Halloween 2009

California: Allen Family Fun!

Families . . .

Grandma and Grandpa Lund, Alicia, Abby, Ethan, and Ken at Provo Temple during our brief visit for Riley's funeral.



Ethan and Grandpa bonded on this brief trip.





Great-Grandma Lund and Abby bonded. We don't do Abby's hair when we leave the State of Nevada.



"Not really the smile I was looking for, Abby."



Once again, we don't do Abby's hair when we leave the State of Nevada.



Ethan's becoming a pudgy little guy.



Grandma Lund learned the trick during this visit: If you chase her, she will just keep running. If you stop and wait for her to come back, she will still run, but just not as far.



Abby loves Grandma.



Ethan doesn't know what to think of Grandpa.

The Marrow of Life . . .

Hanging out with Abby at the park is one of life's great pleasures.

"Look, I drawed Mommy!!"

This is the first time Abby has ever drawn actual pictures all by herself and without any prompting from mom or dad. I didn't post the picture of mommy because she's not looking so good today, but here are Abby's first drawings of other family members. Do we have a future artist in the house?Abby's picture of Abby.

Abby's picture of Baby Ethan.

What Ethan and Abby Have Been Up To . . .

Abby has been busily making mud baths in our back yard using Mom's new potting soil (much to Mom's chagrin).

Ethan catching a siesta at the park with Mom.

Ethan has really started discernibly giggled out loud the last several days. He is a lot more talkative, too. He has awaken the last couple of nights and talked to himself for extended periods of time. He loves standing up with Mom's help. He can hold his head up all by himself. He's starting to grab on to toys. He is a cuddly little dude. He's starting to overcome the terror he feels when Abby comes roaming around wherever he is sitting.

Abby has worn her new Princess Aurora dress every day for the past week. She calls it her "beautiful dress." She's adamant that she wear it every day all day long (if we let her). She's been on a big Lion King kick the last couple of weeks. Every four hours or so, she'll ask for "Lions." Sometimes we let her, some time we don't.

Fall is in the Air

Alicia and I took advantage of a free Saturday to drive up to St. George to stay with Jenni and Jarom and to travel into the mountains east of Cedar City Saturday morning before watching the Provo Massacre on TV.



Abby and Ethan had a great time. Ethan hung out with Jenni in the Baby Bjorn, while Abby hiked most of the way.



Ethan was a good little traveler the entire time. 10,000 feet was the highest in elevation he'd ever been, and he was a good trooper.



Abby loved collecting yellow leaves. She was trying to collect every single leaf she found. She would drop one, try to pick it up, and drop five others. Collecting all the leaves in the forest is a frustrating endeavor.



She also loved collecting pine needles.



We visited Cedar Breaks National Monument . . .



. . . and tried to keep Abby from jumping off of a cliff like she jumps off of furniture.




We had a great hike to Cascade Falls.





Jenni was a huge help in taking care of Mr. Ethan.




We had a great time! Thanks Jenni and Jarom!

New Orleans Part Deux

Part IV: More Eating . . .

After the BYU, we ate at the Acme Oyster House, a popular tourist destination in the French Quarter (we were definately hitting the tourist spots this time around.



Raw oysters. Tasty. I was totally impressed by what an oyster afficianado Robbie was. He totally knew the ins-and-outs of oyster eating.



The oysters were awesome. The raw ones were good. The charbroiled ones were even better.



Great oysters.



We weren't quite up to eating 180 oysters, let alone 510!

We spent the rest of the evening walking around the French Quarter, watching football, and buying beignets at Cafe du Monde.

Part V: The Swamp
The next morning, after Steve, Katrina, Chandler, Emery, Todd, and Jedd left, Robbie and I drove out to a nearby swamp to look for alligators.











After about 40 mosquito bites and no alligators, we headed back to the airport.

I had a great time with everyone. I had a great time sharing a room with Robbie, Todd, and Jedd. I especially enjoyed it because Robbie took the floor, giving me my own bed. I had a great time meeting Emery and spending more time with Chandler. I hope we can do this kind of thing more often. Next time, Alicia's coming for sure.

New Orleans

A week ago I returned from a weekend in New Orleans for a brothers' weekend. (Thanks, Alicia for being willing to go solo for several days. I owe you a tropical vacation). As I have brothers in Charlotte, Seattle, and Louisville (plus my brother-in-law's brother in Cincinnati), New Orleans was a convenient place to meet in the middle to watch a BYU game (much better than in Provo this weekend, that's for sure).

Anyways, Steve and his family, Robbie, Todd and his brother Jedd all met me down in New Orleans.

Katrina has already summarized the trip in three segments: First, Second, and Third.

Likewise, Robbie has summarized the trip.

So my biggest contribution can be gratitous pictures of the trip. I finally finished uploading my trip photos this weekend on my Flickr page.

Part I: My Solo Trip Through Rural Louisiana and Mississippi

I arrived in Louisiana a little earlier than everyone else so I could take a day-trip to the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi and see other miscellaneous parts of rural Louisiana and Mississippi.



The early-morning flight from Houston to New Orleans was generally sunny and clear. I had great views of the Mississippi River and the uniquely shaped property parcels in Louisiana.



When I arrived, after picking up my sweet Toyota Yaris, I drove along the Mississippi River, stopping by a few historic plantations along the way. The Oak Alley Plantation, pictured above, was one of my favorites.



I stopped in Baton Rouge and visited the Louisiana State Capitol and Louisiana State University.



I stopped in a number of picturesque towns in rural Louisiana and Missisippi. St. Francisville, Louisiana, north of Baton Rouge, was one of my favorites.





Natchez, Mississippi was another favorite.



I traveled on the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez to Jackson, Mississippi. I saw my first fireflies during the drive.



I stayed overnight in Jackson, Mississippi and visited the Mississippi State Capitol the following morning.





Vicksburg National Military Park, the "key" to the Union's civil war victory (according to Abraham Lincoln, a fairly credible source).



One my way back from Vicksburg. I drove through rural Louisiana. I saw my first cotton fields (not many cotton fields in Nevada. By "not many" I mean none).





That evening, I drove through Acadiana (Cajun Country) en route back to New Orleans. I was very impressed with how pretty Louisiana and Mississippi are.

Part II: Meeting Up With Robbie, and then Steve and Katrina.



The next morning, I picked Robbie up at the airport. We took a quick drive over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway the longest bridge in the world.



We met Steve, Katrina, Chandler, and Emery at the Chalmette Battlefield, site of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. We won that one. (This was the first War of 1812 battlefield site I've visited where the U.S. actually won. Where I served my mission in Canada, there were tons of monuments commemorating British (although the Canadians take the credit) victories.

A cloudburst rolled over New Orleans shortly after we rendezvoued. We quickly embarked for our hotel. We drove through more rain in 20 minutes than Nevada has received in the last three years.







It was great that Steve was able to bring Katrina, Chandler, and Emery. It was my first chance to meet Emery. Chandler and Emery are both super-cute and very well behaved.



After checking into our hotel, we grabbed some lunch. Special thanks to Adam Richmond for planning our eating itinerary. We had lunch at Mother's Restaurant. Pretty solid po'boys, but the sandwich Adam Richmond got on Man v. Food was definately bigger (and probably better).





At lunch, our greatest source of amusement was Chandler interacting with a restaurant employee on her break. To Mother's credit, their employees love their food. She couldn't stop raving about their food. Chandler loved speaking with her.



After lunch, we ventured into the non-Bourbon Street portion of the French Quarter. The French Quarter is awesome! I've never visited a neighborhood as unique and interesting.



Royal Street makes for great shopping if you are going for the "Louis the Sun King" look in your house.





If you only have time to walk down two French Quarter streets, and you have no desire to get drunk or make small talk with a stripper, Royal Street and Chartres Street are pretty good options.




I love this lighting effect on the back of St. Louis Cathedral.





I couldn't get enough of the narrow streets and non-existent set-back. There were a couple of times where Robbie's GPS chose a route through the heart of the French Quarter. At those times, I was really glad we were driving a Yaris.






Here's us in Jackson Square with the St. Louis Cathedral in the background.







Cafe Du Monde is famous with the tourists, but it is the real deal. Those beignets are cheap, and dang good (bordering on addictive). I don't know where the silo where they store the excessive amount of powdered sugar they use on their beignets is located, but my guess would be Chandler's face.



We got good views of the Mississippi River, or as Robbie calls it, America's outhouse, from the riverwalk adjacent to the French Quarter.

Katrina and Robbie have already posted about our serendipitous meeting with a resident on Chartres Street. I have such a dim view on humanity. I though she was inviting us in to try to sell us something. I'm glad I was wrong.

Part III: Todd Arrives and We Go to Lots of BYU Stuff.

When we got home from our premier venture in the French Quarter (our hotel, which was awesome, yet inexpensive, was just across Canal Street from the French Quarter), we went to the BYU Football Fireside at the J.W. Marriott around the corner from our hotel. The BYU Fireside was awesome. Genuinely spiritual and genuinely moving. Which is the point. People come in expecting a pep rally and leave feeling genuinely inspired. I'm a huge Bronco Mendenhall fan largely because of the way he integrates BYU's unique mission into the football program.

Todd and his brother Jedd met us at the fireside. Thanks to Todd's general gregariousness, we were able to have some nice conversations with members of the team, and some decent photos.

After the spiritual uplift of the fireside, naturally, we visited Bourbon Street, just to say we've been. And then we ate more beignets from Cafe Du Monde. And then we walked through some decidedly non-touristy parts of New Orleans in search of the Superdome; we knew where it was, we just took the wrong street in getting there. We finally got turned around the right directly when a homeless lady implicitly told us that if walked any further that direction, we should plan on getting mugged.





I can only imagine how crowded this street gets during tourist season.



The next morning, we attended a BYU tailgate party in the Garden District of the city. This gave us an excuse to ride the St. Charles Avenue street car and take a stroll through the impressive Garden District neighborhood.







Especially cool was the Lafayette No. 1 Cemetery:



Then, on to BYU's 54-3 rout of Tulane in a nearly empty Louisiana Superdome. I can only imagine the type of hurt that Florida State could lay on Tulane.













To Be Continued Tomorrow . . .

We Make Them Round

I had to take Ethan to the doctor yesterday. Poor kid's got thrush. Poor me too. Ouch! Anyway, he hit 12 weeks on Tuesday, and here are his stats:
Weight: 14.5 lbs (75th percentile)
Height: 23 in (10th percentile)

Oh, What a Wonderful Weekend!

Our "Little Man" was given his baby blessing on

Sunday, September 6, 2009.

We'd like to thank all those who traveled to be here for the event, and those who contributed to his outfit.

Aunt Jenni and Mom Lund decided that Ethan needed his first haircut before the big day. Mom Lund thought it needed help around the ears, and Aunt Jenni thought the top was way too long to style. I also recall comments about a mullet.

We love the haircut. Thanks Jenni!

Our chubby "Little Man".

Abby, daddy and Grandpa Lund went to the park. Grandpa was behind the camera for all those pictures.

Abby is definitely a daddy's girl!

She also loves her grandpas. I think she just loves boys in general more than girls. We'd better keep a close eye on her over the years!

"Papa" and Abby in Papa's glasses.

Mom Lund and our boy.

Grandma Lund teaching Abby how to stretch Grandpa Lund. It was pretty funny!

(Am I going insane? I have a picture of my family. It is coming up when I create the entry, but it will not publish with the post afterwards. Ahhhh!!!)
Us, my parents, sisters, and their spouses.

Again, thanks to all who came this weekend. We had a wonderful time visiting and enjoying family. Sorry to any that we didn't get enough pictures of. There may be more on Ken's computer that I don't have access to right now, but we love you and appreciate you.

P.S. For those who saw our backyard before we finished it, here it is mostly done.

One of the many stops at the changing table...

Positive Affirmations

Abby (while watching Sleeping Beauty): "That's Mommy! That's Mommy!"

Abby and I greatly differ on this point. I always thought that Alicia was far more like animated hottie Aurora (although Alicia has far better decision-making skills).

Abby regularly shushes us: "Shhhhhhhh! Baby is sleeping." And then in the next three seconds she will scream at the top of her lungs. She's not so concerned about waking Ethan as she is trying to get us to be quiet so she watch Sleeping Beauty.

Abby has figured out how to game the potty training system. Having always been a fan of cleanliess (soap and toothpaste are two of her favorite things), Abby's reward for using the potty is duck soap (soap in a duck shaped dispenser). Abby has figured out that if she just sits on the potty, she will get duck soap. So whether or not she needs to go "potty," she will ask to sit on the potty, just so she can get duck soap. We are going to have to tighten the criteria for achieving duck soap.

Abby is helpful. She helped me with yard work this morning by holding open the garbage bag while I shoveled in leaves and weeds.

Abby, while watching "the boys" work on the backyard, said with each branch of the tree coming down, "Silly boys, oh, silly boys!"

Playing with the Kiddos!

Abby is a good little helper. She is great at putting diapers in the trash and getting a burp cloth or pacifier. She tries to hold Ethan, but he's squirmy with her. (I'd be nervous too!) She gives him lots of kisses and hugs, and more often than not, they are given a little too rough and he cries. I keep telling her that someday he will be as big as her and rough her up right back. We just adore these two kiddos!

He smiles!

What are they doing?

I was tucking my darling in bed when this started:
Abby: What is daddy doing?
Mom: Going to work.
Abby: What is Jenni doing?
Mom: Working.
Abby: What is grandma doing?
Mom: She is working.
Abby: What is Maddie doing?
Mom: Taking a nap.
Abby: What is Carter doing?
Mom: Sleeping.
Abby: What is Asher doing?
Mom: Sleeping.
Abby: What is baby doing?
Mom: Sleeping.
Abby: What is Joseph Smith doing?
Mom: Ummm.... (thinking really hard what to say) Working. (Smart)
Abby: Jesus is working.
Mom: That is right.

Family Photos!

I'll let Alicia add the commentary. I'll just put up the photos. Thanks, Natasha. You did a really, really nice job.

Happy Anniversary!

Alicia and I celebrate our five year anniversary today! Five years of marital awesomeness. As a follow-up to a post a few months back about our courtship, here are some more questions and answers about our wedding day, with the questions and answers being supplied by me.

When and where were you married?

July 31, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in the Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Why in Salt Lake?

Alicia grew up in the Salt Lake area. The Salt Lake Temple was the closest temple to where Alicia and I lived. Alicia had lived in Utah all of her life, and I had lived in Utah for five years. It was a convenient, central location for family. We both had family members who were married there. Alicia and I had attended the Salt Lake Temple many times, so it was a special place for us. Finally, it's beautiful and rich in history (and free).



Was your wedding awesome?

As I said in said previous post, most certainly, yes. Indescribably awesome. Best thing ever.

Who was there?

The whole day is largely a blur to me, but it seems to me that these pictures help sort things out. We're grateful for everyone who came.

What was the itinerary for the day?

You know, I do not remember a single thing about the morning immediately prior to our afternoon wedding. I know that I stayed with my parents at the Inn at Temple Square the night before the wedding. I remember getting in a brief scuffle with my dad about transporting golf clubs. I fondly remember going to Dee's (a downtown diner) at 1:00 in the morning with Meagan and Todd. When we were eating there, a fly was flying above our booth, died mid-air, and landed in Megan's food (perhaps a new friend for Fisher). No joke.

Anyways, our wedding was at around 1:30. At around 2:30, we took lots and lots of photos around the temple grounds. One of Alicia's roommates was our photographer.

At around 4:00, we had a luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building next door to the Salt Lake Temple where more photographs were taken.

Sorry you couldn't be there, Robbie (he was on a mission in Long Beach, California).

(A: Sorry Dad, you are totally cut off. I don't like uploading from Flickr for this reason.)

After the luncheon for wedding guests, we had our reception at the Point Restaurant at the Huntsman Cancer Institute on the campus of the University of Utah.

Ken doesn't remember anything about the food, which is usually what he looks forward to in receptions. (A: Fresh fruit and dessert bar with chocolate fondue.)

All in all, the day was kind of a blur. But those are the nuts and bolts of what went on, to the best of my recollection. The events were very nice, but what we enjoyed the most was the chance to connect with so many friends and family.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

See previous post.

Did you have a wedding reception in Reno?

Yes. Two weeks later (after our New England honeymoon but before our Midwest honeymoon). We held it in my parent's backyard. It was fantastic, the company was great, and the food was spectacular!

Where have you and Alicia lived since you got married?

For our first two years of marriage, we lived in Murray, Utah while I finished law school. We lived in the Mallard Crossing apartments. It was just up the street from Granite High School, which was closed as a mainstream high school a few years after we left. Although it was in what could be described as "the ghetto," we had great friends and a great experience there (when I wasn't picking fights with the neighbors over instances of domestic violence).

While I studied for the Nevada Bar Exam, we lived with my parents, Chula, falcons, and pigeons in Reno.

We then lived for two years in Winnemucca, Nevada while I clerked for the Hon. John M. Iroz of the Nevada Sixth Judicial District Court. We lived for a year-and-a-half in a spacious apartment in a building owned by Judge Iroz (he has since retired as a judge and is probably backpacking Europe as we speak) which was just across the street from the courthouse. Abby was born here. We have a lot of fond memories of that apartment.

For our last sixth months, we moved into a manufactured home in a rural area just outside of Winnemucca to manage a storage unit complex owned by some friends of ours. It was great. Free rent, a great little yard (as well as four acres of storage units) for Abby to play in, with a great view of the mountains east of Winnemucca. (A: Not sure about 4 acres, but a lot more land than we've got here in Vegas!)

We moved to Las Vegas approximately one year ago. We purchased our first home. Ethan was born.

Happy Anniversary, Alicia!

(A: You too, Ken! I love you!!!)

A Few More...

Our photographer, Natasha, posted a few more of the photos on her site, and here they are. We should receive the CD in a couple days. I am really excited to see them all.