Rock Canyon

We live about a half mile from a huge canyon. I used to go there weekly as a freshman and frequently throughout college. It brings many fond memories and a sense of peace and happiness for me. I couldn't wait to visit Rock Canyon again and so the first Saturday I after I arrived while L'Anita was busy doing homework, I decided that the best way to keep Abigail entertained was to do something; so we went on a hike. (We hiked to the Y on the mountain the day before which Abigail wasn't thrilled about - maybe because she soaked her diaper and pants through around the top. She decided that no one, but her dad would be allowed to carry her down! That was interesting. Try carrying a baby without touching their pants.)

On the way up to Y. Sorry the view is not very good. Like my grandmother says, "unless you're at the front of the pack the view never changes".

Here is the mouth of the canyon.

Here is Abigail after 20 minutes. Snack break! And by a nice, cool stream too.

Cindy thinks that the Colorado Rockies are much more beautiful that the stony Wasatch front. I usually tend to agree with her, but I've never seen them in the summer. Looks like there are some trees and green on them after all.

Finally, here is a picture of the two hikers. I forgot her nose was running the whole time, otherwise I would have been a little embarrassed with all the people seeing her on our way down. We hiked for 2 hours, 1.5 up and .5 down. We found snow and some strange chicken-bird. We went farther than I had ever been on that trail before. Last time I was there is was all snowy and I turned around when I saw paw prints as big as my hand and no one around to hear me.

I wonder what we will do this weekend? Perhaps hunt down some ferocious wild animals...? Tune in again next time.

Trip to Utah

Well, shortly after I turned in my last final I jumped in the car and headed west. I had planned on leaving quite a bit earlier to avoid traffic and get to a reasonable point to stay the night, but everything took longer than expected and I hit the road around 4:30pm, just in time for rush hour. Not too bad though, and with a bundle of books on tape I didn't mind all that much. I hoped to surprise L'Anita, but when I called her for our evening chat she guessed right away that I was not on my way home from Wendy's at 11pm, but really on the road to reunite with them several days ahead of schedule. So after many miles and a couple of books, plus a couple of nights sleeping in the back of my car (no room in the Wyoming inns for a pathetic, smelly cross-country traveler) I made it to Provo just about 40 hrs after I left Atlanta (30hr drive).

Here is a picture of the house my Great-grandmother Mohr used to live in and my grandma Bankhead in Heber, Ut.

And this is the view of Mount Timponogas from the Heber side. Indian lore states that a beautiful Indian princess who had a broken heart lied down there and turned into a mountain or something. See if you can make out her head (on the left) and her feet (on the right, obviously).

Can't wait to get up into those mountains for some hiking and communion with good ol' Mother Nature!

Reporting live from Provo, Utah!

Well, Abigail and I safely arrived in Provo this past Wednesday and are now settling into our home for the summer. We're subleasing a furnished apartment from a family with two little boys, and Abigail has had fun discovering all the "new" toys they left behind! They also left behind a piano (a major selling point when we were considering our housing options), so Abigail and I feel right at home! She is adjusting well and doesn't seem at all weirded out sleeping in someone else's bed. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for her mother....

It almost feels like I never left this place. The mountains outside our window became such a familiar sight to me when I attended BYU two years ago. I'm delighted to be back in Happy Valley! Abigail has seen more children under 3 here in the last 2 days than she's seen in her entire life in Atlanta. And I no longer feel like I'm competing for Youngest Mother on the Block. I admit that I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life here, but it sure is a nice change to have so many young families we can interact with here. And it's fun to be living the college life again--albeit with a few changes since I last experienced it! But I certainly wouldn't trade marital status and motherhood for the more carefree days at BYU as a single student.

The change of scenery, though, brief as it will be, is already invigorating to me, and I am excited to start my classes. I am taking three classes during spring term and three during summer. My schedule this term includes a child development course that I've heard good things about, a parenting and child guidance class, and one called The Living Prophets that focuses on the life and teachings of our current prophets and apostles. Lloyd Newell teaches the last one, and I am really looking forward to it. I imagine he's had to make quite a few changes in his course curriculum the past few semesters, and I'm a little disappointed that I will miss out on the Gordon B. Hinckley and James E. Faust chapters. However, one of my New Year's resolutions was to start and finish President Hinckley's biography, Go Forward With Faith, and I have been enjoying it immensely, perhaps more than any other book. It has been a great source of motivation and courage to me, and I reflect almost daily on some experience from his life that helps me exercise greater faith in my own. I think the lesson to be learned from his life that transcends all others is that the Lord truly has a plan for each of us and will mould us, through our experiences, into much more than we can become on our own. What made Gordon Hinckley such a great man and capable servant is that he learned early that the way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the Lord's work.

Well, this is what happens when I just start typing without an end in mind. I am the worst when it comes to stream-of-consciousness. I guess that's why I have so many incomplete journal entries. (and why it's exhausting to post something on this blog...)

So to get back to BYU--the reason I am here, for those who don't already know, is to get enough on-campus credit hours to qualify for BYU's Bachelor of General Studies program. After spring and summer terms, I will be able to finish my bachelor's degree online. The thought of getting such a degree would have been appalling to my high school self, but after some internal struggle, my perspective has changed. I have three motives that are important and worthy, in my mind, for getting my degree: 1) I love learning and believe that my learning will make me a better wife and mother, and I believe continuing my education can help me learn how to learn better, 2) I would like to have a degree to fall back on in case I ever have to provide for our family and 3) I would like to feel the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that comes from completing something important that I started. Having those "guiding principles" (as my dad would say) has helped me move forward and stop looking back. So with them in mind, I am eager to commence what I began two years ago at BYU! And when I finally get to walk across the stage in my black gown and collect my diploma, I imagine I'll feel an even deeper satisfaction having my sweet daughter (and her now-nameless younger siblings) watch me do it. And I hope someday they will understand why the sacrifice was worth it.

Now onto the pictures...

Abigail loves to plunk around on the piano. (I hope it lasts!) Sometimes I think she does it to get my attention while I'm making dinner in the kitchen. We have a large pass-through window in the kitchen that looks into the room where the piano is, and Abigail often goes over and bangs on it for a few seconds and looks over her shoulder to see if I'm watching. Of course, I always am.....

Abigail and I were privileged to accompany Joseph to one of his track meets a few months ago and were thrilled when he won his race! We were very proud to claim kin with him to all those sitting near us. I brought the camera to the race and of course didn't remember to take any pictures, so here's a snapshot with him later that day. (If he looks a little constipated, it's because he's flexing for the camera...)

At a nearby park - Abigail loves to swing, but her parents have found they have lost their youthfulness somewhere along the way; that is, they get queasy pretty quickly on the swings.

Abby & Hyrum share a birthday cake. 13 candles for Hyrum & 1 for Abby!

"How does this thing work again?"



Editor's comment: In case you were wondering what the brownish-green stuff is that's smeared all over Abigail's face in this picture, it happens to be my homemade babyfood, and I'm happy to share the recipe....It's pretty simple: chicken liver, peas & carrots, and rice. Yummy, huh? Those four ingredients might not sound bad as a tidy list separated neatly by commas, but I assure you that when you plop them all together in the blender and turn it on, it quickly becomes a sticky, stinky mess that doesn't look appropriate for human consumption. I got the recipe from my mom. Apparently it's the secret to rearing 10 healthy (and good-looking, I might add) children because she says she didn't feed us much else when we were babies. That may be true, but 20 years later my taste buds have obviously become more selective. I felt like I was going to vomit as I spooned that slop into ice-cube trays to put in the freezer. As I finished transferring the last of the batch, I actually gave an involuntary shudder. However, Abigail actually seems to like it, especially when I mix it with a little applesauce. She has also found that, when she's eaten her fill, it makes for very effective styling gel...
(Dad also shuddered the time he accidentally touched the spoon to his mouth when pretending to eat the yummy stuff.)

Easter egg hunt!

A fun little hunt in the Weilers' back yard. I believe that it was sponsored by Michael and Brittany - they are the most organized/fun ones. It probably has something to do with him being the oldest or her being the youngest in their family. I am also the oldest. I wonder if my family thinks that I am fun??? (If there is any organization in our lives it is directly linked to L'Anita!)

Looks like Michael is cracking into one of those treasure-filled eggs! Hey, look! There is even a bunny at this hunt. Wow, too bad the kiddos are too young to really appreciate this momentous Easter egg hunt. Too young to savor those sweet little delectables inside the plastic eggs as well! After all Michael is a dentist and we can't have those kids eating sugary... yeah, parents' prerogative.
Clara's got her stash and she's not letting it out of her sight either.

"Ohhhhh"

- One of her favorite words along with uh-ohh when she drops/throws something.

"I got one!"

Gotta love the crinkled nose. She really likes making faces at you.


"Eggs are cool, but bark is better"

Fillin' in the gaps

Here are some of the things we may have left out in between.

Abigail loves dogs, especially Gayle's dog, Magic.

"Ok, Abby. Don't pull the doggie's chain when his eyes are glowing."

-This reminds me of the Incredible Hulk, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Magic is the gentlest dog around, but he is a little vocal when he gets jealous.

Here I think Abby was trying to help with the laundry, but ended up in time out. "Don't worry sweetie, we won't leave you there."

One day we found an Amazon parrot outside out condo. He looked frightened and frazzled so we grabbed him with a towel and forced him into a trash can. To make up for it we gave him some carrots and let him stay the night in our kitchen. The next day we found his owner who said he had been missing for over a week. We brought him back to his mate; you can see the reunited couple in the background. Parrots (Order psittaciformes), are monogamous breeders or in other words they will only pair up once in a lifetime. We learned a lot about parrots that weekend. The owner was very nice and said we could come back any time and see his two cockatoos and his two dozen doves/ pigeons.

Abby & Jane Richter are having fun emptying the toys out of the bins.

"Say, do your parents have plug covers on the sockets in your house?"

- Yes, we do. Contrary to popular belief she actually gets her hair from her mother whose used to stand up even more than Abigail's does.

That is one great smile from Zella. What a cutie!
Here we are visiting the Kryscynskis' beautiful home for an Easter dinner.

We're back!

Well, we didn't actually go anywhere. I just haven't posted anything in forever. I don't think I'll ever be consistent with this online journaling thing. I looked at our site tonight for the first time in months and became a little discouraged. It brought to mind something Elder David Bednar said in our last General Conference. He advised taking "small, steady, incremental" steps toward improvement, rather than engaging in "sporadic spurts of intense...activity." I think if he were to take a look at my blog, those would be the exact words he would use to describe the kind of journaling I do here. And of all my intense sporadic spurts, this particular entry tops them all....Enjoy!

One of the very few pictures that turned out semi-decently from our 2-hour adventure at the new Emory medical school with Erik's sister Cindy, who graciously agreed to take some family photos. Unfortunately, we didn't do her talents much justice. For some reason, it never occurred to us that our adorable, sweet-tempered little 9-month old wouldn't want to sit still through countless camera clicks and unnatural poses. And even further from our minds was the possibility that she might not smile every time Aunt Cindy held the camera up. Yes, believe it or not, out of the hundred pictures we took that morning, Abigail is not smiling in a single one of them. Oh, well! We just have to learn to laugh because this is only the beginning. I imagine it will only get more fun when Erik and I are both wrestling squirming children.

Thank heaven for those delicious, pacifying Christmas ornaments...

Christmas with the Weilers
-John Tanner State Park Lodge (West Georgia)

My parents with all eight of their grandchildren! Abigail is on my mom's lap just kickin' back. She was by far the most cooperative of all the mobile children. It took about ten minutes, ten adults, a lot of sweet talking (and a handful of jellybeans for the boys) to get these kids to sit on the couch for about three seconds.

From left to right: Mom Weiler with Kristina and Abigail, Lillian, Elizabeth, Clara, Clark, Lincoln and Adam. Elizabeth, Lillian, Lincoln and Kristina are David and Char's. Clara is Michael and Brittany's. Clark belongs to Caleb and Shannyn. And little Adam goes with Tabitha and Tommy.

Abigail with Aunt Shannyn.

The cousins had a book exchange for Christmas, and someone got Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Elizabeth asked Michael to read it to her, but it wasn't long before others (ranging from infant to patriarch) gathered around to listen. I don't know if it was Michael's highly entertaining storytime voice or the lure of the land of Chewandswallow that was so irresistible, but it was a fun read!

Gift-giving hasn't always been one of my family's big Christmas traditions, but in recent years we've started doing more of it. Suffice it to say that the younger Weiler kids get a big kick out of unwrapping gifts with their name on them! So this year Erik decided to give my younger brothers Joseph and Hyrum each an UnderArmour shirt. I assured him that they would be very well received. Turns out that was a gross understatement. I've never seen two more ecstatic boys in my life! The expressions of surprise and elation on their faces were contagious. Erik, who had especially wanted to capture this moment, was clicking away behind the camera. When we looked at the pictures later, we had a good laugh...

So much for capturing the moment!

I know it's hard to tell, but the bottle actually belongs to Lincoln. Abigail was just sharing.

Bath time with Daddy!

We haven't figured out which hand Abigail favors. She prefers to eat with both of them.

Here's Great-grandpa Heiss playing with Abigail during our trip to Seabrook last month.

Grandma had some professionals come out and wash all her windows right before we came. Abigail found a few spots they missed.

This view of the marsh was breathtaking. Our pictures never do justice.

Mommy before her haircut...

Mommy after her haircut...

On December 1, at precisely 12 o'clock am, Erik's sister Kris and her husband, Dave, welcomed their second child, Zella Ava, into the Kryscynski family. She has been a sweet and beautiful addition! Erik, Abigail and I enjoyed a nice visit with them in the hospital.

Abigail is all dressed and ready to work out with Mommy!

Before she had any teeth, Abigail really enjoyed gnawing on apple slices.

Mommy getting Abigail riled up before bedtime...

In November, as a birthday treat, I took my mom to a weekend Time Out for Women conference in Atlanta that featured some great speakers, including an author we both enjoy, and spectacular entertainment by violinist Jenny Oaks Baker. It was a fun little getaway.

We had my younger brother Seth over for dinner before he left on his mission to Portland back in November. He can really charm Abigail.

My older sister, Tabitha, and her husband, Tommy, welcomed their first child, Adam, into their family on October 14th. We visited them out in Loganville one afternoon, and Abigail loved playing with someone smaller than herself! Adam looked pretty cute in his Halloween pumpkin outfit.

Here we were visiting the Armstrongs in the hospital after Adam was born.

Abigail loves books, but the only one she loves to listen to more than chew on is Donde esta el ombliguito? (Where is baby's belly button?) We don't really envision Abigail growing up bilingual, but Erik does try to speak exclusively in Spanish to her. We'll see what comes of it.

One of the only blessings in my mind that compares with having an adorable, healthy little girl is having a faithful, loving husband who is a devoted dad.

What an infectious smile!

My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this past August. My sister-in-law Brittany had the thoughtful idea of putting together a book for them. So for several months we gathered pictures from grandparents and other relatives and went through boxes of them that my mom has taken over the years; then Michael and Brittany organized them all into a beautiful book with clever captions and a nice dedication page and had it printed. (We just love Brittany; she makes us Weilers look good!) We all pitched in and made a nice anniversary dinner for Mom and Dad and then presented them with this book. Mom read it aloud to everybody, and we all laughed and cried over the many wonderful memories and stories the pictures elicited. It was a memorable occasion.

In August Seth got his mission call! Despite his intense excitement, he waited until the whole family (all those in GA, anyway) had gathered at Mom and Dad's house before opening it. It was fun to watch him do it. He's opening the envelope here
And here he is after reading aloud his call to Tempe, AZ! The funny thing is that he later got a second call, switching him to Portland, OR. He left just after Thanksgiving and is having a wonderful experience in Portland. His letters reflect his continual growth and maturity and his increasing love and appreciation for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I always look forward to reading them.