April 2008

March was a lot of fun- we got a small taste of spring/summer and then were hammered with cold weather and several snow storms! It was rather depressing. We were doing so good at getting a little weeding done each night and then we woke up to see a couple inches of snow on the ground! The snow has all melted now and the weather is finally looking a little warmer. Serra is growing up so quickly- she loves to babble and scoot all around the house [backwards, of course.] She is starting to show some separation anxiety when I'm away- she'll even give Daddy a hard time when he tries to take a turn caring for her.

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Sorry, Serra saw Mommy typing and wanted to join in the fun! As you can see, she favors the spacebar. Anyway, this month should be fun as well. We are going to have a garage sale with some other families in the neighborhood at the end of the month. I'd been planning on having one anyway because we needed to get rid of some junk before moving- so it works out! Ian's 28th birthday is also this month [the 9th]. For those of you who need a wishlist, you can still visit www.kristenspoetry.com, login and click on the Wishlists link on the right of the screen, then Ian's Wishlist. If you need more ideas, feel free to email me or call!

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Some more from Serra. :) Anywho... we might also be taking Serra to the indoor swimming pool sometime this month- we got her the cutest swimsuit! It will be fun to see how she reacts to the baby water toys/waterfalls they have there. We are still planning on moving to Idaho. Just recently we received notice that Ian's job is cleared through all the red tape and they won't be cutting him loose afterall. However, the moving expenses they were going to fund are still under reconsideration. So we are waiting another few weeks to figure that out- then we will be posting our house for sale [hopefully before the end of this month!] We have found a couple of houses that we really like in Idaho and the prices are starting to decrease, but we just can't chance having a mortgage on two homes! So we'll sit here and wait for this house to sell before we get serious up there- hoping that one of the homes we like is still for sale. If not, we'll just find something else! We have actually found out from some neighbors that there are several parties interested in our home- we apparently snatched it up from right under their noses and they are still looking for a home! Hopefully that means it shouldn't be too hard to sell, but with the market as it is we'll just have to see. Anyway, we hope you all have a great month- and we hope to hear from you soon!

Love,
Ian, Kristen & Serra

P.S. As a heads up for next month, it'll be Kristen's 26th birthday and her wishlist is still at www.kristenspoetry.com as well [a rather large list even]. Also, the Hogle Zoo in Utah is having a Mommy & Me day in May [the 10th] I was planning on going and thought I'd see if anyone else wanted to go. You just buy a T-shirt for $7 [instead of the $9 entrance fee] and kids under 2 or 3 are free. Anyway, let me know if anyone in the area would like to come with! :)

March 2008

Well, as some of you may have heard through the grapevine, we are going to be leaving our first home and moving to Idaho. I had mentioned last month that Ian was leaving Nuvek, the company he has worked for for the last 6 or so years, and would be going to a new company. Nuvek is a subsidiary of a company called Varsity- and Varsity was a little disturbed to hear that Ian would be leaving because they knew and appreciated his hard work, work ethic, and expertise. So long story short, they sent us an offer we couldn't refuse and he quit his other job after only a week. He is already working for Varsity, but he's telecommuting from home. We went up to Pocatello, Idaho [where Varsity is headquartered] this last week so Ian could meet his new coworkers face-to-face and to familiarize ourselves with the area. We looked at a few homes to get a general idea of the neighborhoods and what kind of a home we could get for our money. We were very pleased with what we saw and can't wait to make this exciting new transition! Unfortunately, Varsity just underwent some unannounced changes that may or may not affect us. So to be on the safe side, they have postponed the need for us to relocate until further notice. Most likely it will take 2-3 months for them to iron out all the details. We will post our house after we get the green light and it will most likely take a few months to sell. So we will still be in the area until sometime this summer or fall. We are nervous about leaving so much family, but Pocatello is only 3 hours away. We are very excited to be living somewhere new and to see where this new job will take us. Ian is hoping to continue to work for them until retirement [but obviously that is a long time from now and lots can change]! If you would have told us last year when we bought our house that we would be selling it within a year and moving to Idaho, we would have told you that you were crazy! We still can't believe how quickly things have changed- and how many "coincidences" have fallen into place to make them happen. We are certainly being led in this direction. So for now we will slowly be preparing our home to put on the market in a few months and Ian will work from home, driving to Pocatello twice a month for some face-time. Serra is enjoying the changes at home- she can certainly sense our excitement. She especially loves to "help" Mommy pack by unrolling bubble wrap, sitting in boxes, and throwing packing paper around the room! I can't believe she will be 7 months soon. She is rolling all over the place and always bouncing, kicking, or wiggling in any way she can. She wants so badly to crawl but can't get her arms and legs to work together! She has her little hands into everything- she is going to be quite a handful when she is mobile, but we look forward to it. She has finally not been sick at all for a few weeks straight now- we look forward to spring and summer when illnesses don't travel around as much! Anyway, I'd better go- her naps only last so long and I have a lot to get done. :)

Love,
Ian, Kristen & Serra

February 2008

I can't believe it is already February! This year seems to be going by faster than last year! Serra is continuing to grow and amaze us each day. She loves to sit up by herself and roll over from her back to her belly. She has yet to conquer the other way around! She is constantly babbling or giggling and brings a lot of joy into our lives. Needless to say, most of our time is spent dealing with her- we have no idea what we used to do before she was here! I am still staying at home with Serra each day, though I did try to find a part-time job for just a couple hours each day- it didn't work out and I decided I'd rather be home with Serra anyway! Our biggest news this month actually has to do with Ian. As of the 13th, he will no longer be working for Nuvek- where he has been employed for the last 6 or 7 years. It was a big step finding other employment, but as Ian says "it's time to move on". He has accepted a offer for another company in American Fork called Market Partner. He is excited to be doing something new and working with new people. We just hope it turns out as well as we plan! We hope all of you are doing well- and we wish you a happy Valentine's Day! :)

Love,
Ian, Kristen & Serra

January 2008

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season- I just can't believe it's over and 2008 already!!! New years are always kind of sad to me... it's like it hits me that a whole year has passed- a year I can't take back. And I wonder if I did everything I could have- or should have. Did we create enough lasting memories? Did I take enough pictures and write in my journal? But with it comes the excitement of brand new year. We have a lot of hopes for this year- I suppose you could call them "resolutions". Things are still going well for us. Ian has enjoyed his time off of work, but dreading his first day back tomorrow. It's always so hard to go back when you've been gone so long. And Serra and I will miss having him home all day! Serra is growing so much and just surprising us each day. She can almost sit up on her own now, but she still hasn't bothered to roll over. She loves to stand [with help of course] and she is constantly babbling or giggling- especially if she has her fingers in her mouth. We just love every moment with her- and we can't believe it has been almost 5 months since she came! Time certainly does fly... Anyway, we hope all of you are doing well and have some great expectations for this new year- Happy 2008!!!

Love,
Ian, Kristen & Serra