Dal the Pal

Monroe, you've been asking for the last week if we could go bowling. You are so proud of your dad because he owns a purple glittered bowling ball. You tell everyone, "My daddy has a bowling ball." So for family night, you asked all the neighbors if they wanted to go bowling. You have a special way of always including everyone. Dallin was the one that accompanied you! You bowled a 78!

Sadly, you're hair didn't glow in the black lights... wa wa. And this is THE purple bowling ball.

Lottie thanks for being a trooper! With your white muslin blanket glowing in the black lights, we kept worrying that it may over-stimulate you into having seizures : ). You just smiled away and chewed away on your hand (you're already starting to teethe!).

Grad Man

Kirk's a graduated man! I had forgotten that I made Kirk take this picture on his first day of school (you can tell by his expression that he was super excited). Although he walked on May 3rd, he actually had his last day of class a week ago. He did an amazing job in school, he got really involved in the following:

• President over Entrepreneurship in the MBA Association
• President over the Development Team for the E-Club on campus
• and graduated with a 3.5 GPA!

At their final dinner Kirk was in charge of the slideshow for the whole year and made everybody laugh. One of the professors said that she'd been to so many of these end of year dinners but Kirk had made this one the best by far. Two of his class mates said in their farewell speeches it wouldn't have been the same without Kirk there to make them laugh throughout the year.

Way to go Kirky, can't wait to see what our future has in store!

Tu-na-na-na-nana, they say it's your birthday!

Monroe's Father, these photos reassure me that I am related to my son. See the resemblance?

Happy Birthday Kirky! To the most amazing husband, father and friend.  Here are some things I can brag about you being who you are:

• You're always so happy.
• You make the best jokes, regardless of your audience.
• Monroe told me that you always find anyway to make him smile and feel loved.
• You never yell, much less raise your voice.
• You're a phenomenal provider for our family.
• Everyone that meets you wants to get to know you better. Even that weird guy in the ward said you were a pretty cool guy, even though we lost every volleyball match on his team.
• You make bolo ties cool.
• You make a #1 with clippers look pretty hot.

We love you so much and can't wait to celebrate this day with you! Happy birthday!

Mighty Man

Kirk ran his first marathon! He did amazing, finishing in 4:19:48. It was a gruesome route. People finished 45 minutes later at the Tri-State Marathon than the St. George Marathon. It was pretty rigorous, but he was able to run through Utah, Arizona and finish in Mesquite. We followed him from mile 13 on, and were so proud of him. Here are some glimpses of his journey!

Gadzooks!

There's not much more to say...

Kirk's been running for the last two months and to top off the end of his running he decided this week to run a half marathon. He finished in under two hours (1:59:47, to be exact)! I'm so proud of him, and Monroe loved watching him cross the finish line. Watch it if you want!

Mr. Brundage, so official

If you don't know, this is a good way to find out. Kirk has decided to sell his company and starting July 1st he will be done with T-Mobile. With the AT&T merger there are just too many uncertainties so it seemed like a good time to get out. The Wall Street Journal called him this week to do an interview about his decision and the merger. It made the front cover of the business section! You can't read it online unless you're a subscriber but that's the basic jist of the interview. Pretty fun way for Kirk to get closure with his decision. I'm so proud of him and we'll see what our next adventure holds.

OMS!

My sister's co-worker taught her a new saying that I think is really going to catch on, "OMS! (short for OH MY STARS!)". And that's about all I had to say when I got this picture from Kirk tonight.

Monroe and I spent the evening together while Kirk attended the Utah Jazz game and played dress up. Apparently his get-up got him some attention, including someone asking for his autograph and some single ladies asking if could they get their picture taken with #24, Mr. Smith (who was only on the Jazz team for a season in the 80's).

Well, I'm off to work on a manly quilt for Monroe. I'll post pictures of the fabric I chose tomorrow and maybe you can tell me if it will go with his manly blessing gown (I think Monroe's doomed...).

30 stories...

So this is the gift that so many people contributed to for Kirk's 30th birthday. I was able to get over 30 different stories from family & friends. I didn't think I'd get as many back as I did but it ended up being more than 30 (so it should hold him over until he's 34). It was really fun to read through and thanks to everyone for helping!

30 stories | Make Your Own Book

P.S.
Rachel, you asked about the disastrous camping trip 'surprise' that I planned for Kirk, haha. Well whenever we drive to Las Vegas there's this exit that Kirk always would wonder what existed off that exit. I asked Kirk's brother and he said he had heard there were some ghost towns and abandoned silver mines. I thought it sounded like fun, so I packed up our camping gear and cooler and for Kirk's birthday pretended we were driving to Salt Lake.
About 20 minutes into our drive I told Kirk, "You know how you always wonder what's off that exit on our way to Las Vegas? Well, surprise! For your birthday we're going to find out. I have all our gear so we can camp wherever we want." Kirk faked a smile but I could tell he looked so distraught. "Camping in February? It just snowed yesterday," was his reply. I hadn't really thought it through, weather and all.
We ended up taking the exit and driving for about 40 minutes without finding anything. We pulled over and set up our camping equipment but after about an hour and half, and one frostbitten toe later we decided to pack up. Here's a picture of it. (After that year, Kirk's always told me what he'd like to do for his birthday.)

Happy 30th Kirky

Today is Kirk's 30th birthday. I don't know if you watch Modern Family, but Kirk's birthdays used to be like the one where Gloria surprises Jay with a trip to Hawaii. Everything was a 'SURPRISE'! One year after I planned a disastrous camping trip in February, Kirk broke it down for me, he doesn't really like surprises. So since then, I consult him with his special birthday day and coordinate what he'd like to do.

This year he really wanted to go to the family cabin in Sun Valley. It was an easy enough request and we were lucky to have his parents come with us. We got there Friday night and had to ride in on snowmobiles at 11:15 pm in 10 degree weather. It was an adventure and we weren't sure how Monroe would handle it. But as usual, he fell asleep on the snowmobile ride in.

It was an amazing weekend, and even though Kirk doesn't like surprise events, he still likes surprise gifts. I'm really excited to give him his present tonight and I'll show a bit of it on the blog tomorrow. Happy Birthday Kirk!

Can you tell what city this is...?

handcut map by studio k. Amazing, huh?

Hints:
• Steve Nash and Michael J. Fox are from the country this city is in
• The Olympics were held there
• I get to go there for my Golden Birfday!

Yes, it is Vancouver. So this year is my Golden Birthday, I'm turning 26 on the 26th of Ocotber (sorry for all you birthdays out there that missed your Golden Birthday when you were 7 or something like that). Kirk had told me he had something planned but couldn't tell me until 26 days before my birthday, which was October 1st. To my surprise, we get to go to CANADA! I'm so excited, apparently I have a subconscious obsession with Canada that will now be fulfilled.

We leave October 23rd, and I'll be 34 weeks along. I'm not supposed to fly after 36. Kirk cut it just a bit close, but we're up for an adventure. He keeps saying even if the baby is born in Canada, it will have dual citizenship and since it's socialized healthcare, we can have it for free. He's so smart, it can't get any better than that!

Life passing by...

This last month went by way too quickly. I know most pregnant ladies can't wait for it all to be over, but I really like the thought of having a person with me all the time. I was telling Kirk, "It's just so fun having someone with you all the time. It even tops it when people in high school called me and Rachel magnets, because the baby is with me all the time!" Then Kirk asked, "You know what could top this? If Rachel was in your stomach!" That would be pretty fun, especially since Rachel moved to Spain and I can't see her as often.

Well Labor Day came and went. The joke around the office was to have a Happy No Labor Day. Mwa-ha! They're so clever here. We spent it with our friends Lindsey and Cole. They have a cabin in Island Park and it couldn't have been more fun. Kirk and I took a day to visit Yellowstone.

28 weeks

Also I know I mentioned that we got our crib in this week. Kirk had it up and going by the time I got home from work. This is a sneak peak into our nursery/storage room. You can see the color we painted the nursery (thanks to Aunt Trish and Rod) and the fabric of the unfinished curtains hanging but we really need to clean out the room. It's a bit chaotic. It's such a pretty crib though, don't you think?

Please disregard Kirk's immodest appearance. His iguana shorts are pretty cute though, just a bit short.

The Scout

We purchased our first big ticket item... a diaper bag.
I know it may not sound too exciting but look at how cool this diaper bag is:



It was Kirk's first Father's Day gift ever. It's by Petunia Picklebottom, but it's their Scout collection, which is aimed to be more father friendly. I definitely wanted Kirk to feel comfortable with the diaper bag so that I wouldn't have to carry it around all the time. The gray felt, I love love love and so I feel just as comfortable toting it around. Oh and did I mention that the bottle holders on the side snap off?
Very manly.

Baby... Hi baby

Kirk's funny haircut, Preston Rodeo

Happy Fourth of July weekend! We had a lot of fun in Idaho visiting with the Brundage's and G&G Williams. Sunday night Kirk felt the baby move. He didn't really believe that it was a baby though, he thought I was doing it. Last week he came up to my stomach and started saying, "Baby... hi baby..." and I was thinking why is he acting so creepy. And then he continued on to say, "It's me, Jennifer Garner." He always makes me laugh. I don't know if you remember that part on the movie Juno, but it was such an awkward scene when Jennifer Garner talks to the baby. If not, you can watch it, just
click here.


Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Kirk, god of fertility

Always making me laugh!