Strong Family of 3

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

From the 4 of us!

Catch Up - June

2011-07-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

Rusty put his car in the wagon and climbed aboard.

Throwing the ball for the doggie

Running from the dog with her ball

Just because he is cute

Playing with the doggie water

Stealing the ball again

Swinging with Mama

Justin and Tanya came to visit and we went to the Thanksgiving Farm.

Trying to kiss the goat

Llama

Petting the horse

Geese

Trying to eat his chicken and rice from his bowl

Lugging "Monkey" around Grandma's house

Sitting on Daddy's shoulders in his "Mr. Strong" shirt

Bowling on Daddy's shoulders

Catch Up - May

2011-07-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Climbing again

Silly boy

King of the stroller

Loving his my sized dog at Grandma's

Its hamburger time

CHEESE!!!

Catch Up - April

2011-07-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

Being a silly boy.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3! We got a climber on our hands.

Chillin' on the way to the park in his wagon.

Wrestling with Daddy!

Happy Easter!

Hi Grandma Hamblin

Easter Egg Hunt.

Being so good and putting the eggs in his basket.

With Daddy

Attacking Cinder. That cat is amazing with Rusty. No matter how much Rusty terrorizes him Cinder keeps coming back for more.

Phone Picture Dump

2011-05-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

I just figured out how to get my pictures off my phone and onto my computer. Some of these are over 2 years old.

RIP Bubba

2011-04-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

We will miss our sweet ferret.

He was our first pet as a couple and was a great pet.

He never bit and was always willing to cuddle.

Thanks you for the years of fun.

BYU Thursday's Hero

2011-03-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

BYU has a program called Thursday's Hero where they honor individuals. This week they chose my Grandpa, Robert Hamblin. Grandpa was a football player for BYU back around 1950. He has been a huge fan ever since. I wouldn't be surprised if he owned about every BYU hat or t-shirt since he played.

We started out in the Student Athletic Building. They have lots of Hall of Fame items we were able to look through. Next we went to upstairs to the coaches' offices and were able to see all the rooms they plan the plays and such. We also got to walk through the locker room.

This is a picture of the family that was able to come. It was a pretty big group. We missed having the Estes family here.

We were able to watch some highlight videos in a screening room where the teams meet. It was funny because the first 3 or 4 rows had extra room between the seats to allow for the big linebackers to have more room. =)

Next, we got to visit the BYU indoor practice arena. We were able to watch the team practice.

The fake grass was pretty cool. I was "smart" enough to wear heels and my shoes kept sinking into the AstroTurf. It had a lot of give, which I am sure is great for practicing indoors.

Here is Grandpa being interviewed. I guess it will be on KBYU at some point. They drove Grandpa around the field in a golf cart.

After the practice the whole team came up to meet Grandpa. They thanked him for being such a great fan. They gave him a lot of BYU garb and then lead the team in a cheer. I would have to say that this was a highlight of Grandpa's life.

My two cute boys!

After the players cleared out, Rusty decided to have himself a "run". He crawled about 40 yards before we decided it was time to go. Maybe we have a future football player in our home. =)

So do you see that little signature on the sleeve?

Here's a better view. Can you tell who's signature that is?

That's right! We got to meet Jake Heaps! BYU starting quarterback. Who knows if he will become anything or if he will end up in the NFL, but it was sure fun meeting him and have a keepsake and story for Rusty.

What a fun day. I was so glad Daniel was able to take part of the day off work and honor my Grandpa Hamblin. He has been a great Grandpa and will always be our BYU Hero!

Birthday Party

2011-03-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

Rusty had is birthday party a little early this year. Grandma and Grandpa Strong were in town and Grandma and Grandpa Hamblin would be out of town on his big day. It was nice having them all here to celebrate.

The happy Birthday Boy!

Not liking the birthday hat. Poor boy.

Kinda happy again

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Rusty's Football SMASH Cake

Guest cake. Football field. BYU VS. ASU

Doesn't know what to do.

Getting the hang of it.

YUM!

Now hes got it!

What a mess!

The end result

Momma helping him open his presents.

Checking out his new book.

A Year of Pictures

2011-03-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Snow

2011-03-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

This is a little late but about 2 weeks ago we woke up to some snow. It didn't last long and was gone by the time Daniel got home from work.

Rusty and I decided we were going to go out and have some fun.

He had a blast crawling and rolling around in the snow.

So fun!

Bread

2011-02-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

I've been making homemade bread for a few weeks and find I am not just enjoying the eating of the bread, but also the making of it.

Daniel asked me to make some a while back and now we have to keep it on hand.

I have always been hesitant to try to use yeast because my mom never had luck with it. She could never get the bread to rise like it should.

The last time I made yeast bread was in high school and I put in way to much flour.

Lets just say that it didn't taste so good.

I have used Momma Strong's white bread recipe and I think I have it down.

Anyone else have some new yummy bread recipes? I would love to give them a shot.

Now where do I get wheat flour without having to grind it myself?

Exercise

2011-02-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

I am really starting to hate you. I am beginning to wonder what the point is. Why do i try to watch what I eat and exercise 4-5 times a week, if all it is going to do for me is make me gain weight. I went through Thanksgiving and Christmas eating whatever I wanted and not exercising at all and I LOST weight.

I am going to be brutally honest.

-After baby I was 165/ pant size 13
-3 months after baby I was 160/ pant size 13
-The beginning of November I was at 150/ pant size 11-13 after working out twice a day, 5-6 days a week and not eating sugar but once a week.
-As soon as I stop exercising I am at 144 and size 11 while eating anything and everything I want.
-January as soon as I start exercising I am back at 150.
-Today, February 18, I am still at 150, pant size 13 are actually tight to put on, and I exercise 4-5 days a week and have some sweets once in a while.

Do I really have to go back to those weeks of no sugar and exercising twice a day? Really? All I want is to be healthy and look nice. I have accepted I am not getting back to the size 9, 135 girl I was before Rusty. But I do want to see some kind of progress, maybe feel my jeans loosen a bit, when I put forth the effort.

Sorry for the rant. I just really started this year with a good attitude and was having fun exercising. I am starting to not have fun and getting frustrated with not seeing progress. I really want to become a person who enjoys exercising.

Any advice or words of encouragement?

Our Silly Boy

2011-02-14T21:35:00.000-08:00

Um... See that toilet paper on his chin... Um.. Yeah... he was eating it.

Who took the cookies from the cookie jar?

Caught him red handed eating Daddy's cookies

Rusty LOVES the camera. He smiles every time I pull the camera out and point it at him.

Maybe I take to many pictures....

It made it difficult trying to get his "No More" face.

(Shown above (the one in the shopping cart))

GO SUNS!!!

2011-02-14T21:13:00.000-08:00

Daniel's work gave us Jazz vs Suns tickets for lat Friday.

We celebrated the day by putting Rusty in his Sun's jersey for his play date with Grandma Hamblin.

Grandma was not enthused. Looks like Rusty will be getting a Jazz outfit for his birthday.

Daniel and I had a blast watching the Suns come back to win after being behind for the first 3 quarters.

Visitors

2011-02-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

We had Daniel's brother, Justin, and family here for almost a week. It was a blast having them.

Rusty and Trent played great together.

Here is Trenton pushing Rusty on his car.

Grrrr!

Chillin' with Daddy and Trenton

Story time!

Chillin' with Uncle Justin and Trenton at Great Grandma Strong and Aunt Natalie's house

Getting into trouble together

Splish Splash we're taking a bath!

We didn't do a whole ton or go many places but we sure had fun having them here.

Daniel and Justin had a blast playing their game while Tanya and I played two person Canasta.

I had a old high school friend come over and teach Tanya and I how to decorate cakes.

Here are our masterpieces.

Kitty!

2011-01-22T22:09:00.000-08:00

Meet Cinder... AKA Kitty!

You have to believe it to see it!

Daniel actually let me get a cat!

Of his own free will.

Zoey likes her.

Cinder LOVES Zoey.... maybe a little too much.

Rusty LOVES the Kitty.

"KITTY" was actually his first real word.

I just realized that we have no pictures of Rusty and the Kitty.

Whenever they are together, we are always trying to save the Kitty.

Poor Kitty gets mauled every time she ventures near Rusty.

You would think she would learn

Just because he is a silly boy!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

Santa!!

In front of the Christmas tree

Temple Square on Christmas Eve

All bundled up

The Loot!

Oh! I'm a crawler now!

Being a cheese ball in the shirt my Aunt Rachel sent from Canada

Just because I am cute

We love our fun little boy!

Eagle Mountain House

2011-01-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

Our new home!

We are so excited to finally be in our new home. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us spend the last 10 months in your basement.

Kitchen!

We have moved into our home without a working fridge. We got one as a "scratch and dent" item and it hasn't worked a day since we bought it. It has been about a month now of trying to get it fixed. The poor repair man and been out 4 times now. Come Monday, we will be living out of a cooler for a week. Not fun!

Master!

No more blue wall. This was the only wall we painted when we moved in. We aren't much fans of the blue so we painted it a nice boring brown.

We love our home and are excited to start going to our new ward.

Family Pictures

2011-01-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Arizona Trip

2011-01-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

We had a great trip to Arizona this Thanksgiving. We had a blast visiting with family and friends

Rusty met his cousin who is only 2 weeks younger than him for the first time.

Rusty had fun with his Grandpa and Ladie. He loves to watch the dog play fetch.

Rusty with his favorite cousin. He is the best babysitter and was always willing to play.

Playing with the cousins.

And again!

Strong Family picture in our Reunion shirts.

Rusty and his buddy.

2010 cousins!

Driving home.

(I left out some names because I wasn't sure if family wanted them on my blog. If you don't want pictures either, please let me know! Thanks!)

Sit Ups

2010-11-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Our STRONG little boy training for his first Iron Man

Dancing

2010-11-17T18:48:00.000-08:00

Rusty doing a dance.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

Our little Tigger!

The paint lasted a total of 5 min. Didn't even make it to the trunk-or-treat.

Rusty and Daddy

Rusty and Mommy

Daniel's pumpkin side 1

Daniel's pumpkin side 2

Alisha's pumpkin

We celebrated our Halloween a little early. Our ward was did our trunk-or-treat this past Saturday and we decided to go. We had to have some reason to dress Rusty in his costume since we bought it. Poor Rusty didn't get any candy. Mommy didn't want it in the house and he couldn't eat it so... to bad.

At the party, a couple had dressed up as Mario and Luigi. We had one of their daughters in our primary so she came over to talk to us. Rusty took one look at her and burst into tears. He thought the boy in our class who was dressed up with a scary mask was funny. Silly boy.

That night we did our traditional pumpkin carvings. Rusty didn't know what to think of all the goop.

Over all it was a good night.

6 Months! (Two weeks late)

2010-10-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Our sill boy! Well this is two weeks late, but at his 6 month appointment he was:

Weight: 20.5 lbs - 92%

Height: 27.5 in - 86%

Head Circumference: 17 in - 35%

We have a solid boy on our hands. The makings of a good football player ;)

Go BYU!

Yummy Ice cream!

He loves his walker

Drinking his water all by himself

Happy boy!

Labor Day

2010-09-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day we decided to head to the Uinta Mtns. for a hike. It was only 3 miles both ways but we passed 3 lakes.

Rusty had a blast. He just loved looking at all the outdoors. He only got fussy when we stopped for breaks.

Here he is with Grandpa Hamblin!

He looks like a grandpa himself with his pants up to his arm pits and unbuttoned.

Silly Boy!

Hm... whats next to his mouth?

Here are some pretty pictures Daniel took.

Zoey decided she wanted to be a water dog. On one of our breaks we stopped by a little marshy area and decided to throw the ball for the dogs. Zoey miss judged the distance and fell head or heels into the water. Afterwords we couldn't keep her out of the water.

Rusty has been practicing sitting up and decided he wanted to give Zoey a belly rub. He just throws himself forward when he sees something he wants.

Don't you like his hat?

Rusty has some dry skin on his head that only bugs him when he is tired. He scratches his head while he is asleep so this was my solution.

Firsts

2010-08-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

First visit with Uncle Marcus

(3 months)

First time feeling grass

Also

First time at Lagoon

(3 1/2 months)

First time eating solids

(3 1/2 months)

First Fourth of July

(3 3/4 months)

First visit with Great Uncle Bill

(4 months)

First video on Daddy's phone

(4 months)

First airplane ride

(4 1/2 months)

First time at the airport

First time in a high chair

First time on a swing

First time at Moe's

First time at the beach

Oregon

First time Great Grandma Taylor gets to feed Rusty

First time meeting my cousin Erin, her little girl Ayvri, and family

First time splitting his pants.... what a chunk

First time having Great Grandpa Hamblin hold him

First time sleeping in a shopping cart

First hair cut

(5 months)

First picnic up the mountain

First time swinging up side down

First time listening to his favorite song (daft punk) on the headphones

Fireworks

2010-07-04T00:03:00.000-07:00

We went out Saturday night on south mountain and watch the fireworks in the Salt Lake valley. These are some pictures I took while we were out there.

3 Month Photoshoot

2010-06-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

We decided we needed to take some extra fun pictures to celebrate Rusty being 3 months old. After lots of smiles, some laughs and a few tears, this is the result.

Tubbo! We love you Rusty!

Visit from Uncle Marcus

2010-06-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to have my brother Marcus come to visit all the way from Boston for the first time since Rusty came. It was fun to have him here and play with Rusty!

Rusty was so interested in Marcus's design book. He loved all the colors and shapes!

He had a blast hanging out with Marcus and his friend McKay.

So Much FUN!

Great Grandma and Grandpa

2010-06-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Rusty's Grand Grandma and Grandpa Taylor came into town last month. It was so fun to see them! They only spent the night but they had a good time meeting Rusty.

Birth Story

2010-06-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

I guess I should finally put up Rusty's birth story. I always love reading everyone's story so I figured I should join in.

My water broke around 11:30 on Monday, March 15th. It was weird cause I just woke up from a nap and had gotten out of bed and was having a conversation with mom when I noticed that my pants were soaked. I either had peed my pants or my water had broken.

I called the doctor and they told me to make my way in. My mom was a excited and wanted to go right with me to the hospital but I told her to go about her day... cause she was just about to leave to get groceries for grandma. Daniel got home from work while I finished packing. I knew that as soon as I was admitted into the hospital I wouldn't be getting any solid food so we grabbed some lunch on the way. At this point I still hadn't started to feel contractions yet.

We checked in about 1 and they started pitocin to get the contractions started around 2. I got the epidural (amazing!!!) around 4 or so. Once it started working, I was able to just sit back and relax and let my body do what it needed to do. I like to joke that I was more comfortable then Daniel was as I had a nice comfy bed and he had to sit on one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs.

Labor seemed to go really fast. I ended up at 10 centimeters around 11 PM. We kept watching the clock to see what day was going to be his birthday. They had me do about 4 practice pushes and he had started to crown so they made me wait until the doctor could get there. We had to wait for about a half an hour before the doctor came in and then 2 contractions later he was here! I guess, even before he took a breath, he stuck his hand out by his head and gave my mom and the doctor a little wave.

I couldn't be happier with my delivery. I was happy and well rested when it came time to push so the pushes were really effective. Mom was a little worried I would have to do her 3 hours of pushing, but I got lucky with probably only pushing through 6 contractions. I was glad to have Daniel and my Mom in the delivery room with me. My Dad was sitting outside the door in the hallway waiting for his namesake's first little cry.

2 Months Old

2010-05-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my sweet boy is two months old! He is getting so big. He is just a chill boy who only really cries when he is hungry... which happens to be every two hours. No wonder he is so big!

We went to the doctor yesterday for his two month check up. It was fun to see the difference from his last check up.

At one month he was:

Weight 7.83 lbs 11%

Length 20.08 in 14%

Head Cir 13.80 in 8%

We were worried about his weight gain and such because he wasn't getting enough milk from Momma. That wasn't even his lowest weight! Scary!

But at two months he is:

Weight 13.01 lbs 80%

Length 22.99 in 54%

Head Cir 15.30 in 24%

He is a happy healthy boy!

These pictures of him are taken right before bed time. He has such tired eyes. Rusty loves his Grandpa Hamblin time! Grandpa is so great about taking Rusty while Mom gets everything ready for bed time. He loves to rock on Grandpa's knee and even pushes his legs straight at the right time so he pushes out even further.

We decided to pull out his rocking horse to give it a try. He is still a little too small, but loves to rock!

These pictures where taken when Daddy was home. He loves to just stare at things, especially our faces when he hold him. Rusty does NOT like when Daddy has whiskers and gives him kisses. He gets the biggest frown on his face. Too cute!

We love having our little boy!

Blessing

2010-04-25T20:56:00.001-07:00

Today Daniel had the privilege of giving little Russell a name and a blessing. It was a sweet blessing and you could feel the love of both his Daddy and his Father in Heaven. Rusty was great and slept right through it. We were excited to have Daniel's parents come visit from Arizona. We also had his Grandma Strong, Aunt Natalie, my parents, and Grandma Hamblin there.

4 WEEKS!

2010-04-13T21:48:00.001-07:00

Week 1Tummy Time!

Bath Time

Week 2

Happy Boy!

Visiting Great-Grandma Hamblin

Week 3

Hanging with Daddy

Gotta hold that binki in!

Bath Time... Again!

Ready for Church!

Using my hands!

Week 4

Hanging with Grandma Hamblin!

Mini Popeye

SMILE

Ooo!

Tummy Time! Look at me go!

Doggie Pics

2010-04-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

No More Tummy Time, Mom!!!

2010-04-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so does just letting him cry mean I am a bad Mom? Not if I can get him to roll over at 2 weeks 2 days!! I feel bad just letting him cry during tummy time, but we wouldn't ever get tummy time done if I stopped it every time he cried. Okay so maybe I am just trying to make myself feel better.

A Few of Our Favorite Things

2010-03-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

There have been a few items that we discovered that are must haves for being parents of little Rusty.

First, we have the "Safe and Secure Sleeper". I swore up and down that I would NEVER co-sleep, or sleep with my baby in my bed. Well that lasted a total of one day! We even had his crib in our room but found it more convenient to have him within arms reach. We headed out to target and picked up this little guy. We are able to have little Rusty "safe and secure" between us in our king size bed in his mini bed. It has definitely saved my sanity to be able to just roll over and pick him up to nurse without leaving the comfort of my bed. I let daddy get out of bed for the midnight changes! =) Next, we have the nursing cover. I use this everyday for modesty while nursing, especially since we live with my parents at the moment. It is a nice to have everyone comfortable with out me having to leave the room to nurse.

I have to say that I LOVE the little pee line they have on the newborn Huggies! Well, i guess they have them on Pampers too but we started with Huggies and I haven't gotten to the bigger sizes yet. We just love that all you have to do to check for a diaper change is look down the back and check the pee line! No more guessing if he has peed his diaper or not! I will enjoy these while I can cause once he is big enough, we are switching to the Costco, Kirtland brand of diapers. =(
Another must have is our car seat canopy. I felt safe enough having this cover my little guy, to get out of the house and run errands or go out to eat when Rusty was only a couple days old. I love that it stops all the Ooos and Ahhhs and people breathing in his face. We even took him to church when he was 5 days old. We would just show them a picture whenever anyone wanted to see what he looked like, and say that we are keeping him covered! I saw a bunch of cute covers before Russell was born and just had to have one. I asked someone where they got it and they directed me to a store. Low and behold the lovely things would cost me $50!!! No way was I paying that. I did a little research and found this lovely tutorial. It cost me less then $20 and only took a couple hours!
We love Russell's bouncy/vibrating chair! it is the perfect place for nap or play time when Mom needs her hands or needs to be mobile.

Last, but not least! The BINKY!! Russell loves his binky! He arrived with a very strong urge to suck. I have to give my Mom some credit. About a week before Rusty arrived, we were at Target and Mom was trying to talk me into getting some binkies. I didn't really see a need yet, as I know some kids don't ever take a binky and I hadn't decided whether or not to use them. I also knew the hospital would give us a couple. Well she went ahead and bought me some since I refused too. Well lets just say that they are well used already!

More Pics

2010-03-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

All ready for church!

Nap time!
Smile!

New Baby!

2010-03-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

The last few months have been full of new things for our family, a new degree, new job, new place to live and now, the biggest new, a NEW BABY! On Tuesday at 12:24am we welcomed Russell Daniel Strong into our family. He was 7lbs 10oz when he was born. Him and Alisha stayed in the hospital for a couple days and they are now both home. We are both excited to add this little guy to our little family.

Prego Pic

2010-02-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

So I decided to put up a pregnancy picture. I figured I should put one up soon because it seems like I have changed a lot over the past month or so. I feel huge. This is me at 36 weeks.

Blessings

2010-02-14T20:53:00.000-08:00

We have been truly blessed over the last few months.

Daniel graduated from ASU this last December and began his job hunt. After quite a few applications and a couple job interviews we still hadn't found anything.

My only two desires, when it came to his job, was that I would be able to stay home with our baby and that Daniel would enjoy what he was doing. Our hope was that we would find something in the Phoenix area so we could stay close to family and continue to live in our home we bought just last March.

Over this past Thanksgiving, we had Daniel's sister, Amy, and her family come visit. Our brother-in-law, Rob, talked to Daniel a little bit about his work and different places Daniel could look for work, as they are in the same field. Rob mentioned a partner company he works with called Azteca. The company sounded nice, but they were based in Utah, and we were really hoping to stay in town.

Daniel decided to send his resume over to Azteca, just in case, and mentioned Rob's name in the cover letter. The next day we heard back from the president of the company. He sounded interested in meeting Daniel. They set up a time to meet while we were in Utah, visiting my family for Christmas.

Daniel had a great 2 hour interview/meet and greet with Azteca. He loved the atmosphere and work environment but was still not sold on moving to Utah. There was going to be a lot of work if we had to move. He had another interview with a company in Phoenix the week we returned home, so we wanted to see how that opportunity panned out.

Daniel went to the Phoenix interview and felt just like a number. He liked the people who interviewed him, but it was a huge company and had the corporate feel. It was nothing compared to the small business, owner run, Azteca.

Azteca just felt right. Daniel received his official offer letter on Friday, January 15th, with a start date of February 1st. THANK YOU ROB!!!! We had two weeks to move to Utah. Ahhh!

We had so much to do and so much to worry about.

First of all we needed a place to live. We were lucky that the office was located in the neighborhood I grew up in and my parents only lived about two miles away. My brother was moving to Boston to go to a design school in January, and my sister was leaving on her mission to Halifax, Canada at the beginning of January. My parents were going to be empty nesters and were more than happy to lend us their basement for a time. They are excited to have their first grandbaby so close.

I was almost 8 months pregnant and had to find a new doctor who was willing to take someone so late in pregnancy as well as figure out our change in insurance. I was lucky enough that our insurance covered my former obgyn from before I was married. They still had my records, so after a fast phone call I was all set up.

Now, with the job change, we had to worry about what we would do until our new insurance started. We were yet again blessed with the means to pay for Cobra so we were able to stay on our previous insurance until after the baby came.

We also had to worry about our house. We bought our house just last March. It was the perfect house for us. We put a lot of work into in to make it ours. We were sad to leave it. We decided to rent it out for a while and found a great company to be our property manager. Within 4 days of the house being on the market, it was rented out!

Daniel's job is perfect for him. We couldn't have asked for a better job or more kind employers and coworkers.

Everything has worked out so perfectly. We know that we are doing what we are suppose to be doing. We left Arizona, family, house, and a great ward. It was really hard to leave and we still ache to be in Arizona, but we know we are here for a purpose. Heavenly Father has truly blessed us and we would have been stupid to pass up this opportunity.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you to our wonderful family for all their love and support. Thank you Mom and Wayne for being willing to drive with us on our move. Thank you to Rob, for his great relationship with his clients that gave Daniel this opportunity. Thank you to Azteca for all their kindness and generosity. Thank you to Pool Chlor for employing Daniel for the past 5 years. Thank you to the Granite Reef Ward for welcoming us with open arms and being our friends right from the start. Thank you to all our friends we are leaving behind, you will be missed. Thank you to my parents for opening their home to us. And most important, thank you Heavenly Father for all our wonderful blessings. We couldn't ask for more.

Itching, Itching, Itching

2010-02-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

I don't think I have ever been more uncomfortable in my entire life. I woke up in the middle of the night to my hands and feet itching. Not just any itch, but a severe itch that wouldn't let up no matter how hard I scratched.

At first I thought it could be an allergy, but there was no rash. So as soon as the doctor's office opened this morning, I called to ask the nurse if it was something to worry about.

As soon as I got a hold of the nurse they told me to go right to Labor and Delivery (woman's center) for some tests. They ended up admitting me so they could monitor the baby's heart rate and get a blood sample to check my liver.

Everything checked out fine, but they couldn't come up with a reason I should have this constant itch. They sent me home and told me to take some benadryl.

Now I feel all doped up and sleepy, but STILL have my constant ITCH! AHHH! I don't think I can handle another 5 1/2 weeks of this.

January Showers

2010-01-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all the rain and wind that we got last night we now have one more thing to deal with before we move. The one and only tree that we have/had in our backyard couldn't take the thought of us leaving and decided to take its own life. Luckily, in our tiny backyard, it somehow missed the two walls that it was only feet from and also miss our house by only a few feet. We are very glad that everything is okay, now we have to clean the dang thing up.

This is a pic that I was able to take of the next door neighbors wolf dog. He told us that it is 90% wolf. This dog likes to bark and jump at the wall when we are in the backyard. He is a pretty dog though.

New Job in Utah!

2010-01-16T15:04:00.000-08:00

I just got a job working for a company in Sandy, Utah called Azteca. We will be moving at the end of this month and I will be starting work testing software on Feb. 1st.

Christmas Time

2009-12-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

We got to go to Utah to visit Alisha's parents for Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went to temple square to go see the Christmas lights and I got the opportunity to use my camera at night for the first time. These are some of my favorite pics but I am still learning how to get the best pictures at night. Hope you all like them.

Alisha took this last one. This is how Zoey spend most of the trip to Utah, with her head on the back of the seat looking out the front of the truck.

DONE!!!

2009-12-22T20:40:00.001-08:00

Daniel is officially graduated! I am so proud of him. He was able to shuffle a full load of classes, a full time job, and his calling of executive secretary during tithing settlement season and still pull off good grades. He is DONE! Now we just need a good job. =) Love you sweetie!

More Pics

2009-12-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would post some more pics that I have taken in the last little while. Hope you all like them. Any feedback would be great even if it is negative, I would like to get better.

My Baby Sister

2009-12-17T19:31:00.000-08:00

My baby sister is all grown up! This past weekend she graduated from USU. Rachel graduated with honors and is now on to bigger and greater things.

Come the beginning of February, Rachel will be heading to Halifax, Canada to serve a full time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She will be there for a year and a half.

I had the opportunity to fly up to Utah this past weekend to be there for her graduation and her first visit to the Temple! I am so proud of you Rachel! LOVE YOU!

It's a Boy!!!

2009-10-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

We have a happy, healthy baby boy who is right on schedule.
We are just so excited!
Time to start shopping.

U2 Concert

2009-10-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night Alisha and I got to go to the U2 concert in Glendale at the Cardinals new stadium. We started the night with a lovely 2 1/2 hour car ride to the stadium due to heavy traffic followed by a 30 min wait in a huge line of cars to park and no signs telling us that it costs $20 to park until we got to where we could park. Thankfully we found a spot to park that was free and made it just in time to see U2.
The concert was really good. They plays lots of song from there new album as well as some of there older songs. The stage they have was huge and fun to watch. They always put on a good show. For those of you who have not seen them live I would recommend seeing them at least once.

Can't Wait

2009-10-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

We get to find out what gender little Baby Strong is next Friday, October 23. I thought it would be fun to let all our friends have a guess. I am adding a poll to my page so please vote!

March 24th = Baby Strong

2009-09-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce that we are expecting our first baby. My mom was able to fly down to go to my first doctors appointment. Poor Daniel had to work. They first kept us waiting in the waiting room for over an hour while other patients who had gotten their after us were taken in. I was not happy about this. When they finally took us back, they checked to see if they could find a heart beat. They couldn't find one so the doctor was nice enough to order us an ultrasound right then. Daniel was able to make it just in time to see the ultrasound. And boy was Baby Strong dancing, kicking, punching and we even got to see him/her roll over. The baby was so active that the technician decided to record the ultrasound and give us a disk! It was defiantly worth the wait.

On other news, it has been a crazy week. Monday, on my way to work, I was rear-ended on the freeway in rush hour traffic. There was not to much damage and everyone was okay, but we still have the joy of dealing with insurance and getting it fixed. We just LOVED (sarcasm) how our insurance handled it that we decided that once we are done with getting the car fixed, that we would be looking into a new car insurance company. Any suggestions?

Well tonight, after Daniel left the the ASU football game we had a little visitor. Well, maybe not so little. I heard a huge bang outside. It sounded like someone drove through our garage. I run out and found that a motorcycle hit the side of our house. It turns out the guy was going at least 80 on an uninsured and non plated bike. The kid broke his collar bone and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. We don't have any holes in the house but there is a good chuck out of the siding of the house. We ended up having an ambulance, firetruck, 6 cop cars and a crime scene bus show up. All I have to say, is that we are majorly blessed that it wasn't any worse. =)

Grandpa Strong

2009-08-20T20:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning i received a call from my father informing me that my grandpa Strong passed away. This has given me some time to think about the great memories i have had of that great man. I really love this picture that many others in the family have posted to their blogs. This picture reminds me of the love my grandpa had for music. I always enjoyed listening to him play the piano. He would play using the black keys and his music had a very distinct sounds that will always remind me of him. I also remember how kind and loving he was to all those around him. He would always give me a big hug before i would leave and tell me he loved me. I also will remember the love he had for his wife. I will always remember him calling my grandma his sweetheart and never once did I see them argue. My grandpa also was able to give my my patriarchal blessing and seal me and Alisha in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. For these and many other reasons I will miss my grandpa dearly. I look forward to the day when I can see him again in the next life.Families are forever

Summer Projects

2009-08-04T19:30:00.001-07:00

All I have to say is that my husband is AMAZING!!! While I was away at girls camp, Daniel decided to tile our ugly laundry room. He did awesome! When I got home from girls camp he had all the time cut, laid, grouted, and sealed. We just wanted the room done and I wanted to wash my smelly clothes so we painted the room that same day!

I gotta say.... I love it!

I love my handy husband!

I also have to give a huge shout out to my awesome brother, MARCUS for helping us pick out our tile and making sure we have everything we need! He is majoring in Interior Design and is Amazing! You can check out his work at Marcus Hamblin Design .

Thanks to my willing father-in-law for being willing to come and help Daniel with the tile.

Thanks to my parents for being willing to drive our tile down from Utah! It was great seeing you guys!

This past week Daniel has been busy again! He decided to tile our master bath and closet. He got all the floor ripped up and ready to go by Friday and then Saturday he got all the tile in. Again he did an awesome job.

*P.S. Sorry the pics are kinda blurry. Don't know how to work Daniel's Camera yet! =)
We had these crazy nobs on our master bathroom cabinets. I HATED them! So we finally replaced them tonight!

I think they look so much better. Our next big project will be to sand down our ugly cabinets and stain them a nice cherry color.

This was my big project this summer. I did rag quilt. I just love how it turned out.

LOVE IT!!!

Flashback Friday

2009-05-08T12:28:00.001-07:00

Green Thumb

2009-05-07T20:43:00.001-07:00

Well we made our first attempt at gardening. Daniel is amazing and decided that he wanted to build an above ground garden box. He did it all by himself without any plans or anything!

We decided to plant strawberries, tomatoes, green beans, and corn.

We ended up putting a soaker hose under the top layer of soil.

About a month later this was our result. Once it started growing, it kept growing.....

And GROWING!

This is about 2 weeks after the last picture.

We ended up having to put a little fence around the garden since Zoey decided she liked the taste of our strawberries.

We had come outside one day with all the strawberry blossoms missing. And over the next week we never saw another blossom. I guess Zoey would carefully bite off the blossom leaving the bush unaffected. Silly puppy. Lets just say Daniel wasn't to happy that he would have to wait a little longer for our home grown strawberries. We are excited to harvest the fruits of our labor.

Visitor Fun!

2009-04-24T15:49:00.001-07:00

Over the past month we had a few visitors at our house. The Medford family came for spring break and Easter. They come to our house for a little while to see our new house and visit our zoo.

The Kids loved the ferrets!

This is our favorite picture. You can see that Corinne is halfway in the picture, and she has a good hold on Lilly. Is she trying to rip her apart or take a bite? =)

Zoey is getting bigger and had a fun visitor last week.

Justin and Tanya took a short vacation to California so we had Reece come spend the weekend! She was a good puppy and getting big as well. The dogs played all day and wore each other out so much that by the end of the day they would just lay there.

What a good dog!

Cute little puppies! But not for long!

Some Pictures

2009-04-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I took the other day in the Superstition Mountains. Let me know what you think.

After Part I

2009-03-16T20:00:00.001-07:00

Before

2009-03-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our first home! The before Pictures.

The front entry.

Fake fireplace! Don't you love the pink walls? Actually they are a brownish/orange but come off pink because of the red tile.

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Double Stove!

Up close of the tile.

Master Bedroom.Master bathroom

Master Bathroom 2

Laminate Flooring in the bedrooms

Stay tuned for the "After" pictures!

New Addition

2009-01-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

The other day we got a new puppy! Her name is Zoey and she is a black lab. She has been so good for us, we are just hoping that she will keep it up. She was even good enough to pose for some pictures we our nieces and nephews.Hannah loved the new puppy.Will liked the puppy too.
Tommy still liked Bubba the best. We are looking forward to many fun years with our Zoey.

White Christmas

2008-12-31T17:18:00.001-08:00

This year we went to Utah to spend Christmas with Alisha's family. As you can tell from the picture we had a white Christmas. In fact, it snowed almost every day that we were there. We were lucky enough to have clear roads when we drove there and back which was nice. For Christmas Alisha got me a nice digital SLR camera so i can take lots of nice pictures now. Stay tuned to our blog for more of my handy work.
Here is the Christmas tree at the Hamblin house.Here is Chloe the Hamblin puppy. I will add some more a little later.

I've been tagged!

2008-10-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here are the rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog:
2. Answer the six "8" items
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. 24
2. Heroes
3. Office
4. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
5. My Name is Earl
6. Prison Break
7. Arrested Development
8. King of the Hill

8 Things I did yesterday
1. Went to Work
2. Went to Costco
3. Read a Book
4. Talked to Daniel
5. Watched the debate
6. Made Dinner
7. Talked to my Mom
8. Watched TV

8 Things I look forward to
1. Coming Home from Work
2. Seeing Daniel
3. Relaxing
4. Buying a House
5. Have Children
6. Christmas
7. Seeing my Family
8. Going to bed

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Logans
2. Texas Road House
3. Mattas
4. Costa Vida
5. Paradise Bakery
6. Golden Gate
7. Olive Garden
8. Red Lobster

8 Things on my wishlist
1. A baby
2. A House
3. Daniel done with School
4. To be a stay at home mom
5. A new car
6. A Massage
7. New Clothes
8. To learn to play the piano

8 People I tag
1. Melinda
2. Tim
3. Stephanie
4. Dave
5. Carrie
6. Lauree
7. Dallin
8. Daniel

And Anyone else to wants to join in the fun!

ASU vs. UNLV

2008-09-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Alisha and I invited Justin and Tanya to go to a football game. We figured it would be a blowout game with ASU dominating the entire game. Boy were we ever wrong. From the start of the game ASU did not look great. The first drive they were held to only a field goal. The defense didn't do any better letting the Rebels run against almost at will. Even with all the bad playing ASU managed to stay ahead at the half but only barely. After the half things went from bad to worse as UNLV came back from ten points behind to tie the game with 28 seconds left in the game. At this point ASU had 2 timeouts left so we figured, they can still get some decent yards on a couple passing plays followed by timeouts then kick a winning field goal. To our horror, this did not happen, but instead we got to watch one short gain running play that sent the game into overtime. During overtime ASU held UNLV to a field goal and UNLV, in turn , held ASU to a field goal which they were able to block giving them the win and devastating the crowd in attendance.

Other then the awful game it was a very fun game to go to. College games are always a blast to go to. Hopefully some day we will be able to get some season tickets. We are now looking forward to next year when ASU will meet BYU at home. Hopefully we can get the Hamblins (my in-laws) to come down and go with us to it.

The Arizona Monsoon

2008-09-05T15:47:00.001-07:00

The rain is something that you learn to appreciate when you live in a place know as The Valley of the Sun.

Every year from July to September the monsoon makes its way into this arid no-man's land to give some well deserved relief to the parched landscape. This year brought some of the best storms that I can remember. Last Thursday brought one of the most exciting of these storms. The lightning from last Thursday's storm lit up the night sky like a strobe light in some swanky, Scottsdale dance club, while the thunder rumbled like the massive jets of an airliner.

The storm also produces wind gusts reaching 100mph in some areas. The wind was so strong that is toppled trees all around and in the ASU campus. It also tore down a brand new, climate controlled practice field that ASU football used to practice out of the scorching heat. The wind also knocked a tree over onto our apartment. It did not fall very hard and it is still leaning against the side of our complex.

Here is a video of what the storm looked like that night after the wind subsided.

Sudoku

2008-08-31T00:24:00.000-07:00

The other day we had the ferrets on the couch with us and found out that they have a real awesome talent. They are great at sudoku. They were able to help Alisha through some of the very hard parts. Alisha attempted to finish it on her own but Bubba would have none of that and came back to help some more.
After seeing that our ferrets have great talents we are excited to see what they can do next. We are thinking of taking them to Vegas next time we go to see how good they are at counting cards then maybe we can hire them out to companies to help them streamline there business.

The Joys of Living on Cicero St

2008-08-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

So last night around 5pm Alisha and I were sitting in the apartment watching TV when we started noticing that the A/C wasn't blowing cold any more. I checked out the fuse and the filter and everything looked fine so I figured that i would go outside and see if anything looked funny out there. That is when i came upon this sight.

I have seen things get stolen before but never an A/C unit. I couldn't believe that someone actually stole our A/C. Well if anyone finds an A/C unit on craigslist let me know so i can go punch them in the face for taking our wonderful A/C unit. At least our landlord was good enough to get us a new one the next morning so we are now enjoying the wonderful convenience that is known as air conditioning.

Campin' with the Hamblins

2008-08-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Daniel and I took off work on Friday and went a camping with my parents. We ended up meeting them at Mormon Lake near Flagstaff Arizona.

We didn't get there until about 9:00 P.M. so we had fun trying to put up the tent in the dark. It was nice to finally get away from work and get reacquainted with nature.

On Friday we visited Jerome, a mining town taken over by Hippies. We checked out the shops and then the local ghost town. They had a few old original buildings like a dentist, shoe repair shop, and even an old sawmill that still works.

Pretty much the place was an old dump. It was a place that the locals would dump their old rusty vehicles. We saw an old police car, a delivery truck, fire engine, etc. I wouldn't suggest paying the $5.00 per person to get in but we made the most of it!

The best part of Jerome was the FUDGE! They had a little store that had homemade fudge. It was yummy. I even converted Daniel into liking the plain vanilla fudge that has been my life long favorite flavor.

Later that day we visited Montezuma's Castle and the Tuzigoot ruins. We were able to climb up to the very top and look over the valley. There was no question of why the natives chose here to populate. There was a beautiful river running by and a spacious valley for their gardens.

On Saturday we visited the Sedona area. We went on a hike in the cottonwood canyon. I it was a nice easy hike but the sensory was great!

As we were driving down past slide rock on our way out of the canyon we hit a little traffic. We saw that a dog was running back in forth stopping the cars. The poor thing looked so scared. People were trying to catch the dog but that just scared him more. He ended up jumping over the medium. To our horror we realized we were on a bridge and the dog just jumped over the edge. =( Poor thing!

We then visited Cathedral Rock and Sunset Crater. We got the opportunity to walk on the lava flow which was really cool.

In the evenings we played cards and roasted marsh mellows. On Saturday night we were sitting around the campfire talking when all of a sudden a skunk found it's way into our camp. My Dad jump up and startled the skunk who turned around and lifted his tale and............... ran away. We were so lucky he didn't spray.
We had a blast!

The 4th of July Weekend

2008-07-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Alisha and I were able to drive to Utah to see Alisha's family.

We drove up the Las Vegas the first night and we stayed in the New York New York hotel. It is always nice to split up the that long drive by staying there and it was a pretty nice hotel.

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Draper and got in town just in time to help Alisha's parents take there 6 week old puppies to the vet for there shots, all eight of them. They were a handful but very cute.

The next day was the 4th of July and we went and saw Hancock in the theater. After seeing it, i would give it 2 1/2 stars out of 4 for those of you wanting to see it. After the movie, we had a BBQ with Alisha's family and her grandparents came over and joined us. We had a good time and it was nice to see family. We then went to the fireworks in Sandy and took two of the puppies with us to see if we could find them a home. It was a good 4th and i think we found a good home for at least one of the puppies.

The next day we started the day by hiking up to Timpanogos Cave with Alisha's family. It had a long time since the last time I had been there and i forgot how steep a hike it was. It was still fun to go up to the cave and through it.

After the cave Alisha and I went to go pick up a u-haul trailer so we could take a washer and dryer and table back with us that Alisha's parents gave us. When we got there we had to wait an hour before someone would help us, then when he did help us he got the trailer all hooked up loosely and one of the blinkers on the trailer didn't even work. Instead of fixing it he sent us miles down the road with a loosely connected trailer and no blinker to another u-haul place. In all it took us 2 hours the get a trailer. By the way, thanks to Alisha's parents for the washer, dryer and table.

After we got back we were able to go out and visit our niece Katherine's grave. It was nice to be able to go see her grave since I was unable to make it to her funeral. When we got there it took a while for us to find the grave but eventually we found it, cleaned it up and left some flowers.

After we went to the cemetery we had to rush over to the theater to see Wall-E. I would give this movie 2 1/2 stars out of 4. It was a decent movie just not great.

The next day we headed back to Arizona. This was my first time towing a trailer so it was a new experience and it was a long trip because we had to drive slow. The truck did well and got us here with the trailer with out any problems. I was proud of my trailer backing when we got back. I had never backed a trailer before and i backed it in right were i wanted it so i had to take a picture.

Washington D.C.

2008-05-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we were able to go to the capital with Alisha's family. It was a good trip other than the rain.

When we first go there it was pretty clear but muggy. We got landed around 4pm and decided to go to the national mall on the way to Manassus, VA, where we were staying.

These first few pictures are from the first day we were there.

Below is the WWII memorial.

This is the Lincoln Memorial.

We stayed on the mall until after it got dark and we were able to see some of the monuments at night which was pretty cool.

This is the Jefferson Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial.

The next day we went back to the National Mall and it rained almost the entire day. Alisha and I were glad we bought umbrellas and rain coats for the trip, but it wasn't enough to keep our feet from getting soaked.

Alisha and I ended up being dropped off on the west side of the mall so that we could wait in line for tickets to the holocaust museum.

This mean that we had to trek through the elements all the way to the east side of the mall when Alisha's parents found out that everyone need to be together to get tickets to the capital.

After we got the tickets we went to the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court while we were waiting to get into the Capital building.

This is in the Library of Congress.

Sorry about the rest of this blog, this program is so hard to use that i am just sick of it.

From the Library of Congress we went to the capital and then the next day we went to the old post office and the smithsonian museums and the national archives and fords theater.

The next day we went the mt vernon and arlington national cometary.

The last day we went to the national cathedral and then flew home.

Why men love trucks

2008-04-09T16:49:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it is about a truck that makes men love it? Is is the color? The tires? The lack of hair on there head?

The answer to this deep perplexing question is one that every man has to sit down and contemplate and come to an answer for him self, but there are some incites that come to mind when thinking about this very topic.

First, and the major reason for men to love a truck is: What if I need it at some point? I mean, what if I'm stuck in a parking lot and my only way out is a two foot high curb followed by 2 miles on intense off road trails followed by and person stuck in the mud needing to be pulled out? Things like that happen all the time right?

Second: You just look cooler in a truck. Think of all those guys you see riding down the road in there huge lifted truck with some 2Pac or P-Diddy blaring from there open windows. You couldn't be any cooler than that, right? I mean, who wouldn't respect and admire you as a 5ft tall balding middle aged single man if you were in a huge lifted truck cruising the mean streets of Mesa, Arizona.

Men love things that make them feel manly. Ever since the dawn of time, men wanted to feel manly. From ancient man's large club to more modern man's remote control, men have always wanted to feel in control and able to do what they want. The truck gives men the ability to go where ever and take what ever they want with them. Who knows when that situation will arise when you are stuck in a jungle with a large piece of cargo that needs to get through some really rough roads in order to save the lives of those starving kids in Ethiopia. At that point, you will be wishing you had a truck.

2008-03-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Alisha and I went out to the Superstition Mountains last weekend and I was able to take a few pictures of the spring time flowers.

We Started a Blog!

2008-03-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

We finally decided to get with the times and start a blog. Hopefully we can make it as interesting as everyone else even though we don't have kids and maybe we will just make up some awesome exciting things just to keep you all entertained, stay tuned.