Friday, December 19, 2008

Drum Roll Please

Alright, here it is. A few people have wanted to see this so I am posting my belly for the first time. It is showing now and people come up me saying, "I didn't know you were pregnant." At least they know I'm pregnant and not just gaining weight :)

Oh, and I am definitely feeling the baby moving and kicking now. It's not big but it's something. This morning is even the first time Derrick felt little Caleb kick, that was exciting. We're already both enjoying this whole baby thing.






The Nutcracker

Through Stanford, Derrick and I got cheap tickets to see the San Francisco ballet perform The Nutcracker. We had never been inside the Opera House before and it was beautiful.

While there we saw a few friends from the ward and from our housing complex. Oh, and there were a ton of little girls! They were cute to see dancing around during intermission, trying to be like the ballerinas they're watching on stage. Here's us in our seats:

Hornblower Cruise



For one of my work parties, Derrick and I went on a Hornblower Cruise around the San Franciso Bay. We took a bus up to San Franciso and hopped onto a ship. We ate an amazing dinner, talked to friends, danced and walked around outside to look at the city's skyline. We went under the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge. It was a beautiful, clear and cold night.

Here's the crazy part: we got off the boat at midnight, home around 1:30am and Derrick stayed up until 6am doing TA work he had to get done. We wake up at 7:30 to get ready for church. After almost a week, he's finally recovering. We're both enjoying Derrick being on break.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The Greatest Show on Earth



Derrick did a family home evening lesson for us in April where he made a power point presentation. He edited this picture used it as the intro to his slide show. We both love it. For those who don't get what it is here's the real picture.



Here's a few great quotes that I love:
"Hi, I'm Michael Scott. I'm in charge of Dunder-Mifflin paper products. But I'm also the founder of Diversity Tomorrow... because today is almost over." - Michael Scott

"Whenever I am about to do something I ask myself 'would an idiot do this?' and if the answer is yes then I do not do that thing." - Dwight Schrute

Michael: Stanley, that's fricken brilliant. How do you know that? Did you learn that on the streets? (stutters and shakes head) I'm sorry.
Stanley: Oh, it's ok. I did learn it on the streets. On the ghetto in fact.

Abraham Lincoln once said that ‘If you're a racist, I will attack you with the North.' And those are the kinds of goals that I carry with me in the workplace." - Michael Scott

"I never smile if I can help it. Showing one's teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life." - Dwight

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Christmas Party

We can't believe how many people attended the ward Christmas party this year! It was the place to be on Friday night. I ate too many desserts and ran around the building trying to find a Children's Songbook (I ended up finding one hidden in the library). After that, I did have fun playing the piano for the kids while they sang Jingle Bells and Christmas Bells in their cute little blue choir outfits. Here's Derrick and I at the party (sorry it's a little blurry):

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Sugar Cookies

I made sugar cookies by myself for the first time this last week!



My mom always made them growing up and I had no idea how much of a learning curve there would be. After trying a few different techniques I finally figured out how to make them come out well. A few people have been asking for the recipe so here it is:

Cut Out Cookies
1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.

1. Cream softened butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix flour, soda, cream of tarter and salt together in a bowl then add to cream mix.
2. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
3. Roll dough on floured surface. Cut cookies with cookie cutters.
4. Bake 400 degrees 6-8 minutes (It was always exactly 8 minutes for me). Remove and place on cooling rack.

Here's a few tips I learned:
-Don't be afraid to use a lot of flour for the floured surface. I even kept putting flour on top of the dough to prevent the rolling pin from sticking. The cookies still turned out well with the extra flour used.
-I have an ultra thin spatula to pick up the cut out dough shapes which helped a lot.
-After you're done with the first round of cutting out cookies, brush the flour off the best you can, roll the dough together and roll it out again same a before--lots of flour on the bottom and add flour as needed on the top.
-As soon as you pull the cookies out of the oven take them off the pan--they won't squish together like other cookies will and if you let it cool a bit before taking them off they start sticking to the sheet.

Frosting:
1 stick margarine, softened
1/4 cup milk (I think I used just a little less)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Remember to use coloring dye and festive sprinkles for decorating!

Friday, November 21, 2008

I love having a piano!

I recorded my first song on our new digital piano. This is only the second time I attempted to record this song and it would have taken about 10 more tries to make it perfect but I only wanted to try it out. Also, something happens when we import it from the piano to the computer--it makes it sound fake. Sorry about that--it sounds much better on a real piano.

Here's an arrangement I did of the song Beautiful Savior. My mom told me last year that my Pop-pop (mom's dad) got teary eyed when he heard it at one of my sibling's baptism. I guess he knew that song from when he was younger. Sorry if any of those facts are wrong but that's what I remember my mom telling me. So, I arranged it for my Pop-pop.

Friday, November 14, 2008

It's a Boy!!!

Forget what the Chinese calendar said, my mother instincts and dreams were right. Derrick and I just got back from getting the ultrasound done and we found out that's it's a boy and he currently weighs 10 oz. We are so excited and it was really cool to see how much bigger he is. The baby is still very active. Whenever the sonographer got the sensor in the right spot to take a picture he would move and she'd have to replace it. My tummy was pretty sore by the time she was done (she was looking around for about a half hour, I didn't know it would be so long).

For the first 10 minutes or so she was taking pictures, then she pointed out all of the parts of the baby to us for about 10 more minutes and then took more pictures for another 10 minutes. I was so happy to see the baby but I can say I was very relieved when she said she was through.

Here's two pictures of the cutest baby boy around. They make me smile every time I look at them.

Monday, November 10, 2008

San Diego

I was able to go visit my family last weekend because my Uncle Chris offered me a free plane ticket he needed to use. The last time I saw them was Thanksgiving 2007...almost a year. While there my dad and I went to lunch with his parents at a Chinese restaurant. That night we went to my favorite frozen yogurt place and came home to watch the new movie, Emma Smith Story. The next day I went shopping with my mom in the morning and in the afternoon we went to the Hall of Champions. That's a museum in Balboa Park with a lot of famous sports people and teams (well the Padres and Chargers mostly). Here's a picture of Mom, Jenna, me and Andrew outside of it.

In the museum there was a BYU helmet signed by Lavell Edwards (for those who don't know, he was BYU's football coach in the 80's and 90's and one of best coaches BYU ever had). Here's me next to that.

That night my friend from high school, Lauren, came over and it was so fun to see her again. It has been years since I've seen that girl! We talked with my family then watched the movie Leatherheads. Sunday I went to first hour of church, said hi to a few people and headed off to the airport.
Lastly, here's a picture of me and Andrew before church on Sunday. I can't believe how big he has gotten since a year ago. I'm officially now the shortest sibling, just like my mom.

Daddy, don't go

















I heard a story about when Derrick's was really little. His dad, Paul, was at BYU getting his masters in computer science, just like Derrick. One night Paul was leaving home to go work in the lab and Derrick sweetly said, "Daddy, don't go." I can imagine a father's heart melting at those words.

Well, tonight Derrick went to a study group then he came home and had to leave immediately for another one. I had a blah day at work and was doing nothing but chores since I got home. So, when Derrick was leaving for the second time I just started crying because I didn't want him to leave and he said, "Daddy, don't go." I knew exactly what he was talking about and I knew exactly what little Derrick felt like. Sometimes I really wish Derrick wasn't in school but I know it will be for the better.

Here I've included a picture of Derrick with the dad he loves so much.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

First Grandbaby having First Great-Grandbaby

Here's the picture of the exact moment when my parents told my mom's parents that Derrick and I were going to have a baby. My dad just e-mailed it to me and I thought it was the cutest picture. The first words out of my grandma's mouth were, "Five generations of girls!" She couldn't be convinced that we could be having a boy. My great grandma is living in Pennsylvania and turning 95 next year. We already have the 4 generation picture and wouldn't it be awesome if we could make it 5?

We were able to get a good picture because the news was let out at the end of my cousin's wedding day (I realized that sounds like it could be a bad thing but it wasn't at all). My cousin used the same photographer we had for our wedding. So, when my parent's asked if he could take a picture of my grandparents, he was happy to.

Next week on Friday we find out if we're having a boy or a girl!!!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

We Bought a Digital Piano!!!

Here it is. Isn't it beautiful?! I saw this Yamaha on good old Craigslist a few days ago and picked it up last night in San Jose. It even came with the stand, bench and a nice set of head phones. I can't even describe how happy I am to get a piano in my home. It's still hard to believe it's really mine. Every time I see it I want to play it (and unless something else is pressing I've been following my desire).

Derrick is excited too because he likes to hear me play :) I'm glad we're both happy with this decision to get a piano.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Now and Then

Here's me now:


Here's Derrick 2 years ago:

Inability to walk:
Danielle 1 1/2 days
Derrick 4 weeks

How it happened:
Danielle: Tripped on edge of sidewalk
Derrick: Falling down stairs while moving.

Derrick wins for more bruising and injury!!!

That was the summary. Here's my full story.
On Monday night we were walking back into the apartment building and I slipped on the edge of the sidewalk and sprained my ankle. Derrick carried me in the building and there was a pumpkin carving party in the lobby. They asked if we wanted a pumpkin and I did so even though I was in so much pain I still wanted Derrick to get it. So he set me down by the elevator, got a pumpkin and set that in the elevator. Then when we got to our floor he put the pumpkin outside the elevator, carried me into our apartment and went back and got the pumpkin. Thanks Derrick! You're the best!

Next we called the 24 hour nurse helpline and they said I should go in to see a doctor but since I could walk on my foot a little bit I decided to wait until the next day and see how I was doing. One bummer was that I couldn't have ibuprofen to help with the swelling because of a certain little someone inside me. That's ok baby, I still love you!

Tuesday I woke up and couldn't put any pressure on it whatsoever. So I made an appointment and we spent 3+ hours being checked by the doctor, getting x-rays and going to a pharmacy to rent crutches. I ended up having no broken bones and by Wednesday I could walk on my foot again but with a very noticeable limp. By tonight, Thursday, I'm almost walking normally. I'm so grateful for everyone who prayed for me because I had no idea how I would handle work on Wednesday. But I got through that day fine and I am feeling significant improvement--even though it still looks pretty bad.

Extra, Extra
Here's another one of Derrick photos. His injured leg looks like it's part of a dead mans body.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Date Night


On Friday Derrick was interviewing at Oracle all day. On his way home that night I called him and he said that he wanted to put aside homework for a night and take me out on a date. I was so excited because since he's started up school again he hasn't had much time for anything but an occasional clip of some tv show or the news, and that's usually while we're eating dinner. We decided to go to Maggiano's Italian restaurant. We went there for my birthday this year and loved it and we knew we had to go back. We got lost on the way there, couldn't find parking for about 15 minutes and then had to wait for a table for over a half hour. Being pregant and hungry don't go well with each other so while we were waiting for a table we went and got a milkshake to split. As Derrick's grandpa says, "Life's short, eat dessert first." The wait was worth it though, when we ate the fried zucchini I felt like I was in heaven.

When we got home we watched about a half hour of Lord of the Rings and went straight to bed. It was a long week for both of us (I worked all 6 days this week!!!). Thank goodness it's Sunday.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Sunday Dinner


Tonight some friends from church, Justin and Brenly, invited us and another couple over for dinner. It was so fun! They made dinner in a pumpkin and it really got me in the fall holiday spirit. Then for dessert Brenly made a mint ice cream with grasshopper cookie crumb crust. So delicious! We love spending time with friends and are so grateful for the people who reach out to us.

April 8th???

So, I had a dream the other night where I saw my two oldest children. Both boys about 2 and 4 years old. One had blond hair and the other had light brown. I asked the older one when his birthday was and he told me April 8th. That's 3 days before my due date. It will be interesting to see if that really happens :)

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Chicago

I went to Chicago for two and a half days this week with one of the offices I work for. We went to a convention there that started at 8am in the morning both days. No problem unless that's 6am California time and you have to wake up an hour before the convention to get ready. Boy was I tired. We did get to go to downtown Chicago one night and eat at an Italian restaurant. For dessert I had some mint chocolate ice cream and can I say, it was the best I've ever had in my life! It was fun to see a new city but I'm glad to be at home again with Derrick. Here's the only two pictures I took there. These are the people I work with!

I Think Boy


So when I first knew I was pregnant I looked at the Chinese lunar calendar that tells you if you're supposed to have a boy or a girl. After looking at the chart and finding that said it was supposed to be a girl I've stuck to that. However, just before I went in for my first doctor's appointment I had a feeling I would be having a boy but I still stuck to my girl story. Since then I've had two dreams where I had a boy. I still feel like it's a boy. We'll see on November 14th if my feeling is right or if the Chinese lunar calendars are :)

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Stanford Volleyball



Derrick and I went to our first sporting event at Stanford even though we've been here a year now. Our building sponsored the activity of going to the Stanford Women's Volleyball game. We only could stay for the first 2 games since Derrick had homework and Stanford won both! I love volleyball and it was fun to get that hour of fun in on a Saturday night.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Lucky Baby

At 11 weeks pregnant our baby is already getting lots of love. First, for our 1 year wedding anniversary Derrick's gift to me and the baby was a stuffed animal lamb that plays sounds for the baby to sleep to. I've already decided that I want a lamb themed nursery and Derrick knew that will be perfect for it.

Second, my grandparents sent us a nice card and some money for the baby's first piggy bank. Invest that now and by the time he or she reaches retirement it could be a lot of money :)

Third, today in the mail we just got a package from Derrick's family. They sent little onsies with great pictures on them. Two BYU shirts (yep, our kids are going to grow up cougar fans), the Simpsons, Dwight from The Office and a Dilbert.

Yosemite Trip

We just got back yesterday from a 4 day trip to beautiful Yosemite. The first day there we drove around the valley floor and did an easy hike to Lower Yosemite Falls. There was no water this time of year but it was still a nice hike. We also stopped at the visitors center and planned out what we wanted to do on the trip.

Since we stayed in cabins that had electricity we brought our lap top and watched movies at night. That was always a relaxing ending to activity filled days.

On the second day there we went on a hike to see some big sequoias. Here's one that people can walk through.

This is crazy too. One of these trees fell down and you can see the roots and how broad the base is.

After that hike we drove and stopped at Tenaya Lake. I couldn't believe how clear the water was everywhere we went. Later on in the day, on our way back, this is actually where we stopped, made and ate our dinner.

The next adventure of the day was a picnic lunch and then another hike up to Dog Lake. There we saw frogs and deer. Derrick skipped rocks and I actually caught on video him getting like 10 skips in a row. The only thing is that I was holding the camera sideways and we haven't figured out yet how to rotate a video so maybe when we figure that out we'll put it on here :)

Thursday was our big hike. We didn't go all the way to Half Dome but we went half way and saw two waterfalls. The first was Vernal Falls.



Here's Derrick at the bottom pool of Vernal Falls.

This was what we climbed up for 2000 feet of elevation. Yeah, my legs were jello on the way down. I kept praying they wouldn't forget how to work :)

The second waterfall was Nevada Falls. Here was the view from the top. I swear all of this looks better when you're actually there.


That night we were planning on going to the Awahnae hotel dining room for dinner that night until we got there and saw that each plate was like $50. Yeah, that's not in our budget. We heard it was pricey but we didn't know it would be that much. We ended up going to Yosemite Lodge's sit down restaurant. It was great food and more reasonably priced.

We didn't take any pictures the last day but we just biked around the valley floor and then headed home. I had episodes of sickness everyday we were there (I even threw up the morning we went on our big hike) but luckily I was able to do the activities we wanted. Derrick is really helpful and understanding. I'm very grateful for that.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Baby on the Way


Today I had my first appointment with a nurse practitioner to find out how me and our baby are doing. Now that we know the due day we're going to start spreading our good news. I'm due April 11th, 2009...good time to have a baby I think. Here's a picture of the first ultrasound. When I saw it on the screen it was moving it's little arms and legs and the nurse said, "You have an active baby there." I also was able to see and hear the heart beating. That was way cool. It really was so neat to see my baby. It finally makes me feel pregnant (even though I have been pretty sick some weeks). We're really happy and excited for the next few months.

Friday, September 5, 2008


On Labor Day we did a beach trip starting at Half Moon Bay. We walked out to the water and Derrick walking in it for a bit while I sat down, watched him and ate Gummi Bears. After that we pulled out our kite and played with that for a bit. There wasn't too much wind so it was hard to get it to stay up but we did have a little success.

After spending a little time there we drove north on Highway 1 up through Devil's Slide. The coast was amazing. We stopped at one more beach that was small but beautiful.

Lastly, we were hungry so we stopped at a mexican restaurant. It was terrible! Both of us agreed that we would never eat there again. Oh well, one bad thing in a great day isn't too bad.

Monday, September 1, 2008

1 Year Anniversary


On August 25 we celebrated our 1 year anniversary by going out to dinner at a nice restaurant called Sundance. There was a famous golf player there named Fred Funk and he was signing autographs for some workers. He must have owned that Bentley that was in the parking lot when we got there :) Our waiter found out it was our anniversary and gave us a rasberry tort cake on the house. It was absolutely delicious! He even sang to us when he brought it out. After that we went to Hollywood video and rented Shadowlands. It was pretty good--true love story about C.S. Lewis. We had a nice evening.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Car Break In


Derrick just uploaded the pictures he had on his cell phone. Here was another interesting thing that happened in the beginning of June. Some people broke into Derrick's car through the window, stole the cd player, a cd case and a gift card we had. Derrick's backpack was in the car with his laptop inside. They unzipped the backpack but for some reason they left it. Lucky.



No more cd player :(

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Scrapbooking


Right now we're putting together Derrick's missionary scrapbook. Our living room is a mess because of it and so far we're only on Transfer 2 but Derrick's really happy we're finally organizing his memories.

See the mess :)