NANCI I DID IT

You have to try a different email address. Mine was my hotmai address. So, I had to log out of gmail so that it wasn't automatically going straight to the default address, and then log in with my hotmail. Make sense? If not, call me. I'm a hacker.

A drawing from Ezrie

I have had this drawing that Ezrie did for me in my scanner for months now and I just had to share. She gave this to me just before her baptism. She was so excited about getting baptized.
Last Saturday the scouts and the Elders hiked to the top of Timp. Clint came along as well. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on. Just amazing! We went up the Aspen Grove side. We left the church at 4:30am and got home about 4pm. It is a 19.5 mile hike with a 5000 ft climb. Needless to say it was all I could do and I am still soar 4 days later. I don't have photos because our camera is broken.

Thought I'd do a real quick post while I have a minute or two this afternoon. I'm waiting for the Break Away staff to come in so that we can finish up binders for our last two conferences this summer. The first, where we were working on disaster relief in New Orleans, went incredibly well. Here's a picture of one of the morning groups at their direct service - gutting a house (2 years post-Katrina, mind you) in their tyvek suits. They were such troopers - it was incredibly humid and pretty darn hot there. It reminded me of those wrestlers trying to lose all their water weight to get into a lower category by running stairs in plastic sacks. I hope this isn't just some rogue practice that happened at Mt. Harmon Jr. High and I've just exposed the underbelly of Price Utah.

Tuesday we head to San Diego to tackle the second Alternative Break Citizenship schools. We'll be focusing on border and immigration issues. Then we'll come back to Atlanta and two days later start our third and final conference here, focusing on refugee resettlement. It has been a real learning summer for the staff. Our issues are all tied together - working with displaced people and all the troubles that surround such. I've learned so much (just to name a few things - 80% of New Orleans was under water; it wasn't the hurricane, it was the levee breach; over 50% of undocumented workers in the US pay taxes; there is one 5 mile area of Atlanta where 170 nations are represented) and continue to love this work because of exposure to this type of information and the faces that accompany such statistics.

My staff is awesome this summer - Samantha is our Programs Director that started in January, Molly left in April on maternity leave, and then two interns - Jillian and Chris - came in and have worked their tails off. We are proving to be a very cohesive team and have been very focused on trying to make our work "brilliant". All of them also really love Martin, and I've posted another picture to show why. It's been great to see some of you so far this summer, but I'm looking forward to the winter breather and our holidays together again. Hopefully more again soon!

Yellowstone Scout Trip

As most of you know we went to Yellowstone from June 11th to the 16th for our week long scout summer camp. We spent 2.5 days in Yellowstone and mostly drove around looking at the sites and looking for wildlife. We saw bison, elk, deer, big horn sheep, a moose, coyotes (and pups), a fox, bald eagles, and various other small critters. But no bears or wolves. We tried hard one day to see bears but missed them by about 12 hours. It was great.

After Yellowstone we drove through the Tetons and down through Jackson Hole. Jackson was a madhouse even at this time of year. Then the last few days we spent in the Lava Hot Springs Idaho area. We spend one whole day at the pool there. 7 diving boards and 3 Olympic diving platforms. Yes Jairus jumped off the 10 meter platform (33ft). He even liked it. Here is a photo of him doing that. He and I jumped off the lower 2 platforms together. It was a great trip and we didn't loose a single scout. Glad it's over!

Becki checks in

Jill is here and giving me a personal blogging lesson. It has been an eventful weekend with lots to report on so we'll see if she can get me hooked...

Ezrie and Brad on June 2nd 2007...Baptism Day!

Beautiful day, beautiful event, beautiful girl.

We enjoyed having lots of family at the big event. Ezrie was so excited that it "felt like Christmas Day".

Friday, May 04, 2007

Ruby turns one

I made it through the day. I think it was good that it turned out really busy, because this was a tough one for me. It is really hard to be losing my baby. Shes still so tiny so that tricks me into thinking she is still young, but today she hit the big 1, and took her first steps. Oh boy. Anyway I just wanted to post a bit about our little one.

My favorite things about Ruby are:
Her hair- I have tried to capture it on film, without luck, its kind of a thin mullet and often messy
I love to watch the way she eats- that little grasp is so cute, and she refuses to sit down in her high chair, either standing or climbing onto the table part of the high chair
She is curious, in a non-destructive way
She loves her brothers and can't wait to see them in the mornings
She dances to music
She is playful
I think she is tomboyish, she seems to look out of place in really girly frilly things
She is always eating the rocks from our backyard
She has been a really comfort for me the past year, something about holding her has been really soothing is stressful times.
I held her when we were in the hospital with Mason, and now during the move. I will be forever grateful.

I love you Ruby. I hope you Dream Big!!!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Ezrie and Jairus Hike "The Y"

A few weeks ago we had a YM activity and hiked to "The Y". Ezrie wanted to go so she came along. She did a great job and we all had fun. I promised her that I would post the photos on the blog so everyone would know of her greatness!

Pace Trip to Goblin Valley

It was spring break for the kids last week so Becki had the great idea to make a trip to Goblin Valley. Something we have always talked about doing as a family but never have. Becki's simple one day trip quickly turned into a 2 day camping trip with all the extended Pace family in tow. On Thursday we arived and setup camp in the San Rafeal Swell just outside of Crack Canyon. Then we spent the afternoon in Goblin Valley.I had been there once during college. I think during a trip that Jeff, my roomate Tom Martin, and I made to southern Utah (Jeff can you confirm this?). Becki had not been there since she was a kid. The kids loved it! I decided it is like an interactive Grand Canyon. The kids loved to be able to actually get down on the rocks and climb and explore. We even found several geocaches.It was a beautiful day and everyone had fun.

The next day we went to a slot canyon just a few miles away called Little Wild Horse Canyon. This is one of the best slot canyons in Utah. It as a bit overcast so the photos are not as great as I had hoped.We went back to Price on Friday afternoon and stayed at Helen's. She is a great hostess and fed us well. We spend Saturday fixing sprinklers and doing a bit of yard work. Then we hit the wave pool. Too much fun for one weekend!

Thursday, April 19, 2007

I'm not a fisherman, but....

I sure like to fish! Especially when you can catch fish like these!This was taken about one week ago, with some of my friends from work. What a fun trip we had. The mouth of the Susquehanna River is about 50miles from Baltimore and this time of year the bait fish, called Shad, are running/spawning. They attract the larger fish- like the one you see me holding here. This is a Stripper or Rock fish. I believe that what you call them depends upon where you come from.

Enjoy another photo!

Above is Allen holding on to the first fish we caught that night. Next to him is Chris, who is the man behind of the fishing- has the the boat, rods and tackle. How nice is Chris? Well, he brings us up to fish and refuses money, offers to buy him food/drink. Amazing! We did buy him a gift, but everywhere I've been to fish here costs at least $120.oo for the same chance. Here is to Chris!

One more...
This is Li, and he is HAPPY. Why not?! Needless to say, that after this trip we were hooked and have returned twice already- with mixed results. One fish caught, and only one bit on other trips. The weather is cooler this week, and the fish are less active- so we'll wait until next week to go again. Please don't get the wrong impression- we drove 4.5hrs each way, to Virgina/Norfolk Beach about a month ago just to get on the boat, go around and around for hours only to get ONE bite between 5 of us. And we paid about $160 each for the privilege. HA!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Easter Weekend / Word from the PHX

I don't know if its really legal to use the PHX since I don't live there, but its my airport. I just thought it would add a little spice to the Easter weekend title... maybe I should have gone with "pasgetti party".
I just wanted to say we had a great Easter weekend. Clint surprised and knocked on the door Friday afternoon. He had driven Thursday and Friday to see us on his 4 day weekend. It was a fast trip but well worth it. We look forward to seeing him again next weekend.
We had a party on Friday with the playgroup I am in. It was a chance for the husbands to meet and mingle with each other. On Saturday the ward had an egg hunt party complete with cotton candy, snow cones, and plenty of lawn games. Isaiah and Clint loved the potatoe sack races. Clint left on Sunday after we attended an early ward. The kids and I enjoyed our easter lunch complete with the resurrection rolls and easter cookies we had made together, and headed back to our ward. Here are the pictures:

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Word from the ATL

Inspired by the tenacity of Jeff and Nanci to keep the family blog ticking, I am again renewed in my efforts to chip in. I have been reticent because of the lack of pictures to add. Oh, I've been taking them - but my new transfer cord is not working. That kind of disappointment takes this lady a while to get over. I've got to work up my courage and get back into a Best Buy or the likes and try again. Courage, Jill, courage.

Here you now see my new and amazing dog, Martin. His tag actually says "Martin L. King Jr." You can see it in this picture.. there is without doubt - nobility, greatness, leadership, and spirituality in this dog. For those of you not in on the story - he kind of came with the house that I am now renting. I don't know if there is a greater landlord than Kirk the Great Landlord, but he had taken this stray in and was planning on hauling him back to Florida when destiny intervened. Martin is super loving, doesn't shed, a mix between a German Shepherd and Chow (fluffy and cut in all the right places!), has good house manners, and is sweet beyond reason. I'm in love with him. I had decided that this next move for me would be deeper than my general commitment - I was going to get a house I wanted to live in for awhile, in an actual (non-apartment) community, and look into dog ownership. So, it's a blessing that it all came together in one hit.

That is it for now. Work is going well (who caught the cable debut of Break Away and Jill in a turtleneck on E! THS Investigates Spring Break Nightmares? It was a six minute blaze of glory!), I'm starting to explore Atlanta at long last (Carter Center = Heaven), hosted my first visitor (Dad. 'Twas a dream indeed sir.), and finally got a new cellphone after a 3 week break. More next week. Keep it coming!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Happy Easter and some photos too

The above picture is from this past fall. It was taken on the day of the open rowing race by Liza. I really enjoyed the time I spent in the boats. I may take another class this summer or fall.
Here is Christmas 2006 in Price, Utah. A beautiful sight....
This was from the Johns Hopkins Urology Holiday party 2006.
This is a painting done by one of my roomates, Jacob. It is a selfportrait of sorts, he is the center figure with the white shirt and missionary tag. I'm impressed not only the subjects that he paints but the size and detail. His paintings are on average 6ft by 8ft. This was from his latest show.
Liza and I attended the wedding of one of her many friends from college in San Diego. What a nice trip it was. The car is a 07 Mustang, a convertible is a must for So. Cal.
This is the car that Liza bought this weekend. A Subaru Forester- in the forest hehe. She wanted a car with AWD for the Boston winters.