April 2007 (Easter, Muir Wedding, New Porter Baby)

The weather has been great so far this month. A little rain, a little warmth, just perfect. I really could live best in a place that had constant spring like temps.

We visited SLC for Easter. Cousin Kim was in town. I miss her. I hardly ever get to see her. It is no ones fault just distance. It was great to see her even for a short time. Cousin Rob announced his engagement to Valerie. They will be getting married this fall. I am very happy for them both. Valerie is just awesome and they seem like a great couple. We all had breakfast at the Alta Club and then walked around the temple grounds to see all the flowers. That is one thing the Mormons have right, gardening.

The weekend following Easter we again made the journey to SLC. My cousin Alex was getting married at the SLC Temple and we were invited to the reception and a brunch. It was funny, Andy and I sat with my brother and the only other 7 non-mormons in the place. Well that is not entirely true but very close. My cousin Mason and his wife Mckell sat with us. they now live in Vegas and I think we would have a very good time visiting them. Mason told stories, a day in the life of a Vegas Police Officer during brunch. All the while Mckell was telling him the stories were not appropriate for the lunch table. Didn't phase him. The reception was at Red Butte Gardens. Very pretty place. I loved to see my cousins and their offspring. Masons son Payton is probably the cutest boy child I have ever seen. What a doll. It was nice to spend time with all of them. Of course Julia got the SLC curse and wasn't able to make it down. Travis was a trooper and made the drive to SLC all by himself.

We had a new baby join the world. A Porter baby! My cousin Stephen and his wife Jennifer welcomed Julian on April 19th (I think). They live in San Fransico. We wish them all the best.

March 2007 (Bill Becks 60th, My 32nd Bday)

Sping is coming, we can feel it. We have made it through the first trimester of pregnancy and then some. I never even felt very sick...certainly tired but not too bad. The golden time is setting in, feeling good. Starting to realize this might actually be happening. uh-oh

We spent a weekend in SLC to surprise Bill Beck for his 60th birthday. It was quite the affair. Kaye put alot of time into making him surprised. We ate at Log Haven and at Mom and Dads house. Many people traveled far to surprise him. It went off very well. Happy Bday Bill.

I celebrated my 32nd birthday at Calloways restaurant. Kris and Teresa joined us for the evening. We laughed pretty hard and I nearly choked to death on balsamic vinegar air. That's right I didn't even have anything to eat, I just inhaled some vinegar and nearly stopped breathing. I think I gave everyone a scare, including myself. Pretty embarrassing.

January 2007 (Mudder turns 90, New Years)

New Years at home. We had Jane, Kris, Teresa and Tom over for the festivities. We ate great food and played Trivial Pursuit the DVD edition. It was actually a great night. Believe it or not we all made it to midnight.

Mudder turns 90 this month. I had to include some photos of her. I have such love for her. She at times makes it difficult but she has influences me in so many ways. Mostly her wit and wisdom. She has not skipped a mental beat ever. She is as sharp as a tack. I love our conversations. "Stacie get on the web and tell me the NY Times best seller book list" "Okay" I answer. As I read the list to her she tells me that she has read nearly all of them. She then wonders what my problem is because I barely even know what she is talking about. Its good to know the genes I have, I hope to last as long as she has. I'm not sure she thinks the same way. I bet whether she likes it or not she will live to be 100. She truly is one of my most favorite people on the planet. I love you Mudder!

December 2006 ( Xmas, Seattle Trip)

Well the obvious Xmas happens in December. We had a small affair at the Porter home in SLC. Andy and I went down to spend a few days with my parents before leaving for Seattle for our first Xmas in Seattle.

Seattle is a great city and we had a great time. Joni and Don were wonderful hosts. Brian came over quite a bit. He took Andy telemark skiing to get ready for the January Yurt Fantasy. Apparently the skiing was the best of the year in Seattle. It snowed all day, Andy brought the good snow luck was the rumor. I stayed with Joni, we did some shopping and such. We all went to the IKEA store. That is a crazy place! While in Seattle we got to see Kevin and his girlfriend. We found a great little dive bar after we ate at a high priced restaurant, Amber, downtown. We decided to go here because Jon Hess is the manager and we were able to visit him that way. He works ALOT. Thanks to Jon for the drinks and it was way good to see him. Anyway the dive bar was much more our style, reminiscent of the Eagles Lodge at home. We played some pool before

going home. Way good to see Kevin...twice in one year! :0)

November 2006 (Were Pregnant, Thanksgiving)

Fun times and scary times, early pregnancy. Most of you know we had some trouble in the past so this month was filled with mixed emotions. Mostly of excitement but we did all we could to not jinx ourselves.

Thanksgiving was fun. Family abundant. The Boise Porters came for the occasion. We had a great time as usual. I can't remember if anyone got sick but I'm sure one person did. They have the SLC curse or something. We need to perform some kind of curse exorcism. I'm sure they are tired of this.

October 2006 (NYC)

I can't believe that I haven't ever been to NYC. Andy and I had some much fun. The sightseeing bus was fun, I thought I would feel like a dork riding around in the double decker bus but in my opinion there was not a better way to have a

quick and dirty tour of this awesome city.

I'm not sure what was my favorite thing about NYC. We went to see The Lion King, that was totally amazing. I liked it more that I thought I would. Andy too. We went to The Met Museum and the MOMA. Both had incredible works of art and you could easily spend days there. I really enjoyed spending time with Steve Spear. I hadn't seen him in a long time. He was an incredible guide for the East Village where he lives. His place is small but all one needs.

August 2006 (NW Road Trip)

I'm still off work but poor Andy is slaving away at the housing mess at USU. The giant hole that will one day be new housing for students on campus. He worked very hard this summer.

With my time off I joined up with my folks for a great old road trip. We hit the road with our bikes and each other. Our first stop, Boise of course. We spent a few nights with Travis, Michele and Julia. Then off we went to Bend Oregon. A great place...I had never spent time here and I really like it. We did some biking and hiking shopping and sightseeing. Nice place. After a night or two we headed off for the Oregon Coast. We hit the coast around Tillamook. Who could stop here without hitting the cheese factory? I thought I knew cheese factory's living in Cache Valley but I was wrong. This is one to stop at. We did some awesome biking here, the

Three Capes loop. Of course my parents are in way better shape than I am. Should I be happy or sad about this? I drove the car up the monster hills, felt a little like a loser but I am way over it. Anyway the sights on the coast are better seen on a bike that is for sure! After Tillamook we headed up the coast and made some more stops and rides.


Another great stop was in Astoria Oregon. WAY COOL place. The Colombia River hits the Ocean here which makes is have great bridges. They have an awesome bike trails to ride and we stayed in small hotel right on the water. I love looking at all the boats in the harbor. Peaceful place but I here it rains some 200+ days a year.

Finally our last stop was Seattle. This was our main destination, to see Jon Hess marry his girl. It was the most beautiful wedding ever. They were married on a steamship that cruised us through Lake Union and Lake Washington. It was great fun, I saw some old friends from High School. That was cool. We were all very happy to have made the journey for such a great event. Ahhh Weddings!

We had visits with Uncle Chris and Katherine, I got to see Kevin and his girl and of course I couldn't go to Seattle without seeing my lovely sis in law, Joni and her Don. What a great couple they are.