We're in Indiana

Vance and I are now in Indiana. He just started his master's degree in Mechanical Engineering here at Purdue. We really like West Lafayette. It is very green, a bit hilly, and humid. Everyone has been friendly too. Our apartment doubled in square footage so we are loving the extra space! Our patio view is mostly of fields and grasses that are empty and the sun rises on that side as well.  We made it safely here three weeks ago with our Penske rental truck towing our car, which was quite an adventure. It was pretty tricky filling up on gas. We had to plan out on how to turn around every time we would stop at a hotel, fill up on gas, etc. Once we got stuck at a hotel (we thought we had enough room to do a U-turn in a parking lot, but we didn't!) but luckily the owners of the car that was in the way were just leaving their hotel room after we had unattached everything from the truck. What a blessing!

Two weeks before we moved we had a family reunion on my mother's side in Preston, Idaho. It was awesome! We had fun swimming, games with second cousins, a talent show, etc. I was able to learn more about my roots as well. It had been a long time since seeing many of those family members, so it was so nice to be together.

 Above are some of my mother's cousins, the kitchen crew, on our last morning at the lodge in Preston.

Above is Vance with my mom's cousins Lon and Monte. They were each Idaho state wrestling champions when they were younger. They wrestled in front of us, and it was fun to watch!

We then spent a week in San Francisco. Along the way we stopped in Boulder City, Nevada to stay with our sister and brother in law (Steve and Jen). It was really nice to be with them and catch up! They have the greatest kids! Thanks guys! We then spent the next evening with our other sister and brother in law (Becky and Jeff) in San Jose, California.  I had the best pizza of my life that night and then we all played horseshoes in a beautiful park. We were actually in Santa Clara, the town of my birth, so that was really neat to revisit.

In San Francisco we had tons of fun as well. We had to plan when to come into and leave town to avoid traffic. Some of the things we did were a bay cruise (including around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate bridge), city trolley tour (we were on top of a 2 story trolley and literally froze while we learned about the architecture in town, saw the "Full House" house, drove through Chinatown, Ghiradelli Square, etc.). We also spent some time at Fisherman's Wharf, went to the Jelly Belly Factory, ate at the Cheesecake Factory, went to the Botanical Gardens and a Fragrance garden (pineapple, coconut, lemon, chocolate, smelling plants), and more. The highlight of the trip was probably seeing Wicked. We loved every minute of it and were pretty tired by the end of the days we were there. It was a great trip.

 Above- we are at the Golden Gate bridge. It was a really cold day.

We also went to Muir Woods. It was so beautiful there and quiet. 

 Vance got this picture in Muir woods. The redwood trees were so tall, we had never seen anything like it. We went hiking for a few miles and just really enjoyed it.

We also saw Wicked!!!! It was one of the most fun nights on the trip.  Earlier that evening, we went and ate at the Cheesecake Factory, which was delicious.

Here is a fun picture of Vance. We waited in line forever for the Jelly Belly Factory tour. But they gave us these hats right before it was our turn for the tour.

 We took a city bus tour on top of a two story trolley. We got to see so much of San Francisco on this tour and loved it. It was freezing, so when we stopped at the Golden Gate bridge to get out, we bought hot chocolate to warm our bellies for the trip back! We were surprised how cool it was in San Francisco, but in some ways it was the first time I felt cool all summer!!!

Now Vance has started school and is doing really well including being ahead in all of his classes. I am really proud of him.  I have started a couple of weeks ago working at a 5th and 6th grade middle school in the area doing speech and language therapy. We sure miss our friends and family in Utah, but are loving it here as well.

We went to Milwaukee last weekend for the funeral of my grandfather, Walter Heinz Karl Kindt. We are really happy that he is now reunited with my grandma Rosie, who died last December. My grandpa Walter grew up in Germany, served in WWII, and then served a 5 year LDS mission in East Germany. He came to Wisconsin, married my grandma, and they had 7 kids. I remember as a little girl him telling me stories and I would just nod my head because I didn't always understand his strong German accent :) He always had chocolate to share in his desk drawers and loooved us grandkids so much. Sure will miss him.

Below is a picture of my dad, far right, and all of his siblings last weekend. 

Here is Vance and I last weekend in Milwaukee.

Above is a picture of him in Germany with my grandma when he served as Mission President in the 1970's.

Above is a picture of him in Salt Lake City in April at a mission reunion.

He is in the front row  in the grey suit with the missionaries that served there. Amazing turnout.

We saw our OBGYN yesterday for our 36 week appointment and baby boy is doing great. Everything is looking normal.  We have most of his room set up and are so excited to meet him. I am feeling uncomfortable but really grateful for how well things have gone in this pregnancy.

We'll have to post pictures of the latest soon!

July!

Vance and I saw the local parade for Independence day weekend. It was just about two hours long, with many impressive floats. We were by a group of pretty outgoing people, which made it fun as well. We had a picnic during the day with my sister and her husband and boy, and watched the fireworks that night after playing some games with good friends in our ward, with quite the grand finale at the end.

Here are some fun pictures of Vance and I. We seem to take pictures in the same part of our apartment lately. We've been having a good summer so far and enjoying the warm weather (but of course keeping the AC on most of the time when we're inside!!!!!!) The warm weather has allowed us to be more active outside, including playing tennis, lots of hiking, weekly soccer, etc.

Two days ago we sold one of our cars. We actually sold it, and saw the new owners drive away with it 14 hours after posting it on-line. The new owners and we thought that we got a pretty good deal, which made us all happy. So it has been two days of being a one car family and we haven't had any problems!  It involves a little more planning since we are both working, but isn't too hard to coordinate.

Here is the 28 week pictures we took last week! Vance is really growing! Just kidding. We thought he needed some more pictures here on the blog. I have less than 12 weeks to go and starting to feel uncomfortable at times.  We are planning on spending a week in San Fransisco in 3 weeks and having a big vacation before the baby comes. If you have any recommendations on what to do there, let us know. Then, Vance and I are moving to Indiana as soon as we get back and are super excited but will miss everything and everyone!

Birthdays and Bellies!

This past week we celebrated the birthdays of two amazing women - our mothers! They are truly amazing women that inspire us to be better. We love you!

The birthday cake Lisa and I made. Lisa is a wonderful cook (and model).

Our baby boy seems to be doing great and growing all the time. I can't believe that he'll be here in a few months! We are deciding between Winchester, Rrrupert, Boots (Lyndee Stubbs' suggestion) and Zanther-Diaz for his name. What do you think? I personally like Rrrupert (make a rolling r sound at the beginning of his name). It sounds very regal. Seriously though, our top three right now are Christopher, Lincoln, and Quinn. It could very likely be none of those; we'll get a little more serious in the coming months.

Our baby boy is growing! About 15 more weeks to go.

Update

This last month was fun- we celebrated birthdays on both sides of our families. We also celebrated the birth of a new niece, Avely Mae. She was such a tiny, beautiful little girl to hold.

There hasn't been too much news, but guess what? We got new carpet in our apartment! The word "carpet" may be a stretch. I think it might be better for an outdoor porch.   But it looks much better than what was on the floor before. Our landlord asked us to put all of our furniture into the kitchen and hallway. Actually it was Vance who did all the heavy work:) Not only was it nice to get this "carpet" but we were able to estimate the size of  truck we'll need in a couple of months for the big move.

Vance is at a place near Zion's National Park. He is able to go down for a couple of days to be with some family. I just began a job doing speech therapy in a rehabilitation center so I wasn't able to go.  His phone doesn't seem to have reception, so I assume he's having a great time!

Our little boy is definitely growing. His kicks and punches are getting stronger and this last weekend we were able to see his kicks through my skin! It was really exciting to see. It has been a really great pregnancy. However,  I'm not able to run any more. It just feels too uncomfortable. So now I just go on long walks, and Vance even joined me last week and he admitted that even his heart rate increased:)  As far as the size of my belly, it is hard to imagine it will only get bigger for the next 3 1/2 months!

Ultrasound Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our little boy. We love him so much already.

Head and face

Little Murray Baby is just chillin' with his legs crossed.

 He seems to like hide and go seek already.

I can't believe he fits inside Lisa!