…and breathe

As stressful and overwhelming as this summer has been, it is equally as overwhelming to sit down and try to express in words what we experienced. To say the least, this summer was a blur. I don’t know how we handled having a baby, deciding to apply for a new job, interviewing for the job, getting the job, blessing Lucy, throwing a party to celebrate her blessing, going to many family parties, preparing our house to move out of state, finding and place to live in CA, talking in church, selling our house, selling our car, selling our furniture, getting rid of our junk, packing our stuff, Stephen working full-time and all the time, trying to properly take care of three active girls, going to doctor appointments, going to dentist appointments, living temporarily at Grandma’s, traveling to CA, unpacking, settling in a “new” area, registering for elementary, starting a new job, joining a “new” ward… I guess I do know how we did it all. With help from God. Although it was hard, really hard, I know we received so many miracles and blessings. With God’s help everything just fell into place.

I had a wonderful delivery. Induced. Absolutely no pain. She was born healthy and beautiful.

Her sisters love her. 

Lucy’s baby blessing

For Sale by owner. We listed our house on KSL classifieds and it sold in 1 day! A true miracle.

Look what we unpacked.

Lucy has become a very happy baby.

Check out how California cool she is.

The “Home” Tour

I am happy to report we have only one more cardboard box to unpack from our move. It’s full of pictures, and there just isn’t wall space for it. We have been in the Bay Area 12 days and are slowly settling in. We have an apartment, we’ve gone to our “new” Ward, Mally is registered for school and Stephen and I got our CA drivers licenses today. So, I think that means we are officially CA residents.

Here are pictures of our apartment. It’s 950 square feet, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It’s definitely not as large or as nice as our UT home. But, it’s home for now and we are liking it just fine. Hey, it’s bigger than our apartment last summer and this time around we even have our furniture.

The kitchen and girls’ room

The family/living/office/dining room.

The master bedroom.

The bathrooms.

That’s all folks.

The Graduate

This past Friday was Stephen's Master degree graduation. We are all very proud of him. It was fun to hear the girls yell "Yey, Dad," when they read his name. This has been quite the growing experience for our whole family. And it all would not have been possible without the guidance of the spirit, many answered prayers, helpful neighbors, and the support of our extended family.

To celebrate this accomplishment we are spending the week as a family in Park City. Which is good because I am exhausted from all of Stephen's hard work.

The Master is in the House

Stephen successfully defended his thesis yesterday and now you can officially refer to him as Master Stephen. He did a great job in his presentation defense in front of his peers and committee. He hardly seemed to get flustered or sweat it when they grilled him with questions. In contrast I was worried for him and literally kept my fingers crossed the whole time praying they would be easy on him and not ask too hard of questions. Man, those professors are smart guys and one in particular seemed to like to hear himself talking about math equations filled with Greek letters. I really wanted him to stop asking questions.

But all in all, Stephen out smarted all of them and convinced them to pass off this thesis and give him a Masters degree. One degree down now on to the next one. I am a very proud wife. He has truly worked hard for this degree.

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He’s In

When I was 16 years old I worked at a girls’ camp. One of the college-aged counselors introduced us to a song called, “The Times Come to Try.” I liked the sound and melody of the song, but I never quite got the meaning of it. All the older counselors seemed to really relate to it, but I guess I was too young. Well now, 16 years later I finally understand the meaning. The lyrics go like this:

I know what I have now, safety and love and friends forever.

I know what I have now, but there’s more.

Got this dream inside me and it knows no boundaries.

Maybe it’s too big to satisfy.

But I know now the times come to try.

I feel this song strongly relates to what our family has done with Stephen going back to school. We left the safety and security of his previous career path to follow a dream. I finally understand what it means to make changes in life, for the sake of trying to fulfill a dream.

Stephen will graduate in May with his Masters and we knew it was now or never to try to pursue a Doctorate. He applied for the PhD program in computer science and although he has really excelled in school and won the respect of his professors and classmates, it was never a sure thing that he would be accepted into the program. One obstacle was the reality that his current professor does not have the funding to take on another PhD student. And to add to the dilemma, this professor is currently the ONLY professor at the U doing the type of research Stephen wants to do.

BUT there is a glimmer of hope. A new professor in the same area of research is coming to the U this fall. And IF he would pick Stephen as his research assistant then that would be the miracle we needed to let Stephen continue to get his PhD. BUT there are MANY other students wanting this same position with the new professor.

In Stephen’s letter of intent for his application he mentioned this new professor as who he would like to work with hoping that the acceptance committee would make that connection.

Well, before Stephen even found out if he was accepted to the program he received an email from this new professor asking Stephen to explain the type of research he would like to do and any project ideas. I saw this request as a total miracle. Stephen saw this too as a miracle, but also a daunting task. He wasn’t exactly sure what to tell this professor. He didn’t have any really great project ideas off the top of his head. And what if he suggested an idea and the professor didn’t think it was a good fit for his research. And truly all Stephen really wanted to express to this professor, was “I will do any research you want me to. I will be your slave and sidekick, because I need you in order to get my doctorate.” Not exactly the most academic or professional thing to tell a prospective employer.

Luckily, before Stephen had the chance to fully compose and send his response, the Professor emailed again saying he was sorry to put Stephen on the spot and maybe chatting over Skype would be more helpful. Stephen was thrilled. They chatted that afternoon and after a 45 minute conversation the professor told Stephen that he couldn’t promise anything, but he was going to recommend Stephen as his research assistant.

And sure enough a few days later Stephen got the official letter from the U stating that he was accepted into the Computer Science PhD program, assigned to be the research assistant for Professor Cem Yuksel and with full funding. Wow! We were both in awe and so grateful. Though we still have years to go to fulfill this dream, it is so amazing to see how the Lord has made it possible every step of the way.

As a side note, Stephen was contacted by DreamWorks to come back again this summer. Although I think about wanting to go back to the Bay area daily and we were VERY flattered by the offer, we had to decline because of having a baby this summer. I can’t handle all the stress of finding a place to live, moving, finding a new doctor, having a baby, caring for a newborn and then moving back. When he declined DreamWorks, Stephen tried to make it very clear that we would love to go back next summer. Stephen already received good offer from the U to teach this summer. So, for this year we are staying put.

We’re in the Club Now

We’ve joined the ranks of soccer moms and parents everywhere. We bought a minivan. With the up and coming arrival of our third child, we figured there was no way we could cram two car seats and a booster in our small backseat. Not that I didn’t want to try. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my old red Saab. Cracks, scratches and all. I’m happy to say we are keeping it. But a minivan will become a practical necessity for our growing family. So, say hello to our new red car.

The girls named her Red Rocket. Stephen and I prefer Red Rover. But, somehow I think the girls will win the naming contest. After all, I had Delilah (my red Saab) years before I had Mally and once she could talk she renamed it McQueen. And it’s been McQueen ever since.

Here's a video of Eva expressing her love, love, love for the minivan.

And speaking of love. It’s our eight year anniversary. So, I guess the new car is an anniversary gift to ourselves.