Ketch-Up With Us

Two month stats

2012-01-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

Ben had his well check last Friday, and here are his stats:
Weight: 13 lbs. 11 oz.--90 to 97th percentile
Height: 23 in.--50 to 75th percentile

They didn't write down his head circumference for me, but told me it's in the 75th percentile. Big boy. Guess I don't need to worry about him not geting enough milk!

He has developed some jaundice over the past few weeks so they did some blood work. It showed his liver enzymes are elevated, so they are trying to get us an appointment with a gastro specialist at the children's hospital. Hopefully we'll know something soon.

He's a happy boy, always ready with a smile!

Brotherly love

2012-01-11T18:34:00.001-08:00

Evan has been such a good big brother. While he definitely seems to be going through a rebellious, defiant stage, he never fails to want to love on Ben. He's always trying to snuggle him, rub his head, pick him up (!!), or rub his face on Ben. He is forever grabbing Ben's hand or foot, or whatever he can reach. When we get on to him about it (mostly about being too rough), he says, "He's just so cute, I want to touch him!" How can you be grumpy with that?

The other day I walked out of the kitchen to find this. :)

I finally got a pic that shows Ben's eye color. Probably still changing, but definitely going to be blue. Just like big bro and Daddy.

And here's our little guy at two months! How the time flies.

Maybe someday I'll be able to dress both kids in something other than PJs. And myself too, for that matter.

One month

2011-12-19T06:57:00.000-08:00

Ben is doing great. He's now 5 weeks old. He's been such a good little baby. He rolled over from his tummy to his back when he was 7 days old, and has been doing it consistently ever since. He's been giving us cute gassy smiles which I have yet to capture on camera. Yesterday he started smiling a bit in response to us, which has been fun.

Ben at one month.

Benjamin Allen Ketcher

2011-11-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

Baby Benjamin arrived by c-section on Friday, November 11th. He shares his birthday with his Grandpa Allen and his Papa Ketcher--so cool. He's healthy and strong. The doc had ordered an ultrasound on his kidneys because they looked large before he was born, but everything was just fine! Hooray! He weighed in at 8 lb. 7 oz. and was 20 and 1/2" long. Big little guy for being just over a week early! He is super cute, and I see a lot of Evan in him. He eats like a champ but is always hungry. Last night he also slept like a champ! (I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high about that just yet.)

Our doctor had been worried about placenta accreta since about 18 weeks. That meant I would absolutely have to have a c-section (which we expected because it seems no docs in OK will do VBACs anymore) with the chance that this could be our last child if the surgery didn't go well. Through lots of fasting and prayer, everything went great with delivery--no surgery required past the typical c-section!

However, in recovery I started feeling a lot of pain. When they tried to get me up to walk around, I almost passed out. Several hours later I started having difficulty breathing. Because of our family's history with blood clots they ordered a CT scan, and there found that I was bleeding internally. So, lucky me, I got to have a blood transfusion. Once that took place I was better able to recover, and they ended up letting us out of the hospital the following Tuesday.

Evan has been such a fantastic big brother to Ben. He's always walking up to him and saying, "Awww, hi Baby Ben!" and rubbing his head or giving him a snuggle. He loves to hold Ben as well. He's eating up all the attention from his Grandpa and Grandma Allen, who are here helping out (thank heavens!) and who have been absolutely fantastic. We look forward to Papa and Nana's arrival this week as well.

So all in all we're doing great. We are so happy that Benjamin is in our family!

Halloween Fun/Photo Overload

2011-11-06T19:25:00.001-08:00

I know, this post has way too many pictures. We've been trying to fit a lot in before baby comes (this coming Friday--YIKES!) and celebrating Halloween all month is just so easy! So here's what we've been doing. And sorry, the photos are in reverse order.

Evan told us for a month that he wanted to be a fire fighter for Halloween. When we went to pick out the costume, he saw this T-Rex and said, "I want to ride on a DINOSAUR!" So the costume changed to caveman on dinosaur. John likes to call him our Tyranocentaurus Rex.

Trunk or Treat

We went to a pumpkin patch where Evan enjoyed a pony ride, petting zoo, tractor hay ride, corn maze and picking out his own pumpkin.

For FHE one night we made these little pipe cleaner spiders. Which were a lot harder to make look like spiders than I thought they would be! Just shows my crafting abilities--or lack of.

Our library had a pumpkin decorating activity that we went to with some friends. This was the final product.

Another FHE activity--build your own Haunted House.

We also did a little pumpkin and ghost decorating. I gave E choices on shapes for the eyes, noses and mouths, and he just decided to use them all. Waste not!

That about wraps up our Halloween festivities. We're on candy overload here. Hope your Halloween was happy!

Evan Turns 3

2011-10-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

My baby boy turned THREE! Evan requested a Clifford the Big Red Dog birthday party with "a vanilla Clifford cake." Clifford isn't the most commonly requested character, so we had a little difficulty finding things, but I think it pulled together well. We invited three of his friends and their families for the party on Saturday.

We started with Pin the Tail on Clifford. Evan has a book about a birthday party for Clifford, and they have a pinata. We were lucky to find a dog bone-shaped one that ended up being nearly impossible to break. Let's just say everyone got LOTS of turns.

We used a stuffed Clifford Evan has to play Find Clifford. Evan also requested a treasure hunt, so Clifford sent the kids on one that ended with a treasure box full of bubbles for the kids to play with outside. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

I think Evan's favorite part of the whole party was when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. The look on his face says it all.

He got a play kitchen, two Clifford books, a subscription to The Friend magazine and some art supplies. He was delighted with everything. He's such a sweet, sweet boy, and we just adore him!

Lately

2011-09-26T12:50:00.001-07:00

We decided to go to the OKC temple for our Family Home Evening a couple of weeks ago so Evan could see and touch the temple. He was very excited about it. We listened to "I Love to See the Temple" like 15 times on our way. Unfortunately, we forgot about the temple being closed on Mondays--meaning the gate was locked. Evan was so sad. We had brought a picnic dinner and sat in the shade to enjoy it nonetheless, and we talked about the temple. We were almost done when we noticed two random men walking through the church parking lot. They walked past us and up to the temple gates, where one pulled out his keys and unlocked them! They proceeded inside the temple. We don't know who they are, but we were sure glad they came! Evan got to go up and touch the temple, and walk around the (very small) grounds. He LOVED it. What a fun memory!

Touching the temple.

Evan and Daddy relaxing after dinner.

John wanted to take Evan to "The Lawnmower Store" (Lowe's) to build a craft, but the activity was all full when he tried to sign up. So they went to Lowe's and bought the kit and built it together. It was pretty entertaining to watch. I finally told Evan to go get his toy hammer so he could bang to his heart's content. They were so proud of the finished product. John still hasn't let him play with it!! ;) I have a feeling when Pinewood Derby time rolls around it'll be a similar situation!

And here's a 30-ish week picture. I really should try to do something with myself in these pictures. Like, you know, makeup? Oh well.

Cooler weather? Aaaahhhhh.

2011-09-09T12:58:00.001-07:00

My Hero

2011-08-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

We've been smothered by 100+ degree weather for the vast majority of this summer, so we've been making do with a lot of inside activities lately. Sort of boring for posts, so I've neglected the blog. But here are a few photos of recent daily activities.

I've been wanting to make E a superhero cape for ages, and have simply been lazy. But the other day at Walmart we saw this one for super cheap. Evan was so excited to have it in his hands that he started yelling to the first person he saw, "Look! Look! It's a superhero cape! Now I will fly in the sky!" Unfortunately, the cape's magical qualities didn't perform to his expectations. We're still working on pretending to help get over the disappointment.

We do a lot of "parking cars" with E. Notice (if you care to!) all the animals/figures are on the "sidewalks" and all the cars are on the "roads."

Evan loves to vacuum. I try to indulge him as often as possible.

And what can I say? He's a cute kiddo. Sure do love him. I'm going to brag now. I think he's a super smarty pants. I counted the songs he knows how to sing and got to 25 before I had to stop. Today he started singing the first two lines to "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus." I didn't know he knew that one. He can count to 30 now, and knows his letters. He's starting to recognize the sounds the letters make too. It's been really fun.

And here are a couple of his cute mispronunciations: Lately he wants to do everything "All my byself," (as he points his thumb at his chest.)
If I ask him why, he says, "Capause."
And my all time favorite that I was really sad when he finally got right: badesadas instead of bananas. Oh, how I miss that one!

The other night while reading scriptures, Evan quoted, "because of the anger of my bretheren," as "because of the Angry Birds." John and I couldn't help laughing out loud at that one. Evan looked very pleased with himself.

Swimming lessons

2011-07-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

We signed Evan up for Mommy & Me swim lessons at the Mustang Rec Center. He had a complete blast, and still talks about "swim lessons." He was very brave--he'd put his face in the water and blow bubbles, float on his back and belly, and kick while holding onto an inflatable without my help, but jumping off the wall into the pool was his delight. He showed absolutely no fear (much to my dismay--a little healthy fear is a good thing with water!) and never wanted to hold my hands--just to do "really, really big jumps" off the side. We ended every lesson with the frog slide, which was a big hit with Evan as well. It was a lot of fun, and a nice way to combat the ridiculous heat we've been "enjoying."

And after putting it off for way too long due to a total lack of desire to get it done (by the mama), I started potty training Evan last week. He's doing great. No accidents for the past couple of days. I wasn't brave enough to let him try during church since John and I are both pretty busy, but when I got him home, his diaper was dry and clean! Hooray! He's only been wet one night (most nights he wakes up and yells for me when he needs to go) and has stayed dry during naps as well. Our big issue is getting him to poop in the potty. He has done it before, but refuses to do it lately, and holds it till night when he gets a diaper back on. So that's been an issue. Any suggestions from you seasoned parents out there? I'm excited about his progress. He's really doing great. Love the kiddo! And I can't wait to meet his little brother!

4th weekend and 20 weeks

2011-07-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

John took Friday off, so we've had a nice long weekend so far. We started it by heading to Chuck E. Cheese with the Grafes. Evan loves that place. (John too!) We had a great time playing games. Evan even made a few goals at air hockey! So cute. Then Saturday morning John and Evan headed off to the Science Museum--also a favorite--while I ironed costumes for the upcoming youth conference pageant. Then John and Evan did some yard work together using Evan's new lawnmower. They had a great time.

Tonight we had the missionaries for dinner, and after a brief FHE with them, we went to celebrate the 4th with some friends. I totally forgot my camera and my phone too. Boo.

All in all, it's been a wonderful weekend. We loved having John home with us.

Here's a 20 week pic. I looked back at when I was pregnant with Evan, and I was smaller at 24 weeks than I am now! So fun.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Videos not working?

2011-06-15T16:49:00.001-07:00

Anyone else having a problem with videos not working? Old and new? Solutions?

It just never gets old to me.

2011-06-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

Hooray!

2011-06-08T18:31:00.001-07:00

So John told me yesterday that his clinic would do an ultrasound for me if I wanted to. We're not scheduled for our official gender ultrasound till the 21st--18 weeks. We figured, why not? I wasn't getting my hopes up, but if it worked out, great.

John has been so sure this time that we're having a girl. I was secretly hoping for a boy again--I'd be just fine with all boys, and I'd love for Evan to have a little brother to play with as they grow up. The past couple of weeks I've felt a kind of "boy vibe" I guess you could say, but John was just SO SURE. So imagine my excitement when pretty much the very first thing we saw confirmed that Evan's going to have a little brother! Hooray! (He was NOT shy--exactly like Evan when we found out his gender.)

John was pretty surprised. But he's also really excited. It's so reassuring to see that everything seems to be ok. We're so happy to be able to plan for Baby _________ Allen Ketcher to arrive sometime in November.

Our New House

2011-05-13T18:01:00.001-07:00

We thought we would put a picture and video up of our new house in Yukon.

Birthday and other happenings

2011-05-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

We celebrated John's birthday on Saturday this year, since it actually falls on Mother's Day. He was nice enough to let me have that day all to myself. Evan picked out several presents for his daddy, like the hats they wore in the birthday pie picture, and a soccer ball, balloon, and some candy that he immediately wanted to play with/eat after they were opened. We're still working on the concept of gifts. John only had a couple of meetings Sunday, then he came home and let me take a nap and made me dinner and cleaned up the kitchen. It was a great day!

John got to take a day off for his birthday, so we had a picnic outside to enjoy the awesome weather, then John and Evan kicked a ball around and played some basketball. Evan LOVES picnics.

Below, Evan and John are bonding over some basketball and dream whip pie beaters. They were both pretty content.

Geryn and Evan--best of friends. I am still so disappointed that Geryn's parents are taking her away from us! Still hoping the move isn't going to happen. Sorry Chelsea.

And we recently discovered Evan's love for Jamba Juice. He wouldn't give it back to me!

In other news, we're expecting Ketcher Kid #2 mid-November. I'm feeling great, not having to do the blood-thinner shots this time around, which is awfully nice. No morning sickness, and I can even eat greasy food this time! No idea what it is, but John's hoping for a little girl.

30 months!

2011-04-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today is Evan's half birthday. Officially two and a half! He wanted to record one of his absolute favorite songs to sing. He mixed up the two verses. But I'm pretty sure he's awesome.

Lately

2011-04-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Lots of fun stuff happening around here! Evan and I checked out the Medieval Fair in Norman (I totally remember going to this as a kid!) and Evan got his first llama ride. He was pretty excited about it. They also had elephant rides, camel rides, and giant tortoise rides, among other things.

Geryn and Evan are just the best of buddies. I've never seen E play so well with anyone! It's so fun to watch the two of them--except when I find them taking turns jumping off the bed together. Yikes!

Evan looked so handsome in his new tie that I had to take a pic. Unfortunately, it's not the best pic. Our camera is on the fritz and so my phone had to do (actually for all these photos.)

Our city had a Mayor's Easter Celebration at the community center. Sometimes I love living in the Bible belt. Political figures actually celebrate Easter! So refreshing. So we went to check it out. They had clowns and the Easter Bunny, and everyone was handing out candy and prizes. They had face painting, balloon animals, a petting zoo, and bounce houses. Oh, and the Easter egg hunts, of course! Everything was donated, so it was free. Super cool. You can see what Evan thought of the bounce house in the photo below. We went on it about five times.

Happy Easter everyone!

What we do

2011-03-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

We go to the zoo. A lot. At the zoo with Evan, Geryn and Owen.

And every time we go, Evan requests that he wear his "Gorilla shirt." I usually oblige.

I've found a new cookie love. Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They're awesome and easy and soft and delicious. And Evan likes the batter.

We're into cars lately. And construction vehicles. And trains. Owen and Evan sat for at least half an hour playing with the car mat and going "vroom vroom" and "beep beep." Too cute.

Weekend with Papa

2011-02-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

John's dad came out this past weekend to ordain John a High Priest. We were thrilled he could be here for such a special occasion. And he also got in some good bonding time with Evan. We recovered from the nasty snowstorms with some 70 degree weather, so we took advantage of it and went to the zoo.

Evan teaching Papa to play Angry Birds on the iPad.

It was such a fun weekend, and we loved having Papa here. You're welcome out anytime!

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

Monday night and Tuesday we had a blizzard in OKC. Yes, in OKC. So Tuesday and Wednesday John didn't have to work--which is great. But with temps in the single digits for the high, and a windchill of -15, we weren't exactly gearing up to go outside and play. So we started getting a little stir crazy.

What to do, what to do?

Well, who wouldn't want to eat a picnic in a cave? (Complete with flashlights and a computer-generated fire in the fireplace.) It was super fun!

And about 15 minutes after I put Evan down for his afternoon nap, I came out to find John taking his own afternoon nap--in the cave. Still a little boy at heart.

Finally!

2011-01-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving we drove down to Houston to spend time with my brother and his family. It was their first time meeting Evan and our first time meeting Isaac. It was such a nice and relaxing trip! We ate good food, played in a chocolate fountain, had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner with Jennie Jo's family, and generally had a great time. Evan was in heaven playing with Savannah and Isaac and all their fun toys.

We also drove down to Galveston for the day. It was beautiful. We took the ferry and fed the seagulls, which Evan loved. There were a ton of porpoises to be seen off the boat. Then we went to the beach and played. And a nice trip to Chipotle finished us off. I love Chipotle!

It was so fun to see Dave and Jennie Jo and their awesome kids. I wish we could do it more often. My only regret on the trip is that I didn't take more pictures!

Christmas cookies = one happy boy

2010-12-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

I feel bad I still haven't posted about our trip to Houston for Thanksgiving, but I can't find our camera cable. So till then--another Christmas-y post.

I made sugar cookies today so that we could decorate them tonight together as a family. It was Evan's first time, and he had a blast. He was slightly obsessed with the sprinkles.

This is how it went:

Evan's favorite song is...

2010-12-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2010-12-07T12:21:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know it's December. Just trying to get caught up. Had a fun Halloween that included our ward's Trunk or Treat and then trick or treating with some friends in their neighborhood.

(This was the night I found out I'm allergic to pumpkin.)

Evan, doing what Frenchmen do best.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (And on to Christmas! Oh wait, Thanksgiving!)

Evan turns two (in October, that is)

2010-12-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

It was great to have Nana and Aunt Amy here to celebrate with us. Amy's birthday was the day before Evan's, so it was double the dessert! I think Evan enjoyed his birthday pretty well. He opened presents (he's gotten a lot better at that over the last while!), he got to skype with his cousin Gracie and his Aunt Randi and Papa, and we had a couple of his friends over for dinner and cake. We just played all day long! He's such a sweet boy, and we love him so much!

Two-year stats

2010-11-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Evan had his two-year checkup this morning. Here are his stats:
36 1/2 inches--almost off the chart!
30.9 lbs--75-90th percentile.
Can't remember head circumference, but it was in the 90th percentile too.

Love this kid!

It was a good one.

2010-11-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

When I went to get Evan up from his nap, this is what I found.

That must have been SOME nap.

For Nana

2010-10-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Serious consideration....

2010-10-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

I'm seriously considering quitting blogging. I hate catching myself up on everything!

Anyway, here goes another try. My parents came out to visit this month and brought my family heirloom. My great, great, great, great, great grandfather made this little rocking chair, and it goes to the youngest child in the family. I love it, and Evan does too. It's been so fun. It's the chair he insists on sitting in for family scripture study.

Evan has really enjoyed playing in his "cave" lately. The hat with a light helps that enthusiasm along!

Evan's cousin Kenna was baptized recently. It was great to see you guys and be there for Kenna's special day!

We went to Chester's Party Barn for their pumpkin patch. It was a pretty fun place, with a pony ride, petting zoo, tractor "hay" ride, maze, giant slide, and of course, lots of pumpkins. Evan had a blast.

It was so fun having my parents here! Wish we could see them more frequently. We went on a tour of my Dad's school, ate at Ted's, and just generally enjoyed their company. Thanks for making the trip!

One down, more to come. It's birthday time!

Touch a Truck day

2010-09-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

We love the Mustang library. They always have great events planned for kids. Like Touch a Truck day. They had all kinds of fun vehicles and let the kids have free reign! I mean play with the police sirens, honk the cement truck horn, run around in the fire engine, and more! They had the aforementioned vehicles, plus an ambulance, garbage truck, sheriff's car, a backhoe, a school bus, and a dump truck. How cool is that?? Well, it would have been a lot cooler if they had controlled the beeping of the horns a little more. Evan would jump and look like he was going to cry every time someone laid on the cement truck horn. So it didn't last as long as I had thought it would with a little guy like Evan. We ended up going inside the library to play in their play area. Yep, the library has a play area inside. Super cool. We found a lot of other little kids inside who had to escape the noise too.

Next year will be better. Maybe.

Evan's first girlfriend

2010-09-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Who knew library story time could be hazardous to your health?

2010-08-04T20:30:00.001-07:00

Library story time drew blood today. They were playing with bubbles, and while I didn't exactly see what happened, I saw two kids go down, and one of them was mine. Evan bit into his bottom lip. There are two perfect little tooth marks. So sad. Poor my boy.

Evan recently discovered the merits of a slip and slide. We definitely need to work on his technique.

OCD

2010-07-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

Evan has a mat of letters and numbers. Every night before we go to bed I arrange the letters and numbers into a nice 6X6 square. This is how it looks:

Then Evan gets up in the morning. This is how it looks approximately 10.6 seconds after he hits the front room.

John says I'm crazy to put it back together every night. But I have to! I must be OCD.

In other news, Evan got his first big boy haircut this week. He did great. He seemed a little uncertain at first, and hated wearing the bib, but as soon as the stylist gave him her water bottle he contentedly sprayed himself in the face the rest of the time.

It turns out that big boy haircuts are pretty expensive. Time for me to learn a new skill. Have any advice on giving boy haircuts to someone with no experience? Please share!

What we've been up to.

2010-07-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed having John at home for the past month or so. But now it's back to the real world with John starting work this last Monday. Evan and I have tried to stay busy with story time at the library and going to the park. He is obsessed with rocks, and loves to throw them in the water at our favorite park. When we go on walks he tries to pick up every rock he sees and carry it with him. Today he had so many that I caught him trying to put some in his mouth so he could carry more! Silly kid.

They had a free day at the Museum of Natural History in Norman so we went to check it out. It was pretty cool. They had lots of dinos and a playroom for little kids.

We also went to the OKC zoo this week. It's a really nice, with a children's play area. They had a waterfall and stream with rocks. Evan was in heaven! They also had a bird area where you can walk around with the birds flying and running around you. That was Evan's favorite place. He chased the quail the entire time.

Evan and his friend Geryn at the zoo.

Playing with the rocks.

John passed part 3 of boards! Now all he has to do is get licensed in OK and we're good to go! So this weekend and next weekend he has a seminar and tests to pass for that in Tahlequah, OK. Good luck John!

Smarty pants.

2010-07-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

2010-06-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

In between getting settled we've been doing a little sightseeing. We recently went to the Oklahoma Railway Museum. They had some fun old trains to explore, and you could take a quick ride on a real train. So we took Evan. He had a blast. We weren't sure how he'd do riding on the train, but he was mesmerized.

We've also been playing in the water quite a bit. It's hot!

A couple of days ago we got Evan a basketball hoop. I've been wanting to get him one for a while, ever since he started recognizing the basketball hoops in the gym at church and yelling "Bapa ball" in the middle of sacrament meeting. He LOVES it. The video is from the day we put it up. John was thrilled with Evan's "mad skills."

Update

2010-06-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, I no longer have any excuse not to blog. So here's our update. Sorry if this is long and boring. There's been a LOT going on.

Last time I blogged we were in the middle of packing to leave Santa Fe, NM. Evan and I drove with my family to Payson and stayed with my parents for about a week. John took the trailer and drove it to Memphis. Evan and I flew out to be there during John's graduation. And I just have to say, I'm so proud of John! He did an amazing job during school--managing his classes and exams, boards, church assignments and family life. He was even in the Honors Society! Way to go, Dr. John!

Following graduation, Evan and I and John's parents flew to CA to spend some time with them. John planned to drive out to CA to be with us, and while en route, he received a call with a job offer in Oklahoma City--our first choice. We were thrilled.

We spent a couple of weeks in CA with family (mine and John's) and then John left to drive (once again, poor guy!) to OKC to arrange housing and move our things from Memphis to OKC.

Now we're all together again, finally in a stable situation for poor Evan, who was beginning to think he'd be sleeping in a different bed or state every week for the rest of his life.

We live in Yukon, OK in a great little house. Everything really just fell into place for us, and we are confident this is where we're supposed to be! It's a great feeling.

So come see us on your next vacation! You know you always wanted to check out Oklahoma!

Popcorn

2010-04-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

I promise there will be more updates to come. Eventually. We're in the middle of packing and moving right now, but I wanted to share this video from today.

Dad can do magic!

2010-02-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

Four years!

2010-02-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our anniversary last week. We went up to the Bishop's Lodge in Santa Fe right after a big snow storm. It was a great place! This was the view from our balcony.

Because of the storm (and the fact that it was the middle of the week) we had the Lodge restaurant all to ourselves--literally! It was beautiful, candlelit with a gigantic fire blazing in the center of the room.

And the food was yummy too!

This was our $35 dessert. Good? Yes. Worth the price? Have you ever had a dessert that was worth $35? Me neither.

It was so much fun to get away! Thanks to Nana for watching Evan for us!

Fun with Evan

2010-01-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

He sat there and did this for at least half an hour when he got up in the morning, and then for another twenty minutes after a nap. And yes, we clapped after every time.

Evan loves his Uncle Scott. He never fails to get a laugh from the kid. Here's a good example from over Christmas.

Holiday Madness

2010-01-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

It really was madness this year, and not because of shopping and present wrapping! We were in the middle of our move to Santa Fe this Christmas, so before, during and after the holiday we were trying to do a lot. And thanks to my family and John, we managed. John took a trailer of our belongings down to Santa Fe, found an apartment and moved in all in one day (with some help from DA--thanks!). Then he made his way back to celebrate Christmas in Payson with my family.

Opening presents.

The traditional Ketcher family PJ pants photo.

It was a blast! I love being with my family. We watched movies, tried to keep Evan away from ripping ornaments off the Christmas tree, played games, tried to keep Evan away from the plants, did a puzzle, kept Evan away from the presents, and fed the ducks. My parents threw a party for all our Utah siblings and families a couple of days after Christmas so Evan and I got to hang with them one last time before we left. John missed out on that, trying to get a head start on the storms that were moving in.

Some of the nieces and nephews playing Christmas carols with chimes.

So Evan and I flew down to Santa Fe Wednesday and John was there to welcome us. He picked out a nice, very large apartment, so we have tons of room. New Year's was kind of a bust for us since Evan and I had just arrived and we were doing some serious unpacking. Yeah, we went to bed before midnight. I know, we're party poopers.

Evan in our new place. He's had four new teeth coming in the last couple of days, poor kid.

While I was in Utah I took Deseret Book's proofing test, and they told me Christmas Eve that they want me to freelance for them! What a great Christmas present. I've also started doing freelance for Oden--got my first job from them this week. I'm excited to be able to work from home while taking care of Evan full time!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

"Oh!"

2009-11-30T09:52:00.000-08:00

That's what Evan said most frequently (pretty much all night) when we were at Temple Square viewing the lights. He loved them! He was pointing at everything. Even from inside the car on the way there. It wasn't as crowded as I expected for the first weekend of the lights!

Reiko and Ari came over to play during the week. It was fun to see them. Ari is getting so big! And look at those eyes!

We have a pretty cool park near our apartment, with towers and building for kids to play in. Evan loves it. But the swings take the cake for him!

We had my brother and sister over for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time! Ah, my favorite holiday. Food and family--nothing better! Hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving! We're grateful to have you as friends and family!

Dino-mite!

2009-11-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

John had the day off last Friday so we thought we'd take advantage of it and check out the Museum of Ancient History at Thanksgiving Point. Evan enjoyed it because there were a lot of 'hands on' exhibits and he ran around like a little crazy person. We had a great time!

Birthday from Nana and Papa

2009-11-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

Evan's present from Nana and Papa got stuck in the office of our complex. We got it today! I've never seen Evan act this way with a stuffed animal. He loves it!

One year photos

2009-11-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Haunting!

2009-11-03T09:40:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Halloween by going to our ward party (which was pretty lame). John dressed up as a witch doctor and Evan was a blue monster. Very cute, both of them. On Halloween we went over to Jordan Landing for some trick or treating, then over to my sister's house to go trick or treating with the kids. It was a fun evening. Evan tolerated the costume pretty well, even though it was a bit small for him.
Happy Halloween!

One-Year Stats

2009-10-26T21:33:00.001-07:00

Evan had his one year checkup today, and besides a diaper rash, he's doing just fine. He was in the 80th percentile for height and weight and in the 95th for his head circumference. He now says the words 'doctor,' 'bottle' and 'diaper' too. Anyway, here are his stats:
height: 31"
weight: 24.15 lbs
head: 19"
He's just such a sweetie, we adore him!

Happy birthday, baby boy! What a great day!

2009-10-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

World Cup 2026

2009-10-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Where do I sign him up for the World Cup?

Wow.

2009-10-05T19:00:00.001-07:00

The time just goes by so fast! We've been enjoying lots of time with family and friends here. We got together with our friends the Rigdons and met baby Ada and Evan loved playing the piano with Abby. What a cute duet, eh?

Evan hit eleven months. He's just growing so fast.

He says 'dada,' 'uhoh' and 'hi' now, he points, claps, runs, and just generally brightens up my day. He eats anything he can get his hands on--I swear, he's a little vacuum cleaner!

We were lucky to catch up with the Bradys passing through on their way to Vegas, and we got to celebrate Scott's birthday and meet baby Pratt. What a good little baby! It was so fun to see them.

Nana came to see us soon after that and stayed about a week. We loved having her. She makes her "vacation" into a vacation for me so I can go out and run errands and do all kind of fun things. Thanks, Mom!

Then Aunt Randi and Cousin Gracie came from Alaska to stay! We had a great time shopping in Park City and visiting temple square. It was just so fun to see them! Evan and Gracie became the best of friends and loved to play together.

It was a bit windy while we were at temple square.

And off we go!

2009-08-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

So far, we've:

packed up all the important things and moved them across the country

turned ten months old

fed the ducks at Spring Lake with Grandpa and Grandma

run amok in the grass at BYU

become Grandma's "helper" in the kitchen

developed a sudden dislike of peas

and just generally enjoyed the beauty of Utah! We're so glad to be here!

Dude!

2009-08-06T18:18:00.001-07:00

I just can't believe how fast this little dude is growing up. We had a feeling he would be walking before we moved. Enjoy. More videos to come.

There just aren't words

2009-07-22T07:19:00.001-07:00

Thanks, Sara!

2009-07-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

The boys in the striped pajamas

2009-06-29T07:26:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd throw in a few photos of what we've been up to recently. I've been watching a friend's boy, Hudson, a couple of days a week. The other day he showed up in striped pjs, and Evan was still in his, so I thought I'd take a quick picture. They're so cute!

Evan hit his 8 month mark last week. I can't believe how fast he's growing!

We took Evan to a friend's pool for his first time swimming. He had skipped his afternoon nap, and was NOT happy about swimming for the first while. When he calmed down I was able to sneak him in the pool and he realized it's just one gigantic bathtub. He LOVED it. It was so much fun!

And I just think this last photo is cute. Nana sent him the hat.

So I know he's my kid

2009-06-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

I am constantly told how much Evan looks like his daddy. Once when we were at the grocery store our cashier looked at Evan, then at me, then at John and said to him, "Well, you just popped him out yourself, didn't you!"

But there is at least one characteristic he has that is totally me. He takes after my sleep habits. The kid "talks" in his sleep. He sits up in his sleep. And he sleeps in the weirdest positions! Any of my former roommates can probably vouch for my habits. Luckily, I don't have any sleep photos of me. Just of Evan! And yes, he's sound asleep in all these pictures.

So I know he must be mine.

How did we end up with the cutest kid in the world?

2009-06-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

I love that smile!!! If you look closely you can see all his teeth

So snuggly! He's got his face mashed up against John's and isn't moving--just resting against Dada's face!

This is what I found today coming into his room after his nap.

He's accomplished a lot this last week--learning to push himself up to sitting, pulling himself to standing, and crawling. And he has a new tooth! Busy little guy. We sure love him!

Cali trip

2009-06-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Once John finished his third year we took advantage of the break to head to California to see family. Evan did great flying--slept most of the way, which was nice, since he'd had his 6-month shots two days before and had also popped up two teeth. I was relieved, anyway.

We flew into Fresno and stayed in Mariposa with Nana and Papa, who totally spoiled Evan. I don't think he's ever going to want to be put down again! John played in two golf tournaments with his dad, and had a great time. Nana watched Evan for us one evening so we could go into town and have dinner together, which was really nice. We also drove into Yosemite since Mom and Dad live so close, and walked around to see some of the falls and just enjoy the natural splendor! Monday, while John played in another tournament with his dad, I drove with Evan up to Modesto to visit Grandma Stromberg. That was her first time meeting her great grandson, Evan. We ate artichokes together and visited till John was ready to be picked up. Then John, Evan and I headed up to Roseville to spend a few days with my sister Heather and her family. Evan LOVED hanging out with his cousins. They did a great job making him laugh. We got to see my nephew Jeremiah run the mile in a track meet, my nephew Ethan play in a baseball game, and had so much fun playing with Abby, Lauren and Sophia. They are such good kids, and such a blast!

We got to celebrate John's birthday with everyone as well--breakfast with the Browns (they made his favorite dessert, apple crisp!), lunch with Grandma Stromberg, and dinner with Mom and Dad. It was a great day!

Here are a few photos of our time. Enjoy!

My Sweet, Funny Wife

2009-05-29T06:56:00.001-07:00

I just love my wife so much. I hope she doesn't mind that I publish a small post about her sleeping habits. She must have really crazy dreams because frequently I am woken up by her sitting up in bed in the middle of the night or talking in her sleep. However, last night was a new one for me. I have no idea what time it was, but I woke up with her grabbing both of my arms and her pulling me towards her side of the bed. This was obviously perplexing to me, so I questioned her as to what she was doing. My cute wife, her response was, "I am saving you. You are sleeping too close to the edge of the bed." Thanks honey, you're sweet. Of course this morning when I asked her about it, she didn't remember a thing. I love you Jen, thanks for saving me.

The Great Goodwill

2009-05-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

If you know me at all, you know I love to read. I also love to buy books. However, being that I'm now a stay-at-home mom and John's a student, I've tried (albeit not completely successfully) to harness that love of buying books. John's thing was that every time I came home with a new book he'd grumble about how that was one more book he'd have to move--and yes, with us moving three times over the next year, his grumbling was not completely unwarranted. But recently he gave me the gift of promising never to complain about having to move my books again, and even gave me $20 to buy books! What a guy! So I've been scheming about how I could get as many books as possible for my $20. You know, checking the internet for deals on amazon.com and half.com, etc. I knew what books I wanted--I keep a list of books I want to read.

Today Evan and I went to the Goodwill to see if they had any decent baby clothes--he's growing so fast we're running out of things for him! After a disappointing search, I thought I'd run back to the book section to see if I might find any books I was interested in. I've looked there before but have never gotten any--their selection was always pretty disappointing. But not today. Oh no. I left the Goodwill with FIVE books in mint condition--most still with the bookstore sticker on the back!

So here are my new titles to read:
The Red Tent
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Robinson Crusoe
The Rule of Four
The Catcher in the Rye

And I still have money leftover for more books! I called John and said I had a surprise for him. He handled it really well. Thanks, John!

Playing Ketch-up

2009-05-13T11:30:00.001-07:00

Ok, it's time to quit being a slacker and post some of the things we've been doing lately. So here goes!

John had a lot more time at home during the last semester of his third year, so we tried to take advantage of it and do some touristy things. Here we are at the...

We had a good time, but Evan didn't like the room they put you in and show you a video of how fast a room catches on fire. It gets all hot and once Evan started crying we snuck out.

They had some fun old fashioned fire trucks that the city of Memphis once used.

Evan liked driving them.

Later we went for a picnic at a park. It was a beautiful day. Evan loved it. He's an outside kind of kid.

This was his first time on a swing. Though you can't tell with his hand shoved in his mouth, he was giggling the whole time!

We also recently attended John's Senior Sendoff for SCO. They had a dinner and awards, as well as door prizes. We won a gift card for Applebees. I was, however, very depressed that I didn't win one of the SCO bags or gold watches. Bummer.

And I promise, the girl behind us IS wearing clothes.

We also dyed Easter eggs with the Collins and Kents. Hey, I told you I was behind in blogging, right?

Chase dyeing an egg.

Morgan and Evan checking each other out.

This is about as interested in dyeing eggs as I could get Evan to be.

Whew! Well, that's definitely enough for now!

Redbirds game

2009-05-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

We recently went to a Redbirds game with several couples. Recently, really? Ok, so it was last month. I'm way behind on blogging. I love going to Redbirds games. I confess, this time I didn't pay much attention to the game--not that I missed much. Nothing really happened till the bottom of the ninth. But it was fun to get out, and perfect weather to enjoy.

Here we are with Rocky!

Wonder where Evan got those baby blues!

My new favorite letter!

2009-04-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

Is "P". That was the letter that was waiting for me at the end of my score for part one of national boards signifying that I PASSED. I am glad to have that out of the way. I never have to take part one again.

At least someone likes the Bumbo.

2009-04-27T09:44:00.001-07:00

Update from the Mid-south

2009-04-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Since all of our posts have been about Evan recently, I thought I would just take a minute and give an update on what Jen and I have been up to since the beginning of the year. And of course I'll post some new pics of Evan.

So its been five weeks since I took part 1 of 3 of my national board examinations. It made for some intense months at our home. Just for some background info, every future optometrist has to pass all 3 parts of the exam to get a license to practice and part 1 is the worst. It was 500 multiple choice questions broken up into 4 different 3.5 hour exams over 2 days. It was not a fun experience. They can ask questions about anything having to do with optometry so it is extremely hard to feel as though you are actually prepared for the exam. I think the worst part though, is that they have 7 weeks to post your scores so I still don't know if I passed or not. I'm pretty sure that I at least passed, but I won't know for a couple more weeks. Through all of this, my wife was the biggest blessing. I got grumpy a lot, but she was great. I can't thank her enough for all her love and support.

Now that boards are over, life as a third year optometry student has gotten really nice. I have all day Tuesday and Thursday off and every other Monday, so I feel like I am home a lot. We have taken this opportunity to spend some time together as a family and visit museums, hang out at parks, do some shopping, etc. I am not looking forward to starting my last year of school from a number of hours being gone standpoint. I guess I will have to leave my fairytale world and start a 40 hour work week. Bummer.

As far as Jen is concerned, she is the rock of our family. She takes care of Evan, and is the bestest Mommy a boy and husband could ever ask for. He just loves her. And so do I. I had a chance to spend some time with Evan last night when Jen went to the temple and when he woke up from his nap, he was crying and looking around the room for her. Sorry Evan, its just dad. He got over it. I have really enjoyed being home a lot during this time of his life to watch him grow, which he is doing quite rapidy. He passes out smiles like a candyman in a candy store and we love every bit of it. I think Jen has enjoyed the time at home and not being at work. She told me yesterday that she just finished her 24th book this year. I don't think I've read 24 books in my entire life and she has done it in 3 1/2 months.

Well, I think thats enough of a post for now. I'm out.

Oh, and thanks to Sara Coyle for taking these awesome pics of Evan.

Sitting up!

2009-04-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Evan is growing and developing so fast I feel I can hardly keep up with him! He's doing really well at sitting up. And we tried his first taste of rice cereal this week--but I'm not sure he's convinced it's so much better than what he's been getting. Any tips or tricks to get them to eat it from you seasoned mothers out there?

Evan Laughing

2009-03-25T19:43:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry this blog has turned into Evan's blog. Actually, I'm not sorry. He's the cutest thing ever. We will post something soon about what else is going on in our lives other than Evan. Until then, enjoy him laughing.

No way.... I'm how old??

2009-03-24T08:53:00.001-07:00

2009-03-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

Cougar through and through

2009-03-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

Rise and shout, a new cougar is out.... Gotta follow in Mommy and Daddy's footsteps, right?

Ah, he looks so good in blue! Thanks for the sweatshirt, Alayna!

Evan's been doing this look of utter concentration lately--it reminds me so much of an old man. See for yourself:

...but Evan's way cuter.

Look at that smile!

2009-03-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

Evan's smile is too addicting to not share. And the best part is, is that he smiles all the time. We just love our little boy.

I am a big boy!

2009-02-27T09:07:00.001-08:00

Stats from my four-month appointment:
Weight: 16 lbs 7 oz--80th percentile.
Height: 26 3/4 in--95th percentile.
Wow.

Getting so big!

2009-02-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

Sweetheart

2009-02-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

I have a wonderful husband. He made my birthday so special for me. Even Evan gave me a birthday present--he slept till 8:15 and woke up all smiles.

When I lived in Oklahoma, my first job was at a phone center for a pizza place called Mazzio's. We took called-in orders and sent them to the restaurant closest to the delivery address. I loved Mazzio's pizza--particularly their calzone and cheese dippers. Yum. I haven't had Mazzio's in YEARS--but I was excited to find that there was one in Millington, TN, which is about 45 minutes away from us. I have wanted us to go there for a while, but it's in the hood, and we haven't ventured up there yet. Well, John came home from school yesterday with a surprise--a pepperoni calzone and an order of cheese dippers from Mazzio's! He drove all the way up there and got me my favorite foods. What a sweetheart!

And yes, I am still in my pjs! Yay for birthdays!

Then we went out to do some shopping, and then I had to go to Young Women's. When I came home, the house was clean, and John and a couple we're good friends with were in the kitchen with a birthday cake (unfrosted, just as I like it!) and candles, singing Happy Birthday!

It was a really nice day--didn't hurt that it was like 70 degrees and sunny as well! Thanks, John, for making it a special day for me. I love you!

And doesn't this face just make you wanna smile???

V-Day PJs

2009-02-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! We started our Valentine's Day by exchanging Valentine's pj pants. Then I was off to our Young Women's basketball game--the semifinals--which, unfortunately, we lost. Ah, well.

I hate going out to dinner on Valentine's Day. Restaurants are overcrowded and everyone seems so grumpy. Maybe it's just me that's grumpy. Anyway, we decided we're not going to go out for Valentine's Day anymore. So we had a nice candlelit dinner at home--parmesan encrusted pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, asparagus and artichokes. Yummy. It was much more peaceful and was great. AND we got to wear pj pants during dinner!

For our anniversary a couple of weeks ago, a friend watched Evan for us. He took a few pictures of Evan that I think are really cute, so I've added one below. Thanks, Brent!

Happy Anniversary, John!

2009-02-06T21:59:00.000-08:00

Evan's New Trick

2009-01-25T18:32:00.000-08:00

I am amazed at how fast Evan is growing up. He is getting so strong and so curious about everything around him. Jen and I just love him to pieces. We feel so blessed to have been sent a perfect little chunk.

Evan and Mommy

2009-01-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures of my two favorite people in the whole world, Evan and his Mommy. He really likes to read books with her, especially Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I also got a good shot of both of them sleeping. Aren't they so cute? I just love them.

How True It Is!

2009-01-01T19:40:00.001-08:00

The Shirt speaks for itself.

Christmas PJ Party

2008-12-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

John and I started a tradition a few years back--we started giving each other pajama pants for Christmas and Valentine's Day. We decided we'd do it for our kids as well. Eventually, I plan to make quilts out of the pajama pants we accumulate, and each child will get their own. Anyway, we got Evan his first pair of Christmas pajama pants. He's such a cutie in them!

Here a photo of us in this year's pj pants. John and I bought the same pair for each other--unplanned!

We wish you all a very merry Christmas!!

Bumbo Time

2008-12-23T09:05:00.000-08:00

I thought Evan might be ready for his Bumbo today. Not quite. His head kept slumping over, but we're getting close. We took some fun photos anyway and thought we'd share.

Not a creature was stirring....

2008-12-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

...except for a mouse! Yep, we had our own little furry friend make an appearance. Unfortunately, it ran into the nursery, and we were NOT excited about waiting for it to get caught in a trap. So we invited the cat into the room. Shai thought the mouse was a toy, not food. Guess we're feeding her too well. She chased it like she was serious, but when she would corner it, she'd just sit and wait for it to make it's next move! Eventually John took matters into his own hands--he cornered it himself, built a wall around it, and had me grab a box and kitchen tongs. He held the box and I reached in with the tongs and grabbed the mouse and dropped it in the box. Poor little guy! Then we took a walk to a field far, far away from our home and dropped him off. Yeah, the tongs went in the garbage can.

Awwww.

2008-12-15T05:50:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about my husband is that he does spontaneous nice things for me. It doesn't have to be a holiday or a special occasion for him to be thoughtful--for example, despite the fact that he's in the middle of his finals for the semester, he ran to the store for me the other day, and when he came home he surprised me with the following:

Yep, I got a good one. Thanks for being so sweet, John. I love you!

All Smiles!

2008-12-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

Evan started smiling a couple of weeks ago. It's darling, and his parents will go to any lengths to see one--including singing the last line of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (which he apparently loves!) a million bazillion times!

What a cutie!!

2008-11-20T10:46:00.001-08:00

Sleepy boy.

First real bath in a tub--oh yeah, he loved it! :)

All tuckered out after dinner.

Daddy/Evan bonding time.

Guys Night Out

2008-11-18T20:23:00.001-08:00

Tonight I needed to go to Best Buy to get a micro SD card for my phone, so I packed Evan up in the car and we headed out. It was his first trip to Best Buy and it was some good quality time with daddy and his little man. Of course, he had no idea what was going on considering he was asleep by the time we left the driveway and was still asleep when we got home. I know he could sense the manliness of the trip though... he knew... he knew.

Ode to our Kitty

2008-11-18T20:12:00.001-08:00

Well, I know this may seem a little strange to some of you out there, but to those who have animals, you will understand. Sunday was Shai's one year anniversary of being our little kitty cat. Shes a lot of fun and we have really enjoyed her. Those who don't have pets just can't understand. Its a lot of fun when she comes and snuggles up to watch TV or when you wake up because she is attacking your feet under the covers. We love you Shaianne.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

Aunt Randi sent us a cute orange and white outfit that we thought was appropriate for Halloween since Evan didn't have a costume for his first holiday. He got a cute jack o lantern hat and some fun socks from Nana and Papa, so we decked him out in all his Halloween goodies. Unfortunately, he wasn't as fond of the hat as he was of the rest of the ensemble. Though that didn't last too long either--during the next diaper change he soaked himself. Ah, boys!

Baby Evan

2008-10-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Cousin Caleb Comes To Visit

2008-10-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Baby Caleb Ketcher came to visit Evan today. He brought his parents with him. They had a good time getting to know each other as the two newest men of the Ketcher family. They both commented on how fun it would have been to have baby Gracie here as well, but they had fun none-the-less. Evan is excited to meet all of his new friends.

Evan Magnus Ketcher

2008-10-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

Alright, now that Jen is feeling better, we decided on his official name: Evan Magnus Ketcher. I have to say, though, that this was actually Jen's second favorite name choice this morning. I told her, however, that we were not going to officially name him Cutie Patootie. They are still both doing great. Daddy is also learning how much sleep he will NOT be getting over the next MANY nights.

Baby Boy Ketcher Has Arrived!

2008-10-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a quick second and announce the arrival of our son, Baby Boy Ketcher. We are leaning towards a name, but we want to wait until morning when Jen is feeling better to make it official. He arrived by way of c-section at 11:55am on Thursday. He weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and was 20 3/4in long. Both baby boy and Mom are doing extremely well. I can't even begin to express how proud I am of Jen. She trudged right through 4 hours of contractions coming one minute apart without complaining until she received her epidural (which she is a huge fan of). We are both extremely excited for this new little addition to our family.

Ugh

2008-10-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since we've posted anything. We've had lots going on trying to get the house organized and get baby things in order. Two weeks from today I'll go into the hospital and two weeks from tomorrow they'll be inducing me. So yeah, we've been busy. So here's a photo of me looking fat and tired. Enjoy!

Aah...a visit to NOT Memphis.

2008-09-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

We took a fun little trip with some friend to see the sights in St. Louis over Labor Day weekend. Neither John nor I had ever been. We left on a Thursday evening, and at the advice of some locals who had moved into our area, stopped at Lambert's Cafe, the home of the throwed roll--that's right, throwed. I'll post a clip of the experience in a bit. It was great. It's home-style cooking, lots of southern fried food. Yum. They walk around with pots of sides and just pile them on your plate, not to mention the huge rolls. My kind of eating.

We went to the temple Friday morning, then went over to Union Station and walked around. We took a Mississippi riverboat tour as well, and walked around the arch.

The City Museum was our favorite part of the trip. What a place! It's designed so that any little nook or cranny that you can fit in, you're supposed to go in. It'll lead somewhere. I wasn't feeling very adventurous (being seven months pregnant will do that) so I didn't squeeze anywhere exciting. But they had a whole spelunking area, a whale you could crawl around in, an aquarium, a seven-story slide, and a whole outside cage climbing area that was pretty fantastic. I'd love to go back with kids. Below is a photo of the outside area. At the very top is the tunnel the guys crawled through. Then there's a photo of the group of us in the first room with the whale. It's such a cool place!

We went to the top of the arch aferward--pretty anticlimactic. I'd say it was worth it to do it once, but that's about it. Here's the view from the top:

We also went to the St. Louis Zoo and Grant's Farm, and took the Budweiser plant tour--those Clydesdales are amazing horses. The zoo was pretty impressive, though we didn't spend a whole lot of time there. The Science Center was also fun--kind of Omniplex-ish, for those who grew up in OK. Then there was the Cathedral Basilica, home of the most extravagant mosaics in the country--also pretty cool. One of the great things about St. Louis is that most all these exhibits are free--you just pay for parking.

We had a great time on the trip! It was a great break from school and work, and a nice little last hurrah for John and I before little boy Ketcher comes along.

Its about time! We got it!

2008-08-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

After months of waiting and praying, we finally found out Friday that we received the Indian Health Services Health Professions Scholarship. I turned in my application 6 months ago and have been waiting patiently ever since. They were switching from paper applications to online applications this year, so they were a little behind the deadlines that they had proposed, considering its the end of August and the website initially said they would let recipients know by the middle of June. None-the-less, I can't begin to explain how excited Jen and I are. For those of you who aren't familiar with the scholarship, it includes full tuition, books, equipment, and a monthly living stipend. In exchange for taking the scholarship, I agree to work for IHS for two years. I looked up job openings for IHS on Saturday just to get an idea of the kinds of places that we may end up... OH MY! We're more than likely to end up somewhere extremely remote. For example, for those of you who are curious, they had an opening in Kotzebue, AK. Look it up on wikipedia, it gives a nice picture. Again, Jen and I are extremely excited and grateful for this HUGE blessing and for another strong confirmation that Heavenly Father is watching out for and taking care of us. Thanks to all of you who have offered prayers on our behalf. We appreciate it.

My favorite times of the year

2008-08-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Some people really love Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, or New Years. While all of these are great times of year that I enjoy just as much as the next person, my favorite time of the year is driving home from my last final exam. I experienced one of those moments just 30 minutes ago. I hate all the stress that is involved with taking 7 tests in 7 days and I love the stress relief knowing that all those tests are done and I now have almost two weeks to just relax. I think I may finish the gate for our fence. It has needed a gate for over a year now. I think I will also finish the hardwood floors in our master bedroom. That has needed finishing since November. I blame this lack of being able to finish projects on my genes (before you get defensive, mom and dad, remember the wall in our entry way on Brookdale that only needed to have the sheetrock painted, but stayed unpainted from when I was 8 until sometime when I was on my mission?). Anyway, thats what has been going on lately here in Mississippi. We are also expecting to hear from IHS soon about the scholarship I applied for. We will let you all know as soon as we find out about anything.

...and so you see, we are a happy family!

2008-07-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

I recently attended my family reunion in Payson, UT. It was soooo nice to see my parents and all my brothers and sisters and their kids all together. The only person who was missing was John, and I just heard that he was going around telling our friends that he was the only person in the family that wasn't invited! Goober.

We camped for a couple of nights up at the Payson Lakes, which was fun, then wrapped up with a picnic at a park in Payson. It was a great weekend. I wish I could have hung around for the Sunday feast.

Here are my photos from the reunion--enjoy!

With the number 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Memphis Grizzlies select... SCO Student Intern JOHN KETCHER

2008-07-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

I love optometry school. As third years we are required to participate in two vision health fairs throughout the year. When an email was send out asking for volunteers to help with the Grizzlies Academy basketball camp, I figured that was a no-brainer. Turns out, it was even better than I expected. We were supposed to see kids from 8:45-12:00, but there was a mix-up with some of the people running the camp and the kids that were supposed to come and we ended up only seeing kids from 9:00-10:00. For the next three hours I just hung out at the FedEx Forum (home stadium of the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team) playing basketball (I won a half-court shooting contest with the head coach from Illinois Central College against two of the kids playing in the camp) eating pizza, and hanging out with one of the Grizzlies VPs of Basketball Operations. He gave us a tour of the Forum, like where the refs hangout before and after the games. Then after we had eaten our pizza, he took us on a tour of all the Grizzlies facilities under the stands. We went through the weight room (he offered me a 10 day contract with the team if I could curl a 110# barbell 10 times, but alas, too much for me) the showers with 10 ft high shower heads, we went through the equipment room where they keep all the players jerseys and shoes, the players lounge where they hang out and watch tv, eat, play ping-ping or pool, we we went through the coaches offices, playing on the practice court, and my favorite, the Grizzlies locker room. It was pretty sweet. They had little fridges with Gatorade all over the place. What sweet Gatorade heaven... except that it wasn't Gatorade Tiger as I have become accustomed to drinking in my efforts to be a better golfer simply by drinking Tiger's brand of Gatorade. It was a pretty cool day. The first picture I posted is me in the Grizzlies locker room.The second picture is me in the media room where they do all the press conferences. It is me announcing that we just signed LeBron James to a 10 year $1,000,000,000 contract. Actually, the VP kept assuring me that there was no way LeBron James would ever come to Memphis no matter how much money we had.