The Gessels

Belly shot

2012-01-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

As per Megan's request. This is a shot of me Jan 16 at 34 weeks.0-

I've been busy as a bee working on a quilt for Caroline.If you will recall I made Luke a quilt, baby bumpers, a sheet, a dust ruffle, a picture holder and his name in matching material. So I felt like I had to at least do a quilt for her.

This is a picture of Luke throwing a fit. He didn't kick or scream just lied down on the ground in a pout.

Epic Christmas of 2011

2012-01-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

Luke is kind of obsessed with firetrucks. He wears this fireman hat around the house and it has gotten quite battered but still lives on. He tries to wear his firetruck jammies most nights, listens and looks for firetrucks constantly and got a firetruck from his Gessel grandparents and a firetruck book from his parents.

Every 2 yr old knows how to use a remote, right?

Ever since we took off Luke's crib rail, he sleeps almost every night on the floor. This is a trait that has been passed down through the Peterson line.

Christian, sleeping with a book

Playing with the fun car at Grandma's

Cool mask from Cape Verde

Eagle Court of Honor for Josh and Christian

Daddy, Luke and Josh on Christmas afternoon

Christmas morning chaos
Luke calls his grandparents Bampom and Bampom, or at least that is what it sounds like. He got really excited whenever either one of them entered the room.

Playing with the goats at Grandma Peterson's was a highlight of Luke's visit, as well as hanging out with his cousins

Greg's 31st birthday party at Neal's house; featuring Luke and Austin

Uncle Canute's hat

Luke and Canute watching a show

We had lots of fun spending time together. All ten of us were able to show for this year's 2011 "Epic Christmas Celebration." The boys played computer games to epic proportions, we finished America's quilt she's been working on for almost 10 years, Bonnie and I sang karaoke for at least five hours one Thursday, and we played games.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T11:38:00.001-07:00

This year Luke was our little monkey.

Greg was a jedi.

And I was a mage.

He insisted on walking the whole way and carrying his bucket. He didn't trust us to give it back to him or something.

We went trick or treating with our neighbors. Their little boy Ethan is a month older than Luke and is a very cute cowboy.

Our neighbor dressed as white trash.

Little monkey wore cowboy boots because they were the only shoe that fit over his costume.(We didn't want to carry him the whole way.) He was so cute that people would give him hand fulls. We skipped lots of houses and still had a bucket full when we got back round to our house.

A couple of weekends ago was our Young Women's Fall Camp out. We had lots of fun even though there was a fire ban in our area because of the drought. We improvised our meals using electric skillets. We took a three mile hike and were super lucky to have the best weather imaginable. Can't wait for the next one!

Sometimes we go on walks as a family. If it is getting close to Luke's bedtime he might have his foot jammies on already. And if he wants to walk outside in jammies he wears boots. We think it's adorable.

Baby name

2011-10-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking/hoping for a girl since we first learned I was pregnant. So I basically had a name picked out two months ago. I told one of my sisters and I kept referring to the baby as a girl to Greg. I also used brain washing techniques of saying the name I wanted over and over to him. When we found out the baby was a girl I was super excited but Greg had never said he agreed to the name so I was expecting a few more months of brain washing. We called his parents and told them the news. They asked if we had a name picked out and Greg said, "Tell them." I was like, "What, you agree to the name?!" And once we had announced to the grandparents it's pretty much final. After all that, our baby girl's name will be Caroline Paige Gessel.

It's a Girl!

2011-10-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

So just in case any of you missed the boat. I am pregnant, due February 25th and I just found out I'm having a girl. I am super excited. I kept telling Greg it was a girl and he would say it's a boy so the boys would always outnumber the girls. So yesterday during conference when there was a talk specifically for fathers of baby girls, I poked Greg and said this is for you. He replied, "We'll see." I'm so excited! I already have started perusing baby girl items and fabrics. I did have some self control and didn't buy baby girl things before we knew for sure. Luke is really interested in babies right now and I'm taking that as a good sign. That's about it until we finalize a name.

Luke is 2!

2011-08-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

This past week we celebrated Luke's 2nd birthday. I can't believe how big my baby is getting. He got a Thomas the train set and dvds, a jack in the box from us and some matchbox cars and a fun bath toys set from Grandma. He was pretty confused when we kept telling him happy birthday and singing to him. But he did understand that he was getting fun new toys and basically plays with only his new things right now. He's saying more words every day. We love having him in our life. Happy Birthday Luke!

I am so glad that Luke is finally wearing his cute cowboy boots!

Bear Lake

2011-08-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

July 26th was our 5 year anniversary. Greg got me flowers and a secret souvenir from our Europe trip. He got Legos per his preference. I can't believe we have been married that long. But I am so lucky to have caught him. He's really awesome to be around, a great husband and father.
Two days later we were on a plane to Utah. We went up the canyon and stayed with the Gessels. Greg's Dad celebrated his birthday on Sunday and Monday and Wednesday. We went to the Sandy aquarium and looked at all the cool stuff including penguins and jelly fish. Thursday we headed up to Bear Lake where we had rented a cabin a couple doors down from the main relative cabin. Basically all my siblings were in this cabin with our kids. We had lots of fun at the lake and hanging out. Saturday was not as fun when Austin, Luke, and Tina started puking. Luke was stopped puking Sunday night, but we didn't really encourage eating since we were going on a plane and didn't want to clean up a nasty mess. He was so tired and weak that he slept most of the way and was very good. It easily could have gone the other way with him screaming the entire time. We really enjoyed our week in Utah and are sad it was so short we couldn't see friends this time.

Lazy?

2011-08-10T05:52:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in a while. It is because I'm lazy and also because I am pregnant. So I am sure you can forgive me for not yet posting European vacation part 2 and Bear Lake Fun. 2nd lieutenant, as Greg calls the baby because he wants the boys to outnumber me, is due February 25, 2012. I am 12 weeks. So there, now you know. I am more sick than lazy.

European Vacation part 1

2011-07-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Greg got the opportunity to go to a conference for Exxon in Cannes, France. So we decided to take the European vacation that we'd always talked about. While Greg attended his conference, I dropped Luke off at Grandma Gessel's house in Sandy, UT. Luke had so many fun people to play with, I'm pretty sure that he hardly noticed I was gone.

Since Greg's conference was in the South of France that's where we started. We went to Cannes and Nice then to Florence and Venice, Italy; Geneva, Switzerland to Lyon, France and finishing in Paris. The whole trip was a series of train voyages besides of course the long flights to and from the States.

quilt happened

2011-06-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Luke is into some of the whiny terrible two stuff.

But he is a cutie.

My friend recently requested help with her quilt. She was making it for her daughter due in a week and some odd days but actually born yesterday. More on that later. So I thought she was interested in sewing it herself for the experience but she was at the point that when I offered to finish it, she accepted. I figured out later why she was having such a difficult time. Most quilts have squares or rectangles that all fit together nicely, but this one had some crazy stuff going on in the middle.
So yesterday she was going to come to my house and drop the fabric off. She called around 5 and instead of talking about fabric she asked me to watch her boys while she went to the hospital and checked to see if she was in labor. She was and like 3 hours later, her baby girl was born.

I went home and waited til Luke's nap and then frantically started to get the quilt done. I have a vacation coming up and I really wanted to have it done before I left. Then I got a text that Leslie would accept visitors in the evening so my new goal was to finish by then and give it to her in the hospital. I got it finished and drove to the hospital before visiting hours were closed. I think it turned out pretty well.

Weekend Fun

2011-04-24T17:43:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went to San Antonio. Greg has a friend from growing up who is stationed there with the air force. So we went and hung out with them and went to Sea World. They were so nice to us. Not only did we stay at their house but they gave us the insider's tour through the park. Meaning we missed the lines and still got to see all the shows we wanted, like Shamu. If that wasn't enough they traded off going on the rides while the other one watched Luke. How nice is that?! They live really close and have the year pass and that's one of the reasons why, but still, it was the best. So thanks to the Livseys for an awesome weekend trip.

This weekend was the cub scout camp out. Greg is a webelos leader and so we packed up our stuff and hoped Luke would do well.(He did.) The camp area was in the state park about an hour away. It was about a five minute walk from the lake. The site was a little small for our big group, but it was fun. The camp site was several inches of silt or loose dirt so everyone was pretty dirty. The scouts were constantly looking like dirty ruffians. The boys also participated in a raingutter rigatta (boat race). They then had a raingutter sundae. We had left by then, but I can only imagine those filthy boys digging in.

Happy Easter! We put six eggs with candy on the lawn for Luke. He wasn't super interested until we opened the first egg and he saw the treat inside. Then, he basically went to the other eggs and opened them immediately. I did get him to eat his candy in two sittings because some of his candy was wrapped. He enjoyed himself.

That's about it.

My little helper

2011-04-09T12:11:00.001-07:00

Luke loves to play in water. So he recently decided he really likes to help with the dishes. He will pull a chair over to the sink and just play/drink in the dirty water. He really loves it when his mother kindly turns on the water in the smallest stream imaginable. I know it is not terribly eco-friendly. He always pulls out the water plug and watches it drain. This can keep his attention for an hour, no joke. He normally hates wearing bibs, but will put on an apron for this activity. He sometimes pitches a fit when I try to take the apron off.

Taking a sip (I swear I don't encourage the dish water sipping)

The zoo

2011-04-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the zoo because we had some free passes that were about to expire. We had fun, but Luke still doesn't emote much, when it comes to animals. The funniest part was watching him pet the goats. He would give the goat one pat and then move on.

Then Greg went to the shooting range with a friend and Luke and I went to the open house of the our new church building. A friend needed me to translate the tour into french for her neighbors. It was hard to remember some of the words that would have been so easy five years ago, but whatever. Don't ask me which words, it's embarrassing. Fine, "sin" and "restoration".
But all in all, it was a good experience. Much thanks to the Spencers for helping with Luke.

Spring Break

2011-03-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

Just a week after returning from Arizona, my family came for spring break. My Mom and two brothers came. Dad didn't come because he was coming down with a nasty flu that was going around his school and didn't want to pass it along. Thanks Dad but we missed you.

They came Saturday night and we had pizza ready for them. Through the next week we played games, watched Dollhouse and other movies and shows courtesy of netflix instant watch, and ate food. My mom also brought lots of crafts. She is always working on at least one craft. We did designs to go on personalized plates, Christmas aprons for the granddaughters, Christmas themed busy books and nativities. Can you tell where we're going to Christmas this year?

Greg took Wednesday and Friday off to play games and enjoy the company. We didn't forget St. Patrick's Day to have corn beef and cabbage, it's a tradition. Friday was also my birthday and so we had to have a huge celebration which mostly consisted of Little Ceasar's for lunch and Chinese take out for dinner. I'm now 29 years old.

Greg got me some flowers, Ticket to Ride USA(to go along with TTR Europe), a hello kitty pez dispenser and disney princess crazy bracelets. Mom got me a Christmas songbook for piano, and some delicious honey.

Mom and the boys left Saturday morning super early. How fun is it to have a Spring Break birthday!?!

The Girl Cousin's Reunion

2011-03-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

I recently returned from a trip to the Phoenix area for a cousin's reunion with Greg's cousins. Greg's Mom came early for the sister's reunion and watched Luke and some of the other kids while the cousins played. Only the girl cousins 18+ are invited. It was super fun!
Luke and I flew there Wednesday and then took a nap while we waited at (Great)Aunt Donnie's house for Grandma Debbie and Emilee to arrive. Because we had gotten there early in the day, Luke was done with his nap not too long after they got there.

Thursday night we went to Stefani's for our cousin reunion. We ate ice cream, talked, watched movies. The next day we got on our black, red and turquoise for our photo shoot. We went to a pecan grove and got some shots and then to a nice man's yard. Our timer wasn't working so we had to recruit a friendly neighbor. He took lots of photos and then asked if we'd like to take some pictures by his swing set. We were all a little wary of it and then saw his huge self-built swing set. It was awesome.

We returned to Stef's for lunch and then went to the mall. We ate at a burger place and then returned home. Bree showed us how to make cute flower broaches. They had sent an itinerary about the reunion that just said what we were doing and the whole time I prayed that Bree was teaching it since she always does such cute things. We ate more ice cream, talked, watched movies and went hot tubbing.

We went to a stake women's conference with excellent classes and a delicious soup bar and mint brownies. It was very uplifting. We went back and lied around Stef's house. For dinner we got some delicious pasta takeout.

Luke turned 18 months that week so we sent him to nursery. He did well and then threw up in the last 5 minutes. He hadn't seemed sick before or after so we attributed it to the fact that we feed him to keep him quiet in church and then he had more snacks in nursery. He is usually ok about stopping except when the food is too good to resist. Remember vacation last year(muffins, yogurt, snacks in the car, fries and frosty) and the vomit all over me.

The next few days I spent mostly at Aunt Donnie's house having fun. We didn't play as many games as in previous times, but the addition of children decreases free time. Megan, Stefani and Allison all came over during our stay and made it more fun.

Wednesday we went to Annie's and watched Dina make up some delicious cupcakes. She knows how to make them real fancy and has such a gift.

Thursday through Saturday was the sister's reunion for Debbie and so it was a little quieter in the house. Thursday night we went to Aunt Heather's shower. Saturday morning we had a shower at Grandma Darger's house for Christina and Spencer's baby.

We left Sunday morning. It is so fun to visit Arizona where so many of the cousins live. Even after our reunion was officially over we still were doing stuff together. They have really accepted me into their family and I had so much fun there. I realized on the trip that I have known them for five years already. The time has flown. Greg was a great husband to let me go have fun with his relatives while he stayed home alone.

February happenings

2011-02-20T21:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven’t given any news lately. The main reason is laziness.

So Greg and I have enjoyed weekly date nights with our babysitting swap. The first time we went to a nice restaurant and played mini golf at a black light course. The second time we went for Chinese food and then played games at someone’s house. The third week was our turn to watch the kids. Two are 3 yrs old and they don’t go to sleep. The other ones do. So basically you have to semi entertain the older two the most. It wasn’t too bad. The hours are 6-10 so it’s a good chunk of time. Last week we went to the furniture store and got a new bedroom set. Hooray! I have been looking forward to that for a while. Then we went to P.F. Chang’s for appetizers and delicious chocolate cake. This week we went to the temple and got a session in. It was a rush to get to the 7 pm session on a Friday night. We got in and it wasn’t full but it was still a little stressful. Houston only has sessions once an hour. We also were lucky to sit on the front row.

This week I am going to Arizona. Greg’s mom has a girls reunion every year. A couple of times they have let some of the girl cousins tag along. This year they are doing a special girl cousins part right before. The grandma’s will watch the kids while the girls have our 3 day event. Debbie, Emilee and I will all be there for a week and a half. I am so excited. Greg will be lonely and we will be partying.

Luke likes to drum. He drums on the table or turned over buckets and he really rocks out. He head bangs while doing it. He also likes to play the keyboard. He can climb up on the chairs, all by himself. That is scary and we don’t really like him to do it, but he does. He has fallen off a few times including once face to tile. There was a huge goose egg and I felt bad since I was right there and going to get him down.

He is generally pleasant. He just wants you to be paying attention to everything he does. Like when he’s rocking on the drums or keyboard he wants you to be watching.

Luke had some friends over playing the keyboard. The oldest boy said, "I love being in a rock band."

He doesn’t talk but makes his wants known. He squeaks soft or crazy high pitched. If we are watching a show he isn’t interested in, he tries to grab us by the finger and pull us up. He leads us by the hand to where he wants us to go with him. And he throws his food on the ground, waves his hand or his finger to say “no, no.” He also folds his arm to pray. He likes to watch Elmo and Barney. We love our little baby and know that he’s not really a baby anymore. He enters nursery this week as he turns 18 months old.

Luke licks off jam from bread or in this case, mustard and ketchup from hamburger.

I recently got a haircut. While inside, my car got hit but someone. Luckily, they left a note, but what a pain.

Luke "before"

Luke "after"

The water main being blown out down the street, while we were cutting Luke's hair, resulted in gross mess.(This story has been edited)

That’s the news.

Sarah, Greg and Luke

Holiday Post

2011-01-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since Halloween. That's pretty bad. But I was recently out of town for 3 weeks, so I can use that for my December excuse. November doesn't have an excuse. I just didn't post. So anyway I have a ton of pictures from the holidays.

The reason I went to Utah for so long was to attend my mission companion's wedding. Congrats Desi and Ben!

Luke had so much fun playing in the snow (mostly with his grandparents while I kept warm inside. Grandma Debbie helped him build a special snowman.

Luke constantly was trying to get onto the raised fireplace ledge. Success!

Yes, I did make Luke wear his Santa costume to the Gessel family party and around the house.

This is basically what Christmas was to Luke, jumping on presents.

At the bowling alley with the relatives

Chad's dirty laundry bag, poor Luke

One night we went and saw the zoo lights at Hogle Zoo. It was cold.

The Tiger growled very suddenly and loudly right behind us when the picture was being taken, I involuntarily was stepping forward and almost peed my pants.

What we've been up to

2010-11-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

Last year Greg worked at The United Way on an exchange program. Do good for 3 months on an Exxon salary. The end of the campaign season is a bar-b-cue. We decided it's something we'd like to go to every year.

I got a Hello kitty purse at a party supply store and Luke found it. First Greg was like, Boys don't play with purses. And then, where's the camera.

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We went to trunk or treat this year, but that's about it. And as you can see we didn't do much. Luke had Roseola that week. It's a scary sounding name for a fever followed by a rash gotten mostly by children under 2.

We took Luke to the Hocus Pocus Pops sponsored by the Houston Symphony. It's at the Woodlands Pavilion (10 minutes away) and free mezzanine and lawn seating. It was a beautiful night. Overture to Maskarade by Nielson, Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, Saint-Saens Danse Macabre, John Williams Suite from Harry Potter and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Theme from Ghostbusters by R. Parker and B. Holcombe. It was pretty awesome except the Harry Potter song wasn't the main theme or anything you'd recognize and we stayed with our tired baby to hear it. We had fun.

Petting Zoo

2010-11-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Luke and I went with our mommy group to a petting zoo. Luke had fun looking at the animals and occasionally getting close.

Fall fun

2010-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

We have been having some fun. Playing with junk.

We went to a sand dune with some friends. Luke had a lot of fun at the sand dune and is apparently unafraid of water. He kept going deeper and I thought he would get scared and turn around before he went under. That was not the case. I had to go in the water and rescue him. He didn't get upset about going under either. I wasn't planning on going in the water at all. Oh well.

We went to Dave and Buster's (a restaurant and arcade) on Exxon's dime. We got tons of tickets and were able to get some fun prizes including a Spongebob Squarepants lamp, a hello kitty back pack and lunch box, a stuffed Cookie Monster, a ball, a monkey and a Dave and Buster's shot glass. Greg wanted it as a momento (I can't believe I have a shot glass in the house.)

In case you're wondering. That so is the Exxon tiger.

Grandparent fun!

2010-09-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun recently when the Gessels came to visit us for Labor Day. They played with Luke 24/7. It was awesome. Luke was very comfortable with his grandparents. He would hold his arms out to whomever he wanted at the time, it varied. It was great fun!

Luke trying to eat a Snickers he found in grandpa's stuff. He's no dummy.

Luke kissing himself in the mirror for like 5 minutes. So funny!

Mall fun

2010-09-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and I were trying to celebrate her birthday and have fun with Luke. So Bonnie thought up a bunch of fun things she wanted to do with Luke at the mall.
Let's go!

The Merry Go Round

Intro to Dip 'n' Dots

Pet Shop

The Play Area

The fountains feature music and lights at night

We had so much fun with you Bonnie!

Happy Birthday Luke!

2010-08-27T10:22:00.001-07:00

This week we celebrated Luke's birthday! We're so lucky to have such a cute boy in our family. We had burritos, jello and cake for Luke's special day. I included some video of the cake maul and some pictures of some of his first steps. He took one step at a time before and just recently has strung some together.

San Antonio

2010-08-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Luke at 11 months

We recently took a weekend trip to San Antonio. Everyone in Texas talks about it as a great place to visit and now we know why. First of all, compared to Houston, it actually has stuff to do.
Greg, Luke and I drove down Friday morning. I sat in the back to try and placate a non car fan baby. We checked in, ordered delicious chinese take-out, and lounged. Then we checked out the Ripley's Believe it or Not and their Wax Museum. It's not super impressive, but sort of interesting and in the AC.

Luke politely poking the fat statue

Nose swallower and us

The guy who can pop his eyes out of his sockets

A decent photo at Ripleys

Photo ops

Luke sticking his tongue out at the joker

Me, Edward and Bella (the worst wax figures, right)

Luke at Hogwarts

Not a real Texas vacation without a Texas shaped waffle

In the caves (Livseys in back)
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I stole some photos from the Livseys blog to prove that they came with us.(Hannah is a great photographer.)

Luke and Greg in the caves
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I came, I saw, I sweat
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The Alamo
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The Mexican soldiers have a voice

Not shown. We had snow cones and they were delicious in the heat of the day. Then we took a stroll down "the riverwalk". It is really nice like everyone says. Then we ate some delicious mexican food.

(We were trying to decide where to eat and Hayden said "I'll decide; Let's go home!" he was tired of walking)

The next morning after breakfast, we headed to the zoo with our friends. And hence to lunch at Chipotle.

Zoo statue pose

Mia

The air conditioning in this random hippo place was heaven sent

Greg showing off his pretty wings

Luke is a beautiful butterfly

This was supposed to be my shot, but Luke stole the show

Bears, beets, battlestar galactica

Luke reacts to the crocodiles

Luke reacts to the monkeys

Luke reacts to the lions
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Luke is a pretty chill dude and so Greg took that photo series with the express purpose to show that he just sat in his stroller and gazed calmly. Not one clap or finger point.

Greg,Luke and the termites

Greg and his friend James Livsey

We had lots of fun in San Antonio and would recommend it above Houston. Unless you want to come and play board games with us. But that would be the main attraction and you would be sad when you lost to us.

Vacation fun

2010-07-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

I got home from my vacation on Monday. There was bad weather which made me get back to Houston at 7 instead of 5, which was crazy. We had snacks and Luke was very good, otherwise it could have been really bad. We also had an hour delay on the way out. Flight arrival time 12:30 instead of 11:30 pm. Also the screen in front of me was on the whole time because the control panel was messed up. Greg tore the magazine cover off the flight magazine and folded it over to block the light. Luke finally got some sleep.

We had a really fun time going to two reunions. Greg only got to attend the Darger reunion which we had in Cedar City. I went to Twilight: Eclipse with some of the girl cousins. It was a fun time despite the gps having a problem which took us the sister theater aka different movie times and a frozen yogurt run to take up some waiting time. We played lots of games and Luke was literally passed from person to person the whole time. All he needed was his blankie. I was happily surprised.

Luke was also spoiled by his grandparents. He's little beggar who happily accepted treats from strangers. On the way down we were all feeding him bits of costco muffins. When we stopped at Wendy's we shared fries and Greg gave him some frosty. I was holding Luke when he blew chunks. He threw up a lot. I vowed to monitor more closely what and how much he was eating. Poor guy. He had a spare outfit and I wiped myself up, best as I could in a restaurant bathroom.

Luke had a lot of fun swimming in Bear Lake at the Gessel reunion. He went farther than I expected into the water. We did have to watch him closely when he got on the shore though because he tried to eat shells.

This is a picture of our fridge when I got back. Greg and Bonnie(my sister) had been home, but all they had bothered to shop for was milk and ice cream (Bonnie).

At Bear Lake, Luke played happily in this little car in the campsite and in the lake.

Luke, Grandma Debbie and I went to the zoo. We rode the train and carousel. But he was sleeping on the train.

Luke and I at the zoo next to the huge, water-spraying elephant.

We were able to go to Provo and see some friends.

One of many baths. This is honestly the best we could get from him.

Luke had a lot of fun with his great-grandpa. He was one of the people that Luke would seek out. (Also one of the people that would give him food)

Luke playing.

Stefani's twins playing with Luke.

Luke at 10 months (and Twilight:: Eclipse)

2010-06-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

This week the next installment of the Twilight movies comes out: Eclipse. So I am excited and made these iron ons for myself and Luke.

I heart Twilight

Caution: baby vampire might bite when hungry

Luke is now 10 months old. He's still a little guy but we think he's the cat's pajamas.

Lord of the Rings vs Star Wars : The Quilt

2010-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

My brother Canute is on a mission. This year for Christmas I will give him this gift.He designed it himself before he left, so it's not a surprise.

Memorial Day

2010-06-05T11:50:00.001-07:00

Luke is now 9 months old. We celebrated Memorial Day with neighbors and friends.

Memorial Day

2010-06-05T11:41:00.001-07:00

A sailing we will go

2010-05-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

The other day while feeding Luke, I made up this nursery rhyme. I also included the notes so you can hear the tune.

All aboard the ship my crew,
all aboard mateys.
Ahoy, Luke! Ahoy, Luke!
A sailing we will go.
A sailing we will go.

Stash the cargo in the hold,
stow your trunk below.
Ahoy, Luke! Ahoy, Luke!
A sailing we will go.
A sailing we will go.

A compass and a treasure map,
a parrot and a patch.
Ahoy, Luke! Ahoy, Luke!
A sailing we will go.
A sailing we will go.

Around and round the sea we sail,
around the world we go.
Ahoy, Luke! Ahoy, Luke!
A sailing we will go.
A sailing we will go.

The notes piano style
f f f g a c c
f f f g a
c c a c c a
bflat a a g g f
bflat a a g g f

You could also put your own child's name in

the third line would be (c c a f c c a f) for a 2 syllable name,
(ccaaf) for a 3 syllable name, or (ccaaaf) for a four syllable name.

8 Months!

2010-04-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

Luke is now 15 lbs 13 oz.

These are Luke's 8 month pictures. He's wearing an outfit sent by Greg's mom.

It's funny to me how different Luke looks in the three pictures.

Luke is now doing the army crawl. Don't take that to mean that he's slow. Because he can get to all the cords very quickly.

In other news, Bonnie ran over my foot at Best Buy. She was starting my car (to turn on the air) and it rolled a little bit (Stick shift). I was buckling Luke in his car seat. The car stopped on my toes. Bonnie and I were both freaking out and she couldn't restart the car. I finally wrenched my foot from under the tire because it wasn't that far under. She then was able to calm down and start the car and drive us home. It was brief but traumatic. I just got bruises. The end.

Happy Easter

2010-04-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Luke is now army crawling around the house. On this day, he was forced to wear a bunny hat while doing that.

He like to chase the eggs.

We decorated eggs, transformer style. We hope that everyone had a great Easter.

We hope that everyone had a great Easter.

Rodeo Houston and Luke at 7 months

2010-04-01T06:54:00.001-07:00

For my birthday Greg took the day off and we went to the Houston rodeo. We drove downtown and got just enough cowboy to call it good. We figured that we should get to a rodeo at least once while we're down here.
Deep Fried Snickers

Luke is sporting a bandanna bib that I got from my baby shower in Texas, of course.

Baby Luke and Luke the calf

I'm so big!

I'm getting my 2nd tooth now, so that's why I'm drooling so much.

This is picture proves that I can sit up all by myself.

Spring Break

2010-03-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

My mom, brother, two sisters, niece and nephew came to visit. Luke's cousins wanted to hold him as soon as they got there.

America did as well, because she's never met Luke before.

We played lots of games.

Merilee and Mom took the kidlets to the beach. Luke was napping. The others were gaming it up.

We went to Teddy Bear park to have some fun.

Luke looking so cool, just like his daddy.

More games.

Making messes.

Julia wanted to push Luke around in this stroller.

Merilee and I are known for the shut eye photos. Figures that the only person with their eyes open was the baby.

Thanks for coming to visit. We had a lot of fun!

6 Months!

2010-03-13T08:44:00.002-08:00

I haven't written in a month but recently Luke has hit the 6 month mark. He can sit up by himself for short periods of time. And now is 13 1/2 lbs. ( I know he's a skinny bean pole.) And a day after his 6 month birthday I felt something sharp when I let him gnaw my finger. The tooth has broken through. Notice the excessive drool.

I made this purse for my cute niece for her new brother's arrival. So she wouldn't get jealous that he was getting all the presents.

And made this play mat for my newest nephew, Austin. Welcome, little guy.

2010-03-13T08:44:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day! I am so glad to share my day with two cute valentines. Greg and I got engaged 4 years ago on the 17th. My grandma told me to tell Greg that I was busy if he didn't get a move on telling me what his intentions were with me. So he pretended to cut off his hand while "slicing a bagel"(pre-sliced) and made me get out the first aid kit with band aids and an engagement ring. Unforgettable and very unique sweety. I'm grateful to have you in my life.

Luke, I love you so much. I was so excited to get you and have my own baby. You are so cute! Deep down, I don't mind that you're getting clingy. I like it. But you better give your daddy so more attention and slobby kisses.

Grandma Came to Town

2010-02-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

Debbie Gessel came to visit for a few days. It's really nice to have Grandma be so excited to see your baby. Luke has loved being held and played with constantly. Here are some highlights.

Grandma and Luke
Sleepy pose

Happy Baby ( still no belly laughs)

Our little future missionary.

I love putting my feet in my mouth.

Carrots are so yummy that I do the "What about Bob" mmmms.

The Januaries

2010-01-26T06:32:00.000-08:00

Put your chemicals high, so your babies don't get poisoned. Greg used this photo for a safety meeting at work. I was like, isn't that kind of funny that you are letting your kid be near dangerous chemicals for a safety photo? And he was like, "We're both right here so it's fine." I did, however, get Greg to not take pictures of our baby on the stairs. That was a close one.

Luke's 4 month picture I hadn't posted.

Luke didn't participate in the money run. But Greg did take him upstairs early for a special photo op.

Luke is always happy when we go in to get him in the morning. So cute!

And Luke's 5 month photos. Pay no attention to his obviously upset expressions. What a big boy!

In other news, we got fish. Some of those fish also had babies and then died. We then took back the original fish to the pet store and got more fish.

Christmas Vacation 2009

2010-01-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Ok. So I really don't get a vacation. So what. It was nice to have my family in town during their Christmas break.
Why do my parents put me in animal costumes when it is no longer near Halloween? Because they are fun pajamas from your Grandma Peterson. Eat your leaves.

What is Christmas?

This year Santa tossed down some dollar bills. I totally got a $10 and two $1's. Sweeet!

If you'd like to see a funny money run. You've got to watch last year's footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ulpm0A5n_g

Luke lounged with his Grandpa while everyone was opening their gifts.

Greg put Luke on my shoulders.

Snuggling daddy.

My mom: Grant is upstairs taking a nap with Luke. (She's up there taking pictures instead of saving Luke)
Me: Ok
Mom: Luke's actually not asleep. He's just lying there.
Me: As long as he's happy. . . Well, maybe I should go check on him.

Christmas karaoke came to pass. Luke is doing his pose, or covering his ears.

French dip brisket sandwiches for Christmas lunch. Best ever. The brisket cowboy nachos for dinner were also excellent. Basically, I sat down and planned the holiday menu a month in advance because I was so excited. It mostly happened as planned.

My dad got a math book for Christmas. He picked it out, it's just a typical Peterson thing to fall asleep anywhere.

Bonnie and Merilee going to singles ward. They look so hot!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

2009-12-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Luke's newest favorite thing is putting his hands in his mouth. There's a lot of drool involved and we got to wondering if he might have some teeth coming in. We thought, he's only 3 months and some change, it can't be that.

All Luke wants for Christmas is his two front teeth. But they are still working through. I thought that they were poking through, but they're not.

Thanksgiving Vacation

2009-12-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

I know it's been some time since I posted. But we've been busy. We decided to go to Arizona this Thanksgiving because Greg's extended family would almost all be there(We missed you Gardners). Greg's mom, Debbie, was going early to a wedding so she invited Luke and I to come a little early so she could have more quality time with her only grand baby.

Luke and I flew out on Wednesday the 18th. Luke was very good on the plane. We left the house at 7am and arrived in AZ at 11(12 central) He gorged himself on milk drinking almost 24 oz on the trip. I was afraid that he would spit some of that up, or scream or have a blow out. But he didn't do any of that. Debbie and Grandpa Darger picked us up at the airport.

I saw Stefani and her twins on Wednesday, Alison and her twins on Thursday and we went to New Moon Friday sans babies. I liked the movie and the company. Thanks to Debbie and Donnie who watched the kids.

Each morning at Grandma and Grandpa Darger's house there was a morning walk, breakfast and then a crossword puzzle. Sometimes I went on the walk. Sometimes I made breakfast so it would be ready when Debbie, Luke and Grandpa Darger got back. (And snuck in a shower while my baby was gone.)

Donnie and Natalie came over and played games with us. We also got to see Annie, Toni, and Jamie within the first few days.

Friday night Greg flew down after work. I was so glad to see him. He must have been so lonely without his wife and child.

Luke and I were put in the master bedroom. That first night I got like no sleep. I remembered why Greg and I had kicked Luke into his own room. He is a very loud sleeper. He tosses, turns and grunts all night! I knew that my vacation would be miserable if I had to deal with that each night. So the 2nd night Luke slept in the walk in closet. I could only hear him when he cried, thank goodness.

Debbie had a ton of fun with Luke, holding him as often as was possible. He loved being held all the time.
Saturday night we went to Alison and Mike's to play games. We played games until after Mike fell asleep on his living room floor.

We went to church and had fun sitting with family. Sunday night we ate dinner and played games at Donnie's.

Monday we watched movies at Grandma and Grandpa Darger's house and played games.

Tuesday I was able to take Luke and go see my friend Chelsea Pace and her two boys. There was a slight error in my finding the right park. But it was so fun to see them. I'm glad that our vacations in AZ overlapped.

We also went to Stefani and Brett's house to play games and watch "UP". We ended up playing "Wits and Wagers" which we had just given them for Christmas. We told them to open it early so we could play it.

Wednesday I made toffee, pumpkin squares and pumpkin roll with my helpers at Donnie's house. The pumpkin roll didn't turn out at 100% but everything else did. My mom tells me that I should have let the pumpkin roll cool in the fridge 24 hrs before filling it. Oh well.

Wednesday afternoon the rest of my in-laws showed up. Mark, my father-in-law told Debbie that since she had come early, that now it was his turn to hold Luke whenever he wanted. And he did take advantage of that. He held Luke Thursday almost all day. We were so excited for Luke to meet Gary, Emilee and BJ.

Wednesday night the girls participated in the annual go to dinner and then set up the church tradition. We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant where we saw lots more family. Then we set up the cultural hall with tables and decorations so we could come the next morning with the food and eat.

Thursday we went to the church around 10:30 am. We ate at 11:30. Then we played games until 6? We cleaned up and went back home to play some more games before bed.

In other Thursday news, the church was broken into between the time we left on Wednesday and go there Thursday. The doors had all been locked. But the library door had been forced open and a tv, dvd player, copier and some other items had been stolen. So we spent some time with the police on Thanksgiving. I can't imagine that a person could get very much for that stuff, but whatever.

Friday we went to Annie's and played games and ate leftovers. We made cute hair clips under Toni's direction.

Saturday we basically did the same thing. The only difference was that Saturday was the couple night so all the little kids got banished after the BYU win back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had yummy chicken noodle soup for lunch and Panda Express for dinner. Then we played more games. Some people watched "Sasquatch," an old Disney movie about an indian. I played Hearts with Stef, Brett, Ladell and Annie.

Sunday we were able to go to Brightyn Steven's baby blessing. It was nice to be able to attend that family event.

Then we had dinner and played games at Donnie's house. Alison came over and played games with us while Mike slept in the den and the twins slept upstairs.

We meant to take a four generation shot with Greg's dad, but we forgot. So we just took one with Greg's Grandpa. One day Luke will look at the camera.

Us with Greg's grandparents

Luke with his great-grandparents

Monday morning we woke up at 3 (2 central) to get ready. Grandpa Darger took us the the airport at 3:45, our flight was at 6. We got back to Houston around 9:30. I dropped Greg off at work. I came home and crashed after a while. When Greg got home from work, he also took a nap. We had a great Thanksgiving vacation! It was great to see those that were there.

Our Little Thumb Sucker

2009-12-02T06:55:00.000-08:00

When Luke was about 6 weeks old, I walked into his room one morning and caught him sucking his thumb. Before that there was no sign at all that he sucked his thumb. I tried a few times to catch him with the camera but had limited success. See below.

But as the time goes by he has continued to suck his thumb. He mostly does it when he's sleepy/ing. But I think it's very cute and very handy. Because if he loses his thumb we're in trouble.

Halloween craftiness

2009-11-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! This is Luke in his dragonling costume. I made it.

Well, after the blow out. Please ignore the poo on his sock. His real costume has a red stomach.

Our creepy family.

Greg, the warlock and his dragonling minion.

Crazy stare.

The mage and dragon.

I also made my cape, vest and shorts.

Two month picture.

Two months of baby fun

2009-10-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

Luke is now two months old. He weighs 11 1/2 lbs. He is 23 1/2 inches. He may scratch his face but we don't put gloves on because he sucks on his hands and that keeps him sleeping through the night. We put a sound making toy on his stroller and he will kick to hear the noise. And the most exciting thing he is doing is smiling back.

Greg has been working with Exxon's executive loan program with United Way. We got to attend a barbecue fund raising event. You should have seen Greg pushing Luke around the office, showing him off. What a proud daddy. Luke was smiling at everyone and was well behaved the whole time. What a good baby.

Our newest addition. Greg finally got his x box 360. It's partly for Christmas. But he already busted it out.

He fell asleep on the way home from the store and Greg thought it was so funny looking that he wanted a picture. If you think it looks painful, you are right. Luke woke up crying because his head got stuck like that. Kinda looks photoshopped.

Luke napping on Daddy

We also recently had another fun visit. Merilee and Canute came to see Luke before they leave on missions. We played games and they fought over the baby. It was nice. (Merilee, please send some photos 'cause I didn't take any.)

Pictures of Luke

2009-10-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Luke who is already 6 weeks old.

He's pretty happy.

Compare to his blessing day.

Doing exercise.

Such a big boy sitting up in his bumbo seat.

Going on a walk.

"I love staring at lights."

Halloween decorations.

Finally got some decor up in my house. Thanks to my in-laws visit.

Hope you like the pictures.

Luke updates

2009-09-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

We recently took Luke in for his one month check-up.
He weighed 9 lbs 14 oz. 50% of kids weigh less than him.
He was 22 3/4 inches long. 90% are shorter than him.
The circumference of his head was 15 inches 50% have bigger heads than him.

Here are some cute shirts I recently made. (Read: Ironed on fabric)

These girlie ones I gave as a baby shower gift. My boy can't wear Hello Kitty.

These are the ones that Luke is now sporting.

I know I need to post more pics of my baby.

Luke's Blessing and more

2009-09-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Don't wake the baby. This is my favorite picture of Luke so far.

We recently had Greg's parents come to visit. They had come to adore their first grandchild. It was really great to see them. We played games too.

Luke and Grandpa Mark.

A curious little guy.

All dressed up for his blessing.

So cute.

Three generations of Gessel men.

Luke with his grandparents.

Our little family.

Wide awake to go to his first Sunday meeting.

Luke and Grandpa Mark having fun.

Luke and Grandma Debbie. She would seriously hold him every moment she could. (Meanwhile I would sleep.)

Greg calming Luke.

Going on an evening walk.

We were very sad to see Greg's parents go. They were a great help and we had so much fun. Luke especially misses his morning walks with them.

First bath

2009-09-03T15:35:00.001-07:00

We were very glad for all the help and support we got from Bonnie who has been living with us this summer. We didn't get a picture with her and Luke at the hospital, but she was his first aunt to hold him.

We gave Luke his first bath at home and decided we better take a photo.

Luke is very glad to have Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Mark visiting. He has loved being held constantly.

These are pictures that I took of Luke 2 minutes ago, asleep in his car seat. He is looking washed out because of the flash, but oh well.

Luke Gregory Gessel makes his entrance

2009-08-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I went to the hospital to get my cervix prepped with cervadil. I started having some contractions with that. By 6 am I wanted the epidural. I was only dilated to 1 1/2 cm at the time but I was in pain. I had to get the epidural put in twice because they got a blood vessel the first time. I didn't feel it, so I didn't care. Luke's heart rate dropped when they gave it to me so I had to be put on oxygen for a while. I kept progressing so they didn't give me pitocin like they were going to at 9. Luke's heart rate dropped when I was on my back or right side, so they had to keep me on my left side. I had to get oxygen for a time after that happened. They periodically checked up on me and then saw I had stopped progressing. By that time, they didn't really want to give me pitocin because they were afraid that Luke's heart rate would drop again and they didn't want him to be in distress. They checked me again and my cervix had started swelling and the dilation was only like a 5. So they asked me if I would have a c section. I didn't really want to but they were afraid that I wouldn't dilate to 10 cm and that it would end up being an emergency c section. So we agreed. The whole procedure only lasted like 30 minutes from start to finish so it was quick. By that time I was exhausted and had to force my eyes open to stay awake to see Luke. Greg said that the doctors who got Luke out had to put their backs into getting him out. And although I didn't feel pain, it was a really weird "pressure" when they took him out.

After much waiting, Luke Gregory Gessel was born M0nday, August 24th at 1:52 pm. He weighed 8 lbs and 1 oz. He was 20 inches long.

You can't really tell in pictures, but Luke has amazingly long eyelashes that he got from his daddy.

Greg made me take a "traditional hospital gown picture." But I went and combed my hair and put on make up, so I wouldn't look terrible. The gown is bad enough.

Luke, the pacifier kid, with Dad.

Luke and Mommy getting ready to check out of the hospital.

Flower and bear sent by Exxon to my hospital room.

I stayed in the hospital until Thursday afternoon. It wasn't bad eating my meals in bed and having someone at my beck and call (button). There was a night nursery that Greg and I took advantage of, between 11pm and 6am. Greg had some work training he needed to attend this week. Monday was the first day, but he was preoccupied. He went to work Tuesday and Wednesday. Each evening he would come back to the hospital and sleep on the crappy couch bed. What a great sport. Thursday, Luke was circumcised. I was reassured that he wasn't overly traumatized by the fact that he wasn't screaming bloody murder when they brought him back to us. We attended the homeward bound class. We finally got home by 3 pm.

Last night was the first night home. We expected no problems with Luke because he had slept pretty well the nights at the hospital. But he woke up almost hourly and was generally fussy. So it was hard. Hopefully, that is not the new normal.

Otherwise, we are doing just fine. We love having Luke with us. He's a very cute little guy.

Baby Luke, Coming Soon!

2009-08-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

I am being induced on Monday. This knowledge is also added to the zero dilating and minimal contractions. And since it's Saturday I am fairly confidant that he will not come before then. So hopefully pictures and pleasant labor story will follow.

Grandma Peterson has passed on

2009-08-08T06:39:00.001-07:00

I heard of Grandma Peterson's passing yesterday. Obviously not shocked. Almost relieved because she's been ready to go for a while and she wasn't doing well. I was glad to hear especially that her three children were all in Provo when she passed. On the bright side she is with Grandpa Peterson now. I am sure they are prepping Luke on his journey to Earth. I'd like to think that they will be with him when he comes to us.
I'd like to remember her granola, pineapple upside down cake, the turtles, the stories, ketchup spaghetti, little house on the prairie, pillow talk, root beer floats, and her class. But mostly her legacy of faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

My poor second child will be neglected

2009-07-28T14:28:00.001-07:00

Look at these cute baskets that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. They fit right into the changing table and so I am happy.

This is just a random container I covered with cute fabric to put something really important in, in Luke's room. I haven't yet figured out what that will be.

This is a little name plaque that I made.

Our pack 'n' play w/ bassinet where the baby will be sleeping at least for the first 3 months. And whenever we travel.

This is a recent picture of me. And yes this is the less squinty of two pictures so, whatever.

3 Years of Loving

2009-07-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to me! Greg and I have been married for three years yesterday. To celebrate, Saturday we went to the Cirque du Soleil in Downtown Houston, "Saltimbanco". It was pretty neat to see all their tricks. It was also symbolic of our honeymoon trip to Las Vegas where we saw the Cirque du Soleil's "Ka".(That was a truly amazing show).

Anyway, I am so glad to have married Greg. He's the best. I'm very lucky to have him and we are getting ready for our next phase of life. Twenty days to my due date, or less than 3 weeks. It will be different, but great. I can't wait to see how Greg deals with the man child.

Nursery Updates

2009-07-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

My nursery is not ready yet. But little by little, I am finishing projects and getting the nursery ready for it's new occupant. I have 5 weeks left and it's getting kind of scary to think that he will come whenever he wants.

A close up of the memory board I made.

A view of the bumpers that I recently finished and how they look with the dust ruffle.

This is a diaper stacker. Voila it opens.

And closes.

A family friend donated a changing table for our nursery. It doesn't exactly match the crib, but that would be too picky. Eventually I think that I want the crib painted to match the changing table.

Ok this isn't in the nursery. It's just a corner of my house that I think is very cute. It is mostly Bonnie's doing but I collaborated. And with the baby, who knows how long it will even exist.

Baby Shower

2009-06-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Firstly, this picture is mostly to show the baby bedding that I have been making. So far I have finished the fitted sheet, the dust ruffle, and the peg board.

I am also working on a baby quilt that is similar to the quilt that I made last year. I just loved the colors and had some left over material.

The Quilt back.

The invitation to my baby shower.

Come help feather the nest it says.

I remembered to bring my camera to the shower, but once there I completely spaced taking it out of my purse. The loot is stashed in the baby's room, just in case you were wondering.

This is supposed to be an updated belly shot.

This is a dark one, but it shows better the gifts we got so generously from our friends.

The delicious german chocolate bird nest cake. The tag says, "Congratulations Sarah!"
The shower was a very elegant brunch with formal table settings and everything. We had personal sized quiches, fruit salad, veggies, crackers and cheese. I wore an aquamarine and brown feather boa. It was very fun and very cute. Thanks for all who attended!

Emilee's Wedding

2009-05-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Salt Lake recently for Emilee Gessel's wedding. Chad was missed, but Emilee and BJ just weren't willing to wait another year for him to get back from his mission in Toulouse, France. She has been dating BJ since high school so it was a long awaited and joyous occasion.

Sarah and Greg by the Salt Lake Temple

Us with Gary

Backed by the beautiful flowers

This is my blog. I will show as many pictures of myself as I want.

Megan, Sarah, Stefani and Allison

Two pregnant ladies lounging.

Emilee and BJ cutting the cake

Our reception was also here.

Haiden and Gary toasting

Grandpa and Grandma Darger, the cheesecake and me

Brigham doesn't recognize Greg from Adam

Brigham getting sleepy

BJ and Emilee's sweet get away car
(Yes, technically it belongs to BJ's dad)

Sarah, Stefani, Allison and Bizzy at Tennille's baby shower
We ate breakfast at Magleby Fresh. It was very good.

Jessica, Dani, Bailey, Bree, and Grandma Darger

Donnie and Natalie

Jenny, Tennille and Debbie (my cute mother-in-law)

I will take a mini-second to apologize to those in Utah that we didn't have time to see on our short trip for Greg's sister's wedding. Which is basically everyone that wasn't family. We hope to have more time on future trips to see all of our friends.

The move

2009-05-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

We have been a little busy lately and this is one of the things that we've been doing, moving.

This is moving day with all of our possessions, except our bed, are in the living room.

Sarah and Bonnie (Bonnie is thrilled about helping us move. And that is why we bought her a bed.)

Dressed in our finest for moving.

I convinced Greg to get into one of those huge garment boxes for a picture.

Our new side tables.

Our patio. Can you believe they left this all behind?
A fire pit and weird chairs from India.
Our new super comfy office chairs from Ikea.
Our dining area with the table my mom brought.

The formal dining room, which we use as a tv room.
Our fabulous new furniture.

Another view.
And again. But note also that this is the same room that was full of boxes in the first photo of this post. We are making some progress.

Flooding in Houston

2009-04-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy week so far. Monday I cleaned out our old apartment. Bonnie and Greg were working so I was doing it alone. It took a while but I finished it. I was exhausted by the time I finished. Then yesterday I went to work with Bonnie to help her know some tricks of the family I watched. We were going to go home at 1. We did some errands and then tried to get to the new house. Unfortunately, because of the heavy rain, all the roads to our house were flooded. So we turned around and went back to the house we just left. We were going to have to come back anyway for a party they were having at 7. So we just hung out and watched the kids.Bonnie and I were afraid to go home that night after the craziness of the afternoon but by the time the party was over, the water had receded so we could get home. Greg was also able to get home from work with minimal inconvenience. Hopefully, the rest of the week will be low key.

It's a boy!

2009-03-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that our baby is a boy. (I knew it.)And the name we have chosen is Luke Gregory Gessel. The end.

Spring Break photos

2009-03-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

The cute clipboard. It's a modge podge project.

The Easter egg basket. Also modge podge.

Side view of candy bar wrapper, so you can see that each bar is individually wrapped.

The candy bar wrapper.

It would seem to be a random photo of my kitchen table. But my mom brought it for me during Spring Break. It may not be a big deal to you, but we were using a folding table and folding chairs for a year and a half. So it's wonderful to me.

Spring Break

2009-03-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit me for a week during the school spring break with my brothers. We played games and watched movies. And my mom basically cooked the meals.(That was my stipulation for them invading my apartment.)
"Time Out for Women" came to the Woodlands that week also, so we made plans to attend. The keynote speaker was Sheri Dew, who is always fabulous. We enjoyed the speakers and musicians. It was all very uplifting. We were also able to bolt out after the lunch break and get seated at "La Madaleine's" before the rest of the conference rush got there. It was delicious, as usual.
Then last week my sister's family came to town with her four kids + a friend. My sister was in charge of the meals the three days they stayed with me. It seemed like longer than three days, because of everything that happened. The breaking of my potted plant, water mark on my wall from a wet towel, niece going #1 and #2 in the pool, the edge broken off my fragrance thing, the dumping of my conditioner in the tub by my nieces during their (bubble) bath, and finally Hawaiian Punch on my white carpet. The water mark and pink carpet stain are a bummer mostly because we're moving in a month and are not likely to get our deposit back now. I have only myself to blame for the Hawaiian Punch because I bought it. The more things happened, the more my sister felt bad. She cleaned my whole bathroom and made dinners. So besides the things that could cost us money, it was all pretty funny.
My sister and I did spend some quality time at the Relief Society craft night where less than 10 people showed up to make some amazingly cute crafts. There was a cute clipboard, easter basket and candy bar wrappers. I was thinking of how much fun it would have been for Chelsea Pace to be there crafting with us. I'll put up some photos later.
We went to Galveston on Friday and walked on the beach and then went over to Moody Gardens to watch a film about sharks that ended up being sold out. Saturday we saw "Race to Witch Mountain" which made me want to see the old ones again, because it's been forever. It was pretty good. Despite all the mini-catastrophes, we had fun with the Martins.

Link to the house

2009-03-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.era.com/property/index.jsp?property=ERA2642136&utm_id=20

The house

2009-03-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

We've been house hunting and we found the one. We made an offer. Now we wait. It is 3,000 sq ft. It is big. We don't need a house quite that big, but we love it. Greg likes that it has a huge game room. I like the granite countertops. Plus it comes with a fairly new stainless-steel refrigerator + washer/dryer which we don't have being first time home buyers.
The house is in another ward but the same stake. Luckily, we already know some nice people in that ward.

A Little Gessel

2009-02-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

I don't know the best way to do this, because I've never done it before. But Greg and I are having a baby. I'm 13 weeks along. My due date is August 16. So surprise!

We are very excited. I have been pretty sick. But I got some meds at my last appointment and hopefully that will improve our quality of life. (Mine because I felt so sick and Greg's because I don't cook much when I feel so sick.)

My mother has already promised to bring me a crib and baby stuff from my older sister. My mother-in-law confessed that she already has a box full of baby clothes that she's picked up while she's been waiting for grandchildren. This will be the first grandchild on Greg's side and they are also very excited.

We are now more motivated to start house hunting. Our apartment's lease is up at the end of April. We have decided where we want to live. We are pre-approved. Now we just need to find the perfect house.

My aloe plant has flowered.

2009-01-21T06:13:00.000-08:00

My aloe plant is budding. I didn't know that could happen, or if I did I forgot. But this is the first time since I got this plant from my parents that it has flowered. First we have the baby bud. Look very closely.

Then we have the bigger flower. From the research I have done, that's it. It doesn't open more than this. Hooray. It must be really healthy.

Happy Birthday, Happy New Years and a New Primary Class

2009-01-01T09:05:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to Greg. He is 28 this week. He is the best husband and friend, ever. So there. And if any of you like to rock. Greg got Rock Band for his birthday. So if anybody's interested, we'd like to battle your band.

We'd also like to wish everyone a happy New Year! Hope your holiday season was as great as ours was. We had a fun visit to my parent's house in Missouri. Greg played a million games, mostly with my brothers and brother-in-law. It was warm inside and so we stayed there. Coming from Houston in the 70's and going to a below freezing Missouri, was a bit of a shock. We therefore did not go caroling or ice skating, as we had originally planned. Greg had forgotten his ice skates anyway and he was determined to find an excuse to not go caroling. I guess he got what he wanted.

We also found out our new primary class. Can you see Greg and I teaching Sunbeams? Well, we'll see how we fare. We have 6 students. I hope most of them are potty trained. That's my New Year's wish. Last year we taught the kids turning 8. So we attended quite a few baptisms and it was an exciting time. We thought our kids last year needed to work on paying attention. Now we have like 3 minute attention spans. And still an hour of class time. Lets just say we'll have to get creative. So wish us good luck. And if you feel the need, come to the Woodlands 1st ward to see us in action.

Christmas Break 2008

2008-12-14T14:49:00.000-08:00

We're going to Missouri this week. It's exciting to go home. All my siblings will be there with their families except Grant(Lisbon, Portugal Mission). We will get to talk to him on Christmas though. Hopefully we'll also be able to sneak in some time with friends while we're there.
Mom put me in charge of crafts and I took my task seriously. I hope the kids like some of the things I picked out. Otherwise, I guess I'll be fired from the position.
Merilee is in charge of the baking treats. But I told her I'd top the pizzas if she made the dough. We have plenty of hands to help. So hopefully she won't get overwhelmed.
We've also been thinking of the games that we're bringing. Games are very important. Sorry babies, you will not be handling and swallowing our precious game pieces. We have crafts to keep you busy unless you are very small babies.
Can't wait to see you!

Board Game Geek Convention 2008!

2008-11-26T19:34:00.001-08:00

Board Game Geek Convention 2008! That's what we did last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We drove up to Dallas, starting at 6 am, to get to the convention at 10. We wanted to get there at the beginning because you got to pick a free game off a rack. We ended up getting a game + expansion of Through the Ages which Greg has been looking at for a while. We also got another game called California. So we played games, went to Dennys and got lunch at 3 and played more games. We were at the midnight drawing every night to see if we won any games. We didn't.

Then on Saturday, after the closing ceremonies/grand prize drawings, we drove back to Houston. We got home at 11:30 and had to be up early Sunday so Greg could do the program and I could go through the hymns on the organ.

2008-11-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

Tag!
I've been tagged.
The Rules
1. Link this post to the person who tagged you. Megan http://dalmegcoffman.blogspot.com/
2. Post the rules on your blog (SEE!)
3. List 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random Facts
1. On my mission I never lived in the country where the mission home was.(Geneva, Switzerland Mission)
2. I have danced on stage with the Beach Boys (during my internship with Clear Channel in SLC)
3. I like to karaoke in the safety of non-public places.
4. I know how to milk goats.
5. I make sock monkeys.
6. I like to hoard candy, especially chocolate. (I get that from my mom)

Tag
Chelsea Pace
Heidi Baird
Emily Peterson
Ashley High
Mikenze Souphom
Tenille Call

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

This last week has been fun and crazy. Besides the normal nannying that I do, this week Greg and I watched some kids over the weekend. Friday I watched a movie with some friends while Greg listened to the 14 year olds and their band. The other kids were at their school carnival with friends. Saturday we had to go to the senior olympics. We signed up for an early shift, but the people at interfaith(a group of churches who do stuff for the community) decided that instead of what we had originally signed up for, we could be all their all day. We did a lot of standing around and some service. Then we left. Greg did his program. Then we were off to pick up two of the kids at their soccer games.

Then we had pizza hut for dinner and off to the ward trunk or treat. I dressed up as Hello Kitty. I have a hello kitty sweatshirt and I picked up a cat mask at hobby lobby for a few dollars. I hot glued a pink bow on it. I also picked up a white mask for Greg which came with paints. He painted his mask that won him the award for the scariest costume. So we're not supposed to have masks at church events well, we weren't really wearing them, so come on. We had a bean bag game set up. There were some baskets on our mini step ladder and I made some halloween bean bags. We gave the kids two pieces of candy if they got all three bean bags in the baskets.

Sarah and Sierra Tippets(as Madeline)

Greg and Sierra

I started not feeling so hot Saturday evening. Sunday morning I felt happy go pukey. I threw up maybe ten minutes before we left for church. I tried to call someone else in the ward so I didn't have to go and play the organ, but noone picked up. So I played during sacrament meeting and then left. So I think I have the flu. I feel a little better today, but not quite well.
That's about it. Oh and we got Acquire off of E-Bay for $15 + shipping. Sweet!

Ramblings of a mad woman

2008-10-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I decided I better post because I haven't in a while and what's the use of checking blogs if they aren't being posted on regularly. So fun times.

The other day I was in the grocery store putting chicken in my cart. Then the lady who's cart it really was, said pardon me. And I was embarressed. In my defense my cart was right behind her's. The lady was just going right by.

I went to Michaels today and waited in line, only to find out that their credit card/debit machine wasn't working. Luckily, I had a little cash. I had to prioritize my items and told the cashier to put the rest back. That was an annoyance.

I recently bought a pair of feather pillows at JC Penny for $33. I saw a sale for the queen sized feather pillows for $30 on-line. When I got there, I had to have a sale's person look for that pillow with me. But then there was another sale that you could get a 2nd pillow for $1 more. So I did that. I am writing about it, because I am proud of the deal I got. The end.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

If you were wondering. We were affected by hurricane Ike. We had no power for five days. But as far as that goes, we were lucky. Since it's been about 10 days so far for some members of our ward and also some of Greg's coworkers.
Our water also stayed on. We were drinking stored water, but we could still flush.
We also had a miraculous cold front that came in on Sunday night as it was heating up in our apartment. It stayed through friday and our power had come on wednesday night.
This last Saturday we went to the ward building to clean up. There were a lot of trees down and some debris for us to clean up. We cleaned up there and then moved on to help some ward members at their homes. When we got home, around noon, we were exhausted. But glad that we were back in the ac.
Later that night we went and played games about an hour away with a boardgaming group. There was a german themed pot-luck and then we played games until like 12:30 and then made our way home.
We had 8 am church and somehow our alarms didn't go off as planned. Fortunately, we woke up and got ready in a hurry, to be on time for me to play the prelude music.

Finished!

2008-09-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today I finished my quilt. The edges are bound and I stuck my name on it. So that's it.
My mom asked me what I will do next. Any suggestions?

More quilt

2008-09-04T07:54:00.001-07:00

Don't look too closely at the stitching on the back. But still, I have accomplished much. I now have to bind the edges and that's it. Hooray!

Labor Day

2008-09-01T20:27:00.000-07:00

Ok. We didn't really do anything. But Greg finished "Breaking Dawn" and I finished the border of my quilt, so we did accomplish something. I will post new pictures of my quilt soon. Maybe. I just have to do it.
I was helping one of the little girls, I nanny for do her homework and she was trying to describe herself. She asked me if she should write that she was bad. I thought that was pretty funny that she would want to put that, but I told her she probably shouldn't. Then she said, instead, she'd write that she was good and asked if that was better. (I could say nothing to this.)So she wrote it down. Then she erased it and said she better not put that because one of the rules of her classroom was to be honest. Ha ha.
Hopefully hurricane Gustav stays way the heck away from us.

Their Vacation

2008-08-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

So I am back to nannying and I got it all started off by watching all four kids for 6 days. Whew! That was one way to go back to work. The Tippets were in Canada attending a wedding and so we stepped in. The kids were pretty good, but the eight year old has some power struggle issues. Kid, I know I'm not your mom, but you still have to listen to me.
I felt bad for signing up to bring something to the ward party that friday and then not showing up. I have good reasons #1 I signed up before I knew I was watching the kids #2 four kids #3 the pool party was from 8-10 pm! Greg and I weren't about to haul the kids out at their normal bed time to drown in a neighborhood pool. It's hard enough to watch them all in their own pool, without other kids getting in our way.
Sunday was the big day. I play the organ in our ward, so Greg had all four kids to himself until after the sacrament. He was such a good sport about it. The two youngest ones were fighting over a toy and becoming vocal, but it good silenced quickly. As soon as I sat down, I got handed the smelly baby, a diaper and some wipes. And the baby made boom boom a second time while Greg and I were team teaching our 8 yr old primary class. What was that about?
The girls were in and out "going to the bathroom" and Greg had to threaten to lock Shane in a classroom before he would come back into sacrament. That was a crazy day. Luckily, the parents got home the next day.
But I guess since this is a forum where I say what I want I will tell you that I didn't get much sleep while I was there. Because two kids kept coming into my bedroom in the middle of the night. Shane, who wakes up to go to the bathroom and then comes in and Maiya who pees the bed still and then has to come tell me right away. It happened too much!
Ok and the 8 yr old kept talking back and lying about the mint ice cream that I saw on her shirt and then missing from the freezer (found the last day in her mother's bathroom trash not empty but melty and making a nasty mess) I told Greg that if she were smarter she would just dish herself up a bowl and eat it like any normal person, albeit hiding. Greg said that kids just think of the now. She doesn't think that she'll be able to eat more if she puts it back in the freezer. Just how she wants to eat it now and not get caught.
Whatever. That's about it.

Vacation!

2008-08-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

We went to Utah for a week. We spent some quality time with the Gessels. We hiked up to Kyle's bridge and made it back, with Debbie almost knocked flat by some kid running down the mountain in flip flops. What's the matter with kids these days.
We went to the Nickelcade and got lots of awesome prizes like grow beads.
1. add water 400G on the product. about 4 hours it will grow up.
2. one clear beauty satiety face will grow up.
3. when the flower want to oxygen and nutrition, I will help you too much.
We barely caught Grandma and Granpa Darger. That is to say they stayed a little longer up the canyon to see us.
The Petersons also made time to see us. They came by on their way home from seeing America's family. We had a barbecue with them. It was fun. Greg's cousin, Anson,and his wife, Tenille and also came up. Too bad I had to shoot Tenille in Bang. My mission friends, Katrina and Noah stopped by to chat a while.
We went to Thanksgiving Point to see the Dinosaur museum, but it was packed. So we looked at the window shop a while until my brother, Christian, removed me by force. I got caught up in the cute crafts.

We saw a few more of our friends down in Provo and that was super great. Unfortunately, we had limited time, since we were only there for a week.

I also went to a baby shower this week. They had a game where the first person to birth their baby enclosed in an ice cube won a prize. I bit that ice cube and took the prize after everyone pretty much just let their ice cube baby melt in their drinks for 45 min. It was too easy.

Hope you had a great week.

Love Sarah and Greg

Memories

2008-07-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.EVERYBODY PLAY! I want to see what memories are out there!!

Ok I stole this from a friend. I am just not that creative. But it could be fun.

Greg's back

2008-07-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Greg was in Angola for two weeks and I was left all alone to do Youth Conference. So I kept working on my quilt. Made 250 YC schedules(laminated, punched, etc). And partied hard with people half my age. I was pretty exhausted when it was all over. I danced and the next day I felt it.
The Fourth of July was so exciting! We did absolutely nothing. Ok, Greg got home from Africa and I was just glad to get him back in one piece without leprosy or any other crazy diseases. He was pretty jet-lagged and slept most of the day away. We finally went out to watch some fireworks, at my insistence, but we left too late. The program finished right when we got there and so we just got left with trafic.

2008-06-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Playing games with my family on-line and my nephew goes to make a sandwich. We all thought it was pretty disgusting sounding, but he ate it. We decided that whoever lost the game had to make and eat the nasty sandwich. I was fairly confident in my gaming skills, but I did lose, by one point. So I did my duty.

2008-06-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

MY QUILT

so far.

2008-06-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. We've lived in Houston now for just under a year. I have been a nanny for two kids. But I have the summer off(The family already promised the nanny from last summer the position for this summer. I will be going back in the fall when she goes back to BYU. The summer will be crazy for her because she'll have all four kids, now that school is out. So I don't mind very much.
I have been keeping occupied reading, making a quilt and teaching piano lessons. Greg and I are also helping plan Youth Conference in our stake, which is sadly at the same time as the Darger Family Reunion.
Greg is getting ready to go to Angola with Exxon. He and his friend, Scott, will be watching them open a new pipeline that goes to a huge oil tanker. Hopefully he won't be gone much longer than a week and will get back in time for Youth Conference.
Today we had a class party with our primary kids. We had them over to swim in our apartment's pool. We had water guns, food, and floaty toys. It was a success. We have ten kids and more than half came. We give them stars during class, when they are good, that go to a party and they just earned it. We'll see if it takes them another six months to earn the next party.
That's pretty much what's going on around here.

Random photos

2007-10-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

2007-10-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Greg and I are in Houston, Tx. Greg works for Exxon Mobil. It is currently pouring rain outside. But it is really nice. Greg is taking the FE test for Engineers this Saturday. We are planning on carving pumpkins today.

I like to play World of Warcraft and Carcasonne online. I also play Settlers of Catan and
Aquire online. So fun times. The best part playing games online is that you can talk if you have skype (free web phone) while playing and hear and interact with other people like they're there.

I play Carcassonne with America, my sister, online and then make sounds at her daughter, Julia, in the background. Julia then repeats. She is just learning to talk. She will say, "hear", because she can hear me talking. It's a fun game.

Blog

2007-06-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Who cares if there is only one post. Neal said he wanted a blog so here it is.
Sarah

Peterson Friends

2007-05-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

So you think your name is Hansel. You milk goats but don't want to admit it this is the blog for you. Or you are somehow related to the Peterson family. This is written by a blog literate and so don't hate me for not loggin on to myfamily.com.
The Gessels head to Texas May 15-22 so we won't be home. We are looking for places to live and checkin it out hard core. Fun times.