Prodeo Quod Dominor (Our Family Motto)

Today in church, we had an inspirational sacrament meeting concerning setting goals for the new year. As part of Joseph's valiant effort to keep me entertained, we told each other our lofty goals for the new year. We were counseled to share our goals in a prominent place so that we will be more likely to achieve them, hence this blog entry.

Joint Goals:
1. Continue in awesomeness.
2. Keep dominating.

Joseph's Personal Goal:
Delay translation another year in order to help those less fortunate (i.e., everyone)

Maren's Personal Goal:
Keep all of Joseph's female admirers at bay.

Our Little Family Welcomes a New Addition

On Wednesday, after approximately an hour of labor our little family welcomed into our loving home a new addition. It weighs around 35 pounds and stands 33 and 1/2 inches high. It has two small dimples and a large mouth. We discovered it has a voracious appetite. (It already inhaled the contents of our small freezer.) A lot of debate went into our decision about whether or not we were ready for this little one. Would we have enough room in our little hobbit hole? Do we need to get better insurance? Financially, can we handle this new responsibility? After prayerful consideration, we felt that now was the time to proceed. We think we have made a wise decision. The last few days have been blissful and we look forward to spending many more together. At this time, we would like to thank our parents and grandparents. Without them, this addition would not have been possible. Thank you Muhlesteins for letting us borrow the Suburban and thank you Grandpa Wells for the Christmas money.

First Presidency Devotional: Living in Utah has Perks

We got tickets and went to the first presidency devotional. This is a picture of how the conference center was decked out. It was very nice, and made us realize that living near church headquarters has some real perks. Purty, eh?

Provo Wonderland

After church we went out for a little while taking pictures. These are just a couple of the ones that Joseph took, and maybe when we get Maren's camera hooked up to the computer, some of hers might make it on here too.

My HAWG!!

Well, I finally upgraded. You can see my old yet still awesome ride that I was borrowing from my brother in law Thomas, and my new mount, a 49.5 cc Yamaha Vino. This has been our second ride that I (Joseph) have used almost exclusively since we got it. It is a 2-stroke engine, and tops out on a warm day at about 35 mph (on the flat), and about 31 when it gets colder. It is lots of fun. You can also see our outside couch which is very comfortable but which we have no room for inside.

24

24 is a good number. It is the number of hours in the day, it is the name of a street, and even was deemed good enough to title a big budget tv show. It also happens to be the score that Joseph got on his practice MCAT. While this would normally be a very disappointing score, but the fact that he has never studied for this test and has yet to take any of the chemistry or biology classes required, he wasn't too disappointed with it.

The Homecoming Parade!!!! We took our couch and put it literally inches from the parade path, and got quite a few comments. Gifford Nielson was particularly impressed. This is Cosmo doing a trick, Gifford Nielson, LaVell Edwards, and a cool float.

Hare Krishna Springfest

We went to the Hare Krishna color fest, and it was quite the experience. I think that the video can pretty much speak for itself.

Experimental Physics

Joseph is taking a physics lab class, and this is the setup for a heater experiment that he is doing. The idea is to create a setup that you can press a button on the computer, and it will run through the program by itself. It must start below 50 c, raise up to 100 c and stay there (within .5 c for 2.5 minutes, and then lower to 70 c and stay there for 2.5 min (also within .5 c). Right now they have a best time of 7:51, but they hope to lower that by several seconds.

A nation's tradgedy, our five minute entertainment.

The traveling Vietnam memorial stopped by for a few days in Provo, and we stopped by it for a few minutes, also in Provo. Being of a later generation, I'm afraid that the emotions and sentimentalities that we hold specifically for the Vietnam war era are comparable to those we hold for those of the crusades in the dark ages, but it was sobering to see the feelings of those for whom it is far more real expressed in flowers and pictures. While for some it was a life changing experience, it certainly was a well spent few minutes for us.

Park City (with joy)

Thanks to the time share trade of Maren's parents, we had a sweet pad in Park City for a week in between school. We got to go for a good chunk of the week, and had a great time. Highlights included Nacho Mama's, Maren's new favorite Mexican joint, and Nick's Cafe which proved to be quite authentic (and tasty) Greek food. We also got to ride the Alpine Slide and Alpine coaster, both of which were quite enjoyable. They have videos on YouTube that someone posted that shows what they are like.
(The little girl at the beginning of the slide is cute, and that guy on the coaster has a hairy leg. I get the urge to braid it every time I see it.)


It was a great escape from Provo, and with shopping thrown in, the voracious appetite of certain participants was also satiated.

Graduation: Mortar Board Parade EXTRAORDINAIRE!!

Though not officially finishing until December, Maren took the big walk in August with most of her nursing semester colleagues. The family came up and we had a great time, and celebrated by going to Park City for a week soon thereafter.

The BIRTH-Day Splash

Maren turned one year wiser on the 14th of August, and we celebrated something fierce. Joseph made the cake and succeeded in at least making it edible though not particularly the aesthetic masterpiece for which he had hoped, but at least it was pink.

Lake Blanche-a-licious

Lake Blanche is a beautiful hike just off of Big Cotton Wood Canyon in Salt Lake City. It is also a hike that we had never heard of until Joseph Creswell invited us to hike it with him. We set out early on a Saturday morning in August to brave the 3 mile trip up the canyon. While the reported distance is probably accurate, it is hard to imagine what the accompanying 2000+ ft. vertical ascent translates to over such a relatively short distance. Needless to say, it felt more like 4-5 miles by the time we got up there.

We had a great time enjoying our lunch at the top and exploring the other small lakes in the area. We saw lots of fish that live in the streams and lakes of the area, and enjoyed trying catch one for a while with predictably little success. We did manage to remember our camera before we left, but the two bars the battery reported earlier were no longer doing any good, so the picture is courteous of Joseph's camera phone.

It starts... With Fifth Waters

While it may sound like the beginning of many a journal, which this essentially is, we are going to endeavor to start writing about who we are and what makes us us. To start with, we will talk about our adventure to "Fifth Waters" hot springs.

It all started when Maren's friend/coworker Eileen told her about a date she went on to the springs. She said that it was really nice, but that it was notorious for skinny dipping so you should be careful if you go. We looked it up on the internet, and found that her account was true and that it did indeed exist. We recruited Joseph and Kathryn Creswell to accompany us and we set off for the springs.

We found the head of the trail behind some construction which is being done on the washed out bridge, and began our hike up. The weather was fair and the conversation jovial as we worked our way up the 2.5 mile trip to the springs. We stopped several times to test the temperature of the water as we really didn't know what we were getting into. When we finally reached the springs, however, we were pleasantly surprised by the groomed nature of the area. We tested out several of the springs and enjoyed the varying temperatures, as well as the naked man reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in one of the pools. Gratefully he had a suit with him that he put on before he got out, but it was cause for laughing nonetheless.

We will let pictures tell the rest of the story, but it was a diverting and pleasant experience to be sure. Directions and such can be found on the internet if you search: Fifth Waters Utah.