Dear Family and Friends,
We are happy to announce that we are expecting a baby, due about a month after Suzie's baby, on October 17th. I had my first ultrasound today and we got to see the tiny heartbeat, so everything looks good so far. And, yes, it looks like only one baby (we were wondering for awhile if it might be 2). So, we are very happy and we feel so blessed. I went to see the fertility doctor on December 29th and we were pregnant a month later. We have received so many blessings this last year, it's been amazing. Mark is enjoying working at Microsoft and we look forward to his 4 weeks paid paternity leave. BethAnne is doing really well. We have started seeing specialists for her in Seattle and we are very impressed with them. It looks like we won't have to go back to Cincinnati very often, if ever. Everything else is going well. Grace keeps us on our toes, but she's adorable. I'm feeling pretty good so far, so I hope that continues. Have a great weekend!
Love,
Aubrey and Mark
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Microsoft
Hi Everyone,
You may have seen in the news that Microsoft is having some layoffs. I'm happy to report that Mark's department has announced that it will not be letting anyone go. He is lucky enough to be in one of the most profitable divisions of Microsoft. We have a lot of hope that we'll be able to stay with Microsoft for a long time. It is an uncertain time though, so however long it lasts, we feel really blessed for the opportunity. We love you all.
You may have seen in the news that Microsoft is having some layoffs. I'm happy to report that Mark's department has announced that it will not be letting anyone go. He is lucky enough to be in one of the most profitable divisions of Microsoft. We have a lot of hope that we'll be able to stay with Microsoft for a long time. It is an uncertain time though, so however long it lasts, we feel really blessed for the opportunity. We love you all.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Never a Dull Moment
Hi All,
Today Mark gave a wonderful talk in Church about keeping and sharing testimonies. He put a lot of work and thought into it. After Church, everybody was raving about it, but not for just the normal reasons. Before Mark's talk, during the rest hymn, I had to take the girls out to the hall because Grace was starting to act up and demanding to go see Daddy who was sitting on the stand. So I took them to the hallway and they went to get drinks at the drinking fountain. I stayed by the door to the chapel so I could listen to Mark's talk. The girls were just down the hall and I kept my eye on them...most of the time. A few minutes into the talk I looked over at the drinking fountain and Grace was gone. I quickly went over there and asked BethAnne where Grace was. She pointed to a door that was propped open leading to the cultural hall (which is used as overflow seating for Sacrament meeting). I quickly ran in looking for Grace. I was too late. She was already running through the aisle of the chapel and I was at the back of the cultural hall. I didn't know what to do, I was hoping someone would grab her before she got too far, but they didn't. I was kind of frozen in terror for a minute and then I started going after her. She was very excited and happy, shouting "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" as she got closer to him. Before I was halfway through the Chapel, she was on the stand running towards Mark. He was surprised, and a little flustered for a second, but then he picked her up and sweetly said "Grace is going to help me give my talk today". By then, I reached the front and took Grace from Mark. Before all this happened, Mark had been talking about keeping and growing our testimonies during trials. As I left with Grace, Mark said "speaking of trials...(and then he smiled and paused)" and the whole congregation burst into laughter. After that, Melynie was very kind to watch the kids in a classroom so I could listen to the rest of Mark's talk. It was very good. I was pretty mortified about the incident with Grace, but the rest of the ward thought it was hilarious and they enjoyed the rest of the talk too. We got lots of positive comments from ward members, but my favorite was from a couple of older men in the ward who stopped me after church and said it was a good talk but their favorite part was Grace. Mark says that several people told him that too. So, at least our ward knows who we are now, which is good, right? Have a happy week!
Today Mark gave a wonderful talk in Church about keeping and sharing testimonies. He put a lot of work and thought into it. After Church, everybody was raving about it, but not for just the normal reasons. Before Mark's talk, during the rest hymn, I had to take the girls out to the hall because Grace was starting to act up and demanding to go see Daddy who was sitting on the stand. So I took them to the hallway and they went to get drinks at the drinking fountain. I stayed by the door to the chapel so I could listen to Mark's talk. The girls were just down the hall and I kept my eye on them...most of the time. A few minutes into the talk I looked over at the drinking fountain and Grace was gone. I quickly went over there and asked BethAnne where Grace was. She pointed to a door that was propped open leading to the cultural hall (which is used as overflow seating for Sacrament meeting). I quickly ran in looking for Grace. I was too late. She was already running through the aisle of the chapel and I was at the back of the cultural hall. I didn't know what to do, I was hoping someone would grab her before she got too far, but they didn't. I was kind of frozen in terror for a minute and then I started going after her. She was very excited and happy, shouting "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" as she got closer to him. Before I was halfway through the Chapel, she was on the stand running towards Mark. He was surprised, and a little flustered for a second, but then he picked her up and sweetly said "Grace is going to help me give my talk today". By then, I reached the front and took Grace from Mark. Before all this happened, Mark had been talking about keeping and growing our testimonies during trials. As I left with Grace, Mark said "speaking of trials...(and then he smiled and paused)" and the whole congregation burst into laughter. After that, Melynie was very kind to watch the kids in a classroom so I could listen to the rest of Mark's talk. It was very good. I was pretty mortified about the incident with Grace, but the rest of the ward thought it was hilarious and they enjoyed the rest of the talk too. We got lots of positive comments from ward members, but my favorite was from a couple of older men in the ward who stopped me after church and said it was a good talk but their favorite part was Grace. Mark says that several people told him that too. So, at least our ward knows who we are now, which is good, right? Have a happy week!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Christmas Pictures
Hi Everyone,
Here are my favorite pictures from Christmas. We had so much fun in Boise! It was great to get to know Ben and Bo more. They are so adorable! It was fun to see Boise get that much snow, it was a very cozy, white Christmas. We were really blessed to have a safe drive both ways. We went home through Portland which added a couple hours but it was uneventful until we got to our street. They had record amounts of snow in the Seattle area while we were gone, and our street hadn't been plowed yet, so our van got stuck right in front of our house. Mark had to spend 20 minutes shoveling snow to get our car unstuck and in the driveway. It was a funny ending to our trip. So now we're getting settled back into life here in Redmond. BethAnne has been enjoying school more during the last few days, and today she was actually sad to leave school (which was really good). So, that's it for now, have a great week everybody!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Dialog for Christmas Funs!
OK - so I thought I'd better say a few words about this great holiday to go along with the pictures! This was most definitely a white Christmas - the first in probably a decade! And so fun with the ATV masquerading as Santa's reindeer, and Hartnett's turquoise plastic toboggan as his sled! That's Rick on the ATV - he and Carl took turns pulling each other - and then Brian pulled Carl and the boys on Saturday. Carl borrowed one of my fluffy pillows to save his backside! And the snowman! Carl and Mark really outdid themselves! - with help from Stephanie, Grace and BethAnne. Oh - and can't forget how Stephanie got a double family! - Lucky Duck! - I haven't got one in 30 years! We were soooo grateful that Lisa and Company could finally get through the snow on Friday evening! I don't ever remember the freeways being closed like they were. And we had such fun having "second Christmas" - with Christmas dinner and Grandma presents a day late. So much joy! Thanks to all for a great time! - It sure has been quiet around here this week - Christmas is put away for another year, and everything looks ordered again.....Love to all - and have a Grrrreat January!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
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What a wonderful holiday it was! So good to have Carl, Steph, Ben, Chrissy, Jon, and Mark's brother Scott in Boise for a few days. And ... -
I'm kind of skipping some stuff that happened in the summer, but we just got some new portraits done right before Grace left for BYU-Ida... -
It's always been a dream of mine to see the Northern Lights. I didn't think it would ever actually happen. But on May 11th, we hea...