Lincoln's Birth Story

So I wrote Lincoln's birth story at the hospital right after he was born (I was super proud of myself about this by the way) and wanted to wait to post it until I got his birth pictures and stuff.  Well my wonderful sister-in-law just posted her baby's birth story and it reminded me that I never posted Lincoln's! (facepalm)  SO without further ado here it is!

We were scheduled to come be induced at 3 AM on February 19th, the night before the hospital called and said that they were busy and we should not come in at 3 but go ahead and sleep through the night and they will call us when they were ready.  I expected this but was still disappointed.  I didn't sleep well and kept dreaming that they never called us back and so I would call them and they would say they were crazy booked and it wasn't going to happen today or even tomorrow and we weren't going to be able to get induced till next week.  I just dreamt that scenario over and over again all night and yeah it was not a good night’s rest.  However around 5:45am the hospital called and said they were ready for us and we could come on in.  Joshua and I had to pack all our stuff very quickly as we were planning on having time that morning to pack and we had to eat quick and head over.  We got to the hospital around 6:20 and got into a room around 6:45. 

 Our nurse Lesley was wonderful!  I really loved her.  She got my IV in and Pitocin started around 7 am, she checked me and I was a tight 4 cm and about 80% effaced, -1 station. (Which was great because just 2 days before I was a 3 and 70%) Dr. Layton came in to break my water around 8 am. I had already had some good contractions that morning before heading into the hospital so with the Pitocin they started right up and it didn't feel any different than if my body was doing it on my own.  I told Lesley that I didn't want to get an epidural right away because they tend to slow down my labors.  So she got me a birthing ball to sit on and I used that when my contractions got stronger and more difficult to manage.  The contractions started to intensify around 8:30-9ish and so I got on the ball and had Joshua sit in front of me and I leaned on him and rocked side to side as the contractions came.  I told Lesley and Joshua that my goal was to make it to 6cm before I got an epidural.  The contractions started to get really intense and I started standing up during each one and leaning on Joshua, he was seriously so great during this whole process, he kept reminding me to breath and never once complained when I was squeezing his arm/leg/side as hard as I possibly could :).  A little after 10, Lesley came to check me and I was a 6!  I was so relieved because I didn't feel like I could hold out much longer. We called the anesthesiologist, (who was awesome) and he came in to give me the epidural, it took a little longer than normal because I kept feeling pinching/nerve pinches and such and he couldn't get the catheter in one of the spots for some reason.  But once it was in and the meds kicked in I was so relieved, I am so glad I had a little time to rest, relax before the pushing started. 

 Contractions are exhausting!  Right after I got the epidural Kristen arrived (our birth photographer) and we turned on the tv to watch a movie.  Lesley kept moving me from side to side with the peanut ball thingy to help me progress and kept telling me I was going to go fast.  I felt like she was checking me like every 15 minutes :).  A little before noon she checked me and I was a 9 and 100% and she said his head was really low.  She told me to push during my next contraction and when I did Lincoln turned his head and I went to a 10.  She called Dr.Layton and finished getting the room all ready.  

By now I was feeling quite a bit of the pressure and contractions in the "window" I get with every birth (a spot that the epidural doesn't effect for some reason) and wasn't loving it.  Dr. Layton arrived and we started pushing and man did it hurt.  I could feel all the pressure and stretching and pain in that one spot and it hurt, bad.  But I kept telling myself to ignore and push hard cause if I just kept doing it, it would be over soon.  I started to get nauseous because of how badly it hurt but just kept telling myself to ignore it and push harder, get him out.  The pressure and stretching got worse and worse and then his head came out and it was all gone. Immediately all the pain and pressure and stretching was gone, sweet relief is an understatement!  Think of the worst pressure/pain you have ever felt in your life X1000 and then have it all disappear in a split second and that is the relief I felt.

 This was the first birth that I really had a clear view of the baby coming out.  It was amazing!  I was able to see his beautiful face instantly and his perfect little body and then they put him in my arms and I finally got to kiss this perfect angel that I had been feeling kick and squirm for the last 9 months.  

 Lincoln Lance Wells was born at 12:15 pm after about 10 minutes of active pushing.  I didn't need any stitches at all (which is totally wonderful) and I was shocked at how quickly I recovered, even while already being sick with Bronchitis.  I think it had a lot to do with the difference in labor times. Evelyn was 15 hours, Hyrum 12 hours and Lincoln 5 hours.  Turns out a 5 hour labor is much less exhausting than a 15 hour one... Hmmm who knew!  

I also had much lighter after birth cramping which was wonderful because with Hyrum they were terrible, like worse than the birth itself and I had been told it gets worse with every baby. So I was very relieved that did not end up being the case with me.  I felt so blessed to have such a textbook, perfect birthing experience. 

 Lincoln is such a blessing to our family and we couldn’t be happier to finally meet this sweet little guy.  We love you Lincoln!

January 2014

Hyrum turned 5 months yesterday!! Holy smokes!!  He weighs about 13 lbs and is almost big enough to wear his 3-6 month clothes...almost.  Yesterday he started moving around by doing the caterpillar, sticking his butt in the air and pushing forward and then lifting himself up on his arms over and over so he would move a couple inches each time.  It was pretty impressive!  I know he will be crawling way before I am ready.  And he is already really good at grabbing things, yesterday at dinner  he grabbed my cup of water and spilled it all over the table...little stinker!  Hyrum love love loves his exersaucer, he will play in that thing for an hour at a time and be totally content.  I love that he still has that baby smell and dread the day that he doesn't.  He is such a sweet little guy, I love him to pieces.

Evi is learning new words everyday!  And yesterday she went poopoo in the potty and today she went peepee in the potty so I know that potty training is just around the corner which I have mixed feelings about.  She still loves the song "Let it Go" from Frozen and sings it all day long.  She absolutely loves Hyrum and still calls him Baby, never by his name.  They entertain each other so well, it is truly wonderful!

12/5/13-1/6/14

When getting Evi ready for bed, we set her on our bed while we grab her toothbrush... When we get back she always has climbed to the top of our bed under the covers ( and if Joshua is putting her to bed) she will wait till he pulls back the covers then she will push her head into the pillow and with eyes squeezed shut and a grin on her face she will fake snore and pretend she is asleep.  I guess Joshua pretended to be asleep a long time ago and that's where she learned it from....kids pick up the funniest things.

Evi loves to play the pillow game.  She will pat the ground (which is where she wants me to sit) and hand me a pillow and then she runs away while I throw the pillow at her and she falls to the ground and laughs her head off.  She then gets up grabs the pillow brings it over to me and does it all over again.

Evi was getting into something in the entry way and so I was nudging her away from it and telling her to go play with something else and I kept saying go go go.  So she turns around and starts pushing on my leg and says "go, go, go" obviously wanting me to go away so she could keep getting into stuff.

Today at church Evi's friend Scotty was sitting behind us and Scott starts leaning toward Evi and she was pushing her belly into his face and he kept leaning in again and so finally Evi leans down and gives him a kiss.  He was a persistent little guy ;)

Evi has recently started calling everything sauce.  If she wants more milk in her cereal she asks for more sauce, if she wants more sugar or butter or whatever it's always sauce. :)

Hyrum absolutely loves to be picked up by his hands.  Whenever I do this he gets a huge smile on his face and often laughs, it's the cutest thing.

I was giving Evi goldfish for a snack and working on the computer and for some reason I turn around to see what she is doing and I see Hyrum making this weird face and smacking his tongue.  Turns out Evi had shoved a goldfish cracker right into hyrum's mouth!  Good thing he still has tongue thrust so he wouldn't have swallowed it even if I didn't catch it in time.

This week Hyrum has started doing raspberries and blowing spit bubbles all the time, it's adorable and one of my favorite things! 12/13/13

11/19

Evelyn 20 months

I think Evi has been in size 3 diapers for over a year now...crazy.

She does the cutest thing when we have finished our bedtime routine and it's time for one of us (Joshua or me) to put her down.  She asks to pray and sing, everytime.  And usually she will ask to "prays" multiple times.  She will fold her arms and close her eyes, it's adorable.  I love the time I get with her when it's my turn to put her to bed.  I love holding her like a baby and rocking in our chair and singing and praying with her.  I love staring at her perfect face and being reminding that I am the luckiest girl to be this angels mama, I cherish this time.  I know that in no time at all she will be too big for me to rock my baby and even thinking about that makes me want to cry.

The other night when I was rocking Evi before bed she asked me to sing again and I told her no she can sing herself (I only sing and pray once for her) she started to sing and kept singing the words mommy daddy baby my baby.  It was the cutest thing.

Earlier this week we were over at Grandma and papa's house and were expecting Daddy to be home when we got back.  So we walk in and I tell Evi to go find Daddy.  So we go look all over the house and it's obvious he isn't home yet.  So Evi keeps looking and then comes up to me and puts her hands up and says "go?" "Go?" Like where did he go.   :)



Hyrum 10 weeks
Size 1 diapers, probably over 10 lbs now.

Hyrum has definitely reached the cooing stage.  Joshua and I love talking to him when he's in the "talking" mood.  He will coo in response to us and we love it!

Hyrum's Birth Story

Hyrum Adam Wells Birth Story

I was scheduled to be induced Wednesday August 28, 2013 at 3 pm exactly one week before my due date but the hospital (Banner Gateway) was very busy and so they were running very behind on inductions.  They called me early Wednesday morning and told me that they would call me when they were ready for me to come in but it wouldn’t be today or maybe not even tomorrow.  Dr. Layton warned me beforehand that they were behind, so I was expecting as much but it didn’t make the news much easier.  I was so ready to meet our little boy and I was so uncomfortable and ready to not be pregnant anymore so this phone call put me in a pretty cranky/ down mood.  I got up and started getting ready for the day, feeding Evelyn breakfast and getting dressed and whatnot and then Dr. Layton’s nurse Kim called and asked if I would like to come in later so that Dr. Layton could strip my membranes and see if that could get things rolling.  I of course said yes and this completely changed my mood, it was such a relief that at least I could do something that might help get this labor going.

When 12:30 rolled around, I headed to my appointment and when I get there I see my old college roommate Chelsea Beckstrand, who I haven’t seen since her wedding reception 5 years earlier.  She tells me that Dr. Layton is running behind and that she has been waiting for quite a while.  This makes me more nervous and I worry that he will cancel my appointment because it wasn’t even really a scheduled one. Luckily after a while they bring me back and Dr. Layton strips my membranes and tells me I’m about 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  He wishes me luck and says he hopes to see me soon.

I get home and am cramping and having a lot of bloody discharge which is really normal after a sweep and go about my day. I took Evelyn to the Superstition Springs mall and walk around in circles for about 2 hours and then head home. Joshua and I had planned earlier to go to the temple Wednesday night and so we drop off Evelyn at the Rudd’s house around 5 and head to the temple.  It was a great session and was really nice since it had been a while since Joshua and I had gone to the temple together, and I wont lie I totally prayed that we would have this baby that night.  After we are done we go pick up Evelyn and head home.  On the ride home around 8:00-8:30 or so I start to have contractions.  I start timing them and they are 5 minutes apart.  When we get home we heat up some food since neither of us had eaten dinner yet and then put Evelyn to bed and I continue to have contractions 5 minutes apart and they are starting to get more intense, I tell Joshua that this might be it and I text Bethany to let her know we might be heading into the hospital.  We start packing our bags and I tell Bethany to head over, she gets to our house around 10:30 pm and we head to the hospital. 

 I was so nervous they were going to send us home so I tell Joshua to leave our bags in the car.  They check us in and hook me up to the monitors in triage and the nurse checks my cervix to get a starting point which is a 3 and about 80% effaced.  I ask the nurse if it’s ok if I stand up because it’s easier to handle the contractions that way.  She says that’s fine and we start the hour wait.  During our wait, I start to get much more confident that they are going to keep me because the contractions were getting much stronger and painful, I started to need Joshua to lean on and help me through the contractions and soon have no doubt in my mind that they will keep me.  After the hour the nurse comes back in to check me and tells me im still a 3!  I was in shock!  She tells us she will phone my doctor and see if he is ok with me walking around for another hour to see if that will help me progress and Dr. Layton said that was fine.  So we start walking the halls of the post-partum unit and start another wait.  My contractions were pretty intense by this time about 2-3 minutes apart and lasting about 45-60 seconds each and I keep telling Joshua how I don’t know how they could send us home if I don’t progress anymore because I wouldn’t know when to come back.  I convinced myself that the walking wasn’t going to do anything because I was standing and swaying the whole hour last time and that didn’t seem to help.  So I started to try and relax my body during each contraction, which was really hard because they really hurt.  When our hour is up (around 1 AM) we head back to the room and the nurse checks me again and says I am a 4 and I could stay!  I was so excited!  She said we would have to wait a bit while they got a room ready for us and if I wanted an epidural right away I said no and that I could wait a while longer.  About 15 minutes later my contractions really pick up and start to become unbearable.  I started crying during each one and tell Joshua to go tell the nurse that I want the epidural.  She tells him that we need to get me in my room first and that it will be a couple minutes but they will move me as soon as they can.  They finally get me a room and it took a while to walk there because I had to stop at each contraction.  When the anesthesiologist finally came I was so relieved.  When I got the epidural with Evelyn I don’t remember it hurting hardly at all.  This one however was pretty uncomfortable, there was a lot of pressure and I didn’t like the feeling on my spine.  It also didn’t help that I had to stay perfectly still even during my contractions which were completely unbearable.  I just sat there bawling curled in a ball, I’m sure it was pretty pitiful to watch.  It was not a fun experience but I did feel much better when the Epidural finally kicked in.   Once the epidural kicked in the nurse came in and checked me again (around 3 AM) and I was a 5, hooray.  I felt like I was moving along pretty well.  After this things got boring, I of course could not sleep because of shivering and the constant interruptions and obviously because im in labor but Joshua was able to get some rest which was good.  Around 6AM the nurse came to check me again and I was a 6.  I was kinda bummed because it seemed like I was slowing down.  I texted Kristen Pear, the girl that was going to take our birth photos and she wanted to come in just in case I jumped to a 10 fast. 

Around 7 AM we got a new nurse, I wish so badly I could remember her name.  She was wonderful, very talkative and upbeat very proactive about my pain management and just overall a sweetheart.  She asked how my pain was and I told her I was having a window (an area that the epidural wasn’t numbing)  She tried so hard to get that area numb, she kept having me change positions and gave me a boost of the epidural and finally gave me a bolus of lidocain.  The lidocain completely made me dead from the chest down.  I couldn’t feel a thing.  It was nice to have the window gone because it was painful especially when I was getting close to delivering but I didn’t like being so numb.  During all of this I was also getting very anxious, I just wanted to be done laboring, I did not expect to have to labor so long with my second and so I think it caught me off guard.  I kept asking my nurse if we could break my water to make it go faster and she said we had to wait for my doctor.  Dr. Layton was able to come around 12pm.  He broke my water and said that there was Meconium in the fluid.  I was ready to push right away and only had to push during 3 contractions before Hyrum was born.  It was tiring but very fast.  Dr. Layton was so great, once Hyrum was almost out he told me to stop pushing and just let Hyrum’s head slowly come out that way it would slowly stretch me out and hopefully prevent tearing.  Because he did this I only had to get 2 tiny stitches and had almost zero pain (as far as recovering from a tear, which was a completely different experience from Evelyn birth)  I was so grateful he did it this way.  We also found out right after Hyrum was born that he had a tight knot in his cord and it was wrapped around his neck, he had an extremely long cord.  While he was getting cleaned up the nurses commented on how long his cord was and then my doctor said that they only have half the cord and the other half was over by him.  The knot is what most likely caused him stress and to have a bowel movement.  The nurses were in shock that he was perfectly healthy and that he handled labor so well.  They told me it was a miracle that he was just fine and that my labor didn’t turn into an emergency c-section or worse.  After they told me this I was so worried about him, I just wanted to make sure Hyrum was ok.  Once we were able to hold him I felt a huge wave of gratitude to my Heavenly Father.  I know without a doubt that Hyrum was being watched over and protected there is no other explanation why everything went as well as it did. 

Hyrum was born at 12:21 PM on August 29, 2013.  He was 5 lbs 9 oz and 19” long and with RED hair (we were not expecting that at all).  Hyrum has been such a blessing to our family.  He has such a sweet spirit.  I absolutely love his sweet cry, it’s very pitiful and adorable.  I will always remember what a miracle and sweet experience his birth was.  I know he will do wonderful things with his life.  I hope he always remembers that he has had the hand of God supporting and protecting him since before he was born.

11/5/13

I've been thinking of doing this for a long time since I have some friends that do and it's fun to read their posts and I really don't know where else to record these things.  I think I am going to write down the funny things my kids say or do here.  And maybe not just funny but just the little things about them that they will eventually grow out of and they will be forgotten unless they are written down. So here goes...

Evelyn 20 months old.
Today Evi played outside for a long time by herself (wahoo!) while I was making dinner.  She suddenly came running up to me with very blue hands and feet from chalk (obviously she discovered they worked on her skin too) and she was very very excited! She ran up to me gibbering but I could tell exactly what she saying, it was something along the lines of  " Mom! Look at my hands! They are blue!!!!"  It was the cutest thing! She was sooo excited.

On Sunday during family dinner, we were at Grandma and papas house all the kids were done eating and playing upstairs ( except Macy) and all the adults were sitting at the table downstairs chatting.  Suddenly Evi runs up to the railing by the stairs looks down and yells "Macy, Macy!"  Bethany and I look at each other and both say at the same time, " did she just say Macy?!" It was the first time she said Macy's name. So cute.

In June Evi and I went to home for a visit before Hyrum came.  One day we went to Pirates cove by my mom's work with Josh, Ashley and the kids.  Evi and I were playing in the little kids pool area and Evi saw this little boy who was probably around her age, Evi ran up to him with her arms outstretched to give him a hug, which was normal she did this with most kids she saw, this made the boy a little uneasy but he allowed it and then all of a sudden Evi tries to go in for a kiss!  You should have seen this little boys face he was shocked and had no idea what to do!  It was so so funny!  At 15 months evi had her first kiss. ;)

Hyrum 9 weeks old
 Hyrum loves loves loves to be naked.  He can be screaming his lungs out and nothing will calm him down and then I'll go change his diaper and he'll stop suddenly and start smiling and cooing and then I'll put another diaper back on and he will resume his screaming. Anytime you change his diaper or strip him for shower time he will smile and coo. It's definitely his favorite thing.  He also loves the shower, if I want to shower all I have to do it lay him down on our memory foam mat right outside the tub and he will just lay there happy as can be listening to the water for however long I need to shower, it's wonderful!

Hyrum's very first smile, that I saw, was the day he turned 6 weeks.  I was going to get him for one of  the middle of the night feedings and he saw me and the biggest smile stretches onto his face, it was the cutest thing.  He hasn't done it since and it took a week or two before I saw another smile but I definitely could not have picked a better first smile :)

BYU Homecoming Weekend

This last weekend Joshua took me to one of the BYU homecoming dances!! We had a wonderful time! It was at The Living Aquarium in Sandy UT and was such a cute little place to have a dance.
There were Sting Rays in the main dancing room area, Joshua touched them! The whole time I was wondering if the flashing lights and extremely loud music did anything to them...my guess is that it was just really annoying!


We tried to make it as high school as possible, so we had to take an awkward pose photo!

It was also kinda fun to go to a dance and be married cause we could dance as close as we wanted without having to worry about a chaperon coming up and telling us to be a bible width apart :) No worries though we definitely kept it G rated.


We also discovered that we both belong in the ocean. Me as a mermaid and Joshua as some kind of fish... maybe a puffer?All in all we had a great!!! Time. Thanks so much babe for taking me!

P.S. Oh and yes I did squeeze into my old Prom dress...it kinda made my night!

Flower!

So look at what bloomed today!!! I am so excited because its MY rose bush, at MY house! and the bush is covered in little buds, so I cant wait for them to all bloom its going to be beautiful! Its kinda hard to see in the picture, but its my favorite color too! That really really deep pink almost red! I love it!

A much needed update!

Wow, its been a while and quite a lot had happened since last time. As most of you know we did finally close on the house and move in! Here are a few pictures to prove it! This is all pre or during the construction and re model :)
We took this one just a couple weeks ago. Much cuter huh? We are still working on our flower beds!


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my Grandparents and entire family in Omaha Nebraska which was a wonderful! But we have no pictures of that sadly. For Christmas we went to Arizona! It was so fun for me because it was the VERY first Christmas with another family. It was so fun to see their traditions and how they celebrate my favorite Holiday. Besides being in Arizona, I think anyplace in the world that doesn't have a white Christmas should be nonhabitable, it was completely wonderful! I loved getting to know my new nieces and nephews better! They are sooo cute! We were the wise men in the purple and red, it was fun!I love this picture cause you can see my little niece is Mary, and they stuffed a pillow for her belly, oh it was sooo funny and cute!


And then school started...it was a pretty difficult semester for me. But Joshua did awesome of course, no surprise there. He also started his LSAT prep course in early March, these are this books for it. They weigh probably around 50 lbs. It makes me soooo grateful I'm not taking that awful test!
We also got a puppy for 4 days :-( I bought her online, which I will never do again because of this experience, but I thought I would share it so maybe others can learn from it, because I had NEVER thought about this side of it before. So I was very very nervous about buying online because I was afraid to get screwed over, of course. So the night before I picked her up at the air port I got like zero sleep! The man I bought her from had not emailed me back yet what time I would be picking her up or anything like that, so I was sure someone pulled a fast one on me. But luckily that morning he emailed me back and gave me all the details. Once I picked her up I was sooo happy and thought I was in clear and could not in any way get screwed over. Well I was wrong. She was the best puppy in the whole world. She loved us soooo much, slept through the night, was practically already potty trained, and only barked when we were playing with her. She was exactly what I wanted and was such a sweetie pie! Well the day after I got her (I picked her on around midnight so really the same day) she was a little sick, she acted fine, but her poo was very runny and she threw up once, I thought it was only because we had changed her food completely and it was upsetting her stomach. So the next day she seemed to be a little better, so I didnt worry. The third day however, she got much worse. She slept a lot! Constant Diarrhea, and seemed like she was loosing weight. She also would not eat anything. I was getting worried this now because she was so little(like maybe 3 lbs). So the next day was a sunday, she was even worse. After church, I took her to a vet hospital, where they tested her for Parvo virus. She was positive, this virus most common in puppies and is very deadly. They pretty much have to be hospitalized until they are better or there is an 80% chance they will die. This virus attacks their cilia in their intestines so they cannot absorb any nutrients. Most die because of dehydration. There is no quick cure, the hospital only keeps them hydrated through an IV, so they can fight off the virus. This virus is obviously very costly as well. For our puppy to stay in the hospital for one night would cost us over $700 dollars. In most cases they need to stay for many nights and it usually ends up costing $1500 to $2500. Obviously as college students we could not afford that. I brought her home after that, we were gonna see if I could get a hold of the guy who sold her to us and see if he would cover it. We couldn't get a hold of him. We were gonna wait till monday to see if we could find a place that would be cheaper. I was obviously very upset by this point and was trying to sleep when I heard her crying. I went to check on her. And saw that she could no longer walk, her body was too weak. I realized she would not survive the night and I could not just let her die in my home. I called the hospital sobbing, and asked them if their was a way I could give them to her and they could make her better and then sell her to someone who could afford the bill. The hospital normally did not do that. But the doctor I worked with earlier knew I was desperate and said she would let me surrender her to them. The last I heard she had to stay in the hospital that entire week, so it would have cost us closer to the 2000 dollar range. And they promised to find her a good home. So I hope someone learned from this and will be very! careful when buying a puppy. There was actually a guy who got to the hospital the same time I did and had the exact same problem. And he did go see this puppy in person first. So if you buy a dog, make sure to get in writing that they will pay for any vet bills if your puppy gets sick with in the first week (because this virus takes about 7-10 days before it will start to show any signs). Also this virus is VERY contagious so if your puppy is between 6-12 weeks old keep them away from parks or any place that may have other poop or throw up from other dogs (that is how it is spread). Puppies this age usually get vaccinated for this at 8 weeks but it doesn't really start working till a few weeks later. So be very careful and vaccinate often.
On a happier note, once finals were finally over (they were awful and I think everyone should look back at my old post about how I feel about tests) my sister in law Chelsea married a wonderful man named Dan in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple! Their wedding was absolutely beautiful! I am so mad right now cause I just realized we took zero pictures of this wonderful event and have not proof of how well we decorated their car! It was simply superb! We filled the ENTIRE car with balloons (thanks to their sun roof it was really possible) and the best part was we bought fake money (it looked pretty real if you didnt look close) and threw that in the car as well. So when Chelsea got to their car, and opened the door she saw all this money, 20's, 50's, 100's and more and you should have seen the look on her face! Oh it was priceless! Then she grabbed the money and once again you should have seen the look her on face it was priceless! She tore it up and threw it on the ground. That was probably Joshua's favorite part of the whole weekend! We did make up for tricking them though because all the siblings went together and bought them a pretty nice TV. So they were happy again! All in all it was a wonderful weekend with the family.

So now I am working as much as possible and Joshua is studying as hard as possible. He takes the LSAT on June 7th (hopefully). So please all include him in your prayers. I am looking forward to the end of May when I get to go home to Colorado and see my entire family! My little bro is leaving on a mission to Posan Korea. So I will be home to see his farewell. I am so excited to see all my little nieces and nephews who I havent seen since Thanksgiving! Oh and of course my family ;-).

I will try and post more often now that I am not in school! Hope all is well, and thanks for visiting our Blog!

A Third Extension

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Stantchev,

We are so very sorry for the delays with Wells Fargo. We went with a big name like Wells Fargo because we thought we could avoid the runaround, delays and stress. Wells Fargo seemed to be the best choice for us all but perhaps we were wrong, and for that we apologize. We considered changing to a different lender but feared that would only cause more delays.

We have never been so nervous and stressed as we have been, thinking that you might change your minds about selling us the home because of the delays with Wells Fargo. We absolutely love your home and pray daily that it might all work out well. We are giving our best effort to make sure the purchase goes through fast and fair. We hope that the $200 dollars previously promised and the additional $300 dollars we are offering for an additional extension will help you cover any costs you have incurred because of the delay.

The delay is not either of our faults but we have heard that selling this home is difficult for you and hope that we can make it less of a trial. Please accept our additional offering and request for extension. Thank you for selling us what we hope to call our home.

Sincerely,

Joshua and Catherine Wells

P.S. Our last name is “Wells” but we share no relation to “Wells Fargo”. Which might be unfortunate because if we were related to the owners of Wells Fargo we probably could have just paid you cash for your home and just avoided this mess.

All’s Well That Ends Well -William Shakespeare

Ironic, “All’s Well That Ends Well” is actually one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”, says Wikipedia, because critics can’t be sure it should be set apart as the comedy it was originally classified as. The title is a proverb meaning, that a good ending or result is worth all the work, trials and sacrifice one puts into it.

So Helena is a “gentlewomen” protected by the mother of Count Bertram, Countess of Rousillon. Helena is secretly in love with Bertram but he is a Lord and she a simpleton. Throughout the play, however, Helena proves herself to be anything but simple. Helena was the daughter of a brilliant surgeon; she saves the King from a terminal illness and in return is permitted to marry the Lord of her choice. Bertram didn’t stand a chance but runs off to war just after being married thinking death to be a better alternative to such a marriage. After leaving for war Bertram writes Helena, “When though canst get the ring upon my finger, which never shall come off, and show me a child begotten of they body that I am father to, then call me husband.”

The affable Helena easily obtains the assistance of Diana, a young maiden that Bertram confessed he would lie with. Like a champion of sales persons Helena successfully performs a “bait and switch” maneuver. Switching places with Diana at the last moment to obtaining Bertram’s ring and all other required items, Helena wins Bertram’s faith and love. So he promises to “love her dearly, ever, ever dearly”.

Gee Whiz, Shakespeare really was brilliant. He knew even then that men don’t stand a chance, but all’s well that ends well eh. :-)

Halloween spectacular!!

So last Sunday we decided to carve pumpkins for FHE. They turned out awesome! Take a look. Joshua Carved the one on the left. The symbol is our last name in Chinese, I told him that was too boring, so he decided to add eyes. The ones on the right I carved, the one with the red light is trying to eat the little one...thats why he has a scared face. Here's a few other pics. Here's our door. Why do I have a picture of our door you may ask? Well turns out our doors are always locked, so Joshua being the good husband he is, shut the door of our patio. While we were both outside, and neither of us had our keys. So we were locked out. It was pretty funny, cause as soon as he shut the door, we both just look at each other and say "Crap". It was funny. So we had to run over to the house of the Complex manager people, luckily I knew who they were and Joshua knew where they lived. So it all worked out in the end. Joshua loves his pumpkin. Now for the even more exciting part!!! Our Halloween costumes!!!!! Joshua was a snowboarder...and I was a Purple Octopus! Pretty sweet huh? And for all of you who are jealous of my purple pants, turtleneck and hat. I got them at DI for only $10.00 Can't beat that can you! I wont lie the pants were pretty amazing. They went up past my belly button and made the lower half of my body completely curvless. (Yeah I know I dont have much curve anyway but still, it was pretty attractive) But for some weird reason Joshua didn't seem to enthusiastic about them....Odd. These are our brave friends who agreed to spend Halloween night with us. Jessica and Yanis Rock are pretty much awesome. Yanis was a soccer player and Jessica was a umpire. We had a great time with them. We went to the Haunted House in provo and then went for dessert at the new Craigo's in Provo, we had the Cookie Monster. And Joshua and I finished all of ours...it was a pretty huge feat! After dessert we watched a movie at our humble abowd. It was a super fun night! Awwww, a snowboarder is kissing a Octopus. Could we be cuter? I submit that we could not!!!

The Making of a Giving

I selflessly took my wife to work at 9am on a Saturday morning. She hadn’t eaten breakfast so I graciously thought to get her some Jamba Juice and something warm at the next-door harvest garden bakery. While standing in line for the juice my sister called and asked if I could drive her to a community action service project so she wouldn’t be late.

The desire to serve is in the blood, I guess. I quickly dropped what I was doing and altruistically drove my sister and her friend to their service site. After daring to risk life and limb in Provo City traffic I thought only to fulfill my previous quest to quench my beloved wife’s thirst for morning nourishment. I proceeded to press forward baring the ominous gloom preceding this nights BYU football game.

As I approached the cash register to purchase a Jamba Juice with my $10 gift card, a remnant of my wedding gifts from three months earlier, I thought of the gentlemen behind me in line. He was dressed to exercise but still “well dressed”. Obviously he was not in need but I couldn’t help myself, after purchasing my wife’s juice I good-naturedly left the remaining amount on the gift card for the gentleman behind me.

I thanked the cashier then quickly left the juice shack and after taking my time buying some freshly baked goods, came out to find the gentleman just exiting the juice shack. He threw me the keys to his new Jaguar and asked me to pay it forward. I genially accepted his gift, sold it at a near by dealership and donated all the money to the poor.

Actually the man had already left and I have now idea what he thought about my making of a giving. I did enjoy a few bits of the cinnamon role and muffin I got for my wife before dropping it off to her. Then I spent the next hour trying to get home through the ESPN game day mobs and a homecoming parade. Didn’t they realize the great things that I had just done?