Here we are, a mom and her girl. 

Yes, we are back in Fryville.  California was a welcome relief from the heat.  We had a nice relaxing visit.  Californian’s sure like Las Vegas though.  On my way back into town, there was not one Nevada driver in an amazing display of traffic.  All sported California plates.  I really don’t see the attraction.  But, then again, I am not much of a drinker/gambler/night cluber.  Here are the rest of Serra~V~’s photo session.

Here are the latest pictures of our little monkey.  I’m not sure I even know how to do this so if the pictures don’t come accross then you’ll have to wait for Pam to post them when she gets home from California. 

Cute little bugger isn’t she?  I like the one where she looks all serious.  She is quite the mini-model.  Nice outfit picked out by mom as well. 

We are all really looking forward to making the trek to Utah this upcoming week.  A nice vacation has been a long time coming and I find it hard to stomach another two days of work till I’m off.  Perhaps I’ll be rejuvinated after the trip…perhaps not.  The Regional Rental Manager over Nevada came out to my office today and took me out to lunch.  We had a long talk and he offered a bunch of “atta boys” and basically told me I could write my own ticket to several branch manager positions opening up over the next three months.  It’s funny, but I don’t meet his promise will all that much enthusiasm as I don’t see myself staying longterm with the company.  There is truely a lot of opportunity within Enterprise and I’ve certainly built a strong foundation, but I see it as a mear stepping stone in what I hope/plan to be a more fulfilling career.  I sometimes worry that the actual time of when I should cut ties and move on won’t make itself abundantly clear and I’ll miss other opportunities that I should be taking advantage of.  It’s hard for me to walk away from anything so hopefully they’ll be some sort of sign drop from heaven saying “Quit your lousy job and go to the coast.”…isn’t that how it works? 

My youngest sister Amy Jo is getting ready to start her first semester up at BYU.  It will be the first time she’s spent more than a couple days away from home so I hope that she adjusts well and has a good time.  I remember how excited I was starting school knowing that by the time I was done I would have all kinds of experiences and fun times.  Luckily I had my older brother Eric to shepherd me along and keep me out of too much trouble….Amy Jo is a good seed and has her feet more firmly attached to the ground that I did at her age.  She’ll have nearby Grandparents and extended family so hopefully she won’t be overly homesick.  However, I’m actually more worried about my mom….a house full of wiener dogs and cats and no kids.  Should be interesting.

Not much else to report.  Hopefully this thing posts correctly otherwise I will have written in vain….although it is rather therapeutic to put thoughts on paper or pixels in this case.  It’s late and so I’d better crash or it’ll be ugly tomorrow. I’ll return reporting duties back over the the matron of the house when she gets back.  Can’t be soon enough.

I forgot to mention Serra~V~’s doctor visit statistics.  She is 16#14, and 24″.  This puts her in the 95% for weight and only 50% for height.  She weighs as much as I did at 1 year.  But, she is so very healthy.  She got a few shots too and has been a little on the sleepy side the last few days.  She misses her daddy.

Serra~V~ and I made it safely to California.  No incidents to report on I-15.  Baby Serra broke Grandma’s heart when she cried at the first hold.  I think she was just tired and wired from the trip.  She was a little grumpy and a lot drooley all evening but slept well, and is still sleeping this morning, so we expect a good showing today.  Julie and Jared arrived late afternoon yesterday and we have had a good time visiting.  Jared is getting all geared up with maps and such to head on some bike rides, while Julie and I will be visiting a few people this afternoon. 

Brian, it is overcast and possibly as low as in the 60′s this morning.  Truly delightful.  I wish you were here to enjoy it and to cool off.   Remember the Shields… Serra has been taking care of their house again. They don’t have raccoons anymore.  Now it is crows, and get this….. a skunk.  Talk about asking for trouble.  When Dave gets back from registering for school and paying Calabasas H.S. life savings for the privilege of attending  and a parking place, I will try to get him to get a picture up of your missed little one. 

Well, our little munchkin has reached the 4 month mark.  We will go to the doctor today for a check-up and some much dreaded shots.  Serra~V~, so sweet, has no idea people are going to be mean to her today. 

Brian may be forced to take a position at the airport.  This would mean he would take a massive paycut.  The managers at the airport make less than he does now as an assistant.  This would put a serious dent in our lives and may speed up the moving process.  We can’t survive on what they would force on him.  They keep telling him that Enterprise has a need and he needs to do this for “The Team”.  My comment would be that he has another team to think about and it is much more important than they are. 

I will be heading to California tomorrow afternoon and may not make an entry for a while.  Here is baby Serra yesterday all dolled up for church. 

By the way, for all interested parties.  We will be in Utah the 27th through the 1st and Saturday will be spent mostly in Logan for the game against the U.  We already have tickets.  Brians family will be in Logan that day as well so there will be some interesting juggling as far as spending time with everyone.  For those of you that will be in town, we thought perhaps a picnic at Adams park that afternoon sometime?  I will be seeing Julie and Serra this weekend  and can discuss with them all the schedules etc.. but for you boys… lets us know what you would like to participate in.   

Curses…Foiled again… 

Brian didn’t get the job and the manager at JCPenny that was not charging me for pictures got fired.  (Not because she was giving me free pictures.)  So the pictures may not be flowing so freely anymore.  That has been our weekend.  I sure love this staying home bit.  I have had time to do all sorts of projects.  Christmas is nearly done.  Last year I did nothing and this year I have started early so it doesn’t get overwhelming.  Below are some of the project I have finished.  I still have to complete Serra~V~’s stocking and am doing a few x-tra’s just in case.

Serra~V~ just took me by surprise this very moment. I put her on the changing table while I write because she is happy there.  I look over at her and she is rolled over on her side and nearly off the edge.  That is a long way down.  I think the rolling milestone is not far off and I need to be very careful where I put her. 

These are two of the finished products.  The stockings are pieced quilt and crosstitching and the boxes are just that, painted gift boxes.  Ya’ll know how I love boxes.  They make great gift containers or just gifts. 

The nativity scene is done in crayon.  Who would have thought?  And the last one is an on-going project that just keeps on getting better everyday.  We put different wrapping on it every day and they all look so cute we have a hard time deciding which looks the cutest.  I think this will be the gift that keeps on giving.  I don’t think we will give it away.  This one is for us.

Well, we find out about the job sometime today.  Brian is not optimistic.  Serra~V~ is cute. 

I don’t have much to add.  Just glad to see everyone online and writing.  Dad, I think you need to print up your stories and start a memory book of your own.  We are excited for our upcoming trips.  I can tell already that it will not be long enough.  We have a ton of people to visit. 

Brian interviews today for yet another position.  He has really prepared for this one and will be upset if he is passed over again.  This company used to just promote who was the most ready and prepared to take the job but they decided a while ago that they should open it up for interviews.  The problem now is that the Area Manager with the open position has already decided who he wants, but must go through the motions of interviewing.  It is very frustrating for Brian as he sees less qualified people promoted only because they have worked with the person interviewing.  He is by far the most qualified and competent Assistant Manager in the valley and has been passed over 3 or 4 times.  And they wonder why he hasn’t jumped excitedly every time a new chance to interview comes up. 

Thankyou for all the Birthday well-wishes, notes, calls, and attempted calls.  We know those of you who attempted and didn’t leave messages because you show up on our caller ID.  So, thankyou.  I did indeed have a great Birthday.  Brian decided that I am not allowed to cook on my birthday so we started off the day at IHOP.  They have the best syrup in the world.  Then it was my choice to do anything so we went to Walmart.  (It is one of my favorite places)  We were looking at car seats for our little sprout.  She has grown so much in length that she now meets and maybe exceeds the height limit for her current car seat.  The dilemma is the next step in a seat is one that stays in the car and can’t double as an infant seat.  We still need an infant seat as she cannot sit on her own.  We did not make a purchase at this time, we will shop around a little and see if we can find exactly what we want.  I did pick up a couple of outfits for Serra~V~ who has outgrown a whole passel of clothes in the past few weeks.  below is a picture of one of them.  A little sweater/bonnet ensemble.

We relaxed for a few hours at home and watched one of our new DVDs.  Galaxy Quest.  Brian didn’t tell me where we were going that night only that it was PLAN C.  Apparently, he has been trying to put some things together and was unable ,  but had some good back-up plans.  We dropped off the recently well fed small-tall one at Grandma and Grandpa’s and off we went.  First stop:  Benihana’s.  We have never been there and so chose to sit at the show table where they throw cooking utensils and food around.  We think the guy was probably really funny but we were unable to decipher most of what he said.  His visual jokes were good.  The food was REALLY good and it was nice to see exactly what was put in to make it taste so good.  Lots of butter, salt, ginger, and garlic.  We both enjoyed shrimp and steak, with mushrooms, onions, and zucchini.  Included was onion mushroom soup and salad with a ginger dressing.   Next stop:  The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.  We both really enjoy looking at marine life and have wanted to see this exhibit for a while.  There were a lot of cool things there including a wide variety of sharks.  They have glass tunnels you can stand in with the sharks and fish swimming above and around you.  Very fun!

To me, no celebration is complete without desert, and the desert of my choice is and will always be ice cream.  We went to Coldstone where you chose your fresh made that day ice cream/s and add ins  and they squish is all together on a cold stone.  We got enough for the babysitters and took it there to enjoy.  Baby Serra had been very well behaved until we showed up and woke her up.  She was 5 hours in without nourishment and howled her objections.  She was calmed and fed before ice cream was partaken of.  All was well. 

Thankyou moms for the boxes to add to my growing collections.  And for the gift certificate to Jo-Anns.  All will be used appreciatively. 

Birthday over, Sunday came.  I had an experience at church that upset me.  I have a very simple calling and have done my best to fulfil it.  I am in charge of music for the Relief Society.  Beside making sure music is taken care of at Sunday meetings, I was asked to put together a song for Sacrament Meeting that all the women could participate in.  This was back in February.  I ordered music for a 2 part arrangement of “I Know That My Redeemer Lives”  We were originally scheduled to perform in May but have been moved back and back until we were finally given August 18th as the day.  Then it was made known to me that the Young Women were reporting camp that day and already had a song.  So we moved it to some unknown day in September.  We have been practicing this song during the time given for this purpose during Relief Society.  I thought it was coming along nicely.  I had even invited some of the more musical ladies in callings outside of Relief Society to come and help out, as well as someone to help lead it.  I was informed yesterday, right before the meeting that an “Executive decision” had been made that we were not going to do this song.  Come up with something else.  I felt really stupid as the announcement was made in the meeting, and I have little desire to put any effort into another song.  Then to top off the afternoon, as I  was waiting for Brian to get out of his meeting, a sister that had not been to church in a few months comes up to me and asks me how I am feeling and when the baby is due.  ARRRGGHH!!!  4 MONTHS AGO!  Granted I am not the slimmest around, but I didn’t think I looked pregnant still. 

At least I have a cute baby.