St. George Sanity

We couldn't possibly leave Utah without a golf trip to St. George. Seth and I talked Mom & Dad (like we really needed to persuade them), into sneaking down to St. George for the weekend. We played 18 holes on Saturday at the St. George Golf Club, it was a pretty fun course. Seth and I were excited to try out our new clubs. Mom and Dad were excellent mentors and showed us how it's done. What we lacked in technique we made up for in good laughs. We only lost a few to the water, and one I sort of hit into someone's backyard (the windows were not harmed). But for the most part we did alright!

When we weren't on the golf course, we spent the evenings playing cards. For some reason a deck of cards brings out Mom's wild side. She was out of control, in fact, I don't think it was just while we were playing cards...it was all weekend. Must be something in the air. We spent a couple of hours walking through model homes. Seth and I were really good at picking out the most expensive features for Mom and Dad. We made a quick stop in Zion National Park (emphasis on quick) on our way home. Seth hasn't been there, so we figured we'd give him the brief tour.
The weekend was a ton of fun, and it was nice to hang out with the parents for a few days before we head out.The rest of the pictures from the trip are in the St. George picture album.

An Impossible Mountain

Seth has been on a mission to get the "perfect" shot of Timp. He's been hired to do a large print of the front side of the mountain (the backside is much easier to photograph). I want a nice shot too, before we move. It might just be the death of him!

Because of the size of the finished product, he uses his 4x5 camera and slide film, needless to say it takes a lot more time, energy, talent and luck then a digital camera.

Monday morning found Seth teetering atop a chain link fence and balancing on a broken picnic table, all in the name of art. He finally got the picture he's been looking for, only to find out today, when he got the negative developed that there was a light leak somewhere and they were ruined. Looks like trip #67 back down to Orem tomorrow. Oh the fun!

Packing: Week 1

Well...in an attempt to make the packing process more enjoyable for myself, I have decided to post pictures of our progress. Lame, I know. However, I know at some point I will look back and appreciate all of the time we have put into sorting through all of our stuff. Seth's mom was kind enough to send us all of his memories when we first got married. They showed up on the front porch in five giant boxes (huge, seriously). We have glanced through them, but never really sorted through the goods. We decided, before we lug the the boxes back to their homeland, we should probably consolidate. Ha, little did I know what we would find.
It was soon discovered that two of the boxes (did I mention they were big) were packed with swimming trophies. Tons of them! We sorted through all of those, and I thought we were done with swimming goodies, silly me. Upon opening the next box we discovered all of the plaques he's received from swimming. Then we came across a large garbage bag FULL of ribbons. Because we were curious and had nothing better to do we decided to count them up, and the tally goes:

• 1st place: 104
• 2nd place: 26
• 3rd place: 28
• 4th place: 6
• 5th place: 8
• 6th and up: 32

We also counted his medals:

• Gold: 16
• Silver: 3
• Bronze: 4
• Others: 11

Like I said, we were bored. So, because we didn't think it necessary to keep all the ribbons, we took this picture with Seth and his ribbons, he's thrilled. (I wish the picture did it justice, there were tons!) Seth wanted to throw all of them out, however, as a person who has probably never (honestly) won a blue ribbon in a sporting event, I told him he had to keep his blue ribbons for now...
This is what we've managed to pack in a week. Okay, so I know the table is kind of cheating, because it's been sitting in the basement for months, but hey, at least it's ready for the move.
Hopefully next week we'll have even more to show. We have filled the garbage can to the brim twice now, and I'm shooting for a third time this week. Ah, it feels so good to consolidate!

Professor Benson

Ah, Professor Benson (or grad student, if you prefer). I just have to take a minute to say how much I love when the house gnome comes to visit! Elizabeth crashed at our house before and after her flights to PA, and it was so fun. I am just so happy for her, and all that she is doing up at USU. You bring us continuous joy when you come to say, from the Mike Rowe marathons to the poopy phone drop. We love you E-Beth!

Maryland Movin'

It is official...we are moving to Maryland!

Not a joke! Seth accepted a job offer with DSI, a company that does testing for the military. I don't know the details of the job, but he'll be using high-speed photography to document the testing of armor and weapons and such. (I really don't know exactly what they are testing, but it's something along those lines). He's pretty excited, he can't think of a better job...photography and explosives, does it get better? The job is in Aberdeen, MD; so we'll be in northern Maryland, close to Seth's grandparents and extended family. We are quite excited for the change of pace. We're big kids now!
I do have to admit that I have mixed feelings about leaving. I love being so close to my family and I really enjoy being "home-base" when our friends come to town. We absolutely love the friends we've made in our neighborhood, and it will be hard to say goodbye. I have started breaking the news to my clients, and I feel horrible each time! I didn't know they liked me so much!
The ol' U-Haul will be pulling out of Salt Lake a few days after Thanksgiving, and we will make the trek across the country. It's crazy to think we only have a little over 5 weeks left! Wild!

Elder Gaufin!

Doug was set apart as an official misionary Tuesday night. Stake President Millet came over and visited a while and gave Doug some sound advice. Seth and I were able to spend Tuesday night at Mom & Dad's and we (Seth) helped Doug get everything packed. If Seth hadn't jumped in, I'm afraid Doug would still be staring at all of his stuff on top of the ping-pong table!

It was a lot of fun going to the Missionary Training Center with Elder Gaufin. It's amazing to me how many new missionaries there are every week. It's incredible. Doug will be at the MTC until after Christmas. Seth says that will be one of the biggest tests of his mission...surviving the MTC for 12 weeks.
I am so proud of Doug for choosing to go on a mission. The Stake President mentioned how stark and cold Hungary is. I couldn't help but think Doug was specially chosen to go there, because he has a warmth and energy about him that will bring a special light to the darkest of places. Two years is a long time, I am so excited for the experiences Doug will have, and the man he'll be when he returns.
If you want to stay up to date on the adventures of Elder Gaufin, check out the Elder Doug link!

Conference Weekend

Conference weekend...what a weekend it was! It started Friday night, Mom wanted to make sure we get our family pictures taken before Doug leaves on his mission. We took them at the clubhouse at Thanksgiving Point. I wanted to wear knickers since we were at the golf course, but I got shut down. Lame! Overall, I think they turned out well. Seth took them, and was in them! We recruited Melanie to come down and press the button once Seth got everyone arranged. A little chaotic, but that's our family!

Saturday, we invited Melanie over to our house to watch Conference. I really enjoyed both sessions. Saturday evening I headed down to Kellie's for our regular girls' night. We had a little food and then did a Mary Kay party. As one who only wears mascara and chapstick, it wasn't exactly my thing. But...it was a lot of fun. We spent the majority of the night mocking and giggling. And we looked most excellent at the end of the night.

This is the "before" pic. Hopefully Kel posts the "afters" on her blog!

I got home late Saturday night and there was a festivus miracle in our house. Dan (Laura's boyfriend) and three of his buddies had tickets to conference, so they were crashing at our house for the night and Ashley and Byron have been in town all week, doing recruitment for Caterpillar at BYU, so they were staying at our place Saturday night too. We threw some pillows and blankets out on the floor and all seemed content.

There's always room at the Inn!

Seth and I woke up early Sunday to make the boys pancakes before they headed off to conference, as the four of them headed out the door, four more friends came over to have breakfast and watch conference with us. We had quite a bit of traffic coming and going, but it was a lot of fun. We love having people over and now the house seems a bit empty!

Twinners!

Today, I got dressed for work and headed out the door. Seth came by this afternoon for a haircut and TADA! We were twinners! From the gray t-shirts to our flipflops. I thought it was pretty funny that we'd ended up in the same thing, but the potential embarrassment of looking like twins didn't stop us from running errands all over town and going to the Gateway. We really are dorks!

Talk! Talk! Talk!

Huh? Mission?

Well, Doug gave his official farewell talk in church. And it was most excellent! We all went back to the house to celebrate Dougie and he had quite the turn out. There was a lot of family there and a ton of friends, they all seemed to think Dougie was pretty cool. He is.

I'll miss the kid. I'll have to write his companions and let them know of the "Deadly Combination". It is when you get Doug laughing so hard, he gets a nose bleed, which then turns into puking, which brings on the tears, and then it starts all over, nose, stomach, tears. It's actually quite humorous. It's been several years, since Doug's last bout with it, maybe we can bring it back in the MTC!

This picture ended up on everyone else's blog. I didn't want to be left out. Yes, Mason and I made cookies after all the guests left. I taught him a little secret, if you leave the bowl out you don't have to bake any cookies, we are all dough-addicts at our house! Ah, the good habits I have learned and pass on!

The Ol' Alumni 5K

After a little encouragement (ahem- sever peer pressure mixed with guilt trip) Melanie agreed to do the Homecoming 5k with me. The race was a lot of fun, I haven't done a 5k in a long time, and forgot how nice it is to be done after 3 miles, as opposed to 10 or 13! I didn't break any records (shocking, I know) but I was pleased with my time, and could have won a bronze medal in my division if I'd been a minute faster, stupid 4th place! Not to worry, I was not THAT fast, I just happened to be in a relatively small division (yes, there were MORE than 4 runners!!)

Masonasaurus

With a new baby in the house, Mason has needed a little extra attention. So, I went with Mom (Grandma) and Mason to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. I'm not much of a museum guru, but I had a lot of fun. And I think Mason did too.








Mason would not go through this cave without holding my hand. It is a bit difficult when you are more than 2 feet tall!





We were both really impressed with the size of the "sharkosaurus"...as we liked to call it! I was showing Mason (not Drew) the importance of flossing. As Tuffy Tooth would say, "You don't have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep!"

Die-Hard Fans!

Me, Steph and Mel really wanted to see the Utah game, but...it was only on the Mtn. (stupid Comcast) Conveniently, the girls that moved in next door have a huge big-screen TV, so we turned off the lights (it only looks like they are on, because of Seth's flash) and peeked through our blinds, into their windows to watch the game! Desperate, I know!

Goodbye 851

This weekend marks a new chapter in our lives, it was bound to happen at some point. The timing never seems right and you can never plan the future. This weekend we will say goodbye to the abandoned house next door and hello to 10 college girls moving in. It is at this time of change, that I would like to reflect back on the memories of 851, the house next door.

It was the spring of 2005 when we were first introduced to 851, oh how the time flies. It would have been all but impossible for us to ignore 851, she stood strong and sturdy on the other side of our driveway. In those early days 851 was quite mellow, there was a young girl who lived there with her dog. Unfortunately, the hazards of living on a busy road caught up to them, and the dog was hit by a wayward car. We felt the girl's misery as she cried over her dog, although we'd never played fetch with the dog, or spoken a word to the girl, we felt as though we'd lost our own that day. It was a rough time for 851. Soon after "the incident", the girl (minus the dog) moved away.

851 stood alone for several months, the only sign of habitation was the occasional rotation of the "For Sale" sign to the "For Rent" sign in the front yard. Now, don't feel too much sorrow, 851 did see action from time to time. Like that night, in the dead of winter, when we awoke to policemen running up and down our driveway between our house and 851. We watched through the curtains as the officers arrested a man on the lawn of 851.

A year had passed since we'd first met, and suddenly there was life inside 851 again. At first glance we thought a young family was moving in. We quickly realized how wrong we were. To explain the new residents of 851, I was once quoted as saying, "it's like a dumpy apartment complex burned to the ground downtown, and all the tenants moved into this house (851)". 851 did not discriminate, oh no, at this time in its existence, it welcomed (willingly or not) men, women, old, young, every race and ethnic background imaginable, they all called 851 home. Although they all had different backgrounds, there was one common theme- no respect for 851...and a love of disco music. Old Smokey would sit out back with his assumed-to-be wife smoking away, dropping cigarette butts all over the former lawn, cursing at the young children that constantly ran to and fro. Tuberculosis would pace the front porch with a beer bottle in one hand and something or other lit in the other hand, he would huck loagies from the deepest depths of his bowels out onto the porch. While most school-aged children would be sitting in class, The Knuckleheads would sit on our driveway throwing mudballs at our back door. It was a disturbing time. 851 stood strong through it all, she was there standing tall when the police made Tuberculosis put his hands up against the house as they frisked him, cuffed him, and sent him away. He came back. The occupants seemed in desperate need of money, so shortly after moving in, they held a yard sale on a sunny Saturday afternoon, that yard sale lasted 24/7 until the day they left. We would scan the sale from time to time, to make sure our belongings hadn't found their way out there. For a period of time, 851 was known to our friends as "the permanent yard sale." After 6 long months, as quickly as they had come the vagabonds were gone. Leaving 851 behind, every window broken, carpet soiled and more than likely many holes in the walls.

851 did not have to stand ashamed for long. In the Fall of 2006, within a few weeks of the lowlifes leaving, the cleanup crew came to her rescue. Two men would come to completely rebuild her insides and freshen her appearance. Seth watched when they showed up to begin the cleanup process, they wore painting masks to protect themselves, after one trip into 851's bowels, they left. They returned a short while later with full respirators (gas mask style). It was after witnessing this, that out suspicions were all but confirmed. We dropped our heads, shook them from side to side and whispered, "meth house". We watched as an industrial size dumpster (not your average ho-hum dumpster) was dropped off in front of 851, and were shocked by the amount of crap (figuratively and literally) that came out of the house and into the dumpster. We were astonished as they hauled off the dumpster and replaced it close to 10 times. The miracle men worked literally day and night to bring 851 back to life, a long and difficult process after the horrors she'd survived. In the Spring of 2007, 851 emerged new and improved. Just like the trees that were blossoming after a long, cold, horrible winter, 851 was blossoming.

As life goes, the miracle men had to go. And 851 stood ready for its next inhabitants. Unfortunately, there were no inhabitants. We watched silently as "For Sale" sign changed to "For Rent" and back to "For Sale" and then a period of time would pass with no sign, and then the cycle would start all over.

And then two weeks ago, it all changed. Seth woke me up one night to tell me he had just watched three girls sneak in the back window of 851. They were wandering around the house and then they were gone. A few days later, they came back, braver this time, because they chose to sneak/break in in broad daylight. They looked nothing like the vagabonds of previous times, no, these girls looked more sorority-ish. We wondered if these girls would be the new addition to 851, and then one day we knew. They showed up in their shiny SUVs packed full of, well, girl stuff. Then the big truck with the 25 ft trailer appeared and we watched (through the blinds, lights off) as everything imaginable was unloaded. Couches, bigscreen TVs, furniture, furniture, and more furniture! 851 seems to be holding strong, she has welcomed the females with open arms and seems willing to support their furniture and pointy shoes.

We wish 851 the best in this new stage of her life. We will miss the abandoned, quiet days, but we also know how desperate 851 was to house good people. Although we've never told 851, it goes without saying, as long as we are living at 847 we will always keep an eye on 851. Because we owe it to her, for if it weren't for her solid stance as 851, we would be neighbors with those who live on the other side of 851. Thank you, 851.

Oh! Here She Is!

Madison Grace Lonsdale!
(disclaimer: I stole the above picture from Karen's email. Thanks to whoever took it!)


Well, Mason is an official big brother! Madison arrived Thursday evening, and she and Karen seem to be doing GREAT! Seth and I stopped by the hospital and I daresay Karen seems to be doing a lot better than she was after having Mason- possibly the lack of a marathon-delivery this time around? I always forget just how little they are when they are newborns. I was fascinated with Madison's feet. They are tiny, wrinkly, pink and they don't hold still! I love it!

I would have posted this earlier, but Karen asked that I wait until she had told everyone. Since she was the one who endured pregnancy, I felt I owed her that much :) I did steal the picture of her and Madison, in our excitement to see the baby, Seth and I failed to take a good picture of Madison, and Mama!

Woohoo for the Lonsdale fam!

(for more details...weight, length, time of delivery, etc. you'll have to look at Kellie's blog (the openshaw fam). she's a little better at the "important" details!)

Baby Lonsdale...coming soon!

Karen's having her baby in less than an hour. In honor of her having the baby, I thought I'd post pics from our Super Sister Saturday Shower! This was a sweet baby shower hosted by KayCee. (Unfortunately I don't have pictures from Karen's shower at the Lonsdale's. That, too, was super fun!) KayCee has us work on fun crafty stuff...we tied a baby blanket, painted pots for her to put stuff in (like cottonballs and q-tips) and we made little headbands. It was a ton of fun, I discovered just how un-crafty I am! Grandma tying the blankie

Together we can do it...making pots.

The finished products: A cute blanket, six precious headbands (mine is red, for the Utes games) and three pots. You have no idea how much love and sweat went into those pots...especially KayCee's! Yea Karen!

Doug's Official!

Well, Dougie went to the temple for his first "big" time this morning. He's the last in our family, and it was really special to be there with everyone. Way to go Dougie!


It was very nice to have us all there, and Uncle Kent & Aunt Barb.













The Gaufin Fam...and spouses

Ah, the siblings.

Sister Halsey

Sister Halsey...off to the MTC! Laura flew in today to head to the MTC. She and Seth hung out together most of the afternoon, until I got off work. We went down to Provo, and picked up Dan for Laura's last supper.

Seth did his best to document her day with us. Here she is making lunch.

Dan loaded her up with some sweet gifts, a journal, a Spanish hymn book and some resoled shoes.

We went out for some tasty pizza and Dan wore this shirt in honor of Laura. If you can't quite read it, it says, "Dan (heart) Laura". Too cute.

It was rough leaving Laura, we are definitely going to miss her, but know she will be an awesome missionary!

A Clarification...

Working on Eric's truck.

Ahem, apparently I need to make a correction. After reading my post about the power being out, Seth felt that his manliness took a hit, when I let it slip that he was reading "Twilight" with me. So. I would like to clarify. Seth is only reading this with me because I am forcing him, it is 100% (okay, maybe 95%) against his will. And...we read it together he is not curled up in the lovesac reading it by himself. He would like it known, that he would much rather read something about World War II, Trucks, or any other "manly" material. So, in his honor, I am posting pictures of him being "manly". (In the future, I will also refrain from mentioning any other books we have read together, ie Traveling Pants - all 4 of them- as that too could cause embarassment) Ahh, I have the greatest husband ever!

Saving Eric's truck.

What? No power?

Well, I'm sure we weren't the only ones who witnessed the sweet storm that rushed through Tuesday night. Seth called me around 6 to tell me the power was out at our house. No big surprise, it goes out all the time. The salon is only a block away, so I was very relieved that it didn't go out there.. I was trying to finish a VERY picky client (Mom - love your business :) ). Just kidding, nice teeth by the way! Anyways, I got home around 7, and Seth was over at the church (apparently playing dodgeball in the dark) and so I made Mom stick around with me until he got home. There were branches down everywhere, considering our trees have NEVER been trimmed and they are huge, we just consider high winds to be "natural pruning"! When Seth got home, I had all these great ideas of things to do. Since it was pouring, lightening and thundering, I thought it would be a perfect night for soup. Oh. Stove. No power. Then, it seemed like it would be fun to watch a scary movie. Oh. TV. No power. Well, maybe I'll finally update our blog. Oh. Computer. Curse. No power. We eventually settled for reading by lantern-light (perfect timing for Seth's b-day gift). I am making Seth read Twilight with me, I have already read it, and am half-way through the second book, but I like to read with Seth, and I know he'll like it, even if it's not the most manly book! The power eventually came back on, sometime around 11. It was a fun night. Made me very glad for electricity, but also grateful for the quiet time Seth and I can spend together.

3rd Annual Labor Day Camping Trip

"Hi Gewi." Hi Drew. "Hi Seph" Hi Drew.

Seth and I have a bit of a tradition, although we camp throughout the year, Labor Day camping is a MUST! This year, the Openshaw clan (my sister, Kellie and her fam) came along. It was a lot of fun. Kellie and Phil had just bought a brand new Acadia, so, our usual camping spot, (off-road in the Uintas) was not an option, as it would cause dust on the new car. Waaah :) Just kidding. Kind of. So, we left the Bronco at home, and piled into their sweet ride. After strategic planning, we left around noon, to benefit from Drew's nap time. In theory...(theory being the key word) Drew was going to sleep the whole way, and then he wouldn't mind his little cave we'd made for him among all the gear on the third row. Ha Ha Ha. How poorly we planned. He started getting fussy around Echo Lake (about 45 minutes into the nearly 4 hour drive) and it went down hill from there. We all attempted to entertain the kid, but somewhere in the middle of Wyoming (I think), whatever Drew had eaten that morning (and possibly the last week, judging by the shear mass of it all) decided to come back up. He began puking, and we hurried and pulled over. Kellie turned into SuperMom and started cleaning up the muck. Once she had cleared enough puke away to uncover the poor guy, we pulled him out of his car seat, and I stripped him down on the side of the road. We all pulled together, and somehow we avoided a ripple-puke effect, as most of us are sympathy pukers. I, being a brave Aunt, took over his cave in the back seat, and after twenty minutes, the mysterious cause of his puke became apparent. I too, was feeling a bit car sick. We stopped in at the next town to buy some Dramamine, (my parents drug of choice for children) and unfortunately Drew would not take any of it. He toughed it out until we got to the campground, where he finished off the last of his stomach contents, and then proceeded to dry-heave just to drill in the fact (in case we hadn't noticed) that he gets CAR SICK.
Thankfully, he was back to his fine spirits in a few hours. His favorite thing right now, is to call roll. We'd all be in the car, or hanging out. And Drew would start, "Daddy? Hi Daddy!" (Hi Drew.) "Mama? Hi Mama. Hi Mama" (Hi Drew.) "Hi Gewi. Gewi!" (Hi Drew.) "Seff. Hi Seph. Where's Seph" (Hi Drew.) We would play this over, and over. It was hilarious. He always seemed so excited when we would respond.
To be honest, the rest of the trip was a pretty normal camping trip. We hiked along the rim, that drops into Flaming Gorge, (perhaps you could call it the Edge of the Gorge)! Being 1400 ft above the water, might have caused me a little vertigo. I survived. We went down and saw the dam, Kellie shot me a Look of Death when I started teaching Drew what the big cement thing was. Apparently she did not want him saying, "Oh, dam!" I don't get it.
The trip was a lot of fun, and very relaxing, we played cards, told stories, and just hung out. Since Kellie and Phil were the chauffers, Seth and I were the chefs. We had tasty hot dogs and hamburgers, egg burritos, tin foil dinners, peach cobbler...oh, and pb&j and cereal. Fine cooks, we are!
The trip was a lot of fun, thank you Openshaws for coming along to celebrate the end of another great summer!

All of our pics from the trip are in the "Labor Day Camping" albums, enjoy!