Well, several things of note have transpired in the past week or so, and here they are in no particular order:

Got e-mails from several friends and family for whom I didn't previously have e-mail addresses (Scott and Tawna, and the Hurrles). Cool.

We sent out some Christmas cards. We didn't have mailing addresses for everyone, though, so if you didn't get one, we apoligise. We thought of you, though!

Pam and Bill came to visit Bonny on her birthday. It was good to visit with them again. Here's a couple photos:





It snowed last night but then melted later. Here's a photo:



Tonight we went to Gene and Ronda's house and swapped Christmas gifts. Here's a photo of the cousins together:



Did a little last-minute Christmas shopping at Park Lane Mall and Meadowood Mall. What a mad rush that was!

At Bonny's birthday party, I was able to grab this awesome picture of Misti and Becky:

Ummm, what's the deal with the new Star Trek show, Enterprise, going to reruns already?? We were only 11 new episodes into the new season and then, ALL OF A SUDDEN, reruns. It's just not fair.

On Tuesday, Misti and I finished reading the New Testament together (we read either a whole chapter or at least a half chapter each night), and now we're tackling the Old Testament, and I have a feeling that it's going to take some time... The New Testament contains approximately 260 chapters, so we were able to get through it in less than a year (at our pace). The Old Testament, however, has 929 chapters, so it's going to take us about three years to finish! (That's a lot of reading.) It's worth it, though, and we'll be happy to say that we've read the whole book, as many people haven't.

We went to Chevy's tonight for dinner with my mom and Bonny. Last night, it snowed pretty good, although none of it stayed past this afternoon. It was a nice slow drive to work this morning, which was a refreshing change from the usual sprint. On Saturday, we went to Victorian Square for the Sparks Hometowne Christmas. It was very cold, so we didn't stay long, but managed to get this picture of Misti:



and this photo of the Nevada State Flower:



We also briefly stopped by the Sparks Heritage Museum and marvelled at this large brown apparatus apparently used to cut the cheese:



We then went to support Brett at his baptism, and then stopped by the Nords for cake. It was a great day.

Well, I ended up getting strep throat, too.   =(

It snowed today. This was the first snow that Becky has ever seen, but she didn't get to go play in it.     =(

For Thanksgiving, we went over to my folk's place and had a wonderful meal. We then went as a family to see "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". It was great. Even though I had just eaten a huge meal, I still found room for a big bag of cinema popcorn. Then we came back and ate some fabulous pie and gained a couple of pounds.

Yesterday, we went down to Carson City and spent the afternoon with Michele, Kenzie, Hayden, and Neal Loveland. We had a wonderful meal and watched an awesome movie called "The Legend of Bagger Vance". It's a golf movie with Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, and Will Smith. Baby Hayden is so cute, she's just the greatest. She growls like she's possessed or something, but it's so hilarious.   =)

Becky started crawling last night for the first time. And the day before that she sat up, all by herself, for the first time. We are so excited and proud of her!! Now comes the busy time for Mom and Dad to try and keep her out of everything. We have to baby-proof the house and we'll be busy chasing her down, I'm sure. She can't crawl very fast as of yet, since she just started, but she is a smart baby and it won't be too long before she'll be a pro! Yea, Becky!! =)

My trip to Washington, D.C. the past few days SUCKED!! Baltimore Washington International (BWI) airport SUCKS!! America West Airlines SUCKS!! The Wyndham City Center Hotel in Washington, D.C. SUCKS!! X-Ray machines in the airports SUCK!! The Hampton Inn in Las Vegas SUCKS!!

It started out fine on Thursday, November 15th, as Misti dropped me off at Reno-Tahoe International airport (ha ha, there's nothing "international" about it...). Why call it "international" if no foreign flights land here or originate here? Strange. Anyway, I flew out on Thursday morning, had a layover in Las Vegas, then flew straight to Baltimore, Maryland, and finally jumped in a Super Shuttle and headed for the hotel. So far so good. When I arrived, I checked in (it was 10 p.m. by the time I finally got there), and headed straight up to my room. There was a room service guy in there when I opened the door, which was kinda freaky, so he apologized profusely, and informed me that there was no coffee maker in the room. Whatever.

The in-room "high-speed" Internet connection didn't work (if you've ever used one before, they're really not all that high-speed at all, usually low-end DSL speeds [300-400 kbps], definitely nothing to brag about). Since I was trying to e-mail a document back to work that I had been working on during my layover at the airport, I decided to try the front desk's 'net connection (they were sorry about the in-room service not working, and thus volunteered their computer if it would be quick) before going to sleep. So, I copied the file from the laptop to a floppy, ran downstairs, and gave it a try. The floppy didn't work because of the airport's X-ray machines! Arrgh. Thus, I had no way to get the file from the laptop to their computer, so I had to give up for the night.

The next morning, I got ready, ate breakfast (room service is way too expensive), and headed downstairs for the conference. The conference ended up being a bomb, and generally, I felt, a waste of time. I did, however, finally get my file e-mailed off, as the banquet office let me have a floppy and the use of their connection for a few minutes. Woohoo! (Yes, they had a "business center", but it, too, was out of order...) After the conference, I had a wonderful bowl of lobster chowder while I waited for my shuttle back to BWI. The shuttle service took forever to get there (an hour and a half for only a 30 mile drive, because of traffic, stops, etc.), and once I arrived, I had to wait in line for about an hour just to get through the security checkpoint. The National Guard troops were standing by to shoot me if I got out of line, which, thankfully, I didn't feel the need to do.     =)

Once I finally got through the security line, I ended up standing in line for another hour to get a boarding pass for a flight that would end up being delayed, then possibly cancelled, then just delayed again, and finally leaving on a different airplane than the one it was supposed to use. (The original plane was detained because they couldn't get some new "parts" for it....) Hmmmm. While waiting in line, I saw a guy that looked exactly like Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid, except that he was twice as tall. I also saw a guy that looked pretty close to Ving Rhames (from Mission Impossible and Entrapment). Oh, the things you notice when you're bored. Anyway, I missed my connecting flight in Las Vegas, so I ended up spending an extra night there (the airline payed for the room, but I didn't get to the room until 3 a.m., after waiting for shuttles, in line again for a hotel voucher, dealing with ignorant airline employees that were unwilling to help, etc., and believe me: the list goes on and on...) The airline then decided to get me home by sending me from Vegas back to Phoenix at 7 a.m., and then have a 5-hour layover there until I could catch the only flight that day from Phoenix direct to Reno. Brilliant. Since I didn't relish the thought of only getting a couple of hours of sleep, I told them 'no' and had them reschedule me for a later flight that morning, so I ended up leaving Vegas around 9 a.m., and only having a 3-hour layover as I waited for the same direct flight to Reno the next day. I guess at 3 in the morning, they weren't thinking too well either... Of course, at 3 in the morning, I didn't really believe the front desk clerk at the Hampton Inn when she said that they'd give me a wake-up call at 7:00 a.m., so I ended up setting the alarm clock, and I'm really glad I did. You guessed it, no wake-up call.

So, anyway, after all was said and done, I ended up getting home, only to find out that the laptop computer I took with me didn't function for 2 days after having undergoing extensive X-ray 'therapy', my floppy disk was totally fried, and my feet really hurt after standing on them in line for what seemed like an eternal nightmare. But, hey, at least the airline let us watch two free movies on the flight back... woohoo. Actually, the movies ("Legally Blonde" starring Reese Witherspoon, and "Planet of the Apes" starring Mark Wahlburg) were pretty good, but the circumstances of the whole ordeal kind of overshadowed the silver screen's flare. I'm glad just I'm back, and I'm sure glad I don't live in the zoo they call Washington, D.C.!

We have officially banned Burger King in our household (at least until we forget). Yesterday, Misti and I stopped by BK to try their new Grilled Sourdough Bacon Cheeseburger, and we both became ill. I had a sour stomach all night, but finally got past it after taking some slippery elm capsules. Misti, on the other hand, ended up expelling the offending meal back up the same way it came in, at 1:00 a.m. Thus, as you can imagine, she's not too pleased with the eating establishment...

Yesterday, Becca Becca went to see her first movie at the cinema. She's been to the drive-in a few times, but not the indoor theater. She liked "Monsters, Inc.", but she takes after her dad, and sometimes feels the need to sleep during the movie. (Her daddy snuck into a movie theater once a long time ago - with Michelle Benson - but wasted his efforts by then proceeding to slumber through the movie. It was "The Horse Whisperer", if I remember correctly.) What's up with Billy Crystal's whole "one eye" comment not even being in the film? It's in the previews, but not in the movie... Hmmmm.

Last night, Becky and her parents finished listening to Grisham's novel, "The Partner". The ending really shocked us all. Misti and I talked it over for awhile and decided that the ending really sucked and yet was outstanding at the same time. It sucks from the "all stories should have a happy ending" perspective, especially since we'd been rooting for the protagonist for almost the entire book. It's a brilliant ending, however, since we didn't see it coming. It hit us broadside, and left us with plenty to discuss. At one point toward the end, I think we both kind of suspected it to happen, but Grisham made us dismiss the possibility with some cunning explanation. What a story!

Becky is officially in her new crib these days. She's finally outgrown her co-sleeper. The co-sleeper doubles as a playpen, so we're still happy with the purchase.

Last night, we also watched another movie, "The Cutting Edge", with D. B. Sweeney. It's an old one, but a good one. They had it on sale at Target for only $6.44. About a month or two ago, we also watched another oldie, "Chariots of Fire". I don't think I mentioned it before, so I thought I would here. (It also was on sale at Target.)

Misti made a wonderful couscous dish for dinner the other night. Since I had never tried it before, I was a little scared to eat it (but only for a second - as it smelled really good). It's great! If you've never tried it, do!

I think we're movie hounds. We've really seen a lot of movies in the past few weeks, it seems. Last night, we watched Fire Birds, courtesy of TBS Superstation, with Tommy Lee Jones and Nicholas Cage. In the past week, we've also seen Shrek, Dungeons & Dragons, The Mask (with Jim Carrey), and Blast from the Past.

Yesterday, our apartment complex cut down two semi-dead trees in front of our apartment, probably in anticipation of the coming snows. My dad's birthday was in September, and I'm just now giving him his birthday present. Now that's procrastination!

I've felt really bad for Misti these past couple days, as she has strep throat. She's been miserable, and I think it's all my fault. I didn't have it, but there were a few people where I work that had it. They probably should've stayed home when they found out they had it, but they didn't. Thus, I think I carried the germs home, and then poor Misti got it. Becky's safe from getting it, as I understand it, but Misti has it really bad. She's on antibiotics now, and it's finally clearing up, but what a miserable condition strep throat can be.

Misti and I are in the middle of John Grisham's novel "The Partner". So far, it's great, very mysterious. If you like Grisham and haven't read this one, I recommend it highly. We're "reading" the audiobook version, as we can both listen to it in the car on the way to work. I check them out from the library (I know, revolutionary concept), as well as many of the videos we watch. It's a great way to be entertained on the cheap.       =)

This was Becky's first Halloween, and she took it in stride. Her grandma made her a little rhino suit, and it was very cute. Everyone who saw her thought she was adorable. Becky did some trick-or-treating, but didn't stay out too long, as it was a bit chilly for such a small rhino.



Heather came down from the lake to enjoy the party, and made some wonderful snacks, too. Heather was dressed up as a Geisha girl. Bonny was a very cute princess.



Becky's mom and dad didn't dress up, but had fun taking part in the festivities. There were sure some creepy houses and goblins out on the streets!



Actually, compared to last year, however, there was a noticible (and steep) drop in the numbers of kids out and about. To be expected, really, but interesting nonetheless.

Yesterday, we went to the Nevada Day parade. It was pretty fun, and we got a few good photos. There were some pretty neat entries, including the miniature horses, the Shriners on wheels, the military pack horses, the dancing coffee beans, and more.









When we got hungry, we ate at Arby's and had market fresh sandwiches. Mmmmm. Over this past week or so, we've seen a few movies that we snag for free from the local library: "Forever Young" with Mel Gibson, "The Hunt for Red October" with Sean Connery, "The Grapes of Wrath" with Henry Fonda, and "The Road to El Dorado". We've also seen a few over again that we either own or have borrowed from family: "My Fair Lady", "Charlotte's Web", "Willow", and "Oliver".

This afternoon Richard, Becky, and I sold Richard�s blue 280ZX car. It was very sad. I know it�s just a car, but it held a lot of memories for us. Richard had the car for a number of years so there was a lot more memories in it for him than for me, but we went on our first date in that little blue car. Richard took me to see Spirit of the Dance at the Eldorado and then we drove all over downtown Reno and looked at all the lights. We walked around a bit too, but then he took me to a place in town where there wasn�t any traffic and we went �vertical driving�. The t-top on his car was open so, we both stood up on our seats and just let the car go by itself as Richard steered with his foot. Only for a little ways, of course, but that was vertical driving. It was fun. After that, we went to the Atlantis casino and sat on one of their big black couches and just talked and laughed and had a great time. And the rest is history. It was just a wonderful evening! We also went for many drives in that car and Richard rescued me many times with it as my car was much older and in much worse shape than his was. And although it is just a car, I do miss it for the memories! We just don�t have the money to put into it to make it new again, so we had to sell it. Maybe someday, though, we will be able to get a car like it and go vertical driving again!

On Saturday, the 20th, we went to the Animal Ark in Red Rock to see all the animals they have there. It was a lot smaller than the Sierra Safari Zoo, but it was nice. The animals were mostly from this area and colder regions of the world. They had tigers, both orange and white, a mountain lion, a lynx or two, some foxes, wolves, coyotes, desert tortoises, owls, a falcon, bob cats, a couple bears, some Arctic foxes, etc. The animals were all pretty neat! There was no petting area there, though. Most of the signs cautioned us to keep all hands and everything else away from the cages and to stay behind the security fence. Most of the animals are pretty wild. They were very nice, though. As we were leaving, the wolves and coyotes started howling and making all kinds of noises. The lady at the fee desk said that it was close to their feeding time. They must have all been hungry or something. It was interesting.





Becky has been squeaking a lot lately! She just loves to make noise and listen to herself just because she can! It is funny! Although, at times, it is very hard to talk over her! I find myself having to raise my voice just to be able to communicate with Richard, or we go in the other room to talk because she is so excited and squeaky. It's just hilarious!

This weekend was a busy one for us! On Friday, the 12th, Becky had a doctor's appointment where we found out how much she weighed and such. She now, at four months, is 15 pounds, 10 ounces and is 25-1/2 inches long. She also had to get her shots which was horrible, as always! But she did really good this time. She cried when she got the shots but she stopped crying pretty quick and was only unhappy off and on for the remainder of that one day. Last time it took her a couple days to get over them. Anyway, she is as healthy as can be! Oh, and she finally growing some hair - not a ton or anything, but her hair is growing. =)

On Saturday, the 13th, we did a bunch of things together since Richard had the whole day off. We went to the Sierra Safari Zoo in Red Rock and we saw all kinds of animals there. To name a few - there was: a camel, lion, tiger (white), liger, buffalo, hyena, a couple wallabies, some huge snakes, a Zebra, and some Baboons. There were a number of other animals too, but too many to name them all. In one section of the zoo you actually get to walk around inside the cage with some deer. They are extremely friendly animals! They like to chew on anything they can. They chewed on our shirts, pant-legs, Becky's shoes, and they even went after her pacifier. And they would follow us around the cage as we looked at the other animals. They were quite funny!



Saturday evening, after the zoo, we went to the Basque Monument by Rancho San Rafael. There is a tall statue there of a shepherd carrying a sheep and then a wall of names that the site was dedicated to - I had Richard take some pictures of a few so that I can see if I'm related to them. There was also a little map that showed all the early Basque settlements in the United States. It was pretty neat. After the Basque Monument, we went to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) and had some dinner! It was very yummy! And then, after dinner we went and rented a movie to finish out the day. We rented What Women Want, with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. We had a great weekend!



(And just as a sidenote - I have to talk about this song I used to sing when I was in 4th grade. I have to put it in here because Richard can't get the song out of his head and he thinks it's funny - and I loved it too! When I was in 4th grade, my teacher taught us all kinds of music and poetry. Just little kid stuff, but it was great fun to us! And one of the songs that we liked to sing was called - Señor Don Gato. It was a very silly little song and we never performed it for anyone but we loved to sing it in class as a treat after we finished our school work for the day! It was great! Richard is going to attach a link to the song title so that you can see the words if you would care to. We sang the English version. =)

Well, this weekend has been a busy one, hasn't it? Not only did the New War start today, but this weekend was also General Conference. We watched a good portion of the two-day proceedings on cable TV (thanks go out to our local cable provider), but took in the last session today via the Internet broadcast. We then went over to my parent's place for a wonderful chicken and mashed potatoes dinner this afternoon, followed by a small helping of ice cream and watching the movie "Left Behind".



Yesterday, we visited with Arianne and Jeremy Palmer for a couple of hours, and then stopped by and visited with Nerea and the munchkins afterward. NetZero^TM is only free for 10 hours per month now. While that kinda sucks, I guess it's still pretty cool if you only check your e-mail once or twice a week.

Here are some recent photos of Becky, for my friends that have requested to see some. Click on a photo to see more. Enjoy!         =)

On Sunday, September 30th, our little family traveled a couple hours into California to go to my cousin's wedding. My cousin Tony married a girl named Stacey and they had their wedding outside of a friend's house in Brownsvalley, California. It was a nice ceremony and the decorations were very pretty. All the bride's maids wore green dresses and the groom and best men were all dressed up in black tuxedos. After the ceremony they had a toast to the new bride and groom and some dances. First it was the bride and grooms dance, to their song. Then, they did the money dance, where if you want to dance with the bride or groom you have to give them a dollar, or so, and then dance with them until the next person with money comes up to cut in. It was a nice wedding. I hope the bride and groom will be happy together.

On Wednesday (Sept 26th), Richard and I took Becky to a baby reunion for all those who were in our Lamaze class. There were three classes there and everyone had their new babies with them. While we were going through our Lamaze class we filled out a prediction sheet about our babies. Each couple put down whether they thought they were having a boy or girl, what they thought the weight of their baby would be, and whether or not the baby was going to be early, on time, or late. Then, at the baby reunion, whoever was the closest would get a prize. Well, after signing in at the reunion and having some cake and punch, that was the first thing they brought up - the prediction sheet. And out of about fifteen couples, Richard and I had the closest guesses. We put down that we were having a girl, that we thought she would be 7 lb 4 oz and that she would be on time. And of course, everyone knows we had a girl, but as for the weight, we were only off by 6 oz and she was born right on her due date, so she was on time. It was pretty cool. So, we got a little door prize for that - an ornament for our Christmas tree this year.

After that, everyone was asked questions about their labors. How long, how short, how many C-sections, how long we had to stay in the hospital, and so on and so forth. I was in the top three for the longest labors. Hopefully next time I will be in the average or fastest section. One lady had a 30 hour labor in the hospital. I couldn't even imagine that. The shortest labor, though, was 25 minutes in the hospital. That was one lucky woman - and it was her first baby.

When the reunion was over we went up to say good-bye to Margo Bender and Rita Wooten (the Lamaze class teachers) and Becky got all excited and started making all kinds of little noises. They commented on how alert she was and what a happy and cute little baby she is. They just loved her - especially her chubby little legs. We will be going in for her four month doctor visit in a couple weeks and we will get to find out her weight again. We weighed her on a regular scale at a friend's house and she was about 13 or 14 pounds - but we'll know for sure in a couple weeks. She's just growing like a weed. =)

As many of you know, my grandpa passed away last week, so we made the drive to Seattle to attend his funeral services. I know I'm not alone in saying that this was a nice time for the family to reunite and catch up with each others' activities. We picked up Heather on Tuesday the 18th around midnight and started travelling straight up. After a not-so-comfortable slumber at a rest stop along the way, we kept driving and driving for what seemed like forever, and finally got into Seattle on Wednesday the 19th around 6 p.m. With bathroom stops, meals, and our aforementioned 2-hr pause for sleep, we were on the road for about 18 hours! Becky was sure a trooper on the way up. She slept most of the way, and remarkably wasn't too bothered by being in the car for 18 hours straight!



F.Y.I., here is Grant's obituary: W. Grant BARNET, Jr.
Born April 27, 1921 Grant went to be with the Lord on September 16, 2001. A loyal Alumni of West Seattle High School, he was instrumental in organizing and editing the Alumni Newspaper for twenty-five years while employed as a machinist for the Seattle Post Intelligencer. As a member of First Presbyterian in Seattle, he faithfully served as elder, deacon and volunteer in numerous capacities, trained and served as a Stephen Minister. During World War II Grant served in the Merchant Marines. In 1946 he joined the Alki Masonic Lodge. One of his interests was handling publicity for Boy Scout Troops of West Seattle. Many enjoyed his gardening, especially roses. All remember him as a selfless, kind gentleman with a servant heart. He loved the Lord and his family dearly. Survived by his wife, Marian Barnet; his three children, William Grant Barnet, 3rd, Richard David Barnet, and Barbara Jean Bolinger; Marian's two children, David Charles Bjerke and Suzanne Bjerke Johnsen and their five spouses; he has thirteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is survived by his sister Janette Miller and a niece and nephew. A Memorial Service will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Seattle, September 20, 2001, 2 PM. The family requests in lieu of flowers, remembrances to the First Presbyterian Church Shelter Ministry and West Seattle Alumni Association.

Today at noon I attended a memorial service (as part of the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance), at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which was broadcast via satellite around the nation to all Stake Centers where people gathered to pay tribute to those in distress. Prayers were offered through word and song and comforting scriptures were read. It was a beautiful service. President Gordon B. Hinckley conducted and offered one of the prayers, Presidents Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust also offered prayers, and the Tabernacle Choir sang. There were also congregational hymns in which everyone stood and sang together. A moment of silence was also a part of the service to pay tribute to those who have lost their lives, for those who have lost loved ones, for those in the rescue efforts, and for all who have been affected by this tragedy.

As I drove home today, everywhere I looked there was a flag flying or red, white, and blue of some sort on all the streets. Some of the casinos I passed had "God Bless America" up in lights with flags waving in the background. These lights are usually used for advertising, but today they they were used to honor our country and her people and to show support. I am very proud of how our nation has pulled together. We are so blessed to have the freedoms that we do in this country and the means and ability to help each other out. We are truly a blessed nation!

Here's a list of those not fortunate enough to have survived.

Click here for a list of survivors from yesterday's tragedy.

I have been impressed by the sheer volume of international condolences that have been circulating on the Internet. New (usenet) newsgroups formed (such as alt.terrorism.world-trade-center, alt.usa.disaster, and uk.current-events.us-bombing), and they abound with apologies and "get wells" from people all over the world to citizens of the United States. Listservs of international distributed computing projects, as well, echo the sentiments of outraged persons across the globe condemning the terrorist actions of the past 24 hours. Here are a few examples of some of those messages:

Subject: Get Well Soon

I am sorry to hear all the disaster in US folks, I hope god will bless and protect you, and your wound will be heal soon.
--
Can
Trabzon/TR

Subject: Re: Get Well Soon

My heartfelt condolences from Germany, too.
J�r�me

Je ne suis pas citoyen am�ricain mais je peux dire que je suis tr�s choqu� par ce qui vient de se passer aux USA. Je suis citoyen du monde et je me
sens tr�s proche du peuple am�ricain. Il est inadmissible de voir ce que peuvent faire des extr�mistes au nom de leur dieu. Je suis vraiment tr�s
choqu� et ce matin en France, je me sens tr�s mal car j'ai perdu beaucoup de moi-m�me en voyant ce que peut faire l'homme dans ce qu'il a de plus
horrible. Il faut que le peuple am�ricain soit fort face � cette catastrophe.

Julie from FRANCE

Please let us know that there is much less victims of that tragedy, than we think.
Condolences from Poland.
--
neex

That what happend yesterday in NY was terrible. I present my condolences to all Americans. Such things should not happen all over the world. American people and Polish people allways together against terrorism.
Lets fight!!!!!
Michael from Poland

God Blees You...
We pray for you........
Condolences from Denmark....
--
Poul

Condolences from Argentina. I�m very shocked about the assassinations against the American People. When I heard it at the radio, I can�t believe. So much innocent victims. Why do people such cruelty? I can�t understand. It�s terrible that humans are able to do that. A war is cruel enough, but this a cowardly, insidious act.

My heart will stay with all Americans, espacially the familys and friends of the victims of this assassination. I think every thinking human must condemn this act of inhumanity. I hope the world stays together to help our American friends! I can only repeat, my condolences to all Americans

--artaud

Je ne suis pas croyant, mais je prie quand m�me pour que l'on retrouve des survivants.

Condol�ances de France
Chotana

Nous compatissons tous et toutes � la douleur des familles des victimes et aux traumatis�s.

We all are shocked by this terrorism... The French people would like to tell the families all their friendship and present condolences.

(Sorry for my poor English)
--Cl�ment

On behalf of the People of Zimbabwe, I send my deepest, condolence to our friends in America

Cleopatra Magwaro

To the many,many thousands of families who have lost loved ones in this indescribable, outlandish, gutwrenching, sickening terrorist attack we offer our sympathy and deepest heart felt condolences. To those who lost their lives in this appalling tragedy we stand and salute you, you will not be forgotten. To those who were involved may your souls be condemned to the deepest chasm of Hell.

Vail
South Australia, Australia

Estonia is with you
No more words...
Papageno

It seems USA is now at war. God bless you and may you find the guilty, and be victorious. My deepest sympathies to everyone in the US.
Juha Jansson, Norway

With sympathy from all England. Such a tragedy which cannot be imagined. Go forward with hope for the world is looking on you now and will support you in this time.
T. Blair

Condolences from Austria
I'm shocked and all my best wishes go to your people.

This was such a sick attack and I hope you can save as many lifes as possible.
Gustav

Sympathy and condolences to those who've lost loved ones. This is the most senseless and pointless act of murder in modern history. I pray that the media don't humour the people responsible by calling them terrorists as they're not even worthy of that title. They're base murderers, nothing more nothing less. These deaths will be naught to their own selfish objectives. I hope that the American people doesn't become a part of these peoples mechanisations by doing exactly what they want America to do... strike hard and strike blind. I hope that America will strike in the way they've always done, with precision, intelligence and determination.

You know, I saw the story and thought it was just a shooting of the Spiderman movie. Right now, I kind of hope that it was. Regardless, the world is behind you guys, and I know that America will do what it's always done when pushed... stand back up, dust off, grin, say "So's your mother" and give the offender a mother of a black eye.
I hope someone over there takes solace in the words on this NG.

Peace,
Ka Khiong Kwok

The people of New York and Washington are in the hearts of The Netherland. Please be strong, and overcome this tragedy.
Leon, Netherlands

Re: condolences from Feij�, PORTUGAL
My sincere condolences to all the American people.
Tiago Rom�o

We are with American people!
I was socked by what had happened yesterday in New York city! It's unbelievable that the World Trade Center had gone with thsouands lives'death.I present my condolence to American people.Damn to those terrorist! I just want to say to American people that we share your pain and we stand with you.Let us unite to fight for justice,freedom and democracy. Let us unite to get rid of terrorism. God bless you and let God rest those innocent souls.
LIU Yanghe from China!

Condolences from Switzerland too
I hope you'll find the sick people who have done this and that they'll get what they have to.
Alan Piantoni

Condolences from Russia
It was terrible day...
We all with you.

Regards,
Ekaterina.

By the way, here's what "triage" means (I had to look it up):

The sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors; broadly : the assigning of priority order to projects on the basis of where funds and resources can be best used or are most needed.

We are, as is most everyone else in the world, simply outraged by today's attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I watched and listened to the reports on TV, on the Internet, and on the radio most of the day, and the more I listened, the worse the reports seem to become. The President's address this evening was encouraging, and we look forward to justice being served in this horrible tragedy.

I apologise for the blog not working recently. There's something fundamentally wrong with my ISP's php implementation, so it doesn't work quite right sometimes. I've noticed lately that although there is more text to display that it only displays about half the page and then stops. They don't seem to know why, and I don't either, so until something get fixed on the server side, we might just have to live with a few glitches... Sorry.

Last night we stuffed ourselves with ribs at the Best of the West Rib Cookoff at Victorian Square in Sparks. We only tried ribs from a couple of different booths, but our favorites were from Desperado's BBQ & Rib Co. Here's a picture of Misti and Becky in the crowd (but sadly we didn't get any photos of us stuffing our faces, mainly because I would've ended up smearing sauce all over the camera):

Yesterday, Misti, Rebecca, and I teamed up with Gene, Ronda, and their kids and made the short trip to Susanville to go see Grandma Garate. Gene hooked up both cars with CB radios, so we could fill the airwaves with trivial banter all the way there. All of us then ventured to Ravendale to check out the Garate and Madeline Ranches, to see what damage occured because of the recent fire. Click on this photo to see more:



When we got back to Reno, Misti, Becky, and I visited the animals at the Nevada State Fair. Highlights: the Guinea fowl, miniature horse, miniature donkey, the baby zebu, the lop earred rabbits, and the baby goat. Click on this photo to see more:

This past Saturday, Becky went to the Nevada Corn Maze (at Lattin Farms in Fallon). She and her parents wandered around for 1½ hours before finding their way out. Click this photo for additional photos:

Here's what Becky thinks of the Internet!

As promised (but a little belated), more photos are up, including our Hot August Nights photos, Becky's blessing dress, and even one or two of mom and dad! Enjoy.

Tomorrow is my birthday and today Richard gave me the presents he bought for me. He made up a scavenger hunt and I had to go on this scavenger hunt to find my gifts. It was really fun. He put together 23 clues (since that is how old I will be) and he hid them all over the apartment. Then, I went around to all 23 places until I found my gift. It was a lot of fun!! He got me two CD's that I really wanted. Both were soundtracks to two different movies. "The Wedding Singer" and "10 Things I Hate About You". I love the music from both movies. Richard also got me a big desk for my birthday which I blogged about before. It is wonderful! And yesterday, we went up to Lake Tahoe and spent a good part of the day with Richard's sister Heather. It was a lot of fun!! We enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful lake! It has been a wonderful birthday weekend! Tomorrow, for my actual birthday, we will be going to dinner at The Olive Garden! I am very excited! That is one of my favorite restaurants!

Well, little Becca went in for her first round of vaccinations on the 8th. She was so sad during and after the shots (4 of them), but she calmed down a few minutes later as mommy held her and talked to her. They also checked her weight and height. She's now 11 lbs., 2 oz., and 23" tall. Her head is about 40 cm in circumference. All in all, she's really chubbin' up since her last doctor's visit! The nurse that gave her the shots commented that she has nice chubby legs (they give babies their shots in the thigh). Becky is doing well since the shots. She was a little discomforted afterward, and she's very clingy right now, but she's still smiling, still curious, and definitely very cute!   =)

I got a desk yesterday for my birthday (a little early) and I put it together last night. It took me 3-4 hours to assemble the whole thing, but it is up now and is very nice! It is very big and has a lot of space for all our stuff that needs a place. I am very excited about it!

Little miss Becky is is two months old now and is starting to smile a whole bunch and she's growing like a weed. She goes in tomorrow for her two month doctor's appointment and her first shots. I am really not looking forward to this visit. It already makes me sad just to think about it. But, Richard will be there to help so that will make things a little smoother for me! We will also get to find out how much she weighs tomorrow. She's getting chubby little cheeks and legs, so, we are pretty curious about her weight.

Tonight we get to pick up Becky's first pictures from Sears. Hopefully Richard will be able to scan one in very soon - they are really cute!

Well, a couple of nights ago we went down to the Atlantis parking lot and looked at some classic cars as part of the Hot August Nights celebration. I took some photos, which I'll post in a few days. (I didn't take the digital camera.) There were some really cool customized cars. Stay tuned!

Here's our latest photo of Becky:

Well, we tried Round Table's new Chicken Rostadoro pizza Wednesday night, and it is, well... bizarre. Honestly, I don't think we'll ever get another one. It was interesting to try out, but not good enough to become a favorite. Have you tried it? Like it? Use the "comments" feature (just below) to give your feedback.   =)

Ken Davis says:

Hi Guys!!!

Thanks so much for coming to my house Saturday. It was great to see you and especially Becky. What a sweet daughter you have. You both should be VERY proud (as I'm sure you are). Hope you all had a good time and hope to see you again soon. I'll have another BBQ when I get my deck and back landscaping done, in about 5 years at the rate I'm going.   :)

Ken

Well, Cathy Paugh was right. Becky (and her parents) went to a barbeque at Ken Davis' house yesterday, and it was really fun. The food was great, and his house was really nice. (The barbeque was part of his housewarming party.) Becky got to be held by some people, and everyone thought she was just the cutest (which she is).   =)

The three of us also went later to the El Rancho Drive-In to see parts of about 4 different movies. We paid to see Jurassic Park III, which was wonderful (although not as good as the original, yet better than the second one), but they always have a double feature, so we got to see Dr. Dolittle 2, as well. In between the films, however, we flipped around and caught the last 20 minutes of Planet of the Apes, and the first 10 minutes of The Fast and the Furious. The drive-in is pretty cool.

Yesterday we took the little one out for the day and went to a community Mardi Gras activity in Sparks. They had all kinds of booths set up on Victorian Square and some live bands and such. It was nice. We walked around for a couple of hours and looked at all the different booths and had some fresh squeezed lemonade. Richard also had a peach smoothie that he drank out of a coconut. He really liked it. Becky slept most of the time because it was really warm outside and she was very sleepy. She did wake up and enjoy looking around a bit, though. It was a fun day.

Yeah I do have some tips for you Ratchet Snatchet Bum Bum AD, get rid of 6.0 and 5.5 and go back to 5.0...now choke on dat...when are you gonna bring baby squish over...you know she loves me the most in the family...and Winston wants to snug her...Testing 1...2...3 just gotta make sure this works...I'm still waiting for my rematch in monopoly chump....I would be red if I had a decent connect....check out Nevadabell.com they have DSL promotions...I'm trying to get dad to get it but he wont until the Firefighters thing is up and going...For all the family members that sent me graduation gifts I'll try and get out the thank you cards out as soon as possible...but with work and sleep and eating I don't have much time..HE HE HE....So Ratchet I'm still waiting for the rematch and what is your yahoo club name thing? Ciao Oh yeah if this doesn't make sense or misspellings or theres no commas or whatever...I'm tired and lazy...HAHA

Ok, geek question: any web developers out there ever notice that in MSIE 5.5 and 6.0b that on a page with a moving layer (created with <div>) and an IFRAME that the moving layer will correctly pass over the IFRAME, but in MSIE 5.0 it'll pass under? Strange behavior... Any tips?

Becky's blessing was on Sunday (the 8th), and we had family from all over come and participate. Alice, Don, and Maite came up; so did LDee, Wendy, Jessica, and David; Gene, Ronda, and their kids (including little Haley who was then blessed a couple of hours later in their ward!); Grandpa and Grandma Nord; Grandma Garate; Nerea; Aunt Marcie; Rick and Darlene, Dave, and Bonny (and her friend Darah); Grandpa Neal and Grandma Marta, and little Nicholas (Shannon's little boy); Traci and Cory Hurrle, and Jeffrey and Evan. It was neat, our families and friends filled up most of the first 4 center pews and a side pew, too!

Little Becky was so good during the blessing, she didn't fuss at all, and she looked so cute in her blessing dress.   =)   (I'll post a photo here in a few days of her in her dress.)

Later that night, we went over to the Nord's for a bite to eat, and to visit with Misti's family. It was fun. After the meal, some of us watched "The Emperor's New Groove" while others enjoyed the fresh evening air and conversation.

Last night was Becky's first 4th of July fireworks show. We went to Victorian Square in Sparks to watch the John Ascuaga's Nugget fireworks presentation. We had a good spot, and although the music sounded terrible (too much distorted upper bass), the fireworks themselves were top-notch. Becky did remarkably well considering the explosions, crowd hollerings, lights, and music. She was awake, but not all that fussy. She actually watched the fireworks quite a bit, but was also just as happy to look at the people next to us, too. She's so cute. =)

A couple of days ago, we rented and watched "The Saint", with Val Kilmer and Elizabeth Shue. It was a pretty good movie, and I recommend it for those that like spy movies.

Well, last night the little munchkin went to her first drive-in movie at the El Rancho Drive-In. We saw Tomb Raider. I don't really think Becky was awake for any of it, but it was nice for mommy and daddy to go see it. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but it was still pretty good.

We've also rented a few movies in the past couple of weeks that were pretty good: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 102 Dalmations, and Cast Away. I really liked Cast Away, it was a really sweet flick. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was good except for the ending. The fight sequences were awesome, and the English dub (it's a Chinese movie, so they made two English viewing options, an English dub, and an English subtitles version, too) is really convincing. 102 Dalmations was cute for a kid movie, but I think that Cast Away (with Tom Hanks) is the best of the four. What do you think?

Well, the A/C is now working. Although the saga may be over, it wasn't without a mysterious ending... Three days ago, the guy came over again, and said that both the transformer and the motor were broken, and that they'd have to be fixed. Ok, fine. Did he do it? No. (He didn't have one in his truck.) Thus, he shut off the power to the unit (along with both bathrooms, the hallway, and part of the bedroom where the alarm clock is plugged in...) and took the old broken parts out. He then came back the next day and apparently replaced the parts. That's all great, but then he didn't turn the power back on and thus obviously never tested his new parts...

Thus, we assumed that he wasn't done yet, and so we didn't turn the breaker back on, fearing that we might blow something up or whatever. So, when today came and went without the guy showing up or calling, Misti decided to just throw the breaker back on and at least get the bathroom power back on. Low and behold, the A/C turned on! To sum up, the whole experience was completely ridiculous, and while we are glad that it's finally fixed, both the management company and the A/C repair company handled this situation completely unprofessionally. Apartment living at it's best!

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Despite a second straight day of high winds, fire officials remained confident Sunday that they could contain a 14,500-acre forest fire by the end of the week. The West's largest wildfire of the season, burning west of Reno, was 60 percent contained with full containment expected by Saturday. The fire has cost nearly $10 million to fight since erupting June 17 near Truckee, Calif. Winds gusted to 55 mph Sunday but didn't push flames toward about 500 suburban Reno homes, as had been feared. The blaze, known as the Martis Fire, did most of its damage the first day, consuming 12,000 acres, destroying three structures, and closing Interstate 80 and a major rail line. The fire's cause remains under investigation.

Our air conditioning has been non-functional for the past 3 days. O.K., question: How many air conditioning repairmen does it take to fix a broken air conditioner? Answer: all or none, it doesn't matter... We've had three different guys come by so far, and it still doesn't work. One of them actually said that it was because we didn't have it turned down low enough, that we were supposed to keep it set at 68*F. (Dork! Like I'm going to pay that power bill, and like the baby wants it that cold!)

Anyway, the next guy says it's because it is turned down too low: that we should keep it at 74*F. Umm, hello, everyone already knows that you can set it at whatever you want, goofballs! We usually keep it around 78*F or so when we're home so it doesn't get too cold, and so the power bill isn't so bad. When we leave, we set it around 85*F, so it's not too incredibly hot when we come back. I have it on good authority that this is the way you're supposed to do it. So, anyway, that guy changes the filter, and that's it. Still not working.

It's the fan. Obviously. It's making "cooling" noises, but not blowing anything out. The fan was making strange squeeky noises the day before it went out, but will they listen? No. Will they ever figure it out? Who knows. Stay tuned, as yet another "qualified professional" repairman will be paying us a visit...

I added the DotComments feature and a permanent link feature to each entry today, so you can now leave your opinions, comments, and questions on our site, too! The link feature is useful if you wish to link to a certain entry. Please let me know if you have questions.

We took Beckysaurus (one of her nicknames) in last night for her two-week PKU test. She didn't like that very much. (That's where a small amount of blood is taken from the infant's heel to be tested for phenylketonuria and hypothyroidism.) She was sad...   =(

Well, we took Becky to the pediatrician yesterday, and she now weighs 7 lbs., 1 oz., and is 20½" tall. What a chub! =)

Hi!

Photos are up!   Click here.

It is amazing to me just how much babies sleep their first little while in life. I am very glad because it gives me the opportunity to get some rest too, but it just amazes me. They grow so much while they sleep! Baby Becky changes each day it seems. She is getting little chubby cheeks and filling out a bit. Hopefully she will be able to wear her 0-3 month clothes soon!! We are still putting her in preemie clothes because those are the only things that fit her - but soon enough, I'm sure she will be wearing her 0-3s.

Today Baby Becky is one week old and the most beautiful little girl in the whole world!! Happy one week birthday to her! =)

While Richard is running our daughter around the house like a bumblebee, I am going to try and finish blogging about the whole birth experience here. Richard said he would fill in any places that I miss because, at times, I fell asleep in between contractions because I was so exhausted.

Just at the time I was ready to push, the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural because I was having a lot of back pain. I didn't think I was dilated all the way so I decided maybe to try it. But as it turned out, they checked and I was fully dilated so they couldn't give me any more pain medication and I had to start pushing. I was very excited to be that close, but I also had no idea that it would take me a little over two hours of pushing before she would be here. So, I started pushing and each contraction got harder and more painful. My back hurt a lot through the whole process too and I didn't know why. I did find out later, though, that it was because baby Becky was face up trying to come out instead of face down like babies are supposed to be. So, my bones and hers were kind of clashing. She did finally come, though. The doctor was afraid he would have to go in and use a vacuum to help get the baby out as I was getting very exhausted! But she must have heard the doctor say that because she came out just a couple pushes later.

We went through two shifts of doctors that night and had three different nurses. The first doctor we had wasn't sure I was going to be able to have this baby naturally, because of my hip bones being crooked and such. But he didn't tell me that until it was time to start pushing. At that point he expressed to me his concern but said that a lot of times when they have concerns like that that Mother Nature has a way of coming through. So, he told me that I would do just fine and to start pushing.

When baby Becky was born, she did have a pretty good sized bruise on her head because of my hips being the way they are, but it is almost gone now. She has a very cute little round head and very chubby cheeks.

I must say, going through labor is one of the most incredible experiences anyone can go through. No two people ever have the same birth experience and no one ever expects anything to go wrong or that the baby is backward or upside down or anything. Once you get to it, though, everything just falls into place and you go with the flow. Then, in the end, you have the most wonderful, amazing little person in your arms and all the pain and exhaustion seems to go away and you just want to look at the baby and hold her. And she is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your life. She's just this tiny little person! And you just love her! I will say, though, that I am glad the labor part is over. It is very hard - but also very worth it! I'm just glad baby Becky is here now!

Oh, and let me tell you what she looks like - I've already said she is very beautiful, but I'll see if I can describe her a little better than that. She, as Richard said, was 6 lbs., 14 oz. and 19 inches long. She was born with very soft light brown hair and the cutest little nose in the whole world!! We do not know her eye color yet but will keep you posted on that one. Right now her eyes are bluish gray just like most newborn baby eyes are. She has a very healthy pink complexion and chubby little cheeks. She has all ten fingers and toes and likes to sleep with her hands up by her face like her daddy does. She also has the cutest little tiny ears and chin and likes to make all kinds of funny faces and cute little noises! She is a real sweetheart!!

-- stay tuned for pictures... --

Well, the news you've all been waiting for. . . Baby Becky is here!! Rebecca Ann Barnet was born on Monday, June 4th, 2001 at 8:17 a.m. after 10 hours of labor. It started to get really serious Sunday afternoon, as Misti was having regular contractions that didn't go away when she walked (like they had previously done). We took 2 walks around Mira Loma Park (approx. 2.5 miles total) to help with the contractions and to help the dilation progress. Last Thursday Misti was dilated 2 cm, but when we went into the hospital on Sunday night (about 10:30 p.m.), she was up to 6 cm (out of 10). Between when we got there Sunday night to when Becky was born Monday morning, we went through 3 different nurses and two different doctors. The doctor that delivered her was Dr. Klaich, who is an associate of Dr. Pollock, our regular OB/GYN doctor (who was out of town on Monday).

I have to say that I'm really impressed and proud of Misti because she did the whole thing without an epidural. She went into the pregnancy knowing the plusses and minuses of epidurals, and she decided early on that she didn't want one. When we got to the hospital, they asked if she wanted one, and she said no, even though the contractions were getting pretty painful. All she received was some general painkillers (Nubain and something else) through an I.V., but even they didn't really help much more than to make her sleepy in between contractions. The contractions kept coming closer and closer together and getting stronger with each one...

Just when she was ready to give up and call the whole thing off, however, they checked her and said that she was fully dilated and it was time to push!

-- stay tuned for more... --

Yesterday was a fun day. (No, no baby yet...) Misti, Myself, Bonnie, and Darlene all went to a CSA-sponsored BBQ at the Boys and Girls Club, but they had already run out of food by the time we got there, but we did manage to grab a couple of free tee-shirts and some ice cream. However, we were still hungry, so we ended up going to BJ's Barbeque in Sparks for some barbequed ribs, chicken, and smoked turkey. It was pretty good. They have the best fries there, and the lemonade is fresh squeezed.

Afterward, we all visited with Alice, Aleen, Bill, Marcie, Sarah, Maite, Nerea, Brett, Rachel, Maricella, Miguel at the Nord's home. All the kids, myself included (!), played tag, piggy-back parades, and ball outside in the hot sun, stopping only every so often for water breaks. It was fun! The grown-ups visited inside for a while, where it was clearly cooler as long as you weren't fresh from running around outside a moment before.

After that, we went over to Gene and Ronda's, and my mom got to see little Haley for the first time, as well as Tommy, Spencer, Moriah, and Jesse. Little Haley is so little and wobbley, she's just so cute! We then dropped my family off back at home, and Mist and I went for a short walk and grabbed a movie at Reno Video. Then we came back home and watched "28 Days", starring Sandra Bullock. It wasn't the best Bullock film out there, but it was amusing. We then tried to get some sleep, but Misti's contractions were making it a little hard to do so. Stay tuned...

I could not sleep in this morning, so I thought I'd get up and blog. It is a completely beautiful day outside today. It looks to be a very nice weekend. - Last night, Richard and I took a walk around Virginia Lake and looked at all the ducks that were swimming. The sun was setting and there was a nice breeze. It was very beautiful! I sure do enjoy walks!

Well, the baby is definitely getting closer to coming and I think she's as anxious as we are. She moves all over the place like she's just had enough, it's too cramped in there for her, and she's going to come out. It is very cute. I will certainly miss her little kicks and movements. But soon, we will be able to see her and hold her and that will be more wonderful than anything!

Well, we went into the hospital last night with a false alarm. We had thought that Misti's water had broken, but according to the hospital, it was intact. We did, however, learn that her uterus is 50% effaced. She started having some semi-regular minor contractions upon arrival, so they kept us for a couple of hours to monitor things, but ended up sending us home. Stay tuned...   =)

Today was another doctor visit. Last time baby Becky was head down and dropped but no dilation or anything. He said this time that I am dilated 2 centimeters and that she is still head down and things are looking good. He said we're making progress but that he still may end up seeing me again next week for my weekly visit. We shall see. =)

As Richard said, yesterday was the baby shower and it was great!! Brooke Johnson and Emilie Carpenter put it on for me and it was a lot of fun. We played a few games, had some great food, opened presents, and just enjoyed each other's company. I had a very nice time and we got some wonderful things to help start us out!! Thanks to everyone who has helped us out so far! We sure appreciate it! It's hard to know what all you need for a baby - especially when it's your first. But there are a lot of helpful suggestions out there. As I opened up gifts yesterday, the person who gave us the gift had to give me some advice as well - I got some great advice! I think it will be very exciting to be a mom!! I can't wait!

Well, things are still pretty normal around here (knock on wood). We finally had the baby shower yesterday (we got some great stuff for the baby, and a huge thank you to everyone that came!), so now all the "big" things are out of the way. We've still *officially* got 8 days left, but anything can happen at this point. I'll let Misti talk a little more about the baby shower (as I wasn't there)...

The weather is totally nice this weekend, which is perfect for Memorial Day weekend. In case you don't know what Memorial Day is all about, here's a brief summary (courtesy of MSN Encarta):

"Memorial Day, legal holiday, observed annually on the last Monday in May in most of the United States, in honor of the nation's armed services personnel killed in wartime. The holiday, originally called Decoration Day, is traditionally marked by parades, memorial speeches and ceremonies, and the decoration of graves with flowers and flags, hence the original name. Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868, on the order of General John Alexander Logan for the purpose of decorating the graves of the American Civil War dead. It was observed on May 30 until 1971, when most states changed to a newly established federal schedule of holiday observance. Confederate Memorial Day, formerly a legal holiday in many southern states, is still observed on the fourth Monday in April in Alabama, the last Monday in April in Mississippi, and April 26 in Florida and Georgia."

Misti's mother and sister are in town now to provide some support for Misti during the next few weeks. We've visited a bit with them over the past few days, and it's great to see them again. Last night the kids and I were playing ball in the Nord's front yard, and I was throwing a flat volleyball into the air and the kids would catch it. It worked great for awhile, but then the ball came down a little too fast and smacked Brett square in the face. I felt like a dork. Marcie came running out to console him, but Brett's too manly for that... so then we switched to soccer, instead. =)

Later on, we all went on a short walk over to the park, and some little Mexican boys picked a fight with Brett and his friend Tyler, so we left the park. Overall, it wasn't Brett's night, I guess. Little Sarah is just the cutest little girl. She wanted to play soccer, too, so we made every third turn "Sarah's turn". She would run out there and kick the ball a few feet, and be totally excited about it. Then she would come back and throw grass on you, saying "Happy Birthday" to you. =)

I've been having fun playing with a whole bunch of computers for the past two days at our NCAA (Nevada Community Action Association, for work...) training conference currently being held at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, Nevada. Click here to watch me live at the conference... (May 21-23, 2001 only.)

My brother and sister-in-law just had their fifth baby and she is just the cutest little thing! She has such tiny little ears, and toes, and a little nose. Richard held her and commented that she is very wobbley. Ours will be very wobbley too, I'm sure. But, she will also be very tiny and cute!! I can't wait to see her. We are both very anxious, Richard and I.

Sometimes Richard reads her a book called Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go. It is to be read to her before she is born and it is just the cutest book! I am becoming quite fond of children's books! They're great!

I added baby shower gift registry information (with links) to our main page. (This is all Lisa's fault.)     =)

On Sunday, we all went up to Lake Tahoe for Mother's Day. We went to a restaurant where Heather works, and we had some great Italian food.



Some of the new foods (new to me) that I didn't quite care for, however, were eggplant and vichyssoise. Other than that, everything was great! Afterward, we ran home for some strawberry-banana creme pie. Mmmmm.     =)

I am finally not working at my job anymore. May 11th - Friday - was my last day. It was very hard. I have been there for two and a half years and have made some really good friends. I will sure miss them. I know it will be worth it, though!! This little one will be wonderful!! I love her so much already!!! And since I've been out of work, I have been able to get quite a few things done around the house - which is always nice. I like to clean house!

This is a direction I have never taken before, though, so it is kind of scary. It's scary that there is (for now) only one income coming into the house and that I don't have to get up and go to work each day. I've been doing it for so long now, it's strange not to. But, as I said earlier, it gives me plenty of opportunity to get things done around the house here. So, I am happy about that! And when the baby comes, I will definitely have my hands full! I can't wait!

Yesterday was really neat. Brad and I went to see "The Mummy Returns" at the matinee (cheap ticket price!), and it is totally sweet. The special effects, for the most part, were really cool. The Rock (the wrestling guy) made a guest appearance at the beginning, and totally kicked butt, too.



The stupid brother-in-law wimpy guy finally came through in this one and wasn't such an idiot toward the end of the movie. I really liked this sequel, and I would definitely recommend it if you liked the first one. Afterward, Brad and I stopped by and ate at the Nug. It was completely disgusting and nasty in there, but the food was great, especially the french fries.   =)

We're finally in the home stretch!! That is such a comforting thought to me! I just can't wait to hold our little one in my arms! I must say, I will miss her kicks, though. They are very fun! But, I will be able to see everything she does after she is born and not just guess at what she's doing inside my tummy. I am very much looking forward to that!!

Only 2 more days of work for me now. I am pretty excited about that also. I am getting so exhausted lately that it will be nice to be able to rest up a bit before the baby comes. I will sure miss a lot of people from my job, though!! I have made a lot of really good friends. But, baby Becky will definitely be worth it!!

We went and took a tour of the maternity wing at the hospital tonight. It was pretty neat. We got to see some little newborn babies in the nursery, and they were so little and cute. We're looking forward to little Becky's arrival. 28 more days!   =)

I was cleaning up my harddrive yesterday, and I found this video of Misti dated 9/2/2000, and I thought it was so cute! You'll need the RealVideo player to view it. If, for some reason, it doesn't play right the first time, just try playing it again (I don't know why it does this). It's only 1.8 seconds long, so it only takes a few seconds to download. =)

It was so beautiful outside today! I went into our breakroom for lunch - and since we are 12 floors high I get quite a view from up there. And it was really beautiful! The sun was shining and there was lots of blue sky. I'm thankful for beautiful days!!

Today was my first day back to work since our vacation to Oregon and Washington. It was a tiring day full of all kinds of news. It's amazing how so much can change in such a short amount of time. It was a good day, though.

I had a great time on our little vacation. I love spending time with family! My sister's kids are so cute. Her little one and a half year old was so squishy and cute! I called my sister to let her know that I was home safe when we got back and her little son got on the phone and told me that he loved me and then he gave the phone a big hug. It was the cutest thing. And while we were up there with her, her other son - the 4 year old - came walking out in his PJ's and said, "Look at me! Aren't I so cute in my pajamas!" It was so hilarious. He's a ham!

Spending time with Richard's family was also wonderful!! I got to meet some new family members and visit with some I had already met. It was very nice. I was lucky to marry into such a wonderful family!! It was funny too, while we were there, we had dinner with Grandpa Barnet and Marian and then went over to their house for dessert. Richard always does this little blowfish thing where he puffs up his cheeks when he looks at you, just to be silly, and while we were over having dessert with Grandpa Barnet and Marian, Grandpa Barnet made the same face - he puffed his cheeks right up once when he looked over at Bonny. I laughed. It was the cutest thing. Now I know where my husband got it from.

It was a great vacation!!

Well, Richard said he was going to let me talk about giving my two week notice, but there isn't much to tell about it, I'm afraid. I have been working at my job for about two and a half years and have made some great friends there! It will be very hard to leave them! I have been threatened with my life, though, if I don't bring back the baby to show her to everyone. So, I will be doing that for sure. My last day will be May 11th and then I will be off for three weeks before the baby is due. It will be hard to say good-bye, but I've got a much greater job now!! Nothing compares to being a mommy and a wife! I am very excited. My last day of work will be both happy and sad - Happy to leave and start my new job, but Sad because I will miss some of the really wonderful people that I work with. I will also miss the work. I really love what I do. I know I will love my new job even more, though! So, it will be worth it!

Yesterday, I got a Blogger mug from the Blogger store. It's the bomb! =)

Well, we're back. Earlier today our water heater started leaking, but, being in Oregon, it was kinda hard to do anything about it. Our downstairs neighbor, however, dutifully reported that it was leaking (!) and the management company got a hold of us (finally, through a string of relatives) there, and they took care of it for us. When we got home, the carpet was almost all the way dry, and we are the proud renters of a new water heater! =)

Yesterday, we went to the Seattle temple and took a few photos but it started raining, so we only got a couple. We visited with family, as it was the occasion of my grandpa's 80th birthday celebration. It was great to see my cousins, some of whom I hadn't seen in over a decade!

After the party, we went sightseeing. We went to West Seattle and took some photos of grandpa's old house, and then drove past Grandma Clara's old place. We then visited the Kenney Home, where Bebops used to reside. The old familiar smell was still there, and the stop brought back some great old memories.

After that, we drove down by Alki Beach and ate at Spud's Fish and Chips. The fish was great, but I pity the poor fools that have to endure the likes of Long John Silver's...

Then we drove downtown past the docks and the ocean liners, cruise ships, barges, and tugboats. We went down to Pier 54 and browsed at Ye Olde Curiousity Shoppe. We then swung past the Space Needle on the way back to Bellevue.

Earlier in the morning, we did some quality shopping at Bellevue Square. We found some really cute maternity clothes for Misti. I quickly glanced in the Swatch store at the Internet Time watches, but they were too fat and kinda ugly... I'm glad I didn't order one online like I had wanted to.

My little sister, Bonny, says that blogging is silly. My bigger little sister, Heather, says "Helloooooooo".

Misti & I went to the Portland temple today. The flowers are sure beautiful. When I get the film developed, I'll post some of the photos here. The humidity here is something else. Yesterday, we had so much bug splat on our windshield that we could hardly see. Today, however, the rain was so heavy that it washed it all away. =)

Also, Misti put in her 2-week notice at work today, but I'll let her talk about that... =)

Today we got a little co-sleeper bassinet for Becky. It's totally rad. Wanna see it? I think it's going to work out really nicely. =)

I learned a little more last night about becoming a mother. It seems that each time I try to relax or lie down for sleep, it is play time for Rebecca. It's as if that is her cue to exercise those little legs of hers. She moves around a lot anyway, but when I lie down on my left side she tends to just have a ball kicking all over my right side. It's as if she was just joined by a new play mate and got really excited about showing off her kicking techniques to this new found friend. If she's anything like her mother, she will be very hyperactive, I'm told. According to my mom and grandmother, when I was four years old in school, I would sit in every position possible except on my head before the lesson was over. I wonder if our little one will have so much energy. She seems to already! I definitely have some sleepless nights ahead of me. And poor Richard.......

I'm very excited today. I got some free software in the mail today that I almost forgot about ordering a few weeks ago. Barbie's Ocean Discovery and Barbie's Magic Hair Styler. Sweet, huh? The funny thing is that I ordered them from Madison Direct Software, but the labels say "www.somc.com" (Software of the Month Club). Sounds a little funny, don't you think? Hmmmm.....

This past weekend, the Church announced plans to build new temples in three California cities: Sacramento, Newport Beach, and Redlands.

Precise locations and groundbreaking dates for the three temples are expected to be announced in the near future. The new temples will serve the approximately 188,000 Church members in those areas. Currently, there are temples in four other California cities: Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and Fresno.

I've realized quite recently (and so has Misti, unfortunately...) that if I eat a lot of pistachios, I get really bad gas. Does this happen to anyone else?

Am I the only one that thinks that the street names in Reno are screwed up? The whole McCarran loop is a total fiasco. If you look on the map (below), McCarran Blvd is one big loop. Anyone that would vote to give this whole loop one street name instead of four is pretty dense, in my opinion. For those that are directionally challenged, there are four points on a compass (North, South, East, West). Likewise, there are four distinct "sides" to this loop known as McCarran Blvd. If, alas, we decide to stick with calling the whole thing McCarran (for the sake of honoring the former senator), at least have the decency to differentiate the sides by their cooresponding directions (N McCarran, S McCarran, E McCarran, and W McCarran). For those out-of-towners reading this, what we have here instead is only two (2) names: North McCarran and S McCarran. North McCarran extends from I-80 on the west side all the way around northward to I-80 again on the east side. Likewise, South McCarran extends, apparently, from I-80 looping around to I-80 again, through the south side of town. Look:



We, for example, live right off of "South McCarran", despite the fact that we're clearly on the east side of the McCarran loop. Who is responsible for this, anyway? To add further insult to injury, the signs on the interstate highway (I-80) now have been revised to say "McCarran West" and "McCarran East", which is odd because all the addresses that you'll be looking for will either be North or South, not east/west. Furthermore, once you drive about 20 feet from the off-ramp, you'll either be on said North McCarran or South McCarran (but at least you'll know which side of town you're on...)

Another mess can be found on the street signs found at certain intersections along this loop. On one corner you can find a sign proclaiming "McCarran Blvd East" and 20 feet away on the opposite pole is another with the moniker "E McCarran Blvd". Which is it? (Of course, we all know that it's really South McCarran, anyway...) A quick trip to Mapquest confirms this whole deal: a search for "E McCarran Blvd" turns up 14 maps, all of which are either North or South McCarran, but no "East", at all. Furthermore, if you look at the following map, notice that "S McCarran" is on the east side of the loop! Also notice that plain old "McCarran" (!) could be anywhere from Southwest Reno to Northwest Sparks, a distance of over 10 miles away. Can you now understand the confused looks when you ask someone for directions, and they say "we're right off of McCarran"??!! Try to find an address on this street, go ahead, I dare you...



Still not convinced? Need more screwed up street signs to make you a believer? Fine. Check out my gripes page.

Okay, for everyone that wasn't aware, here is some startling news: roosters and hens are both chickens. The rooster is the male, and the hen is the female. I repeat, they are both chickens. Why is the clarification necessary, you may ask? It has come to my attention that many are confused on this point. Don't be fooled into thinking that roosters are a separate species of animal. They are just "men" chickens, that's all.

Thus, the chicken "breast" you're eating at KFC or McDonald's may very well be a rooster, not a hen. There are no guarantees. And another thing: chickens don't have breasts, per se. For those that think that you're actually eating some sort of chicken mammary gland or something, let me tell you that you're not only wrong, but you're sick, too.

The only sense of the word "breast" that applies to chickens (and to you men out there, too -- unless you're really chubby or have some sort of glandular disorder) is "the fore or ventral part of the body between the neck and the abdomen" (provided graciously by Merriam-Webster).

Thus, a chicken breast should rightfully (and less confusingly) be called a "chicken chest". End of story. =)

Welcome to our blog (web log). It's a place for the both of us to ramble on about whatever strikes our fancy. Topics will vary and, as such, we cannot guarantee that there will be any continuity at all from day to day (or post to post, for that matter). Enjoy!