Atticus?

For the record, Atticus was my suggestion. Atticus Finch is as Christlike as any fictional figure ever penned. How he treats and serves Mrs. Dubose is one of the greatest literary treatises on mercy and charity of all time.

We are just not sure if our little boy is going to be an Atticus.

Some people want to be Jacob the Werewolf in the rain.


I want to be Atticus in the Alabama summer sun, complimenting Mrs. Dubose on her flowers.

Actually, I am just grateful to be Andrew...so I can be married to the most wonderful sweetheart in the world.

A Call for Names

We are searching for names for our first boy. It is an exciting thing to name someone. I used to do it in China for my Chinese friends and students who desired English names. They would come up with names like "Building", "President", or "Grandy", while I suggested names like, "Max", "Luke and Leah" (for a pair of twins I taught), or "Lindbergh" (which sounded heroic to me, ala Charles Lindbergh, but he changed it, because he heard that it meant stinky cheese).

Well, here are some names that we are thinking of for our little one. I am not married to any of them, and he might or might not receive any of them. I am just throwing them out to the cyber universe for votes, suggestions, or whatnot.

Noah
Atticus
Eli
Call
John
Wyatt
Wynn

Any suggestions? Any preferences? I noticed that my tastes seem to alternate between Old Testament Prophet and Cowboy. Hmmmmm......

Happy Anniversary!

We met at BYU, worked for the Church, spent two years in China, two years in Washington D.C., and now, we are in Salt Lake City. The inversion has lifted, and it is anniversary number nine.

Thank you, Andrew, for being the best for nine years...and getting better. Some people say that you cannot change a person, especially your spouse. Luckily, I have a spouse who changes himself. He gets better every day. I am interested to see how awesome he is in 9 billion billion years. Yeah, he will be pretty stellar.

(Thank you for always having Conference playing in the truck, for thinking that I am way more amazing than I am, for giving me a Sarah break from the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., for doing your home teaching, and for having morning family scripture study, even if Sarah and I are still sleeping...that is the sweet stuff)

P.S. for history's sake, the above stills (seriously, we got these from our old video camera) were taken on BYU campus.

Candice and the Bells, Part II - Candice in the News

In case you missed it, Candice made it to the Deseret News this week.

http://bit.ly/6LG963

You can do it, Candice! Sarah, Daddy, and Baby Brother believe in you!

So sad

I was sad last night. Andrew was not chosen for city council, and I was surprised, because, well, he is so awesome. I know...because I have known him for ten years. Am I biased? I do not think so, because someone who is closest to you sees everything, and I saw a great councilperson.

The council had an opening due to a resignation. The council members had to choose a new one. Due to the lack of political involvement and transient populace in our awesome city, I had great hopes for Drew.

But, despite his rockin' resume (two years working with Homeland Security in Washington D.C. (mainly facilitating talks with the Food and Agriculture Industry), Masters in Public Policy, College Republicans Officer, Administrator for Chicago Inner-city youth program at BYU-I, and his work with the Chinese Aviation Administration (i.e. CAAC) to name just was few)...it was not enough.

I HEARD (which might not count for much, darned gossip) that they thought that he fabricated his resume. No, he is just really ambitious and blessed. Also, why would someone with that background move here to South Salt Lake and not work in Policy? Well, I wanted to live closer to my family. While the East is great for some, it is not for me. I LOVE THE WEST. We lived a stressful life in D.C. While Washington D.C. is replete with Policy work, Utah and Idaho are not, and I would rather live here.

Six current council members who I am sure are awesome people, did not think that Andrew was enough. I wish that I could delve into their hearts and and minds, to really know what they were thinking. That would be great. Just to help me understand. I really think that their hearts were good. We just sometimes misunderstand each other.

I still know that Andrew would rock as a council member. Maybe I will have him run for Senate or something ;).

The lost Winter Goal list

I just read cousin Kerianne's "I totally accomplished my goals" post, and low and behold, as I was cleaning my bedroom, I found a little list written on a folded yellow post-it, written while at work; apparently retrieved from some pants pocket.

It was entitled WINTER GOALS.

As a homage to awesome Kerianne, I will put those that I have finished, now that it is January:

1. Have a baby (okay, 'finished' might be too strong of word for this one)

2. Make all of my Christmas gifts

3. Visit Katrina in Texas

Now, to complete the homage, I guess I need to make some last part of Winter goals:

1. Crochet a blanket

2. Go Cross Country Skiing with Drew

3. Locate my missing Patriarchal Blessing (a.k.a. order a new one)

4. Potty train Sarah

5. Cook dinner at least 3 times a week (I know, please to not judge me too harshly-I withered with my total aversion to anything but celery, toast, and crackers...I still feel it every morning and evening).

6. Go on a winter trip-Drew is pushing for New Mexico, while I am thinking anywhere else but. Maybe New Mexico will be awesome...

The Christmas Picture

For Christmas, Sarah and I got our picture taken for Daddy. My idea was indeed a mother-daughter picture, but the photographer spent most of the session on just Sarah. Maybe I was not assertive enough to say, "I really want both of us".

However, of the three shots that she took of both of us, in one, Sarah looked at the camera. No small feat. No, we did not get a smile, but at least she was looking at the camera.

Merry Christmas, Dad. This picture now adorns his work desk:

Bell Tryouts and to be a Man in the Church

Yesterday, I went to the first audition of "The Bells on Temple Square". The auditions run for 1 1/2 months.

Since they have upped the caliber of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I thought that this was my chance to participate in my favorite group (I refer to the Choir with a capitol "C")...my voice is not quite to their level, despite good genes, and a lot of enthusiasm.

It was really fun, and I had great hopes. If you have a knack for rhythm and counting music, you are set. I still have great hopes, but they wained a little when I discovered that the room was full of women bell hopefuls (talented and beautiful at that), and they only had two open positions. What they really needed was MEN (apparently to ring the big bells). There were no men present.

Oh, to be a man in the Church. We women have outnumbered men, 20 to 1 since the dawn of time. If I were a man, they would take me if I had a heartbeat. A good, faithful, man is a rare and precious gift. Women are just naturally awesome, I guess. Luckily, I married one of the rare and precious ones.

But I still have hope and another month of tryouts.

Day of Service for Disney

There is something magical about Disneyland. They have the best marketing in the world. I think the thought of Disney might outshine the actual park visit. Still, that thought was my catalyst to log onto Disney.com on January 1 (apparently my first act of 2010) and sign up for the Disney Day of Service...you know, for the free tickets.

We made blankets for the "Linus Project".
I initially went to the local Lutheran church to see how it was done. They hold a monthly, "Make A Blanket Day" for the Linus Project. It was wonderfully interesting hanging out with the women that Garrison Keillor of "A Prairie Home Companion" refers to so often. They were a delight.
The now Salt Lake based women were mostly transplants from the East. It reminded me of living in the East and gathering with my Mormon friends from the West...with people who were a little like me. I found comfort in those who knew the beauty of ruler straight, wide, numbered streets.

I then brought my knowledge home and had Drew earn his Disney ticket. This is him during his blue blanket making:


These blankets will go to Primary Children's Hospital. We have benefited from blanket makers when Sarah was in that very Hospital. They were a comfort to her and to us.

Thanks, Disney, for the opportunity to serve.

Back to Christmas 2009

I seem to procrastinate writing about the best parts of my life. This Christmas season 2009 was one of the best parts.
I just felt super blessed. And protected. And loved. The above picture is Christmas morning. My family has a tradition of sitting on the stairs and taking pictures before we see our treasures. I think that it started in my Dad's family. Our stairs look a little bare compared to theirs:

Can anyone unlock the secret of men and breakfast? Dad cooks it at all of our family functions. This is Christmas morning. Never believe the date my camera gives. It is a liar.

Cousin Laurel received a camera for Christmas. She set a record for pictures taken. This was part of her Christmas Day photo shoot. Despite several downloads, she had no memory left on her Christmas camera, so I let her use mine. Hence, I have this shot.

On Christmas Eve, Grandad Bagley helped Andrew make a train for Sarah. They literally made it from scratch. The wheels were cut from a broken shovel handle.

That night, our favorite holiday night, we gathered at Brandi's house. The Nativity attempt of 2009 was not our best. Baby Jesus got kidnapped by one of the shepherds and was never returned.

The shepherd turned convict.

We held our traditional family talent show.
We sang one of Andrew's creations. We do not have any hymns about Gethsemane, so Andrew extended "Silent Night" to include another eternally sacred night.
Christmas Eve dinner was perfect. The perfect Lofgrans made homemade bread and soup, and it epitomized the word comfort in the term 'comfort food'.

Merry belated Christmas 2009!

And the results are.....

It's a boy.

Due mid to late May.

Guess the Gender

What are you doing this New Year's?

We found out our baby's gender.

Can you guess it?