Andrew and Lizzie

An example of how to prepare for sacrament meeting.

The Church provides many resources to help people improve their worship.

One example is the music player resource located on the church’s website.

So for instance if we had hymn number 133 for the opening hymn, we can have a link leading to the player for that song, members could click on it, and listen to it, maybe even singing the words along if they wish.

We could also have a link for the sacrament hymn (180); the intermediate hymn (10); and the closing hymn (219). The closing hymn, however, is not included due to copyright restrictions, but this is a very small minority

Feb 14, Friday morning an induction was scheduled for Liz for 3:00 that afternoon. We did our final preparations at home and went to the hospital. Here’s a picture of us at the hospital waiting for intake…

Friday, Feb 14, 2014, 3:00 pm

They started the induction at 6:00 pm, and there were no noticeable effects at 6:00 am. They started another induction at 8:00 am, and by noon, labor had started. At midnight we began the birth process, and by 6:00 am they had started a c-section. Our son was born at 6:12, and the procedure ended at 7:00 am. Liz was amazing through the entire process. I heard him cry at 6:15, and at about 6:20, they called me over to stand with him. I didn’t bring the camera (or anything) into the OR, so I just said hello, and held his hands, feet and head. Eventually they wrapped him up and let me hold him, and take him over to Liz. In the recovery room we got the first pictures… the only one we’ll post from the recovery room (PACU) is father and son.

Father and Son in Recovery Room

Eventually we went to our own recovery room. Here’s a picture of him there.

Baby Boy in room

Liz is such a wonderful mother, watch her hold her precious child.

Mother and son

Claudia and Max have been so wonderful in caring for us and our son.

Grandma and grandson

Neither Liz nor Andrew got more than an hours rest since Thursday, and Claudia stayed with Liz overnight so that Andrew could get some sleep. I’ll get Claudia’s pictures with Max and baby soon.

We decided on a name that afternoon, but are still informing family members (before facebook…).

*I am aware that a house is never done… but among the things that needed to get done when we moved in, we almost have the list done.

When we moved into the house, this is what the windows looked like…

The unpainted window trim.

Then, I finally got around to painting the trim around the windows, and this is how it looks:

Close up view of the painted windows.

This is what the front of our house looks like after I painted the window trim.

We also got our new carpet installed, but didn’t use the ones we showed you before. So you can play the guessing game now before moving on. Here are the samples of possibilities on the old carpet.

Carpet samples on the old carpet.

So we got the carpet installed in the downstairs living room, stairs, and upstairs hallway. It’s really nice, and the first time I’ve had ever had nice new carpet.

Carpet samples on the installed carpet.

So there comes a time when you recognize that your deck must be refinished. We knew it needed to be done soon. But that time has come and passed. So here are the before, during, and after photos…

Before: Unwashed deck.

Washing the deck

Washed deck:

Finished:

The fourth of July was celebrated by flying a flag, and by beautifying (as opposed to beatifying) the yard.

We planted some fruit trees…

Fruit Trees

Namely apple trees:

First Apple Tree

2nd Apple Tree

And peach trees…

First Peach Tree

Second Peach Tree

We also weeded around two of our pine trees, and added mulch…

Mulched Trees

Trees to House

Mulched Tree Close Up

Mulched Tree Close Up

Here are the choices for our new carpet…

Carpet Choices

Can you guess which one we are going to have installed? Bragging rights to the commenter who guesses correctly…

“A chair is still a chair
Even when there’s no one sittin’ there
But a chair is not a house
And a house is not a home
When there’s no one there to hold you tight
And no one there you can kiss goodnight.”

Neither is an un-decorated house with stark naked walls, un-speckeled by photos of friends, family, and places we love, a view you want every morning. Decoration is in some sense an expression of the things we find most meaningful, and how you tell when “you’re done”.

So here are the photo’s and decorations that we put up. Can you find yourself in them?

Here we have photos of our families along with the proclamation to the world on the family.

Above the fireplace, we have photo’s of the Stewart Falls, Crater Lake, and a painting that Travis and Emily Dastrup gave us.

We love our friends, here we have a 4×6 of Liz’s and my friends who came to our wedding. We also have Liz’s nieces and nephews. Eventually my friends’ picture will be there too, some technical error prevented them from being printed this last time.

Everyday, when you pass through the door, you have a reminder of the great home and family you have, why you’re doing what you’re doing, and what you have to return to.

Friday, May 10th we closed on our very own, very first house. It’s in Dexter, MI. It has been exciting and quite a bit of work. But we are settling in and would like to share some photos with you.

So, without further delay . . . The long awaited photos of our home:

Front view of houe

Back view of House

View of house from the forest end of our lot

Bed with Curtains closed Blackout curtains are the best.

Piano corner.

Living room, view from the TV.

Fireplace in the Living Room. Note the awesome artwork. Thanks Travis and Emily.

Work-end of the kitchen.

Kitchen appliances.

Kitchen with view of the Garden.

View of backyard from kitchen table.

This tree is very close to our deck. We’ve removed the decrepit fence.

Our bathroom, like so many others, has a mirror.

Shower curtain.

Spare oom. That is not a typo.

Dead Tree! ! Go buy a chainsaw. Do not pass go.

Timber.!

Tree that was saved.

Here’s our Christmas tree for 2012. We decorated today while watching “White Christmas”. We’re very seasonal now…

The blue snowflakes are visualizable with the flash on…

But a Christmas tree always looks better lit…[/caption]

We will be bringing our own stockings for Christmas…

We love clearance sales…

Several months ago, Liz and I decided to renew our passports. Having the flexibility with our time, we decided to splurge a little bit this weekend, and to take a last minute trip to Holland, to see the tulips. We were lucky, because we were able to find a way to get there that wouldn’t be too expensive. Well, we went, and it was awesome. We’ve included some pictures to document our trip to an authentic Dutch windmill. The tour guides explained everything about it, and the best part is, the mill is still working! I knew that parts of Holland were built below sea-level, but what I didn’t know is that the power of the wind was used to pump out water that does seep through the dikes. In addition to grinding wheat, barley and spices, the Dutch were able to keep land viable despite “the natural flow of things.” This was amazing to me. Finally, we also saw a street organ, which was literally a bunch of pipes with a player-mechanism.

Most of the tulips were in full bloom or past their prime, but they were amazing to see… Enjoy the photos.

The street organ is a lot larger than I expected...

The street organ uses a cardboard book to read and play a piece automatically...

The bellows (below), tubing, and pipes are visible. The hand crank has been replaced with a motor. There's also a drum or two...

The Windmill: The brick and wood parts are stationary (of course), but everything above the red/white/blue lines can rotate a full 360 degrees so that the sails face the wind. The white part is used to pull and rotate the sails...

The sails can be decorated for weddings, births, and death. Is that what this flying angel means?

The millstones operate quite quietly especially when compared to modern grain mills. There was a grain elevator which can be wind powered to pull the grain up. The gears are lubricated with bees wax. Normally the sails do not need any covering to catch the wind, unless the wind is too weak. The seals are slightly bowed (not flat) in order to properly catch the wind. It’s a huge structure, and cannot be used as a living space because of the incredible fire danger that the dry flour represents (no fire or sparks).

Now, on to pictures of Tulips:

A large field of tulips

Fire Tulips

Pink and Purple Tulips

Fuzzy red tulips

Scarlet and White Tulip

Yellow and Red Tulip

Yellow pink tulips

Yellow tulips