiful and unusual. The North part of the park is so different from the central loop--more open spaces and meadows. and lots of wild flowers.

Tuesday we went to the Firehole River, which is supposed to be warm for swimming, but because it is a big run off year, the water was pretty cold. That didn't stop the kids from testing out the waters, including our little nudist, who we stripped down to avoid wet clothes for the rest of the day. We visited more geysers and then all the friends went their own ways to do things. We went back to Old Faithful for the forementioned ice cream and last view. Then we met up and Mike and Jens tried out a little fishing. Mike actually hooked the only fish of the day, but it came free before it was pulled out of the water. The kids were all very excited though--the screaming probably sent the poor fish into cardiac arrest. Last we visited the Fishing Bridge, where the cut throat something or other are supposed to spawn. We didn't see a single fish, but we saw a pair of beavers--one was in the water, but the other was sitting in plain view grooming, and it was the biggest, fattest beaver I've ever seen!

Yesterday we drove home after stopping to see another pair of wolves and the upper falls one more time. Jens was so tired he slept for over two hours of the drive. We were all thrilled to get back to Provo, and this morning we had our first taste of the 4th celebration while the Timpview marching band took a practice march around Boyd and Betty's neighborhood--a tradition that has been going on for 20 or more years.

We are excited about celebrating the 4th tomorrow and spending time with our Utah family--it is going to fly by too quickly. For those of you who are wondering, we heard about the Intrepid and it is all ready for us to pick it up. We will be getting it and driving it home on Sunday.