I'm back.

I don't know if anyone will read this since you have probably all given up on looking at our blog!  I set a goal to blog more.   I know goals are supposed to be specific but I don't know how busy this semester will be...for now it is simply "blog more". 

Speaking of goals, Happy New Year!  There is a tradition in my family that I started this year with Dan since 2013 will be our first full year together (married).  We write New Year's goals and predictions and seal them in an envelope and open them the following New Year's Eve.  The predictions make it so much more fun!  I usually predict one thing for each member of my family silently.  Then the next year I read any of my predictions aloud and usually get a good laugh because my prediction was so off or brag about how spot on I was.;)  When it comes to goals, I have been trying to simplify because I have had a few discouraging New Years' reading my last years' goals realizing I hadn't reached the majority of them.  This year I chose one spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, and social goal this year.  I hope this simplified way works.  It is key to write them on a 3x5 card
or another small paper too so they will be visible daily. 

This New Years Dan and I were in Las Vegas. It was such a blast!  We saw some crazy people and it was crowded but being together on vacation is so nice. My dad instilled this love in me for Vegas since I was small. It's really funny how much he loves it.  We joke about putting him on this zip line that goes down the old Las Vegas strip above all the people because he would have a huge smile on his face and my family of course would be laughing so hard watching him.

Anyway, after watching the fireworks in Las Vegas (more pics and details of our trip coming soon) Dan and I came back to the room and I said, "We have to start the tradition in our family!"  He didn't know what I was talking about because last year with the hype of getting engaged New Year's Eve, we didn't do it.  So this year I grabbed the little hotel notepad and hotel pens and we sat in our hotel room making toasts and shared our goals and made some goals together.    

 

When we got home I sealed our goals and predictions in envelopes to

open next year! 

 

Thanks to everyone who sent us your cute Christmas cards.  For one who is still working on writing and sending out our last wedding thank you cards (oops), I decided to hold off this year but I love my friends and I'm grateful to have you in my life.  Happy New Year!  Here's to a year of more calcium, scripture reading, A's, phone calls to friends and family, and blogging!

Aloha.

Today I am off to Hawaii with this funny funny girl.

Best job ever.

Hailey Brae

This family of 4 is now a family of 5.

Niece #3 came one week ago

(6 lbs 8.5 oz.)

                                                        
                 and we can't get enough of her.

I was at work in Springville while my sister was in labor at a hospital 30 minutes away.  She said I could be in the room while she gives brith!  My mom told me she was dialated to a 5 when I left work, so I was taking my grand ol' time running errands on my way.  About 15 minutes into my errands I got a text that my sister was at a 10!  I was still in Springville and drove quickly to the hospital, and entered the room minutes before Hailey arrived.  My brother in law said, "Right in Tia fashion."  I'm so glad I got there to hear her first little cry!

Before Hailey came, my youngest niece and nephew are now almost 3, so it has been a few years since the Zwicks have had a newborn.  I can't even count how many times my mom looks at my sisters and I and says, "Will somebody please have a baby!?"  What a blessing it was for me to not miss any baby arrivals or weddings in my immediate family while I was serving my mission.  So, I'm okay with Hailey not arriving until her Auntie was home.

Hailey has been loved for a long time.  My sister has two energetic toddler boys and is in heaven with this new spirit in her home.  Her boys have been so proud of their little sister. Parker (4) first saw Hailey through the hospital nursery windows as the nurse was giving her her first bath.  He saw other families there and he got pretty upset when he noticed they were looking at other babies and not his sister, "Look at OUR baby" he kept telling them.

Newborns just bring the sweetest spirit into the room.  I forgot the feeling until this past week.  It's so peaceful and calming to be with her.  She truly is fresh from heaven.  

We love you so much Hailey.  We are so grateful for you to be part of our family.

Robin Hood

He’s home!

Yep… Husband went out of town.  That is no fun (for me).  Especially when it’s moving week.  But I can’t complain, because I really didn’t give him a break after his DAT test.  I made him help me pack up our stuff at Grandpa’s right after his 4 hour test for two days before he went on his adventure.

It’s a Field family tradition for the guys to go on a backpacking trip every Summer.

This Summer they headed to the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho. Just the sound of that mountain range sounds miserable, so Grandpa and I stayed here.

I missed Dan so much so I’d have to remind myself of the alternative, being with him on the Sawtooths...well probably pushing grandpa in a wheelchair up the Sawtooths, no thanks.

As he started packing his backpack, he pulled out stuff I had never seen before! I felt kind of dumb since I am studying Recreation Management. :/ Bio-degradable toilet paper, white gas to light a mini stove, freeze dried meals that grow in size when you add hot water (yuck).  

He and his brothers’ backpacks were over 50 pounds.

Backpacking was a new term I learned about 11 months ago. So for my friends who hated hikes on girls camp, get this… Backpacking is where you carry your camping gear (including TENT) and food and clothes and everything ON YOUR BACK ALL DAY as you hike to your next destination to set up camp. I guess I’m still pretty clueless because I saw him packing all these old wrinkly clothes and I asked him if I could iron them. He looked at me and said, “Hunny, I’m going to be in the woods.” I told my mom because what I said because it is totally something she would have said too. The only thing she could relate Dan’s response of “…[being] in the woods” to was Robin Hood. Ha ha.  

My family never camped, let alone, backpacked, so I’m excited for my future sons to have this experience with their dad like Dan does with his. It's a highlight of Dan's summer. (Dan's dad below) 

I have to have daughters to be home with me though because I really don’t like when my husband goes out of town. (Who’s with me?)

He caught pretty views though!

 

The best way to have heaven in your home is to have someone you love in heaven.

We’ve been blessed this summer with the opportunity of caretaking my 89 year old widowed Grandpa. As many of you know, about 3 months ago, Dan and I moved into Grandpa Zwick’s house in Salt Lake to take care of him. 

Straight from our honeymoon, here! We love him so much but I have to say I’m so excited to only have 3 days left.  

There’s nothing like starting out your marriage as a threesome!  

Even though it’s been hard, serving him has made me love him in a deeper way and appreciate the little things in life, as he does.

Things I’ll miss:

-Waking grandpa up and opening his blinds to see him look out and then ask every day, “Sunshine and flowers today?” “Yes, sunshine and flowers grandpa.” 

-Seeing him kiss my grandma’s cute picture on her funeral program several times a day.

-Tucking him into bed and telling me over and over again, “Thank you for your help sweetie.” Made the whole day worth it.

-Hearing him pray over his food a few times throughout the meal because he forgets he has. He never misses prayers. Such a great example to me.

-Playing sequence together and letting him win because it makes him so happy when he does.

-His jokes. Old people jokes are always so dumb and that’s why they’re so funny.  Giving him his pills and his consistent reply of, “I’m already a pill, I don’t need more pills.”

-Sitting on the two rocking chairs on the porch and talking together.

-Eating ice cream together. ALMOST EVERY NIGHT. Definitely a staple in his book.

-Him singing to Nat King Cole in the car.

-Driving passed his schools and he tells us stories about teachers like Mrs. Bend who he and his friends nick-named, “Scooter Bend” because she’d walk so fast down the hallways and lean her body almost horizontally as she turned corners.

-I laugh every day because he asks my husband, “Did you do much ice skating, Son?”  As if he did.  It must have been cool back in Grandpa’s day.  He just told me today he’d buy me a pair of ice skates for Christmas so we can go together down at Liberty Park.  Sometimes I think he thinks I’m his girlfriend. 

-How he admires and appreciates God’s creations.  His fascination with clouds and flags especially.  Always saying stuff like, “Look at that little cloud.  It looks like it got away from his parents” as he points to two larger clouds.

-How much he loves my Grandma and talks about missing her.  He reminds me of how wonderful she is every single day. 

(The list could go on.)

Things I won’t miss:

-Waking up with him in the night, calming him down from a Vietnam War nightmare.

-Trying to cheer him up when he’s missing Grandma.

-Catching him when he falls.

-Literally wondering if he’s still alive when I go to wake him up.

-Blasting the TV, his music, and talking loud so he can hear.

-Always wanting to bring his sweater if we leave the house.  Even when we tell him the hot temp outside.  

-Cleaning up after his accidents.

-Making and buying him soup.  Soup in 100 degree weather.  Yep, all he ever wants.

-Getting him in and out of the car, house, bed, chairs, and more. 

-Trying to distinguish between his and Dan’s white shirts, garments, and church socks when folding clothes.

(This list could go on too) :)  

But I know it will all be worth it when I see my Grandma again and she thanks us for caring for the love of her life. (Really, love of her life… they went to kindergarten together, lived a house a part, and grandpa tells stories about walking her home from middle school together!)

My husband has been such a trooper--always talking to Grandpa, helping him with yardwork, taking him to visit Grandma's grave, watching sports with him, taking him to Priesthood, and more.  I am so grateful for all his help with Grandpa because I definitely could not have done it alone. 

 

Aren't they cute?

Grandpa Zwick loves Dan.

We are ready to have our own place, finally crack open all those fun new appliances people so generously gave to us for our wedding.  And you know me, I can’t wait to decorate.

3 months down, 3 days to go and then , back to Provo!  I know, lame, I’m excited about Provo.  Provo!  Ha ha.  But I think you would be too.