.......

If you don't already know... Andrew and I went to get our 18 week ultrasound yesterday and besides getting measurement found out we are having a baby girl. Even though it hurt to have my bladder pushed on while having to pee because they ask you to have a full bladder, it was worth it to see our little girl squirming around in there. We are really excited to meet her in April! Time has already flown by so fast! It seems like just yesterday I was puking up everything and wanting to die. Today I feel mostly great besides the constant indigestion problems and so forth... Anyway, we feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to be parents! We love you all and hope the holidays are good to you and yours, and that none of us forget the reason for this beautiful season. We are BLESSED!

Our family is growing!!

So once we found out we were pregnant we were super thrilled and called the doctor's office to set up our first appt. Then the era of vomiting began. Finally we got to the doctor at 10 weeks and he decided he would try to find a heart beat using a doplar. He searched and searched for quite a while but didn't find anything. He said the chances of hearing a heartbeat were low but he thought he would give it a shot anyway. We went back two weeks later and he tried again but could still not pick up a heart beat. Needless to say we were a bit concerned at this point. Our doctor was too and set up an ultrasound appt at the hospital right away. After waiting in the waiting room for quite a while we finally got in and had an ultrasound. The tech couldn't find a heartbeat at first or see the baby, but finally he found it. He turned up the volume so we could hear it beating away and we were so relieved to see it's little appendages moving around. I especially like the picture in which baby looks like it's playing pee-a-boo. We've got a jokester for sure!! And although Karen puked into . . . onto the floor of my 4runner on the way home she was thrilled as well. We feel so blessed to have a healthy child up to this point. We also found out the exact due date is April 30th. Thought you'd like that Juice! :) We will be finding out the gender just before Christmas!
As far as the rest of life goes we are keeping busy with Karen still working full-time hours at the hospital and puking part time anywhere! I'm still working at Seastrom Manufacturing engraving all sorts of stuff and assembling fit bikes. A month ago I cut down my class load to just two classes. Full-time plus full-time was just too much to handle for me at this time. I'm loving the projects I'm working on in my classes and becoming more familiar with the CAD (computer automated design) programs I'm using. We are being greatly blessed by the Lord. We love you all and pray for your welfare.

Northern Idaho Trip Fotos

Well sorry it took a while but here are some photos from our little road trip. After visiting Juice and Wil we weren't sure whether we would make it into Wallace, ID in time to catch the last silver mine tour they had for the day. Luckily we got there within 3 minutes of the shuttle loading and made it. However we forgot our cameras so sorry there are no photos of the mine. It was pretty neat to see and our guide was quite knowledgeable about mining and the area. He turned on some noisy machines and scared some little kids doing it! :) The main part of our trip was the bike ride on the Hiawatha which was so awesome. It was nice to get some fresh air and a little . . . well A LOT of exercise. We rode the full length of the trail which was about 15 miles. It was a little more than we were prepared for, but we don't regret doing it at all. The rest of our trip was spent resting from our ride and enjoying going out to eat at restaurants which we rarely do. And it was really fun getting to see family from both sides that live farther away. We had a great time and would love to go back someday with our kids.

Northern Idaho Trip

From July 27 to August 1, Andrew and I went on a little trip to the northern reaches of our beloved Idaho. Here is a map of our route that we took. We will post a slideshow and video soon.

- Our Early Memorial Day Weekend -

We wanted to make it to Boise in time to go on the Relay for Life race, but with Karen getting off at 9:30 on Friday we thought sleep sounded better. We went to Veteran's memorial first thing we got there and spent some time seeing Chree, Angela, and Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth. Oh and on our way to Boise I realized my church clothes were sitting back at home ready to be taken out to the car. Ooops! So we went to a DI and got some doable church clothes for the weekend and Taylor lent me his shoes. Muchas gracias hermano! Twas muy fun to just relax with the fam and see baby Cavander. Tay, Jill and Rod led a FHE discussion about preparedness which was very good and we were glad we got to stay long enough to hear it before heading back to Twin. Someday we will have more time to spend with the Farnsworth fam!

Shoshone Falls

Take a look at Idaho's "Niagra!" We went a couple of weeks ago and the water levels were really high. We got a lot of great shots and are planning to go back again during the summer. Along with the falls there is also Dierkes Lake nearby and the Snake River in the canyon below. We are excited to explore more of the natural attractions in our area.

Spring Time

We are lucky to have Amy and Brett living next door,though not for much longer. Having them so close we end up hanging out quite often. We love taking pictures and little Sariah is always willing to mug for the camera:) Also here are some pictures of an Apricot tree at my parents new place. It was blooming while we were visiting a while back.

Projects 2011

Andrew just finished class for the semester a couple of weeks ago and is glad to have evenings free now. For those of you who didn't know, Andrew has been working full time from 7am-3pm and then going to school at 4pm till whenever for the past couple of months of this Spring semester. Needless to say, summer has been long awaited in our home. Anyway, now that Andrew has more free time, he has been the coordinator of several projects. The first is one that Andrew did for my parents. In their new house they had a large closet near the kitchen that my mom wanted to convert to a pantry. Andrew took on the challenge and it turned out great! The next project tackled has been a shoe rack for our entry way. Andrew drew up a design, we purchased the parts, and now we have a great shoe rack that holds 9 or more pairs of shoes, and doubles as our computer tower/printer stand.
Andrew is currently working on a sheet metal wall panel for my mom. This is a new challenge, and I'll post pictures when we're completely done with them. On top of all of these, we have plans to make a coat hanger, redo our patio, and eventually plant a garden(if I ever have a Saturday off!).
My biggest project of the summer is to digitally scan all the photos from my parents. This is a huge undertaking for me. My parents have prints from their childhoods, my grandparents lives, and not to mention pictures from every event, family gathering, or birthday party of the Joel Packham family for the last 26 YEARS! And I don't have all of it! And can you believe that I asked my parents to let me do it? Lately I've felt that all those memories on printed photos may come to some harm soon and that I needed to get them digitalized. Pictures and projects have taken over our dining area and living spaces. Sorry honey! See for yourself!

Good news!

Well more good news from the Farnsworth clan. I found a part time job with a manufacturing company here in Twin Falls. It's called Seastrom Manufacturing. They manufacture many types of electrical and aerospace components. They also manufacture custom parts for high end fitness bikes and that is the department in which I will be working for now. I was referred to them by my program instructor at CSI as a possible place of employment. He said the owner is interested in educating local high school and college students about manufacturing. Apparently Seastroms donated money and a couple of machines to the school. Anyways this is a huge blessing to be able to work in the field in which I am studying. And besides that, the extra income should help us boost our savings. In preparation for transferring to the new hospital Karen has been given an opportunity to work as a MLT (Medical Lab Technician) This is the position that she became certified in when she obtained her associates degree from Weber state. So she has been getting some valuable experience and a much better pay as well. Needless to say we are very happy right now. The adjustment to opposite schedules has been tough but we are adapting to it better than we thought. Here is a picture of the overly expensive exercise bikes that I assemble at Seastroms.

Movie Quotes

Let the saga begin! We put together a collection of SOME of our favorite movie quotes and wanted to let you all watch it. It's at the bottom of the blog. Now obviously we couldn't fit all the quotes we wanted let alone all the movies . . . so there will be more installments to come. Sit back and enjoy the show!! :)

A major change . . .

Well after much deliberation I decided to change my major. I loved the things I was learning in my Cisco courses under the Network Support program, but for some lame reason CSI decides to teach the Cisco courses at mach 5 and I wasn't able to keep up. But after thinking about it I realized I don't want the stress of an entire branch, company or area yelling at me to fix their network problems and to do it pronto! So I took some great career assessments and did some research. It pointed me to a job in manufacturing so I decided to give it a shot and now my major is Manufacturing technology.
I didn't quite know what that involved before I began and I'll wager most of you don't know either so I posted a video of the kind of work it will be. It basically involves using computerized machinery to plan, design, and create custom metal or plastic parts ranging from simple washers to highly complex aerospace engine components. What I like about it is that I still get to use a computer to design the part to be machined and then to create it using specific tools and drill bits using my hands. I need a creative outlet in my work and being able to start a project from beginning to end all by myself is a bonus too. So far I am loving the program and look forward to getting a part time job in manufacturing while I go to school if at all possible. So pretty much life is great right now even though I was freakin out when I realized I was failing my Cisco courses. The Lord definitely answers prayers!!