Journal Entry: Nov. 23, 2007

It's the day after Thanksgiving. We're spending the holiday in Arizona with Miles' family. I've been meaning to sit down and write a few things about how excited we are that we're pregnant, expecting our first baby! The baby is due May 25th. We found out we were pregnant about the end of September after having tried for 8 months (which felt like an eternity). We started trying a couple semesters before graduating from BYU. After moving to California, and still not pregnant, I searched for a full-time job. I was so blessed to find a position on UCI campus with full medical benefits. A month after starting my new job, Miles and I got a positive pregnancy test. We were in shock, but didn't hesitate in sharing the exciting news with my family. Of course, my Mom was the first person I called. My family was so thrilled. My sister even cried when she exclaimed "I'm going to be an aunt!" The fact that we're having our own baby sinks in a bit more each day.

Up to this point, I can honestly say I've had a miracle pregnancy. I'll be 14 weeks on Sunday (which is today) and will have finished my first trimester. I have been extremely blessed to not have suffered from morning sickness. I was so surprised, as I thought for sure the toilet would be my best friend though out my first trimester. I guess you never know! However, I have had many other discomforts that come with pregnancy: needing to pee all the time, I've been so dog-tired, and I cannot even stand the thought of cooking. I hate food; the thought and the smell. As of right now, I just feel fat. I'm in that awkward stage where I don't look pregnant yet, just that I've put on a few pounds.

We shared our news with Miles' family onThanksgiving. We thought it would be great to tell them in person. They didn't agree. They were upset we didn't tell them earlier. I guess we messed up on that one! Sorry Pomeroys!

So the two big things we're looking forward to now are feeling the baby move, (hopefully in the next 2-4 weeks) and finding out if it's a boy or girl (4-6 weeks). We're kinda hoping for a boy, but would gladly take a girl!

I cannot tell you how happy we are, and how blessed we feel! In all of this, we have definitely felt the hand of the Lord.

Fetus at 10 weeks, which we affectionately call "Feets."

AmateurHalloWeddingPhotographer: Three Posts in One

So I haven't posted anything for awhile, long enough that I have to cram three posts into one.

1. Amateur Photographer
We got our new camera in the mail and I've been meaning to post a few of our very first pictures. The best part about these pictures is that I took them all at dusk/night without any flash! I didn't even know that was possible until I recently read about it in the user manual and elsewhere. Some of the new terms I've learned recently are: white balance, aperture, shutter speed, and iso. It's almost like learning a new language, though the trickiest part is learning how to use all these elements together to get a great photograph. Here are a couple of my first attempts:

2. Halloween
Miles and I celebrated Halloween for what seemed like 5 days straight. It started when we were in St. George the weekend before Halloween. My family held our traditional party on that Friday night. It really was a lot of fun, like usual. Everyone dressed up, we ate pizza, played donut-on-a-string-game, and just hung out. Miles had the best costume. He dressed as a "rebellious missionary," which was just hilarious because of how straight-laced he is. Truthfully though, he looked pretty good that way!

3. Wedding
On Saturday, October 27, my brother got married! Yeah! Rick and Danelle were married in the Pine Valley Chapel that Saturday evening. It was a beautiful and simple event. There were only a few guests including immediate family and grandparents. I had a lot of fun taking pictures at their wedding. I also helped my sister, Andrea, make the wedding cake. The whole family (both sides) worked really hard to make Rick and Danelle's wedding day really special!

* Pomeroy Hotel

Since moving to California, we've become a 1 star hotel for our family--not the most luxurious but it's cheap and in a great location. Of the 5 weeks we've been living here, we've had company staying with us for a total 2 1/2- 3 weeks, including my sister's family when we moved in, my Uncle Bill and his crew (7 people) and then some more family this past week. Don't get me wrong, we've enjoyed having them. It gives Miles and I an excuse to vacation ourselves. Last week, my mom, sister, and 3 nieces took a spontaneous trip to visit us. They all had a blast. My mom fell in love with it here. She kept saying things like "I love the air here" and "Why do people live in the desert again?" She didn't want to go home to the 110 degree weather waiting for them in St. George. While they were here my family did a ton of fun activities including: had a BBQ, roasted marshmallows at a bonfire on the beach (a new experience for everyone), visited an aquarium, went whale watching, and spent the day at Knotts Berry Farm. When Miles and I weren't working, we got to go along with them.

My SUPERMAN

Well, after reading over many of my friend's blogs, I thought it was now my turn to spotlight my husband. He really is my Superman! Moving away from friends and family has reminded me how awesome my husband is. He is the most caring, spiritual, loving, handsome, intelligent, and loyal man out there. And I know he will make the best father to our children! He is my closest friend and my silliest playmate. I am the most comfortable and my best self when I am with him. I love my Mr. Handsome Turkeypants.

Family Pictures

Well, I did not intend to post two entries in one day--but I forgot about these family pictures. Miles and I decided to get some fun "family pictures" taken now that we've been married for more than a couple years. We're just getting a little tired of the wedding pictures hanging on our wall. So, we had a friend (an armature photographer) take a few. We hope they captured a little of our personalities. Have a look!

Miles' Birthday Weekend that We Spent at Laura's Wedding

We have now spent 5 days celebrating Miles' Birthday. Starting on Thursday, we had a little party at our friends' house, the Shades. Another couple, the Turners, were there as well. Miles hates cake, so we improvised and put all 25 candles into a stack of Krispy Kreme donuts.



At this party, I also gave Miles his present from me--a brand new suit, shirt, tie, and belt. I know it doesn't sound exciting, but he really loved it. And he looks good!






On Saturday, his REAL birthday, we actually went to St. George to attend a wedding of a high school friend. But even during that busy day, we were able to squish a little birthday time in for Miles. My sister and I went to the store and surprised Miles with a very chocolaty chocolate cake (which he doesn't like at all--my sister was just craving chocolate).

While in St. George we had a lot of fun with the family. My little nieces are adorable! They are my favorite people to visit! Look at little Avery!







My younger brother Danny and my nieces love playing in the water. You'll notice they didn't have their swimming suits with them, but that didn't stop them. Instead they just borrowed a couple T-shirts from their uncle Danny.

For the wedding, my sister wanted to do my hair in these steam rollers she had. They were pretty cool. You just set the curlers on the steamer for 5 seconds, roll your hair, and take them out 30 min later. I looked pretty silly for awhile, but got many compliments later. It was definitely a fun-filled birthday weekend!

Mom's Funny Dream

My Mom sent me this email about a dream she had the other night. I found it HILARIOUS. Just thought I'd share. And if anyone else has a funny dream to tell, I'd love to hear it!

Here's a cast of the characters:

Mom (narrator), Mikelle (little fish w/freckles), Kiarah (little fish), and Andrea

After I sent my last e-mail, I remembered this one dream I had a couple nights ago that was so bizarre and funny. I just gotta tell ya about it.

Well, we were swimming around in a pool (I don't know who "we" is except that I know Andrea was there and some other people around.) For some reason, Kiarah & Mikelle were little fish swimming around, tiny little fish. There was a whale swimming around. We were concerned about the whale getting Kiarah & Mikelle but not too worried. Mikelle swam too close to the whale while the whale had its mouth open and went right in. The whale swallowed Mikelle! I panicked. Andrea was worried but not as worried as I. I told Andrea that we needed to use force on the whale. So Andrea swam to the bottom of the pool and punched the whale. The whale surfaced. I swam over to the whale to try to get Mikelle. The whale's face turned into a pretty woman's face. I tried to talk the whale into giving her up, but it wouldn't. We were very worried that Mikelle was just gone forever. But then we noticed little fish Mikelle on the side of the pool on the cement. I went over to her. She wasn't breathing, so I did a little CPR with my finger. She started coming to life and began turning back into a human being. As she was developing, I looked at her face and noticed she didn't have freckles. Then as she continued developing, I looked again, noticed that she now did have freckles and knew that now Mikelle was completely back to normal because now she had her freckles.

Oh, my gosh, what a dream!

Love, Mom

Our Niece Kia's Baptism and More

Miles and I just got home from visiting my family is St. George. Our niece, Kia got baptized on Saturday. It was a really neat experience. She is such a sweet girl! My dad, her grandpa, baptized and confirmed her. Afterward, everyone got together for rootbeer floats. Here are some cute pictures of Kia. My mom loves taking her picture because Kia is such a good model!

Here are some more pics from when our families were in town for our graduation. We had a blast!

The whole fam together!


All of us strutting our stuff while playing bocce ball.

My family made Miles and I a quilt for graduation! Wow, a ton of hard work went into this project. My mom and sister were up til 2:00 in the morning for a week to get it finished in time. Thanks again family!

Graduated and Movin' On!

Alright, after we sent out our graduation announcements, we had a ton of people reply and ask what our plans were from here. So, here's the update for anyone who wanted one...

Both graduation commencement and convocation went VERY well. Vice President Dick Cheney gave a great speech. Also, President Gordon B. Hinckley, Elder Bednar, and Elder Scott were all there in attendance. President Hinckley didn't speak, which I was actually happy about. I think if he had, it would have overshadowed the presence of Dick Cheney. Miles' entire family came down for commencement and convocation. We had a BBQ/picnic for both of our families after convocation of Friday. Everyone got along surprisingly well. We ate fat hamburgers and played some mean bocce ball.


So, now that we've graduated from BYU, here's the plan. Miles got accepted to UCI for a PhD program working with embryonic stem cells. So, we will be moving to California in mid to late June. He will be starting a rotation summer quarter. We will be close to the beach and Disneyland for at least 5 years. Wahoo!