Changes.....

Well, as much as we love Michigan,and we really honestly do love Michigan, we are officially moving on....

Brent has accepted a job offer in Las Vegas with GES Exposition Services. GES does all the behind the scenes work for trade shows and other corporate events (like CES, etc) He will be working in the Planning and Corporate Development group as a Senior Business Analyst.

While Ford has been a great learning ground, Brent has never really felt utilized in such a large company and the bureaucracy is really frustrating. He is looking forward to being a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

We realize that Vegas has many pros and cons. Amy is excited about very mild winters. Brent is not so excited about very hot summers. We are all excited to be much closer to friends and family.

Things are happening quickly. Brent starts his new job in about 3 weeks. We are trying to get our house sold, but the market is fairly weak right now. Pray that things go quickly. Amy may be staying behind for a few extra weeks or she may go and stay with her mom for a while.

We feel that this is what the Lord would have us do, and while the next few months will be bumpy, we know that in the end, everything will work out. We are excited about the new opportunities that will be coming our way.

Our Funny Girls

So it has been a few months again and during those few months Cami has successfully learned how to stuff hot dogs and rice right up her nose. She also has learned the fear of tweezers and how to blow her nose. Today she told me "Mommy Taryn so cute. I love Taryn." And we all rejoiced! :) She had a funny experience at Taco Bell last week. I ordered her a plain old cheese Quesodilla and she sat in her chair and was eating sooo good. She did start sucking on her fingers and rubbing her tongue in between bites but I just chalked it up to getting two year molars. She then asked for lemonaid and drank nearly the whole cup. BUT she never whined or refused to eat. So after it was 3/4 gone I took a bite of it and to my eye watering surprise it had totally hot spicey sauce on it. Poor kid! When I said, "Oh cami I'm sorry honey!" she said, "Mommy my mouth has sparkles in it!" She has also been a crazy soccer lover lately. Now that it is warm enough she begs to be outside with "my soccer ball." She actually can dribble across the whole yard back and forth. Mommy feels very proud and rarely says no to going out to play. She also is loving singing time in nursery-at least she must be because the other night when we were out for a walk she busted out in "Book of Moron stories my teacher tells for me....about lananites...." Brent and I just looked at each other and cracked up. She could be a ROCK STAR! :)

Taryn has the biggest sunshine smile and sparkly eyes when she wants to and thank goodness for everyone she wants to more and more often. She was up to 13# 3.5 oz two weeks ago and her head is growing but still tiny. Her hair is still pretty dark and coming in more and more each day (though she still could be called bald). She started eating solid foods and we can safely say she hates fruits and loves vegetables....She can drink or atleast accurately slurp from a cup now and she can sit for about thirty seconds before wiping out. Her sleeping habits still leave something to be desired but sometimes soon we hope she is Ferberized....I mean it has only been almost 7 months...She'll catch on soon right? But really we are becoming very fond of her and her funny quirks.

Petting Zoo - Cami loves little lambs















Best Friends















Crazy hair day















Hide and seek















The GIRLS















Yellow and Blue make a mess

Feb 2006 Update

It has been a while since we last updated our blog. I guess having two kids is more work than we ever imagined.

Here is what has been going on.....

Taryn is a very cute baby....when she isn't screaming. While she still has her moments where nothing will make her feel better, she is definitley getting better. It has been great to watch her become more aware of the world around her. She has become a very talkative little girl. She loves it when you talk back and rewards you with a wonderful smile. Her eyes have a sparkle that is so happy when she feels good. She is growing well. At her last appointment a few days ago she weighed 11 # 7 oz and was 24 inches long. Her poor little head is still in the 2nd percentile but it is growing consistantly so the doctor thinks she just has a little noggin.

Cami turned 2 about 10 days ago and she has not wasted any time showing it. She is still a very loving and wonderful girl, but she definitely has opinions about what she wants to eat, wear, do, or say. Some of her favorite phrases of late are "No Way Jose!" and "I know". She is getting the ABC song down and working on colors and shapes. She still gets a kick out of books, puzzles, play dough, and dora the explorer. She is also learning about reverence in church-the hard way. She watches for her nursery teacher in sacrament meeting then when she sees her yells (and I mean at the top of her voice) "Dyal!! Hi Dyal" (Julie Dyal is her teacher's name)! She is very sweet with loving Taryn but is showing some signs of attention deprivation. Everytime Amy goes to feed Taryn Cami says "No mommy-no feed Taryn no more!" She really loves to play with her kitchen and food toys, and she definitely can't wait for spring to arrive. She always wants to ride on her new bike (the disadvantage of getting one for a january birthday and living in MI). At Cami's last doctors appointment she was not quite 25 pounds yet but she measured a staggering 37 inches tall-yes over three feet and no that isn't on the growth chart until a kid gets to be about three. Tall and skinny lucky girl!

Amy is keeping busy with the two girls and her calling in the Primary Presidency. It seems like there are always callings to fill, subs to find, or lessons to prepare. She is doing a wonderful job and she really loves being in with all of the kids.

Brent is keeping busy at work and survived a very serious round of layoffs at work. One of his supervisors was let go. He is enjoying the type of work that he is doing. He is planning features for Ford vehicles for the 2008 and 2009 model years. Unfortunately, he doesn't enjoy the red tape found in a large company.

He spends a good portion of his "free" time working on projects around the house. He has just about finished an entertainment center for the family and the hole in our family room ceiling is almost patched. He also spends time playing with the girls and has really enjoyed reading books to Cami on his bed or Cami's floor.

Cami getting dress for the snow

Cami getting dressed for Church

Cami and Taryn ready for Halloween

Cami playing in the leaves

Cami pushing her stroller



Happy Taryn


I think I can....


Too Close......

Ok, F major, 6/8 time, 3 octaves..... no problem,
but where does my mouth go again

Who turned out the lights.....

Announcing the arrival of.....

Taryn Elizabeth Weight
Born 10/11/2005
5:41 PM
4 lbs. 15 oz.
18 3/4 in.

We just wanted to let everyone know that we had our baby! We are so excited to have added to our family.

We are very thankful that everything went really well. Amy was induced but it took several hours for the pitocin to kick in. As soon as it did things moved fairly quick-Taryn was born two hours later. Despite the intense labor Amy recovered quickly. She was up and showering 2 hours after delivering Taryn.

Taryn was delivered 3 weeks early because she stopped growing (Don't know why). As a result, she is a fairly small baby. Cami has dolls bigger than Taryn. Despite that, she learned to eat right away and is doing really well. She did have a hard time breathing correctly in a car seat, which forced her to stay in the hospital a couple of extra days. While it was challenging for mom and dad, she did great and is home with her family.

Cami is really excited about having a baby sister. She is always looking for her and saying "Baby" or "Taryn". At one point, the nurses came and wheeled Taryn down the hall to do some tests and Cami stuck her head out the door and yelled "Baby" with definite worry in her voice. We just pray that she will adjust to having another child in the home.

We would like to thank everyone for their prayers on our behalf.

Taryn right after birth. You can see how small she is compared to the bulb syringe!

After the delivery. Cheryl, our midwife, is on the left. Mary, our nurse is on the right. Both of them were awesome.

Taryn settling in

Its a baby! (Cami's first up close look at her new sister)

Taryn's first outfit. Something tells me it is too large!

Taryn ready to come home!

I thought I would throw in some pictures of our other cute girl!!!

Super Toddler!!

Has anyone seen my panties? (By the way, I have killer eyes)

Cami walking in Dad's shoes

Our July Trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Hey All,

Well, it has been a week since we got back from our trip and I am finally sitting down to put this entry together. I planned to do it earlier today, but Cami picked up Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease this past week and she has been really miserable today. It is so frustrating that there is very little we can do to help her feel better.

As for the trip...... We had the most fabulous time. For those who don't know, Ford has always shut down their plants during the week of July 4th. During this time, work is done to all of the lines. This year, they decided to shut down all of product development (to save money), which means I was "asked" to take the entire week off. Since we didn't have a choice, we decided that it was time to get out and see the rest of Michigan. After talking to some native Michiganders (that is what I call them at least), we decided that we really wanted to go to the UP. Now you are probably asking yourself "UP? What and where is that?"

That is why I decided to include the following map.


The UP is the Upper Peninsula. Detroit, etc. is in the lower peninsula, but if you aren't from Michigan (and are not a geography buff), you probably had no idea that Michigan had an Upper Peninsula. I know that Amy and I had no idea until we moved here.

Well, it does, and it is beautiful. We decided that we would make the 7 hour drive and camp for 3 nights near White Fish Point. It is the red star located in the UP in the map above.

We arrived at the camp site mid afternoon and set up camp. There are about twenty campsites in this state forest campground. We were only about 30 yards from a fairly good size lake that was very beautiful. Too bad we didn't have a canoe.

Cami really enjoyed looking around and getting to know the area. We had a fun time watching her. We also liked to see how brave she was. We would let her walk ahead of us until she would notice that we weren't there. She would then stop and wait. At first this was about 15 feet, then it grew to 25 feet, then a little more. By the end of the week, not surprisingly, we were having to run after her to keep her out of the lake.

One of the first funny things happened the first night. We finally got Cami ready for bed and put her down. We then sat around the fire and enjoyed the wonderful evening. There was still a fair amount of sunlight, but Amy really wanted to get the smores out, so we did. After the smores, there was still light, so we sat around some more. After a time, we both were hesitant to admit that we were tired because it was still "early" because there was so much light left, but we couldn't go to sleep yet, we hadn't even lit our new camp lantern. After some more time I just couldn't take it and I decided to see what time it was anyway. To our surprise it was about twenty minutes after 10, and there was still enough twilight to see without getting out the tents. Both of us had forgotten that we had just traveled 7 hours due north and that the sun was setting much later than we were used to. Needless to say, we were not "embarrassed" to go to bed while it was still light the next night.

Campsite with the lake behind it


Cami playing on the first night

Cami and Amy down by the lake
Cami exploring along the lake
The Lake on the first morning. Absolutely still and very beautiful.

Cami playing while we cook dinner

More of Cami getting into things while we did camp chores

On our first full day, we decided that we would drive about an hour over to Sault Ste Marie (pronounce Sue Saint Marie). This is a small city in the upper right corner of the UP. The motivation behind the trip was to visit the Soo Locks. These locks connect Lake Superior (the largest and coldest of the great lakes) on the West with Lake Huron on the East. It turns out there is about a 50 foot drop between the two lakes. We all found the locks to be very interesting. We were surprised by how large the ships were that were traveling through the locks. It turns out there are still about 200 ships that travel around on the lakes. Of course there were 15,000 of them 150 years ago. The lakes have always been a major mode of transportation. Best I can tell they are still used today to mostly transport ore from mining operations.

Soo Locks 1 and 2 going into Lake Superior (Notice the ship in the distance)

Ship we passed while on a ferry ride during another part of the trip.
Gives you a good idea of the size of the ships.
If you look on the left just to the front of the ship, you can see a ferry that holds about 100 people passing on the other side of the ship.

While in Sault Ste Marie, we had the chance to try native white fish caught the day before in Lake Superior (there is still a fairly large fishing industry also on the lakes). We had it grilled with lemon pepper. I think it was probably the best or second best fish I have ever had.......

On the way back to camp, we traveled along a scenic highway that followed the coast. We also stopped at Point Iroqouis Light House, a light house that has been fully restored. The tower was build in 1871 and was retired in the early 1970s.

It was beautiful. They even let you climb up into the top part of the light house (Glass part). It was fun to imagine what life would have been like 150 years ago and the effort involved in keeping the light going.

Point Iroqouis Light House

Point Iroqouis Light House

Cami sitting on a bench near the light house and looking at Lake Superior

Lake Superior as seen from the top of the lighthouse

(Don't let the land in the distance fool you. This is where the lake narrows
down to form a river that leads to the Soo Locks. This lake is massive)

That afternoon, we went and visited Tahquamenon falls. These falls are located on the Tahquamenon river and were beautiful. Unfortunately, the falls are located inside a state park and the place was packed with people, making them hard to enjoy. The falls are not really large, but the are beautiful. They are interesting too because the look like rootbeer. It turns out that acid is leeched from the trees in the area, causing the water to turn brown and foam. We want to go back and check out all the other waterfalls in the UP that are not located directly next to a parking lot. Perhaps there will be fewer people.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls (Largest of the two)

Our Family at the Upper Tahquamenon Falls

Cami Playing on the small hike to the falls

On Friday, we went and visited the famed Mackinaw Island (at least it is famous in Michigan :) It is best known for four things: Fudge (it is everywhere on the island), no cars (only bicycles and horses), "Somewhere in Time" (Filmed on the island - staring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour), and Fudge (it is every on the island)

After driving for about an hour, we stopped and caught a ferry ride over to the island. Cami really loved the ride over and kept saying "Wa-Wa". Yes, there was a lot of Wa-Wa.

Type of Ferry that we rode on

Mackinaw Bridge - Connects the lower peninsula with the upper and is supposedly the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Mackinaw island as we approached by ferry

We really enjoyed portions of the island. We were able to take our bikes with us and there is an eight mile path that completely circles the island. It was very beautiful and we were able to stop and look at things like the arch seen below.

Arch that we stopped to see

Path can be seen following the coast line

Break time during the bike ride. Cami wanted to get out and use her legs.

We also really loved the fudge (no surprise). The part that we didn't like so much was the super touristy feel of the rest of the island. There is really only one major street with shops on it. The picture below shows the street and the crowds. Notice all the bikes parked along the street. It was a mad house.




The other part of the island we visited with the Historic Hotel where the movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed (Amy really wanted to see it). Unfortunately, this is as close as we got since there is a security guard that won't let you enter unless you are a guest. Since we didn't want to spend $1,000 a night to become a guest, we didn't get to enter. It was a little bit of a let down (especially since we had to ride up a really steep hill to get up to it) but we understand that the guests wouldn't really want us in there taking pictures.

Perhaps my favorite part of the trip we did later that night after having dinner back in our campsite. We borrowed a very detailed Michigan map (Actually 117 pages of maps all covering Michigan). On the map that covered our campsite, we noticed that there was another lighthouse at the end of a very long, isolated road. We decided that we should go and see if we could find it, so we set out a couple of hours before sunset.

After driving some on very nice paved roads, we found the correct turnoff onto a dirt road. The dirt road was actually very nice (I would say it was even nicer than most of the roads in Detroit, which really isn't saying much). That road lasted for about 20 miles, at which we took another turn off onto what I thought was a much "funner" road (deep ruts, tight turns, lots of trees, etc.)
We knew we were headed in the right direction because there were little lighthouse signs posted on trees.

After about an hour and 10 mins (from the camp), we turned a corner and could see the Crisp Point Lighthouse (Built in 1904). This light house too was very beautiful. The best part about it was that there were only two other couples at the light. One visiting to take pictures and the other acting has historic hosts (they were camping at the site for the weekend). As it ended up, they had the light house open and not only could go to the top, but we could climb outside on the balcony as well. The view from the top was amazing and the coastline was gorgeous. We only had to wait about 40 minutes or so to watch the sun set over Lake Superior. I will never forget get.

Crisp Point Lighthouse

Cami and Brent at the Top of the Lighthouse

View of the cost to the West

View of the coast to the East

The next morning we got up and had a good breakfast. We then went and saw White Fish Lighthouse and museum which was only about 5 mins from our campsite. There was a shipwreck museum (I guess White Fish Point was the most dangerous part of the lakes, there are over 200 shipwrecks near it), but we didn't feel like paying to see anything so we walked around the lighthouse and walked down to the beach. We then went back to camp and packed for our trip home.

White Fish Point Lighthouse

We were a little nervous about the drive home since the laptop stopped working while on the trip (The power plug broke). Cami was a good sport most of the way home, and Amy and I got really tired of singing "Popcorn Popping" and "Patty Cake Patty Cake", two of Cami's favorite songs at the moment.

Cami in the Truck ready to go home

All in all, we had a wonderful trip. The weather was great, we got to spend a lot of time together, and we saw some wonderful things. There is just no substitution for quality family time and memory building. I think Amy and I will always remember this trip. We just wish we could have shared it with our extended family and friends.

We hope everyone is doing well.

--Brent, Amy, and Cami (and the new little one)