The Forsyth Family

Change of Heart

2011-09-04T22:59:00.000-04:00

Benjamin: Abby, will you help me shuck the corn for dinner?

Abigail: No, I don't want to.

Benjamin: Okay, but you don't get any corn unless you help to shuck it.

Abigail: (Short Pause) Dad, I LOVE shucking corn! I would love to help you!

Born to Dance

2011-05-29T22:02:00.000-04:00

I was looking at some old videos of Abigail and came across one of my favorites. On the day Abigail learned to stand on her own at about 10 months we put on some music and she immediately started to boogie. She has pretty good rhythm sometimes too!

Shipping the Books to Iowa

2011-05-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

My parents have told me for a long time that I could have their collection of more than 2000 books as soon as I had a house to put them in. Well, that time has come so two weeks ago I flew out to Washington to gather all the books up and then rented a moving truck to bring them back to Iowa. What's nice is that they also gave us eight huge shelves three couches with one of them being a hide-away bed. My grandma Marj also gave me a beautiful seascape painting, two end tables and some lamps. It has transformed our house (especially the front room) and we're very grateful. I spent a lot of time growing up looking at these books and I love that they can now be used by my children as they grow up. Here are some pictures of the move and the transformation to the front room. What you see in the front room is only about half the books. The rest have been put in other parts of the house...

Kindergarten Concert Choir

2011-05-27T23:58:00.000-04:00

Abby had a Kindergarten Concert where all the kindergartners sang a selection of songs they learned over the year. It was lots of fun to watch. Here is a video of her singing a song...

Benson's First Birthday

2011-05-26T21:27:00.000-04:00

Benson is now one year old! Actually, he's been one for a couple weeks now, but we are only just now putting it up on the blog. He's been a wonderful addition to our family! He is often very smiley and now that he has learned to walk it's been fun to watch him start doing some heavy duty exploring.

The sister missionaries came over to help us celebrate and Abigail organized a couple of party games for us to play outside.

Benson liked his cake a lot and he even let Abby blow the candle out!

Tetherball

2011-05-25T22:46:00.002-04:00

Several weeks ago, we were getting ready to pull out an old rusted out pole in our yard that used to have a basketball backboard on it. Benjamin got the idea to instead repaint it black and turn it into a tetherball pole. He made it so we can detach the tetherball from the pole without having to get a ladder. The kids seem to like it and it looks so much better than it did before!

Benson's Tongue

2011-05-24T23:52:00.003-04:00

Benson loves sticking his tongue out and we have gathered so many pictures and videos of him doing it that Benjamin decided to make a cool movie out of it. It loads in 360p, but the image will be sharper if you select 480p. Enjoy!

Emily Drama Queen

2011-04-02T16:37:00.000-04:00

I was on the news and I didn't even know it!

2011-03-24T22:07:00.002-04:00

I volunteered to be a judge at a regional high school "Physics Olympics" competition hosted by the University I work at and the local AEA. It turns out I got filmed and put on the local news. I wasn't interviewed or anything, but it was still a pleasant surprise. Click here if you would like to see it. I show up within the first few seconds of the video.

Family Pictures

2011-01-09T03:22:00.007-05:00

We got some family pictures taken a few weeks ago and we bought a package where they gave us all of the pictures on a CD. Here are some of our Favorites...

Two Stories About Abigail

2010-12-16T23:52:00.004-05:00

Hi All,

Emily and I had two funny experiences talking with Abigail recently. We figured we would share them with you all.

1. Abigail opened up a door that was locked a couple weeks ago which has convinced her that she has magical fairy powers. Today Abigail showed Emily a box that held her invisible magic and Emily said in reply, "When I was a little girl I would imagine that I was a fairy and that I could fly." Abby treated Emily's words with contempt and said, "Mom, I AM a fairy, but I'm the walking kind.

2. I went to eat lunch with Abigail today at school and we got to eat at a special table where we get to sit alone and talk. However, half way through lunch, the "special table" becomes the table where a 3rd grade class starts eating. I asked some of these kids what they liked about 3rd grade compared to kindergarten which got them talking to Abby and I a lot. They told us about the pros and cons of not having nap time, the excitement of studying crayfish, the problems with cold pizza, and we even settled a question about whether milk has a flavor empirically. About halfway through the conversation Abigail whispered in my ear, "Dad, I didn't know that 3rd graders could be so nice!" I'm glad she got to talk with the nice ones!

Abby and Benson doing their tricks

2010-12-12T22:35:00.000-05:00

Daddy Daughter Date

2010-12-04T00:25:00.003-05:00

In the last 24 hours Emily found out she had strep throat and Benson has an ear infection. They are both really sick so I decided to come home a little early from work and take Abigail on an extended daddy/daughter date to give Emily as much peace and quiet as possible. We drove around for a while trying to decide on what restaurant to go to and Abigail convinced me that Wendy's chicken nuggets would be the "perfect meal." Most of the conversation centered around kindergarten politics and the use of frostys as an alternative to ketchup for dipping french fries.

After dinner we went to the mall to see Santa Claus and look for gift ideas for Benson and Emily. It was awesome. I just let Abigail go wherever she wanted (except for when she wanted to go into Victoria's Secret), and I let her spend as much time as she wanted pondering over different items. We spent about an hour in Claire's where she picked out many potential gifts for Emily. If Emily were a five year old girl Abigail would have picked out a veritable gold mine of Christmas gifts for her. We also went to a kid's clothing store and a toy store to think about what we could get Benson. Once again, if Benson were a five year old girl Abigail would have found some really good items! Needless to say, our trip to the mall was far more revealing about what Abigail wanted than what Emily or Benson would have wanted, but it sure was fun listening to her sincerity about how much Emily and Benson would love the items she found.

We spent about two hours walking around different stores in the mall and near the very end as we were finally making it to where Santa was Abigail said, "Do you ever feel like your legs are going to break?" ...Now before you feel bad for Abby, please understand that she said this to me while she was skipping backwards with a very big smile on her face! In response to her question I chuckled and said, "Yes. Yes I do!" She then proceeded to run ahead of me to spend more little more time looking at a water fountain while I caught up. She is a hard working little shopper!

After the visit with Santa we went home and Abigail stayed as quiet as she could while getting ready for bed so she wouldn't wake Emily or Benson up. Recently she has wanted me to sing her songs from the Hymn book as part of her bedtime routine. It has created many moments for me to teach her about the content of the songs. She fell asleep very quickly, which is pretty rare. It was a good sign that the daddy daughter date was a success!

With my first year here at UNI and my calling at church and Abigail now being in school it has been harder to find the same amount of time I used to spend with my daughter. It's hard say just how much I enjoyed being able to spend the time with her tonight.

By the way, Emily was able to take advantage of the time we were gone. She dropped everything and went straight to bed with Benson as soon as we left. Both are on antibiotics and will be hopefully feeling better soon.

A Couple Funny Stories

2010-11-17T19:44:00.002-05:00

The pain medicine I'm taking for my neck has been pretty mild, but it has made me a little over- emotional and confused at times. For example last night I went to bed very early at 7:30. I woke up several hours later extremely confused about where I was, how late it was, and what was happening. Right before going to bed I watched a half hour of the show Chuck. I'd never seen it before and I suppose coming into it without 4 seasons of context set me back a bit. I was very worked up being disoriented and Emily tells me that at one point I yelled out, "I watched 30 minutes of Chuck and it has RUINED MY LIFE!" Somewhere along the same rant I also yelled out, "WYDONA!" I don't know if that is a name, place or expression, but Emily says it was pretty funny.

Today Emily volunteered to watch a couple neighborhood kids while their parents went to a funeral. They were curious about my neck brace so Abbey explained my surgery to them. I told them that if I took the brace off my head would fall off. They got very wide eyed, but then moved on to go play. Later on they were eating some popcorn and as I walked through the room one of the boys said, "I want to see you take your head off!" I said, "Okay!" and started to unstrap the neck brace. The boy stiffened up and said as firmly and directly as possible, "Do NOT undo that!" I guess he didn't really want to see my head come off! It's had me chuckling all day.

Post Operation

2010-11-12T12:17:00.005-05:00

Well, I am back from the hospital with a thus far successfully fused C5,6 joint in my neck. It hurts to swallow and there is a lot of general pain in my neck region and down into my back. I'm tired and sore, but as far as I can tell I don't have any more numbness and pain down into my fingers! The doctor said that the disc looked like it had been damaged for years, which is a nice confirmation considering that I've had pain for years. He also said I seem to have responded very well to the operation. I'll have to wear a neck collar for the next 6 weeks, and the fusion process lasts a full six months or even more. No Thanksgiving football this year! I don't need to go back to work until next Tuesday so right now I'm just trying to lay low and get healed.

My department sent me some get well flowers and Emily and Abby got me a gigantic bear (which I think Abby has claimed for herself now). I've had students and neighbors and ward members check in on me. Thank you for all the prayers on my behalf and for my family.

Emily told me that while I was in the hospital, they went to an all you can eat restaurant and Abigail was so excited. She went over and over again for olives, shredded cheese, cucumbers, noodle salad and purple jello. She said to Emily, "This place has all my favorite things . How did they know? They must have seen me coming!"

Belated Update on the Summer of a Thousand Milestones

2010-11-08T21:33:00.016-05:00

Hello all,

Emily and I would like to apologize for not blogging for SO long, but we have some really good excuses! In the last four and a half months we've accomplished quite a lot. You would have gotten a lot more detail if we had kept up, but here are the highlights in more or less chronological order back to July:

1. Abby had a great birthday party. She had lots of friends over and one of the highlights was to throw water balloons at her dad.

2. July was spent looking for a house, going on a mini vacation to Lake Michigan, packing the apartment, finishing the dissertation...

3. In August Benjamin turned 30 and successfully defended his dissertation (Emily got to watch it on Skype). We also moved to Iowa, closed on our first house, sent Abigail off to kindergarten (she loves it, of course), started the job as an assistant professor and had friends from Michigan and family from Utah come to visit. It was a very good month!

4. September was all about settling into our new place. We got a new freezer and all got sick. Here are some random pictures of our place, inside and out. The last one is of Emily paying the Wii fit in the basement...

5. This October (and up to the present) Benjamin got called as the Elder's Quorum President (again) and Emily is the Primary Chorister. Benson just started crawling right at 6 months and he is just beginning to experiment with solid foods. Benjamin's Parents came to visit just before leaving on their mission to Russia and in two days Benjamin will get surgery for the herniated disk in his neck.

Well, sorry it had to be such a quick update. Hopefully we'll be a little more diligent in the coming months!

Chubby Cheeks!

2010-06-26T14:13:00.003-04:00

At 6 weeks Benson weighed 11lb 14oz. When he was born he was 6lb 11oz that put him at the 10%. He has now jumped up to the 75%. Way to go buddy! He is a very pleasant baby and smiles a lot. Abby definitely gets the most smiles out of him.

Brief look Cedar Falls and our NEW HOUSE!

2010-06-26T13:32:00.004-04:00

Benjamin did a quick trip to Cedar Falls and took some pictures for us. We are really excited about our new job and house. We move the beginning of August.

These are pictures from Benjamin's office at UNI. He is excited to start his job as a professor. He is still diligently working on his dissertation.

Abby is going to be starting Kindergarten in August. This is a picture of her school.

This is a brief video of the front room and kitchen in our new home to be! We are so excited to have a house, yard, basement and nice neighborhood. We have been greatly blessed and helped in getting this house and we are so grateful! Cedar Falls, here we come!

At home with Benson

2010-06-15T21:55:00.011-04:00

After a month Benson was over 10 1/2lbs. We were happy with that because he was 6lbs 11oz when he was born. We love chubby babies!

Benson constantly gives us these little smiles. Jamie said she has never seen a baby that smiles so much. We love it. He is also grunts like a dinosaur all the time. It is adorable. We call him our Bensonsaurus.

Grandpa Jamie was here for almost a month. She did laundry, dishes, shopping, cooking, organizing, de-junking, swimming with Abigail and comforting Benson when he had gas. Jamie makes everything fun and always kept us laughing. We got rid of 3 car loads of stuff. We went through lots of stuff and did things to prepare for the move. Benjamin has been super busy with her dissertation and so it was extra helpful to have her around. She is fun to talk with and has a good attitude about everything. She made us yummy food and was just fun to have around. We love you Jamie!

Abigail has been a great big sister. She helps me a lot. She will grab things like diapers, pacifiers and burp cloths. She will sing and play with him and give him lots of hugs and kisses. He is a lucky little boy to have her as a sister.

Benjamin took his mom out for a Mommy-Son date. They had a great time at a place called English Inn.

Coming home from the hospital and Benson's blessing- all within 3 hours!

2010-06-15T21:37:00.005-04:00

The blessing was really wonderful. What a wonderful thing to have Daddy, and both Grandpas to be able to bless him and have Grandmas there. It was a very special day. I got home from the hospital at about 9am, we blessed Benson and the Grows had to leave by noon. Grandpa Mark got to stay one more day and we got to keep Grandma Jamie for almost a whole month! (That was a huge blessing also :))

more pictures of Benson's arrival and having grandparents here

2010-06-15T21:17:00.004-04:00

Abigail loved all the attention, love and gifts that her Grandparents gave her while they were here. It was just such a special thing to have them here for Benson's birth and Benjamin's graduation.

Room next door

2010-06-15T20:19:00.007-04:00

In our branch we had 4 women that were due within 4 days of each other and another friend due just a month later. Lucia and I were due within a week of each other. It was really fun to share the experience with them. Some of our really good friends here in Michigan had their baby 2 days before us at the same hospital. Our room was right next door to them. That was really cool. We are so grateful for all our friends!

Benjamin's Graduation from MSU

2010-06-14T21:17:00.010-04:00

Our parent flew in for Benjamin to walk and get hooded at Michigan State for his PhD in Educational Psychology. There was excitement in the air. Even little Benson wanted to be there, so he came into the world the day before graduation. That meant that I got to wear a hospital gown and Benjamin got to wear his graduation gown. Very exciting! We are so proud of Benjamin and all the work that he has done. There is less than 2% of the United States' population that has a PhD. You are now part of that 2%, baby! (or you will be after you finish your dissertation)!

Benson Charles Forsyth: 6lbs 11oz

2010-05-06T15:53:00.009-04:00

Well, there are plenty of details to give, but I'm pretty tired so I'm going to cut to the highlights!

WE HAD A BABY!!!!!

Benson's due date was the 21st of May, but apparently he decided to come a little earlier. He was born May 6 around 5:26am. The picture of me cutting the umbilical cord was clear enough that it recorded the time and date on my watch:

This was a tender mercy for us to have Benson when he came. Emily fell on a toy last week which nearly put her into early labor the day before I was to leave for a conference in Denver. Her uterus calmed down enough for me to go, and while there I met with a potential employer, got to present my research, and received a potential invitation to a worldwide summit on education in Qatar. Benson stayed in until the day after I got back home as well as the day after all the grandparents arrived for my graduation tomorrow.

Emily's labor only lasted about 3.5 hours from water breaking to delivery. We found out afterward the umbilical cord wasn't well placed and had Benson gone full term it could have been life threatening. Again, a great blessing that he came early.

Here are just a few pictures...

To finish things off here is a quick movie right after Benson was born...

Benson has been pretty mellow so far, which has been great. We love him and we're excited to have him!

Feb and March 2010

2010-03-28T22:08:00.009-04:00

Grandma and Grandpa Grow came for a visit. We had so much fun with them. Abby and Grandpa sanded and painted a stepping stool. It was a great project. Grandma helped fix up some of Abigail's dolls and we played the Wii.

This is me in February.

We got the Wii for Christmas and it has been fun having friends come over and play with us.

Abigail did a preschool dance through DeWitt Schools and really enjoyed it.

I have about 8 more weeks to go in this picture.

I had a super fun surprise birthday party for my 27th Birthday that Benjamin organized. I turned 27 on the 27th! My cake was 3 to the 3rd. One of my friends, Kate, made my mom's recipe of carrot cake that I love. It was really fun to have our friends come over. We are so blessed here in Michigan to have wonderful friends!

We went to the MSU indoor children's garden to look at the butterflies.

Herniated Disk in My Neck

2010-02-19T01:26:00.006-05:00

My neck has been bothering me for more than a decade, but within the last several months the level of pain has increased in intensity and longevity. About a month ago it got to the point where my whole left shoulder and surrounding area was spasming and I could feel numbness into my thumb and forefinger. Aleve and Ibuprofen were not helping and I cut ties with my last chiropractor so I went to see a doctor. I got an MRI this last week and the results are in! I have a herniated disk. Even though I've had a lot of neck and shoulder pain I'm not certain how long it's been herniated, but either way I'll be getting a few more tests in the coming weeks. I'm actually doing okay for the most part concerning the amount of pain I have, but I do want to fix the problem. Below are a few pictures and a movie I downloaded and edited from my MR images to let you all see what it looks like. Sorry if you can't enlarge the pictures...

This video is a bunch of cross sections of my neck moving down from about where the skull connects to the neck to a little below the shoulder. Notice at around the third and fourth second how the spinal cord (right in the middle of the image) changes from an oval more or less to a flattened crescent shape. That is where the disk protrudes out into the spinal cord.

Update on No Candy for a Year

2010-02-19T01:05:00.005-05:00

I meant to write about this earlier, but last year I made a goal not to eat any sweets or desserts for a year. Well, I did it! My first indulgence occurred early in the morning on Jan. 1, 2010. We were late getting on the road to Portland, Oregon, so I stuffed my face with a piece of the previous night's chocolate cake and some milk. This is not exactly how I planned to reintroduce myself to desert, but I can't complain. It tasted awesome!

I'm now into the full swing of candy eating and it has been nice (real nice), but I'm amazed at how quickly I've gone back to my old binging habits. I've proven I can go without it, now I need find a way to be moderate with it.

In the mean time my new goal this year is to have only one portion per meal. In other words, I don't ever get seconds...ever. Snacking between meals is still problematic, but it's been pretty successful otherwise. I think this goal is way harder than last year's.

January 2010

2010-02-07T17:50:00.015-05:00

I told lots of people I would send a picture of my pregnant belly, so here you go.

Abigail and I went ice skating and had a great time.

These are some pictures from our Portland trip when we were out West visiting the Forsyths. We went and saw a beautiful water fall and a fish hatchery.

On one of our girls' nights out we went to a bead shop and made necklaces. There were so many beads! It was hard to make a decision, because the options were endless. We had a fun time.

December 2009

2010-02-07T17:21:00.017-05:00

In early December we had our friend Julie come and visit. We had fun with her Impressions 5 and the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

This year for Christmas we got to go to Tri-Cities, Washington to spend the holidays with the Forsyths. We had so much fun! Abigail LOVED playing with her cousins and getting to know them. All of the Forsyth children were there. Even Carrie and Kjetil came all the way from Norway. Abigail and I had never met Kjetil and that was fun. He and Carrie made us all some really yummy Norweigian food. We all had fun going to movies, eating yummy food and just being together.

We spent the weekend in Portland shopping, swimming in the hotel's swimming pool and at a Trailblazer's basketball game. The game was awesome. Our tickets included a wristband that was basically a "If I see food I want, I can have it." We got to eat shishkabobs, salads, fruits, candy, pizza, meat, rolls...sad thing was there just wasn't enough room in the belly for chips, hot dogs, licorce ropes and candy bars. Our seats were really close to the floor and it was fun to be together.

All the grandkids had fun in their gingerbread aprons making and eating cookies.

Grandma Jamie had gotten a lot of fun soaps and bubble making-smell good stuff. This little elf was Abigail's favorite.

Abigail went around and took a lot of pictures of people. She got some good shots.

We got the "fish room" to stay in. It is this cool room that has paintings of fish all around. Grandma Jamie had also put in a beautiful white Christmas tree, and lots of fun sea shells that Abigail loved playing with. We were very comfortable in our pretty room.

Grandpa Mark had a birthday and they did a fun pinata that the kids loved.

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's

November 2009

2010-02-07T16:40:00.006-05:00

We do a preschool co-op with some families from our branch. This was when I hosted one time. We made turkeys out ouf apples, sticks and candy. Abigail has really enjoyed preschool.

For Thanksgiving we got to go to West Virginia to visit Uncle Steve, Aunt Shanna and their family. We had a wonderful time. My brother and his family also came. Abigail loved playing with her cousins.

decorating yummy cookies

Banjo 101 with the master

Ninja skills utilized for the pinata

Indoor, endless pools are AWESOME!

Abigail had saved all her Halloween candy and we bought a pinata to use, it was fun.

Stories with great Uncle Steven

Announcing...

2009-12-09T20:04:00.005-05:00

We are having a little boy! Due date May 21st. Sorry I haven't announced any sooner. I haven't been feeling very well, so I don't get around to the computer very often.

We got to have an ultrasound last week. We were surprised that it was a boy, because Abigail has been talking about her little sister Hannah for at least 2 years now. She said she was happy to get a brother, but that she is going to pray for a sister after the baby boy is born. She is generally very excited about having a sibling. She put a sign up on her door that says, "No babies allowed in my room." I told her that she might have to share a room and that we would have to put the baby somewhere. So with much thought she took down the sign and added "only in the living room" Very generous.

We feel very blessed to be pregnant. We tried for about 3 1/2 years. We actually found out we were pregnant on a Saturday and had an appointment scheduled for the next Monday to go into a Fertility specialist in Grand Rapids. So we are grateful that it all turned out so well.

We will have an exciting summer with Benjamin graduating the beginning of May, a new baby on the 21st and then moving to wherever we get a job the end of June.

Fall 2009

2009-11-08T20:06:00.015-05:00

We had a fun time Trick-or-Treating. It was very cold though. At 6pm when we started it was 37* and it only got windier and colder. Late that night Abigail wok up with a high fever and cough. She was a pretty sick girl for a one day, but we got her on some medicine and she got better pretty quick.

Abigail wanted to dress up like Snow White.

Carving a pumpkin for Halloween.

For Family Home Evening we made a kite. It was really fun.

This is a chocolate shoe Benjamin got for Abgail on our trip to Mackinaw Island.

Mark and Jamie came to visit the beginning of October. We had so much fun with them. Abigail was really excited for them to be here. We went up to Mackinaw Bridge and to see the island. It was beautiful. The leaves were radiant. The island's shops were closing down for the season, but it was fun to just be on the island and see the streets. It was a cold and rainy day though, so we didn't stay too long.

We hiked up a "mountain" (if you can say there is a mountain in Michigan) to see a beautiful landscape of the lakes and bridge. It was WAY windy and cold up top, so we took our pictures and headed back down quickly.

We had an awsome hotel room that was literally right on the beach! These pictures were taken from inside our room. Abigail had a lot of fun being in hotels, swimming in pools (one of which was freezing cold), and eating the continental breakfasts. We all enjoyed shopping and eating incredible food at restaurants.

This was on our boat ride over to the island. Our hotel was right next to the dock. We wanted to go over and found out that a boat was leaving in like 3 minutes, we high-tailed it and were able to catch the boat. That is Forsyth speed for you.

We spent a day at Greenfield Villiage near Detroit. They have a lot of cool historical buildings there that Henry Ford had relocated. We got to ride on a train, horse drawn carriage, old model T car and eat at a really fun restaurant that had recipes from the 1800s. YUMMY! Abby's favorite thing was the carousel. She got to ride on it with Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma Jamie took Abigail to a build a bear factory. Abby made an unicorn named Star Wish. She chose the unicorn over 100 other animals. She has a music box inside of her and is very soft. Abigail has had a lot of fun snuggling with it and playing with it. We all learned the old unicorn song while Jamie and Mark were here. Abby had a great time.

A highlight for Abigail was getting to spend time with Grandpa. They made delicious chocolate chip and walnut cookies, watched a movie and ate popcorn. Grandpa watched Abby while Jamie and I got to go do fun girly things like maternity clothes shopping and getting my very first pedicure. Wow! Fun stuff!

Abby doing a little interperative dance.

Abby with her friend Miriam at dance.

Day at the Potter Park Zoo.

We have done a lot of fun things. Abigail has been in a dance class through the community and a preschool co-op. She has really enjoyed both of them.

Abigail continues bring Benjamin and me much joy and entertainment. The other day she came into the room and gave Benjamin a paper that said 'Be Resbosubo' she told him is said 'Be responsible'. She also gave him on that she had written 'Les red dad' or "Let's read Dad". It is very fun. Benjamin and her have been reading The Hobbit. She also has been writing recipes and then making her own food. One example is her 'Surprise Recipe'. It had flour, sugar, curry, worchestershire sauce, pickles, cumin, vanilla, almond extract, bacon salt, pizza seasoning. She said it needed to be refridgerated.

Trip to the Netherlands and Norway (part 2)

2009-09-18T09:47:00.014-04:00

I got to go to the Netherlands for a conference and Norway to visit my sister Carrie who lives there back in early August, and I am just now getting to putting up a blog about it! This is the second posting about the trip for Norway. The first posting about the Netherlands is below this posting...

NORWAY

My sister Carrie got married a little over a year ago to Kjetil Olsen, my Norwegian brother in law. Since I was so close to Norway after having a conference in Amsterdam, I just had to go visit them for a week. I got to be the first sibling to see them in their native environment and boy were they excited to see me!I was pretty excited too! They immediately flew me out to the coast to a town called Stavanger where Kjetil my brother in law grew up. The town has a monument to a viking battle that took place there in late 800 AD. The monument is of three giant swords stuck in the ground overlooking the bay where the battle between three kings took place. To commemorate my being there I went down into the battle bay and put my foot (toe) in the water.

Another incredible thing I got to do while in Stavanger was to go and climb Preikestolen. This is a giant slab of rock that juts out overlooking a fjord nearly 2000 feet up in the air. Kjetil and I climbed the rocky trail and were NOT disappointed with the view! This counts as probably one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life! Another important part of this hike was the time I got to spend talking with Kjetil one on one. You can't take pictures of a conversation, though, so here are the pictures of the view...And yes, I was definitely scared standing at the edge!

After Stavanger, we flew back to where Carrie and Kjetil live (in a town called Drammen), but first stopped at Vigeland Park in Oslo. It is a park designed by one man over the better part of his lifetime that portrays mankind's stages of life in all its many aspects. All the statues are nude and I at first thought I would find it silly, but the symbolism and aesthetic quality of the park overtook me. I particularly liked one tiny sculpture of a skeleton (death) separating a couple. It made me cry to think of all the relationships separated by death. It also reminded me of my own temple sealing and how grateful I should be that my marriage doesn't have to end at "till death do us part."

The time in Drammen was fantastic and below you will see a view from their deck. We ate all sorts of yummy foods and visited a glass factory and went shopping. It was sad to leave but hopefully you can share some of my excitement about being there from my pictures...
My sister posted a fuller set of the pictures that were taken on her blog and if you're interested in seeing them go to: http://olsenfamilien1.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-been-great.html

Trip to the Netherlands and Norway (Part 1)

2009-09-18T08:56:00.017-04:00

I got to go to the Netherlands for a conference and Norway to visit my sister Carrie who lives there back in early August, and I am just now getting to putting up a blog about it! The bottom line is that it was fantasic! Here are some pictures and details from my time in the Netherlands. The posting for Norway is above...

NEDERLAND

I served my mission in the Netherlands and so going back was very fulfilling. I got to see members I hadn't seen in years and I got to speak Dutch again to someone other than myself!

The amazing picture you see above is from a canal in Leiden at dusk that was taken by my friend Dave who I stayed with a couple days while I was there. I actually didn't bring our camera since my wife was on a trip to Utah with it at the same time. I was at the mercy of my friends to take pictures and I obviously found myself a great photographer for a friend! Here are a few more...

Dave took me to a castle called Haarzuylens and it was beautiful. I never got to go here on my mission so it was new to me. Dave and I actually spent a good deal of time (hours) just walking around and talking and the conversation was even better than the pictures...

The above pictures are three more photos from Leiden. My conference was in Amsterdam actually, but I didn't really have a camera for it. I got to serve in Amsterdam for three months so although the conference went well and my presentation was well enough received, my favorite part about being in the city was just walking around remembering places that I had been. I also got to go back to Amsterdam for one day after visiting Dave to visit with another friend named Job and we went and did some more touristy sight seeing, which included a visit to the Dutch National Museum called the Rijksmuseum. My legs hurt from all the walking, but it was awesome! The number of original paintings from Dutch masters like Vermeer, Van Dijk, Rembrandt and others was staggering. Here's a picture of the museum I pulled off the internet along with a few of the paintings I liked (there were other artifacts in the museum besides the paintings, but I liked the paintings the best)...

Another highlight of my time in the Netherlands was being able to go to the temple there to do a session in Dutch. This is a picture taken after walking around the temple with Dave...

Update

2009-09-16T21:06:00.009-04:00

We have done a lot of fun things lately. We love summer time!

Abigail LOVES carousels.

Notice how Abigail is curtsying. She have acquired this habit from somewhere. A few times at church she has gone around and curtsied to her friends.

We went to Greenfield Village in Detroit with a friend. It is a really cool place. We got to ride on a train, horse drawn carriage, model T, carousel and old time bus.

I cut Abigail's hair. This is her new swimming suit. We have gone swimming a lot at our apartment's pool this summer. Abigail has gotten really good at swimming this year. She is a champion at doggy paddling and jumping into the water.

We have a garden plot behind our little branch house in St. Johns this year. We have gotten a TON of peppers from it. I have 4 huge bags full of peppers in my freezer that we have seeded and cut up. I can tell you from sad experience to wear gloves whenever de-seeding cayene and jalepeno peppers. I ended up stringing two lines of peppers up to dry to avoid the inevitable pain involved in washing and de-seeding. We made and canned some salsa from the onions, peppers and tomatoes from our garden. It was a lot of work, but very delicious. One of the first times I ever met Benjamin at BYU he brought some salsa to a softball game for our singles ward to share with everyone. He knows the way to "win my love". :)

Abby wanted her hair curled for church. She wanted to be cute for her friend Donovan. Abby says he is "trying to win her love", but he gets jealous of his little brother sometimes. She said that the younger brother Elliot understands her better and has told her he loves her. There is much drama in a 4 year old's world.

Dress-ups at a friend's house.

DeWitt is a city 15 minutes from where we live. They have an Ox Roast Festival every year. We went to the parade they did on Saturday morning. Abigail got a bag full of candy. We sat on some friend's lawn and had a great time.

We went to Grand Haven and had a wonderful time. Lake Michigan is so beautiful. The sand is soft and the water is suprisingly warm. It is really fun to play in because it is fresh water, so you don't have to worry about getting salt in your eyes. Abigail and I played in the water a long time on this trip. The waves weren't very big and she would walk/swim out to a post and then we would go back to the beach and do it again.

Benjamin has been going strong with the no sugar or dessert for a year. So we did muffins instead of ice cream and cake for his birthday.

Benjamin had collected all the quarters for the states, so we got him a place to put them and display them. Abigail wrapped all his presents and hid them around the house. She was super excited about his birthday.

July and August

2009-08-16T19:44:00.007-04:00

Benjamin had arranged all of Abigail's stuffed animals to welcome her back from our Utah trip. While we were in Utah, Benjamin went to a conference in the Netherlands and visited his sister in Norway.

Interpretative dancing with Aunt Mary

hide and seek

Grandpa is showing Abby the fishing lures.

Fishing, 4-wheeling and canoing at Silver Flats. We had so much fun. Abigail said that Grandma went CRAZY FAST on the 4-wheeler. She loved helping reel in a fish while we were out on the canoe.

Trying on the 4 wheeler helmet.

Classic.

Water games in the backyard.

Temple open house with our friends the Ratliffs. Abigail's favorite part was the chandiliers.

Under doggie!!

Juming on the tramp at 6am. Gotta love Grandma's house.

Playing games at night in Utah with family.

Eating ramen noodles with the aunties.

Egg balancing race.

Abby kicking trash in the sack races at the Pioneer Day celebration.

Another hard days work over for a 4 year old.

On the way to our swimming pool.

Benjamin was given this popcorn when he was out doing elder's quorum visit

Abigail got this dress from her Grandma and Grandpa Forsyth. She loves getting clothes from them. (I do too :)

Benjamin in his new suit on the way out the door.

We went to Lake Michigan one day and had a great time.

Hawk Island splash pad.

Abigail loves doing tea parties with her dollies and toys.

These are the animals we took care of.

Abby loved opening presents from family and friends.

Abby chose blue ice cream to go with her cake and loved it.

These are the cute kids that came to Abby's party.

Water balloon fun.

Happy 4 year old with her pink castle cake.

Abby is packed and ready to go house-sit.

Lesson for Dad

2009-07-08T20:35:00.002-04:00

Benjamin has been talking to Abigail about shapes lately. When Benjamin was putting Abigail to bed tonight she said. "Tomorrow Dad I want to teach you about a new shape. Its called Crammer-lamber-quella-gram. It's a CRAZY shape dad. One you've never seen before."

Abby had a nice birthday today. On Sunday she told us she wanted to celebrate her birthday in silence. It was a quiet day today. Yesterday we had a fun party with her friends.

June 2009

2009-06-28T20:37:00.020-04:00

Life if going great for us here in beautiful Michigan. The weather has been mostly gorgeous! We have had some fun thunderstorms and not so fun humid days. Abby and I go to the pool a lot and love it!
Benjamin and Abby made a cool 'temple' out of blocks.

Cute shots of the Abster.

Father's Day was lots of fun here. Abby chose a purple tie for Benjamin that looks awesome on him.

A few weeks before Father's Day I asked Abigail what she thought her Daddy would like for Father's Day breakfast and she replied confidently, "Shrimp." So that is what he got.

We went to Lake Lansing beach one day.

We had to say goodbye to the Wagners. We have known them the whole 4 years we have been here. It was sad to see them go. Abby and Noah have known each other their whole lives. We have done a babysitting swap with them for 3 years. We will miss them. We've had 3 families that we have been close to graduate and move on. It is crazy to us that we will be graduating in only 1 year. We have really loved Michigan and all the friends we have made.

Abigail has been mixing things lately. This had food coloring, celery, carrots, milk, peas, pickles, whipping cream, sugar, salt, rice and some other things I can't remember. Abby said t was daddy's special treat. Being a good sport, Benjamin tried it.

We went to Battle Creek, Michigan to stay with some friends. We all went to a parade on Friday and the "longest breakfast table" on Saturday. A reporter took our picture on Friday and it was on their front page the next morning. We were at a grocery store on Sat. afternoon and someone stopped us and told us they had seen us in the newspaper. It was very fun. For those interested we will be doing autographs from 1-3pm this Saturday here in Bath, Mi.

Abigail's favorite part of the parade was Daisy the cow.

They had all sorts of cereal, banannas and juice. It was really fun and free.

My friend gave me a haircut. Free-ninety nine. I in turn gave her a haircut, it was a good deal.

We went to a festival where I did a 5k with one of my friends, Crystal. We met up with some other friends who had run in the race also. A couple in our branch offered to watch the kids during the race. I really appreciated that. It was totally different not having a stroller to push!

Here are some happy faces.

Update

2009-05-24T20:19:00.009-04:00

This horse gives a crazy fast ride once you put the money in. Abigail gets a kick out of it.

We were in a toy store and Abigail was playing with the toys they had out for the kids to play with. She picked up a doll that was in a box and I thought she was going to try and take the doll out. I said, "Oh, unfortunately Abby we can't take the doll out the box to play with." She put it down and played with other things. A few minutes later I said, "Okay Abby, time to go!" She replied very seriously, "Unfortunately Mommy, I need to play some more." Classic.

We went to Shipshewanna, Indiana with some friends. It is a great Amish town. They have the largest flea market this side of the Mississippi and lots of fun little shops. Its really cool to see the horse and buggies driving on the rode next to the cars. Abigail of course loved the carousel the best.

Abby looking cute, read to go on a Sunday walk. Michigan is really so beautiful. The trees are filling out with their green leaves. This is just right at our apartment complex.

Abby is a Land Before Time fan. So she really enjoyed seeing what Little Foot would look like as an adult.

We went on a day trip to a Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, Michigan. Abigail's favorite part was the carousel.

In this picture you can see a potted plant. Abigail brought home a little seed from sunbeams. She and Benjamin have been very diligent about watering it, letting it get enough light and repotting it as it has grown bigger. Its actually an apple tree. Its been a lot of fun.

I cut Abigail's hair. She asked me to and I thought it was a good idea for summer.

We got to tour a local firestation. Abby and I both enjoyed it.

Spring

2009-05-10T20:30:00.015-04:00

Here are some pictures highlighting some of the activities we've had over the past few weeks. The first several are of Abigail and I going to the MSU horse and cow farms with some friends in the branch.

This next set of pictures is from when our branch did a Hawaiian luau activity that was a lot of fun. Benjamin pulled some sweet moves on the limbo and I got first place in my age division for hula hooping. Abigail enjoyed everything. The final video of Abigail hula hooping is hillarious to me!

We have been borrowing a car from a friend and before we took it back we cleaned it all. Abigail loved the Fabreeze. We used half a bottle of it. It made for a great Saturday morning activity!

Abby and I have gone on a few nature walks. Michigan is really pretty this time of the year. On Saturdays I take Abigail on a tricycle ride to a business that is down the road from our apartment. It is a very pretty walk. Abby loves her tricycle.

300 Calories a Day Keeps the Dodgballers at Bay

2009-04-22T21:38:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been to the gym now 9 times according to my Burgers for Buns program and tonight I believe I proved that it's working! I went to play in a multi-ward game of dodgeball tonight and had a great time. I didn't get exhausted until we were nearly done, but that is not the reason I know my workouts are paying off.

In our version of dodgeball your team can score two points for getting every person out on the opposite side or one point for knocking over a little pin that is carefully guarded by the other team. About half way through a round I chucked a ball clear across the court in a line drive that OBLITERATED the pin! I smashed it into three pieces with the insides flying out all over the place. I had Emily take a picture of me with the remains to preserve for posterity.

Who's the McChicken now, huh?!

March and April pictures

2009-04-14T22:30:00.011-04:00

We got to go to some friends house for Easter. They had 50 people there from the branch. The food was incredible and it was a lot a fun. We really missed being close to family and this felt like going to a family party for us. We really appreciated it. We have been really blessed to have wonderful people around us here in Michigan.
We house sat for some friends of ours and had a wonderful time. They have animals that Abigail really enjoyed talking care of. On April 5th we were surprised to wake up to 7 inches of snow! What was crazy was that the Friday before that we were outside riding on Abby's tricycle in 68 degree weather. The snow was really pretty though. It felt like Christmas.

Grandma and Grandpa Forsyth sent Abigail an Easter dress that she loves! She calls it her Cinderella princess dress. She wore it on Easter and got a lot of compliments. People would say something like, "Oh, Abigail your dress is so pretty." She would smile, flutter her eyes and do a little spin, then tell them it was her princess dress from Grandma and Grandpa and that they have a park and a dog named Jack. It was cute.

Abigail helps me a lot with cooking. Her specialty is enchiladas.

Abby had fun at a friends princess birthday party.

There were some free days at the Lansing Zoo we took advantage of. We had a great time.

Burgers for Buns

2009-04-08T16:50:00.019-04:00

I made a new year's resolution to have no candy and no desserts for a year and so far I'm doing great! Normally I wouldn't recommend anyone doing this because it seems a bit extreme, but for me I was literally eating only chocolate some days. There have been a couple days where I have craved m&m's and I can't deny the overpowering sensations I have when I smell warm brownies, but these have been relatively minor inconveniences and I'm still pretty happy with my resolution. There have been, however, several unforeseen consequences.

First of all, the month of January saw a HUGE increase in my breakfast cereal consumption. Right before the new year I bought some Lucky Charms because they were on sale and that box was gone so fast. I usually like cereal brands like Wheaties and Life, but they were no match for the marshmallowy goodness of Lucky Charms for a while. I'm back to my Wheaties and Life, but it was an eye opener to me how much I was just craving anything sugary above and beyond chocolate.

You would think that by now I'd be looking like Conan here with such a reduction in my sugar intake and I did loose a little weight at first, but what I can't have in sugar I seem to compensate in two ways. First, it feels like I eat a lot more per day and second, the foods I now eat are much fattier. So I actually haven't lost any weight besides just a couple of pounds. It's nice to know I haven't put on any weight but now I've discovered a third problem...

I was looking over my bank and credit card statements and in the last three months I have gone to get a dollar menu hamburger from either McDonalds, Wendy's or Burger King 48 times!!! This is nearly 5 times my past consumption from last year! Now I realize that some people get fast food far more often and order fries and a soda along with it, but for me, this is too much! So I've come up with a plan. I call it burgers for buns.

I looked up how many calories are in a Wendy's Double Stack, McDonald's McChicken, or Burger King Jr. Whopper and they all hover over 300 calories. If I push my self on an elliptical bike I can burn 300 calories in 20 minutes so here is my plan: I'm going to "pay" for all those burgers I've eaten since the start of this year by burning them off on the elliptical bike. I have no problems with eating a burger every once in a while, but considering how many extra ones I have eaten in the last several months, I have decided not to have one again until I get rid of the ones I've already eaten. I've got a little chart with 48 boxes and I just checked off the first one. My incentive is to get these done quickly so I can get back to eating a hamburger every once in a while. I figure If I work out 3 or 4 times a week like I already plan for, I should be able to get back to my Jr. Whoppers in just under 4 months. Just in time for my birthday!

Sugary Conversation

2009-04-03T20:03:00.004-04:00

Last night Abigail I were talking about how she put too much salt on her broccoli so I told her the word to describe foods that had a lot of salt was salty. I then asked her what she would call foods that had lots of sugar in them and she said sugary. Eventually I started telling her about how there are lots of different kinds of sugars and told her the names of a bunch of them: glucose, sucrose, dextrose, maltrose, lactose, fructose. She giggled after each one. The next morning I asked Abby if she remembered any of the sugars I told her about and she said "sucrose, dextrose...um...blink toes and black toast!" Close enough!

Kid Stories

2009-03-20T08:20:00.003-04:00

Two stories from Abigail.

1) Abigail and I were dancing to some fast 80's music before bedtime and when we were done I told her we needed to unwind by laying down on the carpet and listen to some slow music. We ended up listening to Michael Jackson's Human Nature. In the song Michael Jackson repeatedly sings the word "why...why" so Abby asked me, "Dad, why does the lady keep asking why?" I said, "Actually, Abby, it's a guy, a man, who is singing." Abby said, "No, that's a girl." So I suggested we go watch the song on youtube. We went back to the computer and as soon as the video popped up, Abigail said, "He looks like a girl too!" ...From the mouth of babes.

2) I was putting Abigail to sleep and we were talking about the scriptures and we got onto the subject of the Holy Ghost and baptism and Abigail said, "I don't want to be baptized because mom said ghosts aren't real." I found out later Emily was telling Abigail that the ghosts she saw in a Scooby-Doo book weren't real. Well, I asked Abigail if she wanted to pray about it and she said okay and this was her prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, Is the Holy Ghost real? ...Yes? Okay. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

If only all problems were solved so easily.

Update

2009-02-22T20:29:00.001-05:00

Here is a strange picture of Abigail and her friend Liam watching biscuits cook. Good clean fun and a good facial expression to boot!

We bought some pink curlers for Abigail's hair. It looks so cute! I need to take a picture of it when they get pulled out in the morning.

We had a really fun Valentines. The flowers that Benjamin gave me have been a beautiful thing all week long. Abby has enjoyed them a lot. She enjoyed feeding them and watching them grow. Benjamin gave both his girls a cup, candy and card. It was fun.
Here are some quotes from Abigail.

Abigail left the dinner table and Benjamin told here to come back to finish her rice and she replied,"No, Daddy. I am SO not even hungry."

Benjamin took her to the bathroom and Abby told him to go away. He closed the door and heard her say, "I have got to figure out a way that I can be alone."

Last Sunday I played a solo during sacrament meeting. I was pretty nervous, but I calmed down when I heard Abigail start singing along, quite loudly, to my music. At dinnertime I told Benjamin how hearing Abigail had helped me. He said he had been trying to get Abigail to be quiet. So he said to Abigail, "Did you hear that Abigail? You know how I was telling you to be quiet while Mommy was playing? I guess it helped her. It just goes to show..." And Abigail replied with a serious look on her face, "Yep Dad. It just goes to show."

She is a lot of fun. She brings us much joy and laughter.

Emily's 25 Random Facts

2009-02-01T19:25:00.000-05:00

1. When I was little I used to say I didn't like any fruits and only one vegatable, potatoes. I now eat most fruits and vegetables. Except I don't like any kinds of melons, cucumbers or grapefruit.
2. I love plain yogurt, but don't like milk.
3. I was in a Jazz Band, 2 choral choirs and Bell Choir in high school.
4. At one point I had a job as a piano accompianst for a singing teacher...one of my favorite jobs EVER!
5. I was a nursing assistant during college, the job was hard but I love the people I worked with. I got a minor in gerontology, because I love old people.
6. My husband was the first boy I kissed.
7. I ran cross country, 800m, 1600m and hurdles when I was 12-16 years old.
8. At age 15 I had surgery on both my knees. No fun.
9. I love walking and when the weather is warm I take my little girl on daily stroller rides.
10. I played the piano at a convention for the guy that wrote the Color Code books.
11. I totally love being a mom, but I am constantly surprised at how challenging and humbling it is.
12. I have been an Enrichment counselor, enrichment babysitting cordinator, enrichment leader, enrichment board member and enrichment teacher. Yeah, I don't know why. I am always the one who says, "Okay, how can we simplify this activity."
13. I love swimming but I am not good at it.
14. I really love bread... I love eating it and making it, but especially eating it. If you offer me any kind of dessert or candy I will turn it down to a homeade roll any day.
15. I like Birkenstock sandals.
16. I like drawing and painting with watercolors. But I really get nervous whenever I am doing a project. I am afraid I am going to mess it up.
17. My favorite book is Jane Erye. I really enjoy reading.
18. I love to organize and de-junk.
19. I am a good thrift store shopping. But generallly I don't like shopping of anykind.
20. My favorite foods- enchiladas, pizza, hummus, my mom's pumpkin pie and enchiladas.
21. When I was pregnant with Abigail, I went through 3 bottles of Sambal Indonesian Red Pepper Sauce.
22. My family did a lot of camping when I was growing up. While some families would go to Disneyland for a trip. We would go to Tooele to do some shooting.
23. I have survived a roasted chestnut exploding in my face.
24. As a young adolescent I would regularly eat an entire batch of chocolate no-bake cookies. My friend and I would double the batch and just get it bowl-fulls at a time.
25. When I get tired my eyes blink independently of each other.

Benjamin's Random Survey

2009-01-30T00:08:00.000-05:00

I (Benjamin) was filling out one of these "Random Survey's" on facebook and figured I would put it on the blog as well. So, for your reading pleasure, here are 25 random things about me. Emily's 25 random things will be coming soon...

1-I'm not eating any candy or dessert for a year. So far so good, but my cereal consumption has since gone through the roof.
2-I love cookies.
3-I grow a red beard but I (used to) have sandy blonde hair
4-I love smoked oysters, green olives, feta cheese, brussel sprouts and many other foods that aren't typically liked. I don't think I have a lot of taste buds.
5-I speak Dutch fluently.
6-I love maps. I can stare at them for literally hours.
7-I am allergic to garlic.
8-I watched Pollyanna a year ago and loved it.
9-There is a song that is called "The Most Unwanted Song" that was designed to be annoying to nearly the entire population of the world. I happen to like it especially when I am studying.
10-I had to wear braces on my legs as a baby because my leg bones were not developed enough.
11-I squatted over 500 pounds in college regularly before my mission.
12-I love teaching and learning so much!
12 1/2-As a kid I was afraid a triceratops would attack me in my sleep. For this reason I chose the bottom bunk since a triceratops would be so big that its horns would skewer whoever was on top.
13-I regularly rock out to Dutch, Norwegian and Gaelic music.
14-I play the violin and I used to be pretty good, but it terrifies me to play in public. Ironically, I love singing and speaking in public.
15-Growing up I followed my sisters example in almost all things. She has never led me astray except once and that is that I only took 3 years of science in high school rather than 4.
16-I love to cook. Soups and Dutch food are my favorite things to make.
17-I have a favorite green t-shirt that I have had since I was a sophomore in high school. It is slowly dying and it makes me sad to think one day I will have to cut it up into dust rags.
18-I don't generally like wearing shirts with any writing or pictures on them. Monochromatic is what I prefer. One exception to this is Napoleon Dynamite shirts.
19-I go nuts when I play volleyball. Football generally has a calming effect on me especially in high school. These are my two favorite sports.
20-I took a ballet class in college. I know what a dance belt is.
21-My first official date with my wife happened one Sunday in October. My sister Jill invited me to have dinner at her place and I asked if I could bring a girl. Jill said yes, so I stepped out of my apartment and said to myself, "First girl I see gets to eat with me." Emily was the first and I'm a better man because of it.
22-I think I do a pretty good turkey impression.
23-I couldn't tie my shoes until I was eight.
24-I spent a whole day at universal studios and neglected to go to any of the rides. I didn't realize there was a lower level!
25-I have a goal to see all 50 states. I've been to 38 so far!

Winter time

2009-01-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law Carrie sent me this cute apron. Abbie took a picture of it for me.

Abby is my big helper. She is really good at helping with chores and daily work. The other day she did a lot of the labor for the enchiladas. I am very proud of her and appreciative.

I love organizing things. This closet was my project one morning. Abigail took the before, during and after photos.

Playing in the snow.

Some more pictures that Abbie has taken...

Abigail loves to dress up and dance.

Abigail has been taking pictures by herself a lot lately. This one is of Daddy when he came home from work. That is always a really exciting time of the day for Abbie. We love her Daddy! The one below that is mom and dad picking up blueberries that had spilled. We asked Abigail to help and she said she would take a picture instead. It was funny.

We went to Michigan's Historical Museum in Lansing one morning when it was in the single digits one day. They said it felt like -7 degrees outside. So we were very grateful for a fun indoor activity. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out we went on Michigan's birthday. Because of this they had all sorts of crafts and volunteers there to talk with about Michigan. They even had a birthday cake. Michigan is now 172 years old. Abbie had a great time.

Benjamin is ABD!!!! A.B.D. stands for All But Dissertation in the Academic world. Today he passed his Oral Comprehensive Exams. He went from being a doctoral student to a doctoral candidate. It is all very exciting. Benjamin has worked really hard to get to this point. Abigail and
I made a sign, got balloons and did a scavenger hunt to honor him and to celebrate.

CONGRATULATIONS Benjamin! We love you and are proud of you!

Christmas Break

2009-01-02T21:37:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from our Christmas break. We had a great time in Utah with the Grows. All the kids were there and it was a blast. Mary came home from her mission and that made it extra special.

Merry Christmas from the Forsyths!

Mary made us some tasty German food.

This is a jaw breaker that met a firecracker.

Me and my sisters grew our hair out while Mary was on her mission. We all went and got 11-12 inches cut off our hair to give to Locks of Love.

We got lots of beautiful snow while we were there. The kids had a lot of fun playing in it.

We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the lights.

Aunt Laura made a fort as large as the living room for the kids. It had a hobbit door and a peek hole. The kids played under it and decorated every inch of it.

Abigail, Josh and Esther really enjoyed having story time every night with Grandma Grow.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. Daniel got an iron man shirt. David was told the only thing he needed was a hairy chest. I got a pink "LAMB-BORG-INI". And of course there were at least a handful of Chuck Norris Folders that were bestowed and appreciated. Awesome.

Our Nativity was a hit. Way to go on the costumes mom! Love the donkey ears Laura!

My family makes killer good pizza. YUMMY!

Grandpa helped Abigail put "bandages" on all the sick dollies and animals.

Mom made costumes for our Nativity play. Abigail loved her pink angel dress. We put ribbons up all through the neighborhood and made a signs in preparation for Mary's homecoming.

We got to go see Grandma and Grandpa Stenquist and Granpa Grow. We sure love them!

Abigail spent a lot of time rearranging the nativity.

We had lots fun with our friends!

One of Abigail's favorite things to do is throw balls down the stairs to Grandpa. He is a good sport. It can be scary to have balls flying down at you at high speeds. We also had fun using the stairs as a slide.

Thanksgiving in West Virginia and Sinterklaas back in Michigan

2008-12-15T22:11:00.000-05:00

SINTERKLAAS

Benjamin served a mission in the Netherlands. There they have Sinterklaas on December 5-6th. On the 5th the kids put carrots and hay in their shoes and if they have been good Zwarte Piet will leave presents in their shoes for the next morning. Their tradition is that if the kids have been bad Zwarte Piet will get taken away. Benjamin told all this to Abbie and she got really concerned. We had to work all morning at reassuring her that she really is a good girl and that nobody would be taking her away. But she was excited the next morning.

THANKSGIVING

We were super lucky to be able to visit my Uncle Steve, Aunt Shanna and cousin Cami in West Virginia for Thanksgiving. My brother and his family were there from Maryland also. The drive there was stressful, but definitely worth it. We had a wonderful time.

My Aunt Shanna helped the kids and girls do crafts. Abigail painted her things glitter, pink and more glitter. I got to may a nativity set that we have been enjoying.

Benjamin went hunting for the first time in his life with Dave and Uncle Steve and enjoyed being in the beautiful Appalacian mountains. We all went shooting one afternoon. I enjoyed shooting a .45 pistol...nice kick.

They had a fire pit in their back yard and we got to roast marshmallows and hot dogs.

Benjamin and Dave playing Epic Duels

Steve and Shanna's house was Abigail's dreams come true. They had 2 dogs, an INDOOR swimming pool, a yard, fire pit, good food, a banjo and toys.

Thanksgiving dinner was tasty!

Cousins on the couch

Look at those smiles!

We had an awesome vacation and sure appreciated their hospitality. It was so fun to be with family. We love you guys!

Enjoying Fall

2008-11-02T17:24:00.001-05:00

We have gotten to do a lot of fun things recently. Yesturday we did a Pirate Murder Mystery. Benjamin was Dr. Jim Jones "Redbeard" and I was Black Bones Sadie. It was fun to see Benjamin in his theatre mode. He did plays in high school and his skills were appreciated by the group.

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

We went trick or treating in a friendly neighborhood where Abigail warmed up very quickly to the idea of getting candy for the magic words of, "Trick or Treat!" At first she said she didn't want to say it very loud, but by the end of it dropped her shyness and became an old pro. The next day we did the ritual sorting of the candy with her and daddy has been more than pleased with her generosity in sharing her loot. The people you see in the pictures are our good neighbors the Belliston's and Sandy and Megan.

As you can see, Abigail decided to be a disney princess, but she wasn't Snow White even though you might think it from the dress. Instead, she was Cinderella. When Emily got the dress for her at a garage sale, Abigail promptly put it on and grabbed a spare broom which she called a "mop" and started mopping our carpet. She has the story down!

Here is a video of Abigail doing her best Cinderella impression in preparation for the Halloween festivities!

We got to carve pumpkins twice with Abigail. Once while Emily's parents were visiting us and another time on the day of Halloween. As you can see by Abby's facial expressions, both attempts were complete successes!

Wednesday's are Benjamin's busiest days and besides a 20 minutes stop in for dinner he doesn't get to see Abigail because she is asleep by the time he gets back from mutual. So one Wednesday Benjamin decided to do a scavenger hunt for Abigail using starburst candies as the prize. It was a complete success! This picture is of Abigail discovering the first clue taped to the bathroom door. Since the completion of her first scavenger hunt Abigail has had both of us go on mini hunts for toys and candy and trash, usually hidden in shelves and under the couch. Good clean fun!

There is a children's museum here in Lansing called "Impressions 5" and Emily went with a bunch of friends there one day. As you can see Abigail had a great time. Emily is very good about taking Abigail out to all kinds of things like this. She has a play group on Tuesdays and reading time at the library on Thursdays. Daddy tries to take her to open gymnastics time as often as he can as well.

The weather is getting cold here in Michigan! It was in the 30's and even 20's at night! It's warmed up a little bit since, but the winter clothes are officially out of storage!

We're about half way through our marathon October blog posting so for an intermission please enjoy a few random pictures of Abigail...

Emily's parents came to visit us and we had such a grand time! Dennis (Emily's Dad) did a lot of fixup work around our apartment and even made a new guard for Abigail's bed. It is the perfect blend of form and function.

Anna Margaret (Emily's Mom) kept Abigail busy from the moment she arrived and all the way back to the airport. It's hard to say who had more fun, though. Abigail loves her grandparents!

One day while Emily's parents were visiting we went out on a nature walk at the perfect time to see all the leaves changing colors. We got to go to a nice restaurant right before the walk and we misjudged how much food we were going to get. The walk was a very welcome end to a huge meal. Great food, great friends, great lakes, great times...

Well, thanks for reading our gigantic blog posting! Hopefully we'll have more bite-sized installments in the coming months! We've been wrestling the formatting on where the pictures and text go so please excuse the disorderliness!

End of summer

2008-10-05T11:23:00.000-04:00

Over Labor Day we got to go to a Detroit Tigers and Yankees game in Detroit. They had a tiger carousel and our seats were in the shade. These things combined to make a great day.

One of the big grocery stores here in Michigan is called Meijer. Abigail loves going there because they have a horse there to ride on. I like it because it only costs a penny for a ride. Ever since Abbie was little we have had the tradition to let her ride the horse when our shopping is done. We sing:

"Horsie, horsie on your way. We've been together a many a day. So let your tail go swish and your wheels go round. Giddy up! We're homeward bound.

I like to take a horse and buggy, when I go traveling through the town. I like to hear that good old clip clop. I like to see the wheels go round."

She loves it. Her new thing is that she kisses the horse when we are done. Its our little form of idle worship. My uncle Lee has a farm and she has ridden horses there before. Abigail really loves horses. She has some plastic ones and really enjoys playing with them.

We have a pool at our apartment. Abigail and I made good use of it this summer. Some weeks we went 6 times! It is only about 100 steps away. Often there would be nobody else but us, so it felt like our private pool. Awesome. We started going in May and it just closed a week ago. It was heated, so we went sometimes when it was only 60 degrees outside. In the beginning Abbie would just get her feet wet and play around it but not get any deeper then up to her stomach. By the end of the summer, she became a little fish. I eventually remembered that we had a swim suit with a life jacket thing in it. She is quite the daredevil, so it eased my stress level when she started wearing it.

Abigail has gotten really good at dressing herself everyday. She also loves to dress up.

The Forsyth family has a wonderful tradition of making Pumpkin muffins on October 1st. My mother-in-law Jamie gave me a beautiful bundt cake pan that I used instead of muffin tins. It was delicious. Abigail took the picture of me next to the cake. She has been taking pictures lately. You can see the great big chunk of cake that Abigail grabbed when I wasn't looking. At least I know she liked it.

A little update

2008-10-01T20:19:00.000-04:00

We are all well, but we are having technical difficulties with our camera. I thought I would just write up a few things while I have a minute.

The other day we were going to the swimming pool and I saw a daddy-long legs. I showed it to Abigail and told her what it was. She was interested and we watched it awhile before we started to swim. A few minutes later she tilted her head to one side and asked seriously, "Have you ever seen a MOMMY-long legs?" It was very cute.

Yesturday I was on the couch reading to Abigail. She jumped from a nearby foot stool and bounced off the couch and went head over heals OVER the back of the couch and onto the floor. I was really surprised and waited for her to start crying, but she walked around the couch and came right up to me and said with furrowed eyebrows, "It was a hand over." I guess meaning like a back handspring or something...so funny.

This one is dedicated to Grandma Jamie

2008-09-02T22:33:00.001-04:00

Benjamin's mom said that after Abigail was born she had the song On Top of the World going through her mind and so the song especially reminds her of Abigail. Well, Abigail has recently become a fan of the Carpenters (along with the Cranberries and a number of other musicians) and so we all thought you like to see how Abigail keeps herself busy on long trips...

...And here is one from the Cranberries:

House Sitting and poison ivy

2008-08-17T20:35:00.000-04:00

We have been house sitting for some friends of ours for the past week. Abigail and I have loved the backyard and animals. Benjamin has suffered because of the backyard and animals. Confused? Let me explain...

Two weeks ago Benjamin camped on the property of the house that we are staying at. He somehow got into some poison ivy and has been miserable ever since. I guess once you've had poison ivy you are super sensitive around it. So when he plays with Abigail outside on their awesome swings, he gets itchy and uncomfortable, poor guy. He is also allergic to their cats and dog, so he hasn't been breathing very well.

As much as it has been hard to be here for Benjamin, Abigail has loved it! Abigail loves animals and our friends have a dog, two cats and a parrot. She has had fun feeding them, walking the dog and playing with them. The dog has become my new alarm clock. At an early hour everyday he comes in and licks my face until I wake up. Abigail and I take him out with us on our daily stroller ride. His name is Caleb, and he is a really sweet dog. Abigail is always giving him hugs, chasing him, trying to feed him carrots and graham crackers, and chasing him around. He puts up with her.

We have spent a lot of time outside enjoying their big back yard and long driveway. There has been a lot of wildlife. They have pond with lots of frogs that Abbie likes to through grass in. We have seen lots of deer and rabbits.

We got to go to Grand Rapids for a Danish Festival with some friends. We had a really fun time. They had some children's activities that Abbie enjoyed. She made a crown and has been wearing it a lot the past 2 days. It is really cute. Her favorite part was an inflatable slide they had there.

Benjamin had his birthday last week and we had fun celebrating. Abigail was really excited to tell her daddy what his gifts were, the day before his birthday :), and to hide his gifts.

We have watched some of the Olympics and that has been fun. Abbie went bowling for the first time and had fun. Benjamin starts up the semester soon, so we will get back into the swing of things. We have had a wonderful summer.

Enjoying Summer

2008-08-03T20:25:00.000-04:00

These are some pictures of us camping in New York with my brother and his cute family. Abbie had her birthday that week, thus the hat.

We've had a lot of fun things the last few weeks. Benjamin hiked at Pictured Rock National Park in the upper penisula of Michigan for a week with the young men he used to work with. They hiked like 25 miles in some really beautiful areas. They had some mean racoons, but Benjamin was able to protect the group with his sling shot skills which he learned under the tutelage of his brother-in-law David. His camera was out of batteries by two hours into the hike so there are no pictures besides the one we copied off of the Pictured Rocks website. He has been writing a proposal for a conference and his comps. So that has kept him busy.

Abigail and I have done lots of fun things together. We have been swimming a lot and been to a lot of fun activities. These include a dairy expo, county fair, story time at the library, tricycle rides, parks and a water games activity. Last week I helped with the youth games for a Pioneer Celebration. It turned out well. We spray painted rocks and did panning for gold. That was a favorite. We have really enjoyed summer.

Abigail really enjoys playing with her dollies, toys and blocks. She had so much fun at the petting zoo that was at the county fair.

Grandma Grow sent a tea cup set and Abigail has really enjoyed it.

Abigail had a little birthday singing session with her new toys.

Benjamin's girls in red.

One thing Abigail loves to do is dance on our bed while her Daddy plays music for her. I think all would agree that we need a trampoline for this girl!

Western New York

2008-07-13T21:31:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful week visiting western New York. We saw Niagra Falls and the church sites. We camped the whole time and that was fun. We had some rainy days and wished we would have spent more money on a tent. It truly is not fun to sleep in a wet tent! Abigail loved being outside and digging in dirt.

My brother David and his family spent the week with us. It was really great to spend time with him. We really look up to their family. Their two kids are really cute.

We saw the Hill Cumorah pagent and enjoyed it. I would recommend to anyone to go on the dress rehearsal night. There was a less of a crowd. Of all the sites my favorite was the Sacred Grove. It really is a special place.