Hi! We’ve had a good week here in Northern Utah. The weather is warming up a bit, there are buds on the trees, and…oh yeah…we have a new granddaughter! Daisy Ray Bauserman joined us about 10 days early on Friday night. Lauren had a crazy day of contractions and running back and forth to the hospital on Thursday with no progress. Then on Friday night, little miss didn’t waste any time and was born just before 10 pm. There was a bit of a hiccup in delivery when Lauren’s blood pressure dropped (and of course, so did baby’s) due to an extra dose of pain meds in her epidural. But she recovered and was able to deliver normally, despite being extremely medicated and numb. Miss Daisy’s a cute little thing and looks an awful lot like her big sister. Needless to say, we are tickled with our newest addition.

If you happened to click through to read the whole blog entry, you will now be rewarded with a story of an embarrassing moment. 🙂 Yesterday morning, I was still in my room, getting dressed and ready for the day when Alex called. As usual, I had one earbud in, since I often listen to podcasts and audiobooks and do various lessons and puzzles in the morning. We had a nice chat and then he ran off to have breakfast with his family. Then, a bit later, Lauren, Bo, and Daisy rang for a video call. I took my earbud out and stuck it in my pocket so that I could share the call with Nathan and Margaret and let everyone meet our new sweetheart. It was a great call and then we all went about our day. I walked out into the kitchen, grabbed my vitamins out of my pocket and threw the handful into my mouth with a big swig of water. But…then one of them got stuck in my throat and I had a heck of a time getting it down. Eventually, though, I relaxed enough and was able to take another swallow of water and down it went. Fast forward to an hour or two later, I’m ready to put my earbud in again and I can’t find it anywhere. I had changed my clothes, but it wasn’t in any of the pockets or on the floor or anywhere! I admit, I was a bit distracted with thinking about Lauren and Daisy and my upcoming trip to see them in a few days. My sister-in-law’s dog was staying for the day, and I even thought that maybe she had found it on the floor somehow and eaten it. Well, if you are perceptive (which many of you are), you will see now that it wasn’t the dog who swallowed the earbud, but it WAS ME! I’m pretty sure I muscled down my earbud like it was a fish oil pill! There’s nothing to do at this point but laugh about it…and order a new set of earbuds!

I hope you enjoyed a bit of my madness. I’m eagerly anticipating getting to snuggle that new baby in a few days. Things here in Utah are pretty typical, with house projects, house plans, and some fun family time mixed in. Have a great week!

Paradise

Paradise

Happy October! We hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of year! Some people dream of paradise on a quiet tropical beach, listening to the surf with a drink in hand. Not this girl! Give me mountains, especially drenched in autumn color, bursting with new spring leaves, or covered in snow. We are spending October in one of our favorite places–Big Cottonwood Canyon just east of the Salt Lake Valley. We are loving the gorgeous golden aspen with the deep pine greens. Hiking is great and so is the smell of fresh forest! Nathan’s sister, Liz, and her husband, Christian, joined us one morning for a lovely hike through the woods. We got to experience a powerful thunderstorm and then a full day of snowfall. Our condo for the month is just right for us and we love having access to a pool, hot tubs, sauna, and workout facilities. We especially like that we can pop back to the valley to do some shopping or see family and friends. So far, so good!

Fun Family Time

Fun Family Time

We have had a lovely couple of weeks in Utah. We’ve been able to rest and recover from five months of travel, help Nathan’s mom at her house, and spend time with family.

Full Circle

Full Circle

Five months ago we flew to Rome from Utah. We had a summer of trying new places and experiences and revisiting old favorites and now we’re back where we started. Since we get the question a lot, I thought I would share some of our favorites from our travels in Europe this year.