This is what I've been doing

It's moving week!

Mark drove down to Colorado Springs Sunday night and has completed 2 of his days at orientation. Monday and Tuesday were district training days (very boring) and the next 3 days he is at his school in his classroom planning and meeting his "team". This is the first time in like 3 years that I have not had to attend Teacher orientation/training. Its a total role reversal so I feel for Mark and any other teachers now training because it really is pretty boring. We did get some great news from the apartment people. I was filling out the lease and it had our rent listed at 650 instead of 699 and it had the move in date as July 23rd instead of August 01. We are super excited about the rent but sort of confused about the move in date so we called them and they said since they had originally told us 650 then raised the price they were giving it to us at 650 so that was fantastic. They also let us know that we could move in Monday if we wanted without having to pay for any days in July. While that was really nice of them it would have been nicer if they told us like a week ago so we would have changed the pick up date for our moving truck and I would have moved down with Mark Monday instead of him being there and me here packing by myself. Oh well. I have had plenty of time to pack which is what I have been doing all day so far this week. I am about done so now its time to clean the only problem is that there is stuff in the way and I am still living here. Oh well.

My Sweet Greeley Friends

Thanks fabulous U2 ladies!

On Wednesday some oh so kind friends threw a baby shower for Jared and me. It was very thoughtful of them. About 6 weeks ago the ward Mark and I were attending was dissolved so there went most of our associations with some really fun people. I was like 19 weeks along then and hadn't really told anybody that we were expecting, mostly just because I was paranoid and wanted to save myself from being asked how I was feeling... So I figured I wouldn't be having a shower since nobody really knew we were going to have a baby and we would most likely be moving. So that was a bummer but I figured we would probably survive, its just one of those things that you always (well I did) look forward to having one day. My mom really wanted me to fly out to California so she could throw me one but that just wasn't practical. (She was so sweet though (of course) and sent Jared a fun package that I had Mark open the night before the shower, its his child too so why shouldn't he get to open some presents?) Since school has been out I have been walking in the park each day with some girls from the old ward and one day two of them offered to throw a shower for me. (Thanks again Canide and Lindsay!)It was super nice of them and I really appreciated it. It was so fun to see everyone again and we got some cute stuff for Jared. It was sort of like a going away party as well because quite a few of us are moving away from good old Greeley in the next few weeks. Most of the people who came have children so there was a little box that they could put helpful advice in which I am sure I will use. There is so much to learn and I am pretty sure that it will mostly just be trial and error but I definitely appreciate the tips so if you have any ones that saved your life with your kids please feel free to leave them here.

Cute little boy stuff!



27 weeks



28 weeks today!

My mom also sent me some oh so cute maternity clothes which I have had fun wearing. I seriously don't realize how pregnant I look until I see a picture of myself. I swear I look totally different in our bathroom mirror. But I am feeling pretty good and at my Doctor's appointment Monday Jared and I were given a thumbs up! Everything is going well. I also did my Glucose test a few weeks ago and the results were fine. Hooray!

Rocky Mountain High...Colorado

Can you name the artist who sings that song?

That song sort of became the theme song for our camping trip this past weekend.

The view from Grand Mesa, elevation 10,500 feet where we camped.
You can see the nice green area we were at and then out to the West it is all dry and desert like.

We drove over to Western Colorado to meet up with some friends and check out the other side of Colorado. I was amazed at the contrast we saw in the scenery. We drove up through Vail and saw beautiful pine forests and well known ski resorts and then over towards Grand Junction it turned all desert and Nevada like. I will always prefer the green pine tree mountain look to the dry sage brush mountain look. As well as the scenery I will also take the cooler temperatures. We stopped in a small town called Palisade for lunch. It was 103 degrees and I was pretty apprehensive about camping near there (because it wasn't pretty and was so so so hot!) but then we drove up the mountain to our campground and found ourselves in a 70 degree Oasis. It might have had something to do with the 5,000 foot change in elevation as well. At Palisade we went to a BBQ place for lunch but unfortunately they were out of pork and we totally wanted a pulled pork sandwich but they did have huckleberry sodas and Mark loves huckleberry anything so at least that part of lunch was a success. We also got some of the famous Palisade Peaches and I will say I was impressed. As I have mentioned in other posts, I have really missed all the California produce stands so getting some delicious peaches was a plus.

What we drove though to get to the campground



Ta-Da! Little Bear Campground



Beautiful Colorado, I loved all the purple flowers.

The water was so pretty and refreshing

Mark really likes this picture. He says it looks like he is standing in front of some fake scenery but it is the real deal. It would have been super fun to have a canoe or kayak to take on the lake. As we were driving over we saw lots of people out rafting/kayaking and it made me realize why people love Colorado so much. There is so much outdoor stuff to do. I was pretty impressed with all the cyclist we saw riding up these huge mountains too!

Just 3 more hours.
This is what I was thinking as I laid awake and uncomfortable from about 4:30 on. This night was like one long nap where I kept waking up.

So when we go camping we are not really roughing it. We have our queen size air mattress and always camp somewhere that has at least 4 walls for a bathroom. We open up our sleeping bags so we can warm each other up if someone gets cold so its not even like we are in sleeping bags and generally this arrangement works really well but now we know that when I am 27 weeks pregnant it does not work. So neither of us had a great nights sleep but the campground was super pretty and it was nice to go somewhere new. My favorite part about camping is always the campfire anways and we had that and it was perfect. We have some friends here who want to go camping in August but I am very much doubting that I could handle that.

* John Denver is the one who sings that song. We felt pretty cool listening to it as we drove through the Rocky Mountains and watched people raft down the rivers and do all the things Colorado is famous for.

Sunburns, sneezes and squito bites sounds like summer

These are some of the words I associate with summer. I could also add a lot of positive words too but since I currently have all three of the above I am going with them. I have never been a huge summer person. Most people would tend to think I was a huge fan of the summer because I chose to be a teacher and could have a nice long break well that really had nothing to do with why I chose to be a teacher. I actually think summer break is too long for kids (it puts them way behind in their school work and drops their reading levels and I think it often drives parents crazy) to be out of school and way outdated. Before kids needed to be out for the summer because they had to work on the farm not so much now but that is not the point of these thoughts.
I know this title sounds negative and I do not hate summertime, I just don't think it is all that great. When school ended in May I was nervous about what on earth we would do to stay busy because I love having things to keep me busy and going to work is great for that. But we have done a good job staying fairly busy. The library is a life saver for me I think I have read over 20 books since the end of May! I know I should really enjoy all this free independent time because soon enough it will be really hard to find. So I have been keeping that in mind and by so doing have learned that I love hanging out by the pool! This really was a revelation to me. Growing up in California one generally thinks that being poolside is a favorite past time but since my parents did not have a pool growing up I never knew how enjoyable it could be. I love going out after my morning walk and taking a book and reading for awhile then swimming some laps and reading some more while I dry off. It is so funny to me that I never realized that I could enjoy it. Unfortunately, our new apartment complex in Colorado Springs does not have a pool so I won't be able to enjoy this new found way to pass the time.
I am actually quite impressed that I haven't gotten more sunburns than I have. The mosquitoes are eating me alive but that is pretty normal anytime there are mosquitoes around. We went to a movie night in the park Friday (a summer activity that I love!) and I got tons of bites with mosquito repellent on. I never ever had allergies growing up in California, where everything grows but ever since we moved to Utah for that one fateful summer in 2005 I get summer allergies. I swear I am allergic to hot weather. Luckily Greeley has had a very mild summer so they haven't started kicking in but this week they did and I am sneezing all the time. It makes me feel so bad for people who have lots of allergies.
Whats crazy is that for us summer is almost over especially for Mark. He basically has 2 weeks of summer left. His new teacher orientation starts July 26th and continues through the 31st and then he starts teaching on August 04th. This is actually something we think we will really like about his school district. They go to school for 9 weeks and then have 2 off. They still get out the same time as other schools in the area (the end of May) but they get three 2 week long breaks throughout the year to make up for starting sooner. (October, December and March)
We have a few more fun activities planned and then its time to pack up and start the next phase of our lives. I can't wait for the end of this summer and the changes it will bring but I am definitely making the most of my free time while I can!

Estes Park Colorado

We decided to head up to Estes Park yesterday which is the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Its a lot like Jackson Hole WY if you have been out there. We have some friends who moved up there so we wanted to see them again before we move farther away and to spend a day in the mountains. We went out to eat and then took the "River Walk" around town. It was a beautiful day and so nice to be up in the mountains.

Mark on the River Walk
The water was completely freezing, pretty much snow melt off from the mountains.

We went on a short walk up to some falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. I am glad the "walk" to the falls wasn't any longer then it was. Its interesting to see what I can do and what I can't do. I am always a little nervous because I have a tendency to become lightheaded pregnant or not.

The bridge before the falls.
It is still really strange to see myself pregnant. (25 1/2 weeks) I am so used to seeing myself pre-pregnancy that when I do see myself I always think, "that's what I look like?" Its not a bad thing just weird.

It felt so cool and nice by the water.

I love being outside. Nature is so pretty we are lucky the we live just an hour and 10 minutes away from such beautiful places. When we move down to Colorado Springs we will be even closer.

Tradition, Tradition!

Mark and I had about as traditional a 4th of July as we could and it was fabulous. The weird part was that it was only like 82 degrees here and then around 3:00 a big storm came in and the temperature went down to 62 degrees. Mark and I kept saying over and over how great the weather was only really weird for the 4th of July. Normally in California its 100 + degrees so this weather was a nice change. Other than the weather it was a traditional (for Mark and I) 4th of July.

We went to the Parade



Had a BBQ with friends



Made the "traditional" Fieth family Root Beer Floats



Waited for it to get dark enough for the fireworks to start
(We both ended up getting pretty chilled a first for the 4th of July)



Enjoyed a great Firework show







Does anyone else have a really hard time taking pictures of fireworks? Our timing was way off last night. Oh well.

We went over to Fort Collins to watch the firework show. There was one here in Greeley but after talking to friends who have watched it it seemed like the Fort Collins one was more practical. It was scheduled to start at 9:35, which it did where as the Greeley show was scheduled to begin after the concert was over and we had no idea when that would be. It turned out that we drove the 30 minutes to Fort Collins, waited and watched the show then drove back to Greeley getting here around 10:45 and were still able to watch the Greeley show from our balcony. It didn't start until 11:00! We are glad that we went over to see the Fort Collins display as it was better the the Greeley one.
Its always sad to me when the 4th of July is over because there are no real big holidays until Halloween. I know there is Labor Day but its not really the same as other holidays. Fortunately for us, Mark's birthday is August 09th and our anniversary is August 21st so there are some things to look forward too.

One year later

Just outside the Cairo Airport

San Francisco Airport with my Dad and our life for the last 2 1/2 years (the 6 pieces of luggage)

As of today we have been back in the good old U.S. of A. for a whole year! And what a great year it has been! We have been so blessed this past year. America is such a great place! Lots of people warned us when we were coming back that we would experience a lot of culture shock but looking back I can say, nope! None! I guess we didn't immerse ourselves fully into the Egyptian culture. I remember how excited we were to come home. We flew on our last Egypt Air flight, from Cairo to New York and spent the 4th of July weekend being tourists in our native land. It was a lot of fun. It was a great place to spend our first 4th of July back in the States. I loved seeing the American flag everywhere and feeling so at home. Going to grocery stores was a blast and the sky was so pretty and blue.

Here are some highlights from our first weekend back in the states and some things we were and still are so happy to have in our lives again.



FAMILY! Us with my sister Susanna and her husband Ryan. They flew out to NYC and we got to hang out with them for part of the weekend.



Free, beautifully maintained public parks, Green Space!!



All the BBQ we could want!! Pork included!



Clean(er) streets (it is NYC) where people use crosswalks and there are stop lights and signs in English and a sidewalk too! (I am holding a bag of Dunkin Donuts also a plus! We never could find real donuts in Egypt)

Performances that start on time. (We went to see Wicked, so fun.) In all honesty we really loved the Cairo Opera House, we saw some really good shows while we were over there and they were so affordable too. So we could just say everything being on time not "Egyptian" time because there really is whole different concept of time over there.



American holidays celebrated the American way!

Liberty for all!

Being Americans in Egypt made our lives easier and harder at the same time. It got old always having to pay or be expected to pay the "foreigner price" (No we are not rich just because we are from America.) When we got back we could just feel the freedom. I know that sounds strange but is just felt right.

The Temple! So this wasn't technically that first weekend but it was within the first week or two. We love that we live within an hour of a temple we did miss it while we were gone and we even got to go a few times.
Sacramento, California Temple.

We really are so happy that we are home in this great land that we love but we are also so glad that we got to live in Egypt. It turned out so much better then we thought it would and we wouldn't trade that time together for anything.

Brazil!

No, we are not going to Brazil although that would be fantastic! (Maybe in like 25 years when our kids are grown up we will travel internationally again until then...) But we did bring a little bit of Brazil here. Mark served his mission in Rio De Janiero so last night our friends the Alder's came over to help us cook up a Brazilian BBQ. He also served his mission there so with Jason and Mark combined we had an amazing dinner. When Mark and I began dating we met up in Provo one weekend and Mark really wanted to take me to his favorite restaurant called Tucanos. The restaurant is a Brazilian BBQ place and they bring over skewers of delicious meat and slice off pieces for you at your table. They also have amazing roasted pineapple. If you are ever in the area (Orem) we totally recommend it. So last night we created our own Tucanos.

Jason and Mark with our Brazilian dinner. They did a great job cooking the meat.
Jason served in Southern Brazil and these dinners were huge there. Lots of people had fancy BBQ pits in their backyards there so he learned how to flavor the meat and cook it on skewers.
(I don't know what is the deal with the glare I think it might be time to buy a new camera.)



Mark and Jason BBQ'd ham, pineapple, steak, and sausage.
We had black beans and rice which apparently Brazilians eat at almost every meal.
Mark made some really good limeade which we threw some frozen strawberries into, also very popular in Brazil.
And some fresh fruit salad cut up by yours truly.

It was all so yummy! Especially the pineapple. Just a little brown sugar and then roasted on the BBQ.

I never ever ate black beans until Mark and I were married. Now it seems weird to not have them when we have Mexican food.

These are Mark's Brazilian flip flops, Havianas. (Notice the flag of Brazil on them.) He actually got this pair in Egypt which we thought was really random but made Mark happy. Jason had brought over some Brazilian music and we had a great night.
OPA!