We're Back!

Sorry it has been so long everyone!! Life is always crazy, but the last few months have been especially crazy for us. Ben got a job and all of that took just about all our time for the last few months. We are adjusting well. Abby is growing like a little weed. She is officially walking now. She loves to try to say "ball", says "mama" "da-da", and is obsessed with being outside. She is so much fun!!!

It was so cute yesterday. We were singing a hymn and she sat on my lap and just belted out as much as she could (not on pitch of course) but it was so cute!

I thought I would at least post a family picture so that you can see how much she has grown.

I hope you are all doing great and loving life. I can't wait to catch up with everyone and see what you are all up to!

Famous Potato Half Marathon

Today Angie and I ran the Famous Potato half marathon. Phew! This was my first half and Angie's second, she having completed the Pocatelo half two summers ago.

The race began at Lucky Peak resevoir and it was really cold and windy there. But the day warmed up really fast and it got pretty hot in the last five miles or so of the race. Angie and I actually finished together which was neat. I felt really good at the start and really pushed the pace. Towards the end though, I really ran out of energy and Angie caught up with me. I was glad we could finish together since we hardly saw eachother during the majority of the race.

Our unnoficial time was 2 hrs 10 minutes. I was very happy with the time and felt I couldn't have run a better race. I was definately tired though and once we got home, we both took a nap. I then went out and worked my census job for about two hours.

It is nice to have the race out of the way. We were both getting a little burned out with the training and were looking forward to shorter, faster traiing sessions in preparation for the Sawtooth Relay. Here are some of the post race pictures which were the only pictures we took .

Ball?

I was shooting basketball tonight with Abby. I started saying ball every time I shot and she started laughing like crazy. It got so bad that I stopped shooting the ball at all I had to say was ball to make her laugh. I caught some of it on this video and I hope you enjoy it.

The silver sliver

Tonight was our ward's cub-scout pinewood derby. In addition to the scout races, they held an open class race for anyone else who wanted to participate. I had been intending to build a car but had forgotten to purchase the kit. I remembered the race about 1.5 hrs before it was supposed to start. Luckily, Diane had an extra kit so I made a car real quick. I feel I can modestly say it is the ugliest derby car in the history of the event.

In my defense, there was a method to the madness. I learned in a college dynamics class that using conservation of energy laws and placing the weight of the car as far back as possible, you could make a car go faster. The equation

1/2 m V^2 = m g h

relates potential energy to kinetic energy. Basically, the velocity of the car is proportional to the square root of the height of the car's center of gravity at the top of the track. Placing the weight behind the rear axel elevates the car's center of gravity by a small amount. For the benefit of anyone who hasn't dozed off yet, this additional height is equal to the distance from the front axel to the car's center of gravity multiplied by the cosine of the angle the top of the track makes with the ground. Whoa, even I got a little droopy eyed with that one. Anyway, the placement gives the car a little bit more speed.

In addition to the weight placement, I polished the nails using a drill and some fine-grit sandpaper. I also sanded the wheels and coated them with some car wax for extra smoothness. I used graphite to lube the wheels on the axel and that pretty much took care of it. There were some other things I would have liked to have done, but I just didn't have the time.

Anyway, I raced and won 3rd place in the open division. I was really surprised actually to have done that well. And I wasn't that far behind the first and second place finishers either. Pretty amazing considering the short amount of time I had.

I guess I don't know what is more sad, how ugly my car is or the fact that I am so excited about winning third place. But considering how my job hunting has gone of late, its nice to finally succeed at something.

On the subject of jobs, I accepted an offer to go to work in Idaho Falls. The job is an answer to prayers and is just another proof that Heavenly Father is providing for us. I don't have a start date yet but I will be visiting next week and am hoping to find out more then.

So, things are going really well now. We have been blessed and are humble at being offered a job in this tough economy.

We wish you all the best and thanks for your support.

Movin' right along

Angie tried to write a blog post yesterday but we were having trouble with Blogger and we lost it. So, I am giving it a shot. Things are going really well. Abby is growing up and I've been gratefull to have had so much time to spend with her, even if it has meant not having a job.

As you can see above, abby is developing some basic walking technique. She hasn't rolled over yet or began crawling, but she is getting stronger everyday. We have also started feeding her baby food and cereals. This has helper her be fuller at bedtime and she has started sleeping better a nights.

Oh yeah. As I was looking for these videos, I realized we haven't posted any pictures from graduation. Yes, I graduated. It was a really neat experience. Elder Scott was the featured speaker at Commencement and since he graduated with an engineering degree, he also attended our college's convocation too. He handed me my diploma cover when I walked. And if that's not great enough, we were also invited to attend a luncheon with Elder Scott and President Clark. They held a question-answer session during the luncheon and Angie and I both were able to ask a question. These men are incredibly wise and inspired and it is plain to see they have been chosen by the Lord to bring about his work in the church and BYU-I. We feel blessed to have been able to attend this luncheon.

These pictures below are of graduation and Abby. She is a lot of fun to photograph. Angie drapped her hair over Abby's head so it looks like she has way long hair. I thought it was pretty funny.