Maren and Duane Tucker

Logan County Cruise In

2011-07-03T20:53:00.018-06:00

A fun little tradition that Logan has on the 4th of July weekend is called the Cruise In. This is where cars of all types, makes and models are paraded down main street. The city shuts down Main Street and vehicles that have been pre-registered get to show off their classic or custom vehicles. This is the third year that I attended and the first year that I was told to take pictures. So I took several pictures of cars that I liked, and a few that I thought others would like. Logan City is a cute little town that has grown from a pure agricultural town. With this event starting a 30 minutes late Evan grew rather restless. However this video partly shows his excitement once it started. While we were waiting Evan said he wanted to go potty. Just before it started Evan said he had to go again... which made us miss the beginning. Sad. It took about 30 minutes for all the cars to cycle around. I got most of these pictures on the return trip.

Push... Wow that Scared Me!

2011-03-22T12:12:00.013-06:00

So for a little over a year now Maren and I have lived in our tiny little cottage. We have come love aspects of our beloved home, and a few of the... well things that need improvements. Maren has already started on a honey do list for this spring and summer. Just of few things that need maintaining and others that need to be fixed.
You are currently looking at one of the things that was on the list. Simple as it may look some things can be confusing to some. The previous tenets of our home lived in this house for approximately eight years. Come to find out, the entire time that they lived in the house, they didn't have a door bell. (This was discovered after I had fixed the door bell.)
As a student of Construction Management at BYU, I have taken a few classes that believe it or not, I have learned a thing or two. One such class was an Electrical Class. The intent of the class is to teach us enough about the trade that we can talk to subs and not look like idiots. Well in one of the my labs for this class we learned how to wire a door bell. Imagine my excitement. A few weeks later I was looking over some items on my back porch when I found and item. I thought to myself, I bet if I replace that then I can get the bell to work. So I went to Home Depot and found that the item was $15. I eventually bought the transformer and two door bell buttons. My grand total was somewhere near $16. Two weeks later I started to replace all the items. And spent more time looking for tools than actual wiring of the components. Now that I have a door bell Maren took down the sign that we had next to the door saying the doorbell is broken please knock.
That night after the door bell was working a neighbor came to my front door and rang the bell during dinner. I don't think I have jumped like that in a long while. It has taken a little getting used to having a door bell again, but it is sure nice to have.

All these pictures are here to show the transformer and how I have it connected to power. My house is not wired for a ground so you see the green wire with just a cap.
I did not change any of the original wiring. All that was done was replace everything on the ends of the wires. The actual bell on the wall is the unit that came with the house.

Wouldn't you think...

2010-12-12T22:01:00.003-07:00

It's almost over. One more semester down and maybe a break for next semester.
I would hope so.
Thursday night I came down with a cold, after working hard all week long, little sleep and most likely not getting the nutrition I needed... No wonder my immune system failed to distroy the sore throat before it took me down.
Currently I am setting up the desktop again because it was requested of me. Maren is wanting something that runs a little faster to do whatever she wants to do. I am sure we will have to find her something next year. It's nice having duel core, duel screen. Nothing lags. Sweet.

My Egg were Screaming!

2010-12-04T17:10:00.003-07:00

As every semester comes to an end every student thinks back to the things they have learned. Asking, "Am I ready to take the final exams?" Yes I am so so so ready to be done for this semester. I haven't had much of a break in over a year now because of going to summer school. I am ready to be done with the 20 sum odd credits that I need for my degree. Two years left at the pace that I am going. Turtle Turtle Turtle.
Sometimes my professor decides to give assignments for my blog. This in particular intrigued me. He said, "Find someone more stressed than you and then do something nice for them". It was funny to see the classes reaction. Nobody seemed to think that there was anyone more stressed then themselves and i admit that I am one of the people that believed that there is no one more stressed than me right now.
As I set to the assignment, with all the other many assignments that I have to do this weekend I thought to myself who is more stressed than me. A few ideas that crossed my mind was;
A co-worker that just got married, watched her husband come in at four in the morning because he was out doing a group project.
Then it struck me. I have a friend that is stressed more than me and the truth is that I know it. The hero of a father has three kids; ages 8, 3 and 6 months. He has a full load of 14 credits and he works full time. His wife is a stay at home mom that has a her own home based business.
I learned a long time ago that It was not wise for me to take more than 12 credits and work part time. How he is doing it I don't know, maybe he is make of stronger stuff than me. I decided that I wanted to do something nice for him and his family. So I called him up on a Thursday night after I got off work. It turned out that he was taking a nap because he knew he was going to be up late writing a paper so I spoke with his wife. I asked what they were doing for dinner that night. They said they didn't have plans so I bought some pizza from Papa Johns and went over to his house. We all enjoyed pizza and conversation for a little more than an hour and a half. During the conversations I heard him say that he was craving the garlic sauce from Papa Johns and that this really hit the spot. I was nice to know that what I had done was appreciated. He also shared a funny story and now the punch line of that story is now the title of this post.
I have to admit it was one of the less stressful things that I did this weekend and in a way I relieved a little bit of stress so I can finish a few of my assignments.
If you haven't heard a sigh of relief yet... call me up after the new year. When this semester is over my stress doesn't end. I still have a really big life test to pass at my work. I have to ensure that my inventory is down to less than two percent. That test is on January 3rd.

I Survived I-15

2010-11-28T23:50:00.003-07:00

Never underestimate the power of mother nature. Over this past week we have enjoyed a little more snow than what Utah is used to getting. Utah received a one-two punch of snow to start the season off.

I had the pleasure to drive I-15 twice. One day after the storm hit and then a surprise storm when I was leaving Logan to come home.
The first storm ended up being a dud really. Provo didn't get more than an inch or two.
It was predicted that this storm was going to be really big with white-out conditions. Well for some reason the storm took one look at Provo, dumped all that it had north of us. Then moved over my lovely home. By the time it was able to make more snow it was well to the south of us and literally left us rather dry with a whole lot of cold.

Several days later it decided to snow on the day that I was coming home. I did not fret and knew that I would have to drive a little slower. I left the Logan around 3:30, and proceeded cautiously through Sardine Canyon. When i finally got on the interstate I figured there was not as much snow I can drive a little faster. Even though the speed limit was 75 mph I decided I better not push my luck and decided a nice speed of 60 mph would do just fine. Before I was two miles down I-15 I realized that I was still going to fast and needed to slow down a little more. I know you are asking how now how did he know that he was going to fast and what happened. I almost joined a statistic below. Nevertheless this is what happened:
(This silver Mitsubishi Outlander is an all-wheel drive vehicle)
I am no stranger to driving in slippery conditions in a rear-wheel drive vehicle. Usually it was the Mercury Cougar, but now I drive the Ranger. It takes a little longer to get up to speed and it is a little taller.. okay a lot taller... off the ground. As I came up onto a bridge everything seemed to be fine. Unfortunately in the fast lane on the far end of the bridge there was a bump with ice that sent me fish-tailing down the interstate at 60 mph. I have to admit I panicked and it felt like my stomach wrapped itself around my spine twice. At slower speeds... I would give it a little more gas and hold the slide like I was drifting a million dollar super car. Then let go of the drift and regain control by releasing the accelerator and let the wheel catch on their own. However at 60 mph in a vehicle that has a rather high center of gravity I freaked and tapped the brakes once to slow the truck down. I went from a driver side slide... to a passenger side slide... and then back to a driver side slide before I was able to straighten out on the interstate. It ended up that I never left my lane during this terrifying slide. Afterwards I felt like I recieved a double dose of adrenaline.
After straightening out the next thought that went through my mind was, "I think I should slow down just a little more." I think I was driving 45 to 50 mph for the majority of the way home after that. A trip that should have taken 2 hours became 3 hours. It didn't mind, I was listening to Book Six of TWOT series, The Lord of Chaos.

I was lucky. Below are the reported stats from UHP and KSL News for just Sunday driving.

The weather created terrible driving conditions when the storm first hit Sunday. The Utah Highway Patrol reported more than 300 slide-offs and crashes in 11 counties across the state.

UHP Lt. John Mitchell said, "If people would just slow down, take their time, give themselves enough time to get where they need to go, we could avoid these types of accidents."

Accidents were reported Sunday on I-15 in Bountiful, I-215 in north Salt Lake, I-80 between 7200 West and 9900 West, and at 600 North and I-15 in Salt Lake. Also, a truck jackknifed at 4700 South on I-215.
A single mother of three was killed in a wreck on I-15 in Riverdale. (I passed this accident less than 30 minutes after it happened.)

UHP reported crash totals for this storm through 6 a.m. Monday for Salt Lake and Utah counties alone are:

* 41 injury accidents
* 251 property damage reports
* 50 slide-offs

Maren's New Smile

2010-11-19T14:32:00.001-07:00

Maren and I have been talking for a long time and had finally decided that it was time. So we finally bit the bullet and invested in a new(er) car. It is a 2004 Toyota Camry with 70k miles. Most people look at car and their reviews in making a decision about a car. I look at all the specifications.
This '04 Camry is practically the base model.

No fog lights.
No Sunroof.
No Spoiler.(I guess you can call me the spoiler for getting Maren such a nice car.)
Sound System is the basic model.
However it is Silver (which I like better) and it does have key-less entry which is a plus. Because the engine is a four cylinder that means fuel economy is hopefully going to be in the 32-34 range on the highway.

Minus a few scratches, this car is perfect for our needs. As of right now we only have 5K to pay for the next five years. Price of financing is going to be about $652 when we pay $94 per month. So we do what we normally do and round up to the nearest hundred and pay $100 dollars a month. $6x60months=$360 that we will end up paying early. If we drag it out that long.

Insurance said that the car was valued at 11,500. So we already have a ton of equity in the car. The next question is... Does anyone want to buy my old car?
Maren and I are both really happy about this car. She loves it, and I think it is going to be a great car for our family.

New Addition

2010-11-14T10:01:00.003-07:00

So this past week has be a rather eventful week in my family. My sister Janeen and her husband Joesph recently had a baby. They named Lilian Jewel, but she will go by Jewel. This naming a child and then making them go by a middle name is no strange occurrence to the Tucker Family. I myself go by my middle name and so does my son Evan (who just so happens to be throwing a tantrum at this moment... bless his little heart). Jewel was born Wednesday November 10, 2010 at 7:53am. She was six pounds 14 ounces and 18 inches long, and mommy did it without pain med. It was an quick two and a half hours of labor. I think she made it out easy. Maren was in labor for 12 hours.
I still haven't seen any pictures of little Jewel yet. Maybe when one is sent to everyone then I will add it to this blog post. Congratulations Janeen, Joesph and Jewel.

Endless questions

2010-11-07T19:05:00.002-07:00

Evan is such a wonderful kid. Sometimes I question what is going through his mind. Recently even has started asking one question. What is it/this? And you have to tell him something. If you avoid answering him he will just continue to ask the question either pointing or trying to grab whatever it is he is asking about. After you answer what it is then he answers "oh" musically as if the answer was just barely on the tip of his tongue and now it all makes sense now. You can't help but love him and his love for cars. My yellow truck is not really mine, Evan has laid claim to it and I am just borrowing the truck until he can drive it. Last year I drove about 4500 miles, lets do the math.
The truck has 108k miles plus 4500 miles per year times 13.5 years = a little over 160k miles that the truck will have when Evan is ready to drive. As I was driving with him I said I would sell it to him for a $1000 and I laugh but he said okay. I don't think he understands what a $1000 is as of just yet. I sure by the time he is ready to drive we will have a different option then a truck that is twenty years old. Who can really tell.

The Wheel of Time...

2010-10-29T12:11:00.005-06:00

"The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and go. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow. Let the dragon ride again on the winds of time"
Robert Jordan.
I have never been a big reader of any kind of books. While I have a general draw and interest of stories I have never really been able to sit down and read a book for a an hour without falling asleep. Very few books have kept my interest so much that I haven't fell asleep while drifting through its pages.
Lately I have been reading a few books, well maybe i should clarify that statement and say I have been listening to a few books. This past summer I listened to the following books.
Harry Potter 1-7 Done.
FableHaven 1-5 Done.
then I started the last one.
The Wheel of Time Series. I started book six just before school started and now I will have to start it again during the next vacation time.
I could listen and work, although not as effectively, to the storyline. I really liked it and was able to get through the book in less than a week.
It surprises me how many people have read these books. I have even come across women who enjoy this series and admit it. With pride in their voice they say things like, "I'm on book nine!"

When I saw that three of my coworkers where reading this book I decided that I would make room for it. first started to read this book I thought this is going to be so lame. Shortly after the story begins it has the main characters start out on the run.
Needless to say the book was great and I moved on to the next book. They just get better and better. However there are a few similarities between two other novels which I will relate next week.
Until then. Adieu.

There comes the day...

2010-10-24T21:00:00.002-06:00

There come the day when you have to sell your first car. I bought this car seven years ago to the month. This car has taken me from Orlando, FL to Seattle, WA. It is my 97 Mercury Cougar. I bought this car in October of 2003 as the first car that I would ever have my name on the title. I wasn't looking for this car but it turned out to be a deal that I could not refuse. It belonged to the Catholic Church the my Grandpa attends. I was told that they were going to sell this car in a silent auction. At the time the car was retailing for around $5,000 I place a bid for $3,030.01. If I got it then fine, if not then I would still be okay.
Back then it had ~104k miles, a faulty alarm system, check engine light for the EGR valve, and it was a little dirty. I paid $60 dollars for the EGR valve to be cleaned, spent several hours cleaning the car inside and out, and then after a few years I bought a static manual on CD that eventually showed me that my car had keyless entry and the alarm fault was due to a connection in the trunk. Someone had reversed the connection which would set off the alarm anytime you would use the power locks.
Three months into owning this car I found myself speaking with a police officer. It was a quick visit... to make it short, I was passing someone on a two lane road and got a little over zealous. The next car coming down the road was a police officer. He claimed that I was doing 93 mph in a 60, Oops. I never again was pulled over in that car. More often then not I would follow the speed limit, but I do remember driving 110 on the interstate for about a minute to get away from an annoying driver.
After getting married I had a class II tow hitch installed on the car. I did this for one purpose, to tow all of our stuff from Florida to Utah to start school at BYU. The trailer was a 6'x12' and we had only one problem. I literally could not drive over 45 mph. That trip was a very long drive. We made it safely and have lived in only two places while out here in Utah. A cute little apartment, and our home.
During the last six years I have fixed several things on this car, and it has given me a fair share of problems, but something I have done has taken good care of this car. I wish I could have taken it up to 200k miles before I got rid of the car. However I did not, and it only made it to 190k. It still runs and does everything just fine.
Maren and I have finally decided that it is time for a four door car. Fixing the car would not be a problem, but it needs little things here and there because it is getting old. i.e. battery, windshield needs to be resealed, radiator cleaned or flushed, new/junkyard PCM, and registration fee. Only $400 to $500 to get it running on the road for another year.
I would love to keep the car for a fun project, but Maren doesn't want me to turn our small Utah home into a redneck haven for cars in need of TLC.
In the first year of owning my car I dove it 36k miles, and then over the next six years I drove another 45k miles for the grand total of 189k miles.

The day has come and I am selling my first car...
It's time for Maren to have a car that she likes, enjoys, and doesn't feel like the car is out to get her.

Reminisce

2010-10-17T16:43:00.009-06:00

For many of you that don't know... I am a runner. Yes I know that I don't look like one now, but many years ago I did. While in high school as a freshman I started off doing the typical jock sports, football and wrestling and track.
Football was fun and what I found myself playing the game when I got together with friends. I went out to be a wide receiver, but they placed me in at corner. I still remember some great plays that I made for my team. Wrestling was great the first year. I did very well on the junior varsity team at 130 lbs. Sophomore season was the killer. I ran cross country weighing 140 lbs, and I practically starved myself for four months to reach 125 lbs to stay on the varsity team. The highlight of that year was I almost pinned a national champion. After my season was done, I gained 30 lbs in 3 days. I decided then that I was not going to come back the following year.
I wasn't planning on doing track, but I was convinced that I should give it a try after someone found out that I ran a sub-six mile (5.42) in gym class. So with no real hopes of doing anything I went out and practiced with them for a couple of days. I soon discovered that I had no trouble keeping up with the leaders even though I was a freshman. When track meets eventually came around coach was putting me in the 4x800m relay, 800m, and 3200m races. I won my first three 800m with a time around 2:20, but that was actually competitive in those years. By the end of the year the coach through me into a 1600m race. That race became the first time that I broke five minutes that race. I posted a 4.55 for my mile and I was one of the fastest runners on the team, and the district. I did race in regional that year in the 800m but did not qualify to continue on to states.
Sophomore year was one of those years that if things could be done all over again I would have skipped wrestling. Because of what I did in wrestling my sophomore season in track was terrible. I decided from that point on that I was not going to do anything in high school except Cross Country and Track. I was hoping to get a scholarship for college and knew if I got one it would be because of running.
So I set goals and started to run year round. Cross Country my junior year was better but nothing to make a few heckling teammates eat their words. Track season started and I was determined to go sub-two minutes in the 800m, and get back on the 4x800 relay, which I didn't make it in my sophomore season.
My chance came during a local track meet in the first part of my junior year. The runner that heckled me the most, became the no show, and coach said that I was going to run the relay. As I looked at who I was going to be running against, as the third runner of the relay, my hope became a tremble of fear as I looked upon Cross. Cross was an athlete that placed in state in 5A Cross Country. Surely I am no match for him and his ability. When it was my turn to run I just ran as fast as I could and didn't look back. The last hundred meters felt like I couldn't move my legs. As I crossed the finish line I looked back and Cross was just rounding the bend, 100m behind me. I opened up about nine seconds on him. One of my teammate came up to me and said that I had just ran a 2.05.1.
I didn't believe him and I had to see the time myself. Sure enough, I did, and after that race I was tied for second on the the relay team. The heckler was no longer the fastest on the team, he was now the fifth man and I became the break away man. Each of my teammate had a role to play on the relay. First man would open to a decent position, second man would catch the leaders, and then I would break away from the pack and open up the lead to five seconds, and the last man would ensure the win. The third leg of the relay was my spot and I kept it all year, until the stress fracture ended my season at regionals. I didn't give up and I was able to get my time back down in my senior year to 2.02 for the 800m and 4.36 for the 1600m.
Several of my friends where upset that I put all the training from high school aside to serve a mission. Graduating at 145 lbs, I returned from my mission at 165ish lbs. I was determined to run and get back in shape. I took a health class that taught me the importance of eating with training, and I set a goal to run a sub-six mile. I did and in the process I dropped down to 155 lbs. After strength training I was up to 162 lbs. When I came out to Utah, I spent so much time between school, work and home that I quit running. My less active lifestyle had consequences and I slowly reached 215 lbs. Currently I am at 200 lbs and dropping. My overall goal is to get back down to 175 lbs. I have 25 lbs to go still.
Running is something that defined my life, and will always be a part of my life. Now I have many more thing in my life that make me who I am. Running is still there, just not the most important. To what extent will I go as I start running again? Well I've never been the kind of person that wants to run a marathon, but I am not ruling it out and it will be many years and 5k's from now.

After the Nervous Twitch

2010-10-10T18:34:00.002-06:00

One lovely day while working, I met an interesting and complete stranger. This gentleman and scholar looked like he could use a little pick-me-up. So I asked him if I could buy him a "coke". He gracefully accepted and chose his preferred form of "coke" from a BYU vending machine. He left with a huge smile on his face absolutely thrilled that he was the recipient of this social test.
I admit that I enjoyed seeing the smile on his face. I liked it so much that I suddenly realized that I also had a smile on my face. I really felt good buying someone else a "coke". In a way, it seemed like we were both uplifted by one simple act. In a way I started thinking about a movie. The movie had a main theme called pay it forward. In the movie a concept was presented by a young elementary student,who was given an assignment by his teacher. This student took the assignment seriously and presented the concept of Pay It Forward. When someone does something nice for you instead of doing something nice back to that person, you would do something nice for three other people. This students idea was to help as many people as possible.
I wonder if this complete stranger would have, or ever, considered doing something nice to someone else because he received something that may have uplifted his spirit.

The Dreaded Day

2010-10-01T22:43:00.004-06:00

Every parent fears the day. The day when their child learns to climb out of the crib. Yes on Sunday morning i woke up after 6 hours of sleep to my son climbing up the stairs to my room. I wasn't upset that he got out of the crib, this isn't the first time. the first thing that crossed my mind was does he have his diaper on? Please, Please, Please, have a diaper on!

Maren had the experience with Evan when they were in Seattle, WA. Apparently early one morning Evan escaped from bed. Thinking that he was more that ready to be independent, he proceeded to try and change his own diaper. During his attempt he left little... nuggets... on the ground. He grabbed a few wipes from his diaper bag and sat down next to the little nugget. At this point you may be thinking how cute, however his little bottom was not clean and he sat down on white carpet. Bless his little heart he did realize this and proceeded to move to a different spot so he could clean where he just left a smear mark. By the time mommy woke up and came to attend to the little munchkin, he had pulled quite a few wipes out and covered every nugget and smear stain that he had made in the carpet.
Lucky us he had a diaper on that morning and he climbed into bed with us. Evan then told us that he had a poopy diaper and wanted us to change it. Disaster averted and I was up to watch over our early riser.
This is were I think it gets funny. While in the living room Evan decided that he had a lot of energy. So he started to run around the house... as I timed him. Six seconds running, and sixteen seconds on the tricycle. This lovely munchkin is starting to run everywhere he goes.
Just like his daddy did when he was little. I would know too, my mother has told my stories of what I have done to her.

Short Stories

2010-09-26T19:38:00.006-06:00

The Lawn Mower Man
Imagine a cute little house with a small front lawn. Now imagine that lawn that hasn't been mowed in about a month. Welcome to the dilemma of the $30 dollar lawn mower. (Do you hear the haunting music yet?) To go back to the beginning of the story, I've always tried to save a buck or two especially on items that may cost more money when new.
At the beginning of the summer I helped the Boy Scouts of America clean out a block of of downtown Provo City. Bags after bags were filling up with junk, garbage, and trash has been left to time to decay on the back lots of Provo. Among the heaps that were found was a small, green craftsman lawn mower. The scouts and leaders that found it, tossed it into a pile to load up and ship off to the junk yard. I couldn't resist! So I pulled it off to the side, loaded it up in my truck, and took it home.
I knew my hopes of starting the mower would be useless without a little work, so I began to dismantle the forgotten warrior. The air filter was so black that a moonless midnight looked bright, garbage. Spark plug, usable but a new one is $5, garbage. A new 1 gallon gas can $9, and one gallon of gas $3... ish. So after the internet, four trips to the Sears Repair shop, and 4 hours of fiddling I bought a o-ring gasket for $2.50, and then I mowed my lawn. Once I was assured that the forgotten warrior was going to live I then changed its oil and gave it a new mower blade.
This warrior has mowed my lawn without fail every other week for the whole summer, until September. I tried to fire it up and it would crank, but it would stall out shortly there after. After five minutes of cranking and stalling, I pushed it into the garage and said I will deal with it later. Which brings us full circle. After two weeks of not dealing with it, I decided the lawn can not wait any longer. I pulled it out of the garage and then started taking it apart, again. After 30 minutes I found the $2.50 gasket had swollen and no longer makes a seal with the carburetor. Tinker, tinker, tinker and then mowed the lawn.
I know that I will have to fix it again, but for the time being the warrior lives and will cut again another day.

Lean and O2

2010-09-19T23:42:00.002-06:00

In every sense of the word you would think that these two words are great! and everyone wants it. I disagree. This past week I have been battling both on my car. The infamous check engine light has been on for more than a year. I finally Check the numbers and it shows a P0171 and P0174. These code tell me that the engine is running lean in banks one and two. Simple talk, not enough fuel is being mixed with the air combustion process. I looked at simple means to fix the problem. I cleaned the air intake with a injector cleaner, followed the directions exactly. Fired up the old car and she turned over. Turned over a new problem. Now that I may have fixed the problem by cleaning out the throttle body, I cleared all the code and boom... check engine light again. Ok... now I have 8 more sensor telling me that something is wrong. All the Oxygen sensor are now having a cow. So I may need to replace them as well at $60 each. By the way the car has to have four o2 sensors. Two before and two after the catalytic converter.
You may ask, "Whats the big deal"? I can't pass my safety and emissions test until I get the check engine light turned off. So instead of enjoying a trouble free car, I and debating on putting at least $300 in parts into my car, if I can't convince the sweet wife to just buy a new(er) car with 4 doors.

It seems that small problems always turn into big problem when you need to renew registration.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-12T21:33:00.004-06:00

Four tumbling little children down a massive hill, and yes a couple of adults too.
I know that it has been a week since all the fun, but I wanted to write a little bit about the fun the family had.
So the week prior to Labor Day weekend I was able to play host to Eleesha as she was working and playing. She would barricade herself in on of my rooms, mainly because Evan is so darn irresistible that if she didn't she would end up playing with him and not getting any work done, still she ended up staying all week.
On Friday the family got together to have a picnic, we were originally planning on something up Provo canyon but decided that it was quite the distance and decided on something that was closer. Rock Canyon Park which has an unforgettable memory attached to the place were we went (See link if interested in the Jet plane Slip n Slide click here).
This hill needless to say takes a lot of abuse. Just down the way from our four little kids rolling from this hill there were ice blockers sliding down this hill.
For me one of the funniest things was watching Evan running down the hill. He couldn't keep his legs under him and... BOOM face plant, and a mouthful of grass. Still he was happy and laughing, and got up and did it two more times before realizing that face plants are not so much fun.
We stayed until it started getting dark, playing with all the kiddys and chasing... mainly Bella a 2 year old child that knows no fear!
The following day I took Eleesha to Bountiful for Vanessa's Baby Shower. I hung out long enough to go to lunch with Caleb and left Eleesha with him. She was going to be leaving to go back to DC on a red-eye flight.
It was the best weekend ever!

Weekly writing.

2010-09-04T10:08:00.000-06:00

So I have been given an assignment. It's purpose is mainly to get me writing, and improve my writing in the process. I hope that the topics I find will interesting enough that people will enjoy a short read. Whether enjoyable, enlightening, or sad we will see what the next semester brings.

The '02 Ranger

2009-12-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

So have have been looking for a truck for a long while now.
I found it, and Maren gave her stamp of approval.
It is a 2002 Ford Ranger with 103,000 Miles
2WD, Automatic, Power Windows, Power Door locks. Power Mirrors, Six disc in dash CD changer, 4 Doors, and yes your monitor is not going bad, it is Yellow.
Any suggestions for a name?
Guineo, Banana, Caution, Yeller, etc.
There are so many advantages to owning a yellow truck. I was iffy about getting a yellow truck at first, but now I am so glad we did.

Headlight Cleaning

2009-11-28T13:51:00.003-07:00

Have your headlights started to fog over? Mine looked like this before I cleaned them. Now I can see 100 times better while driving down the road.

Midnight Cramps for Men

2009-06-18T07:37:00.001-06:00

Ever wake up in the middle of the night with a cramp in your leg? Last night was the first night since high school that something like that has happened to me and it is a short, but funny story. So I came home from the BYU testing center around 8:30 last night. After a looking around the kitchen for a few minutes trying to decide what to eat I looked over the bananas for a second or two and said, "No I don't want a banana", and decided that I was going to eat left over rice. Eventually I made it to bed and after about an hour or two I started to dream. In the dream I was going to receive something to do a job. We I got it… two cramps, one in each calf. Now I know how to deal with cramps when they are in the calf. Just pull the big toe to the shin a much as possible without ripping it off (Apparently this could happen when motivated to relieve a cramp). The interesting part was in the dream I felt as if I was being punished for something but I can't remember the reasoning behind why the other person was doing this to me. Still when the pain started I tried to get them to stop but couldn't do anything. I tried to focus on one leg to make the pain go away but I realized that I couldn't do anything because I had six legs. Imagine how confused I was and having thoughts, "why do I have six legs?", "on which leg should I begin?" or "should I just start ripping off toes"? Well after few minutes of sprawling around my better judgment started to kick in and the pain started to pull me out of my dream state. I started to realize that I don't have six legs, I only have two and they are both cramping. I guess it is physically impossible to remove two cramps at the same time because the toe pulling was not working for the first time in the history of mankind. Panic rushed in at this point and I released both legs with a very strong desire to be freed of this torture. I tried again pulling on one toe this time and the pain in one calf started to leave. Well when one was gone I received the courage to start on the other leg. I was able to fall asleep shortly after the pain was gone, but when I woke up this morning my calves were so sore that I still cannot stand a particular way without feeling and thinking about the adventures from last night.

Looking back I think, "Why didn't I listen and just eat the banana"? Still I'm sure you are questioning and yes, I had a banana for breakfast.

Just a Video Update of our Beloved Evan

2009-06-01T21:40:00.004-06:00

So Maren taught Evan how to Blow on his food to cool it down...
I tried to get him to blow on the Dandelions, but he still won't... yet.

Okay, you are probably thinking what happened to Evan's face?
I would love to say, "you should see the other guy!", but the other guy was a tree so... I chopped it down.
Evan loves to ride on my shoulders, and we learned that when we walk under tree and the leaves hit him it makes him smile and laugh, well daddy wasn't paying as much attention as he should have when he walked under a tree on Saturday. The branch scrapped his face and he started to cry the cry that a parent knows... the cry that I am in pain... and my heart just broke. I could tell that the usual fun and games was not fun this time. As I pulled him off my shoulders and looked at him I realize that it just barely missed his eye. Much to my relief it was just a good visual scrap. To this day I still feel terrible. I realize that many times in life we may get cuts on ourselves that reminds us of our own mistakes. I never realized that a scrap on my son would be such a visual reminder to me of my poor decisions with him.
Hopefully I won't have any moment like, "Finding Nemo" where Marlin looks at Dori and sees the scar from going over the trench and into the Jellyfish, instead of through it the trench like she suggested... Just trust me! No you can't speak to whales.

A Fixer that Maren and I Looked in to....

2009-04-14T22:42:00.004-06:00

Maren and I are exploring the option to get into a home this year. Mainly because the government is being so nice to keep interest rates low, and giving us a bit of a break so we could get into a home. The real question is do we trust them?
Check out the pictures of the home. Tell us what you think.

505 Pleasant Grove, UT

Just a few pictures from Feb

2009-03-09T21:31:00.003-06:00

The Happy Holidays - Part 2

2009-02-06T13:44:00.048-07:00

"It is amazing how much crisper the general experience of life becomes when your body is given a chance to develop a little strength." ~Frank Duff

The second half of our winter holidays was spent in Wellsville with my family. It was very nice to spend time with them all. Even Teya, Justin, and Bryleigh came out to visit from Florida! We love seeing them when ever we get the chance. As nice as it was to be with the family though...a dark cloud known as the Stomach Flu hung over the Miner house for about a week. All but four of the family got it (Mom, Justin, Jeff, and Whitney) and a few of us even went to an insta-care clinic. In addition to the stomach flu, Duane and I got some sort of throat infection. On top of all that, I got such a bad ear infection that even the doctor said, "Whoa! Your ear is a bloody mess!" You know something is really bad when even the doctor is shocked.

Anyway...We all got to empathize with dad. He was the first to enjoy the sick sensation on Christmas morning! After breakfast we all posed for the traditional Christmas Lineup picture (minus dad-who was sick; Chris and Jenny who were out of town). It was so fun to watch Evan open his presents. Of course mommy and daddy had to help him. For those of you who know Evan, he can be rather mellow about most things. I guess that Christmas morning was one of those things. He got lots of good stuff

like books, some toys, and a blanket that Grandma Miner made for him! Playing with the presents was more fun than opening them though.

Here are some pictures of Evan wearing and enjoying Christmas presents...

Evan got Three new footie pajamas. So Cute!! He also got a toy that he can push and that changes into a riding toy.

As is the tradition, we all got some pajamas from mom and dad. The guys were coerced into wearing them for this picture. Looks like mom will probably be getting them only for the girls from now on! Just so you know mom....I appreciate the PJ's!!! It's a fun tradition in my opinion!!

Evan enjoyed look at the cats! They were probably freezing outside since it snowed pretty good on Christmas Eve. Bryleigh even joined in on looking at them sometimes.

After playing with presents for a while... we were all pretty tired. I'm so glad Evan takes good naps in the afternoon!!

Other than the Flu Epidemic that hit us... We had a really good vacation with the family. Isn't there a saying somewhere like, "The family that pukes together, stays together." Something like that!

We got to celebrate Bryleigh's 1st birthday! We made a cute piggy cake for her! Due to illness, it was a joint effort. Grandma/Mom baked the cake and Teya helped me decorate it! Duane even added a curly pink tail to it! I won't say much about the taste... just make sure you're careful about which Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe you use. The one on the Meringue powder can comes out a little salty! Oh Well!! It looked so cute though!

I love all of my family so very much!! I am so grateful to have each of them in my life. That includes my adopted family, like Whitney and Jeff. You all teach me so much! I got to see everyone pull together and help each other through the rough moments, laugh together in the funny moments, and relax together in the right moments. I'm so glad that Duane, Evan and I got to spend so much time with you all over the holidays!

Here are some other random pictures from our Wellsville visit...

The Miner/Burton girls. L to R: Rochelle, Me(Maren), Mom(Karen), Jenny, Teya, and Melody.

The studly hubbies! L to R: Duane, Chris, and Justin.

Chris is often grabbing whatever little niece or nephew crosses his path. He caught them both this time!! He obviously hates being an uncle!

Whitney and Jeff Merrill came to visit just after Christmas. We love them!!

Evan showing off his cheesy grin! By the way... We just had his follow-up appointment with his plastic surgeon and he's doing great! The doctor said he won't need to check his lip again for several years!

Mommy(me) was having more fun with Evan's hair and it ended in a wave pattern. As you can see, he was thrilled!

Evan has started teaching his daddy some bad habits! It's cute though, what can I say.

Thanks for checking out our Blog!! Check back again! We try to do at least one posting to our blog a month!

The Simple Things

2009-02-01T17:41:00.005-07:00

On the days that I come home for lunch, it is such a treasure to see Evan come running with his arms stretched out, just to have me pick him up! Cue the music... I'm so glad when daddy comes home, glad as I can be.... One day recently, after I had picked him up we made our way into the kitchen. He pointed at the fridge and I moved him a little closer.... and well the video explains the rest. It was round two and he laughed twice as hard the first time!

The Happy Holidays - Part 1

2009-01-14T11:18:00.031-07:00

"Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place." ~Mark Twain

I decided to start this post with a quote that I really like and that means something to me at the present time. For those of you out there that are full-time homemakers or parents, this quote may mean something similar to you as it does to me. Being a parent is truly a learning experience. I think that being able to find humor in even the most trying situations and moments is a saving factor. It helps me to enjoy every day and most of it comes from my sweet little Evan.

We enjoyed spending the holiday season with our families. We laughed, played, ate, and even puked together... Ah, memories.

Well, we started off the holidays by taking Evan on his very first plane ride to Omaha, NB. He did really well... only crying a little bit during the process of landing. During the flight he kept us entertained by his enthusiastic interest with the window shade.

The Tucker clan met there at Joel and Kaira's house to celebrate Christmas. We had fun playing games together...Duane and I decided to buy the "Mexican Train' game because we had so much fun playing it with Mama Tucker, Janeen, and Joseph. Evan also enjoyed the game "Mexican Train"...well at least he enjoyed chewing on and playing with the dominoes!! It was fun to watch all the kids play together. Sometimes it was a survival of the biggest though...especially when they all wanted to play with the same toy at once.

Here's a video of Evan and Bella enjoyed taking turns playing with a doorstop... it's so cute.

Hey, at least they were taking turns!

Here are some other photos from the Tucker family in Omaha...

We took turns preparing meals. Yummy food from all!!

Evan and Bella helped unload (or at least played with) the groceries.

Evan loved hanging out with Grand-daddy Tucker! (Grandma Tucker too...but unfortunately we somehow didn't get any pictures of Evan with her)

Evan was frequently found on either Aunt Janeen's or Aunt Eleesha's laps! Eleesha often would pile a couple of the kids on her lap at once! It's pretty obvious that she LOVES being an aunt!

On Sunday, we took family photos...lots of them! This is one of the best ones of Duane, Evan, and me.

Having married into the Tucker family, it was fun for me to see how Duane and his brothers and sisters interact. Yep...they're definitely brothers and sisters!! I am very blessed to be a part of this family! Here's a picture of the Tucker siblings. From left to right are... Caleb, Janeen, Joel, Eleesha, and Duane.

We acted out the Nativity as a family. Since he was the only baby boy, Evan got to play baby Jesus while Janeen and Joseph played Mary and Joseph. Caleb was a Sheppard. He was surrounded by the cutest little angels: Addie, Charlie, and Bella! Eleesha, Nici, and I played the three Wise-(wo)men. Kaira played the most biggest part of all...she was an awesome star of Bethlehem!!

We opened family Christmas presents after the nativity. Poor Evan had come down with his first-ever fever that afternoon and so his enthusiasm was a bit limited. ( I was very glad to have Kaira, Nici, and mom there because they knew what to do. I probably would have panicked more otherwise) Just so you know... thank you to grandma and grand-daddy for the ball popper. Evan loves it and plays with it all the time!

We got to fly back to Utah with Caleb, Nici, and Bella sitting right behind us on the plane! That was nice! Being on the same delayed flight meant that we got to all hangout and play "Farkel" together in the airport. Our luggage formed a pretty good playe area for Evan and Bella.

The next part of our holidays was spent with the Miner family in Welsville, UT. The Happy Holidays - Part 2 will be coming soon!!

Thanksgiving and More

2009-01-09T11:44:00.037-07:00

Here are some pictures and videos of November and the beginning of December.

Evan discovers the fun of a dishwasher. This kind of matches a picture of me when I was little.

Jenny and I made some yummy pies. Then we all sat down at the Miner family table to celebrate and eat a super-yummy Thanksgiving dinner.

My mom can definitely cook a great meal! Especially her mashed potatoes... they are SO GOOD!!!!(11/27)

Evan has a really good grip. Duane likes to show off how strong Evan is by lifting him like this.(11/28)

So, we still can't decide what color Evan's eyes are. They seem to fluctuate between gray, brown and hazel. There is also a blueish tint to them at times. What color do you think they might be?(11/28)

Evan got to visit Duane at work. (11/18).

Evan finally fits into the suit that my mom bought for him when he was born! Isn't he so handsome!!!! His mom and dad think so!(12/1)

We have so many precious moments with our sweet little Evan. This is just one of the many that we were able to catch on film. He's all Tucker'd out... hee hee.(12/7)

This is Evan's "You-da-Man" thing that he does. I think that Duane taught him this one. It's so funny!!(12/17)

And finally... Here is the video of Evan really walking for the first time!!!!(12/11)

Phenomenal Cosmic Power.....

2008-12-04T21:44:00.008-07:00

trapped inside an itty bitty living space! Maybe Maren and I are gluttons for punishment when it comes to encouraging Evan, but here are the two newest accomplishments! Sorry about one of the videos, it is a little dark, but totally worth watching.

Suzuki GZ250

2008-11-17T22:37:00.006-07:00

So most people that I have spoken with have not believed that I bought a motorbike. As weird as it is, yes I have a bike. It is considered an entry level bike by retailers and enthusiast. Most people buy this bike to learn how to ride a bike, and then quickly move up on the size once they feel comfortable. To give you a better idea of what kind of power and size I am riding on, here are a few specs and comparisons.

Your typical (stock) Honda Civic EX usually has a about 115 HP from a 1.8 Liter engine. If my math is right then that is about 1800cc. My bike is a Suzuki GZ250 and it is 250cc. Or 0.25 Liters. It pumps out about 18 HP. Not even enough to lift my front tire off the ground (which is what both Maren and I prefer). My bike weights roughly 350 lbs. A Honda Civic weights about 2000 lbs.

Maren and I decided to go this route because I have to drive 2.5 miles every day to go to work. My previous commuter is a wonderful car, but it only gets 17 mpg in the city. My bike will do 65mpg in the city. I fill it's 3 gallon tank every 3 to 4 weeks versus my car's 1 to 2 weeks between fill ups.

One more factor went into getting a bike. We went car shopping several times and while we found things we liked we still would have been locked into payments of 200 dollars a month for something that is not as efficient as this bike. So I bought it outright. I own it and now I only have to pay for gas... and insurance, Which is a whopping $108 dollars a year for full coverage.

Yes I like riding my bike, but if I had the money then I would be in a car. I have seen too many accidents here at BYU involving scooters or motorbikes.

Look What I Can DO!!

2008-11-06T18:26:00.007-07:00

Many new and exciting things happen when Duane comes home on his lunch breaks. Yesterday, Evan started clapping for the first time. He is now starting to recognize what we mean when we say the word clap. He does it more when he's happy. So I think that this may be one of his ways to show that he's happy. It's so cute!! FYI, The Halloween Post is coming very soon! It will include Evan's first really good standing caught on tape.

Halloween (sorry it's late)

2008-11-03T10:17:00.015-07:00

Evan has now officially experienced his first Halloween! Unfortunately for him, he is still too young to enjoy the candy aspect of the holiday. Darn...no sugar high for mom to deal with yet. That will come in time I guess. For Halloween this year, our family decided to go with "The Wizard of Oz" as our theme. Duane was the Scarecrow; Maren was Dorothy; and Evan was the Cowardly Lion. Evan looked SO CUTE!!! We must gives props to Aunt Teya for picking the lion costume out and Grandma Miner for buying it. Nice work ladies! It was a hit! We even won a prize at our ward Halloween party for our family's costumes. There were a lot of awesome costumes and costume combos at the ward party! Some included the Big Bad Wolf and Red Riding Hood; a Ghostbuster and the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow (wo)man; Captain America and mini Captain America; a family of Newsies; and many more. There was lots of creativity this year. Although, last year's Chef and "Bun in the Oven" duo was pretty great too!

Halloween and Christmas are Maren's favorite holidays and so she goes all out for them. She spent a lot of time making and decorating some cakes for the ward party. The pictures need to be lightened a bit but you get the idea. She made a mummy, werewolf, Frankenstein, and eyeball and a couple of random monsters. The Werewolf seemed to be the most popular. It has lots of frosting, made to look like hair. It was a red-velvet cake with raspberry filling. Yum! She would love to make cakes more often, but she likes to make and decorate them more than she likes eating them. (Still trying to get back to the pre-baby body) Those who ate tried them at the party said they were yummy! YEA!!

Duane carved a pretty cool pumpkin this year. It was a big pumpkin eating a little one. He's definitely the pumpkin carver in the family. So much more creative and skilled at it than Maren. With our powers combined...we make a pretty good Halloween team! (bet you thought I was going to say "I am Captain Planet!") All-in-all, Halloween was pretty great this year! We had lots of fun.

In other news;

Evan is getting really good at standing on his own. We finally caught him on video. He started standing by himself on November 1st. He is growing up so fast! Before we know it, he'll be walking on his own.

We finally found a family dentist. Maren Has already had her appointment and despite going 4 years without a check-up, she has no cavities!!! We got fluoride/vitamin drops for Evan, so that his teeth will be nice and healthy. We also got his first toothbrush from the dentist... not that we're able to do too much with it yet. Duane will have his appointment next. We're keeping our fingers crossed that all will go well.

Duane has been working super-hard at work and school. Evan and Maren have been so proud of him! There is only about another month and a half left in the semester.
The spiders are showing up in force lately. We killed a Black Widow spider outside our front door. That got Maren really nervous and she went around the apartment spraying windows. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep those coming into the house, under control.

Teething and Boxes

2008-10-24T09:23:00.009-06:00

Evan is getting big. He's a funny little kid that loves his parents and we love him too. He recently started teething and so far he has two teeth. Together those teeth have quite an impact when he chomps down on your finger.

Maren and I decided to test the theory that children love boxes. It's true, they provide hours of fun for them. Between two boxes Evan has inhabited one for a period of time and the other he has taken up traveling. He's moved it from the kitchen to the living room and then back to the kitchen.
Seriously sometimes I think of Evan as a child pinball. The kid moves with lightening speed from one side of the house to the other within seconds, just to head off to another side a few minutes later.
Evan is more likely to end up like his Dad if he keeps it up. He may find himself in a harness whenever we go out.

He's got it figured out!

2008-09-28T13:12:00.005-06:00

Evan recently took up impressions. He has a really good one. Check it out!

Evan recently started to pull himself to a standing position. Here is his progress after two weeks.

I want an Otter Pop!

2008-09-21T23:28:00.004-06:00

Funny as it my seem, Evan does not like the sound of a vaccum or in this case, a dustbuster. Maren and I have tried to break his fear from the vaccum cleaner, but I guess it is not working.

7 Months

2008-09-19T20:49:00.016-06:00

I turned seven months old on the 15th. What does mom give me? She gives me my first new hair-do! I look awesome! I was thinking about changing my name to spike, but I didn't want to do the Indiana Jones thing and have people laugh at me because I had fond memories of a dog.

Then daddy decided to teach me how to fly. I love it!! In the picture mommy took, I look like I'm pouncing on him though. Grrrr!

In the Last Two Weeks

2008-09-06T10:32:00.007-06:00

In the last two weeks three things have happened with Evan. He has started eating solids. Naturally with that comes the much stinkier diapers.
He as started to crawl. Which means he has become a full time job for Maren. If he sees something he will crawl to it and begin to play with it. Of course there are thing that he sees and can't quite safely grab. Here come the bumps and bruises.
Finally he as learned to sit up on his own.

Our Cute Little Cricket

2008-07-30T23:35:00.003-06:00

Evan likes to kick his legs like a cricket. However, he lifts his hands and arms in order to start kicking. It's so cute!

Time For Firsts

2008-07-21T10:27:00.030-06:00

Another month has flown by and several things have happened!

We finally sold my grandpa's 76 Monte Carlo! It only took a little more than a year to do it, but it's a big relief to have it sold. Because of it's sale, we were able to get the Rodeo brought down from Hyrum, UT. Now we are deciding whether we want to fix it or sell it. We're not sure what we're going to do yet.

Duane and I went to see "The Dark Knight" recently. It was so good and creepy! I think that Christian Bale is probably my favorite Batman. I just think he plays the part the best of those who have done it. Heath Ledger...what can I say...he did an amazing job as the joker. He was so creepy! I would recommend the movie to all. It was very well done!

Evan has learned to roll from his stomach to his back. He now rolls right to his tummy then left to his back. In the process of doing this, he inches his way in circles around his blanket. I guess that's his early form of crawling. He has also learned that the vacuum cleaner isn't scary! It can be fun depending on how you use it.

The most exciting development is that he said "Mama!!!" It was especially exciting for me, since I am the mama. I didn't even realize he was old enough to have a first word. But it's so exciting none the less. He is growing up so fast. Like my dad has said, next he'll be asking to borrow the car. :o)

Evan and I are currently visiting my brother Ryan and his family in Washington. We hitched a ride with my mom since she was coming here. Ryan and Shauna have two girls (Mckenna and Ashley) and a brand new baby boy named Paul Brennan Miner. It's the longest trip and farthest from home Evan has ever been. Due to this, he's a little of his schedule and is letting me know it.

I also think that he and I are getting the cold that's circulating within my brother's family. Hey...more antibodies for my little guy! Despite that, we are having a great trip so far.

On our drive up here, we went through some beautiful country. We took the scenic route through northern Washington. We passed through the Northern Cascades National Park. It was so beautiful!!! I only wish that Duane could have come with us. But alas... he's being a trooper and is working hard to support our family and we love him for it! My thanks goes out to those who have been so kind to feed and visit him while we've been gone! At least he's getting more than just meatballs and corn dogs for dinner.

Sharpening the Coordination

2008-07-20T15:24:00.004-06:00

Evan is our little monkey. He likes to grab things with his feet. It's some fun entertainment for his parents.

Bla Bla Bla

2008-07-19T23:48:00.007-06:00

In the past month, Evan has developed new sounds! It's so adorable!

Standing Strong

2008-06-23T06:05:00.006-06:00

So six days ago was Evan's 4 month mark. He recently learned to roll over from his back to his stomach. Which is great, but he doesn't like to be on his stomach. So he rolls to his stomach and then he gets agitated because he hasn't learned to roll to his back.
Yesterday we took this video of Evan. It shows how strong he is getting. The funny thing is he can't even sit up on his own yet, nor can he stay balanced on his own when you do sit him up.

Maren and I think Evan is starting to laugh.

Ward Slip and Slide

2008-06-15T16:27:00.015-06:00

Happy Father’s day! As my first father’s day Maren and I are taking it easy today. She is making a Carrot Cake for me today. And I literally mean for me because she does not like carrot cake! Even though she just admitted to me that she might try one.

Yesterday our ward had a barbeque with a slip and slide. Some guys bought about 100 ft of plastic and ran some water on it. For all who don’t know where this is at. It is at Rock Canyon Park in Provo. These hill’s take some serious abuse during the year. From sledding in the winter time to Ice blocking in the summer, students have no end of creativity for new abuses on these hills. A few of the video’s that you will see express that we didn’t have enough plastic to come to a complete stop. I’m sure more than one person had to clean grass out of their shorts after the day was over. Still I am not alone in my sufferings from yesterday’s fun. Just about everyone has sore muscles, grass cuts, and bruises. I personally have about 30-40 cuts from the grass on my shoulder, stomach, back, and yes even my head! Every time I sneeze, cough, or laugh my stomach remains me of the fun I had on Saturday. My knees even have bruises. Between all of that I am having a fun time trying to figure out how to lift Evan without hurting or kneeling.

Maren and I decided that Evan should have some fun on the slide too. We took him down once and he responded like he did that kind of thing everyday. No smile, laugh, frown, cry, giggle, crossed his little face at any point on the slide. Maybe in a few more months he will enjoy going sledding with daddy.

Evan's Getting Big

2008-06-15T14:47:00.008-06:00

Evan is doing rather well with sleeping habits. He has started to sleep through the night. Maren puts him to bed with a special self made routine of feeding, humming and rocking. He rarely cries when he goes to bed around 8-8:30pm. However a few times I have gotten up around 5am to check on him and he is just playing, having a good time playing and chopping down on his fingers. Sometime I seriously wonder what is going through his head. About the same time he discovered that his fingers are so darn yummy, he also decided that he doesn’t like the pacifier as much. He can hardly keep it in for more than 30 seconds before he spits it out and locks in the fingers. We tried to keep his fingers from his mouth for a little while, but then decided that he is going to do what he is going to do. Just like Heavenly Father tries to help us. If we are persistent, then he will let us do what we want even if it is not the best thing for us. Evan doesn’t really care what fingers are in his mouth. Usually it is his right hand pointer, and middle finger, but I have seen him try and get four fingers in at the same time.

In other exciting news! Evan learned to move his arm out of the way, so now he is rolling over. Maren and I were both there during lunch time to see it. We had left him on a blanket in our living room to go into the kitchen and eat. After about two minutes I came back into the living room and he was on his stomach. I asked Maren, “Did you roll him to his stomach when you left”? She said no, so we set up the camera, and he did it again. He seriously wouldn’t stop rolling over all day.
However the fun would come to an end and he had enough one night. His crying woke us up and I went into his room to see what was the matter. He had rolled to his stomach and started to drool. Apparently he doesn’t like his head in a puddle of drool and wanted let us know. Speaking of drool, it comes more often then a poopy diaper and with warning. Half the day he looks like he has been working up a sweat underneath his chin.

After the Surgery

2008-05-22T21:14:00.022-06:00

Our little Evan has been growing lots and lots! About a week and a half after his surgery, Evan went from eating 3oz. to eating around 5oz. per feeding! I guess he's making up for lost time now that he has better suction. He's healing extremely well. Dr Warnock said that his lip may continue to be tender for up to 6 months. Poor little guy! He's getting better at not hitting himself in the face with those crazy arms of his. He's starting to be more careful about how quickly he sticks his fingers into his mouth.

He has also started sleeping A LOT BETTER at night. In Fact, he slept through the whole night, twice!! (cue the Halleluiah Chorus) Maybe he was just giving us a preview of future sleeping habits. We can hope!

Good News!!! Duane got a Fulltime job with BYU! This means that I will get to be at home with Evan Fulltime! Unfortunately, both Evan and I are sick with colds right now. I guess that means we'll have to take an extra nap (hopefully) each day! Duane may be catching the cold bug as well. Hmm... maybe it is true that if mom gets sick, everyone catches it!

I'm bushed! Could you please leave me alone for a few minutes!

I'm Hungry! Feed Me! You will not like me when I get mad!

Surgery

2008-04-21T21:10:00.009-06:00

Maren and I wanted to post a few pictures on how Evan's lip surgery turned out. His lip is looking good and he is already feeding again, but he's already learned that his lip is a little sensitive. Still feeding again is a great sign, but the hospital still wants to keep him over night just to make sure everything is okay. Please keep him in your prayers!

Lip from the Lion

2008-04-20T20:09:00.017-06:00

Looking at photo albums from my childhood, I've always thought that parents loved to torture their kids in photos. Well I guess we're carrying on the tradition. Today was Evan's last day before his cleft lip surgery. We decided to dress him up in the halloween costume that Grandma Miner gave us. As Grandpa Miner sang, upon meeting Evan for the first time... "I am the king of the forest" (sung like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz). We just think he's a precious little guy!

We've had a fun time watching Evan grow. I have returned to work and Duane is finishing the winter semester at BYU. For the past couple of weeks, Evan has been able to join his daddy in attending some of Duane's classes. When they're not at class, Evan gets to do two of his favorite things... 1)Hang out with his daddy and 2)scream like crazy. Ok... he doesn't scream like crazy...at least not too often. Actually, he's a pretty good baby. He's not overly fussy at this point. However, we'll see what happens this upcoming week. Evan has his lip surgery on Monday (4/21/08) and then he gets his 2 month shots on Thursday (4/24/08). It's going to be a rough week for our little guy!

Between the two un-fun events, he will get to meet Grandma Tucker for the first time. She will be arriving for a visit sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday. We're so excited for her to meet Evan! We know he's excited too. Hanging out with a grandma is so much more fun than with boring mom and dad! While Grandma and Grand-Daddy Tucker are visiting, Evan will get his baby blessing at church. We're all excited for that!

Everyday is a new adventure for our little family. We love our little Evan! Each day he gives us new reasons to smile.

Being new parents isn't easy, but we're enjoying our time together! With all the fun and the not-so-fun experiences, Duane an I are learning to really appreciate all that our parents did for us! To them we want to say, "We love you so much and thank you for all you have done! You are wonderful!"

Arnold's Promo

2008-04-16T23:41:00.004-06:00

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Finally Got the Sneeze!

2008-04-10T10:15:00.007-06:00

Baby Aerobics

2008-04-08T00:06:00.002-06:00

Super Baby

2008-04-06T18:11:00.006-06:00

Labor, Delivery and Little Evan

2008-02-18T17:47:00.005-07:00

As you all know I am the proud father of little Jonathan Evan Tucker. 7 lbs 13 oz. 19 inches long. Doing just great! Mommy is healing well and fast. She is already walking around by herself. Sometimes her mom and I have to tell her to take it easy.

Well the first night was a little rough. Leave it to me to get sick the day my son was born. So I took Ni-quil and was gone for four hours. My sweet wife and her mother were up just about all night trying to sooth him. They gave him a pacifier (even though I said no until the milk comes in) to quiet him down. It worked for a while and then it was like he forgot how to suck on mommy's breast. His cries woke me up at 4 and I took him to give mommy a break. I can tell this kid is not going to be easy for the first month or two.

I didn't tell earlier about Maren's labor. The kid was scaring us for a while. The first time Maren was able to push, Evans heart rate dropped down to about 65 and didn't come back up very quickly (it's normally at 120, and they don't like to see it down below 90 without coming back up quickly). So the removed the stomach heart monitor and put in one of those wires that attaches to the kids head. A few minutes later Maren pushed again and Evan did the same thing so they let her rest. Tried again and he did it again. Well the nurse was not liking it at all (frankly neither was I) so she call the doctor and then came back and said that they were going to give her a half and hour break to relax. (The doctor had to go to another hospital for a c- section. Basically the nurse came back and said there is a possibility for Maren to have c-section but she wanted to wait for the doctor to get back. When the doctor got back Maren started to push and funny thing the heart rate was fine. So after a good hour of pushing the kid came out (with the help of the Doctor's Vacuum). Maren had an episiotomy (the cut to help her out however you spell it) but she still tore to a 3. I guess the kid was just to big!

The biggest surprise we had all night was when the doctor was about to hand him over to Maren for the first time he said it was small, but he has a cleft lip. I knew what a cleft was and I would have to say that while I was extremely shocked when I first saw it, but I knew it was not that bad because it looked like it was only in the lip. It was something that I was not expecting, My son's is a very mild case, but if you don't know what it is then here is the short. While in the womb, in the early stages of development, the mouth comes together. Sometime some children do not come together properly or even at all. In severe cases the cleft extends from the lip to the palate (the part of your mouth that gets irritated when you eat captain crunch) and does not separate between the mouth and nasal passage. Needing several surgeries to correct to even allow the child to eat.

Our pediatrician said it is a very mild case for Evan. His cleft does not extend into his mouth or gums from what we can see. Still they want us to go in a few month to Primary Childrens in SLC to have a specialist look at it.
Surgeries can be done as early has 3 months, but I think we are going to wait until he is being weaned off the breast and onto a bottle. It just depends on what the specialist says.

Of this matter two things come to mind. Is any child born perfect? Maybe a few out there are so blessed. My child was not and that is okay. Second, is not why me?, but instead what is the Lord teaching me right now? He let it happen for a reason, now I just need to look for his guidance and teaching so that I will act the way He would want me to act.

Still I think it is good not feel so serious about his condition. More burps and farts will come but as I was looking my son last night as he was sleeping a thought came to mind, "it looks like my son has 3 lips." And I love him for it! I am really am okay with my sons imperfections. Still I will do what I can for him, because I love him.

Duane

Marny-bear

2008-02-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ultrasound

2007-10-13T09:56:00.000-06:00

So on September 25th Maren had a ultrasound to check out the size and health of the baby. We where really excited and also wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl. Lets just say that the technician wanted to keep our attention so for about 20 minutes she didn't tell us if it is a boy or girl. However she thought our baby was being just so darn cute that she gave us several pictures. All here for you.

So to begin for those of you that don't know. The white area on the ultrasound is denser material describe to me as where bones are growing. And where you see black there is fluid.

This picture is a profile shot with the Evan facing up.

This is a profile shot of him facing down.

This is Evan's face and arm looking straight at us! It almost looks scary!

This is another shot of his face but with his hand. Its a good shot of his mouth and chin. He is so cute!

This is a shot of his foot. You can't really tell but his feet where kind of crossed.