Yard Work

So this is what our summer consists of, keeping a pregnant lady as comfortable as possible in the summer heat and putting in our yard.

In July, we were able to get our front yard ready for some trenching for our sprinklers. After getting the retaining wall put up, it took another 60 wheel barrows of dirt to finish it off...but we also had to remove about 15 loads of rocks. Our neighborhood has got to be the rockiest soil on earth. We were actually very excited with the way it turned out. We like the character and uniqueness the wall gives our house, plus it helps divert attention away from the AC unit and utility meters on the side of the house.

Now now our goal is to level the back yard, remove the rocks, plan out the rest of the design, create a grid for the sprinklers, and have some nice green lawn before the baby comes which gives us about 12 weeks. Wish us luck!

We need your help!

Less than four months until we will be parents and we need to still buy some baby clothes, furniture, diapers, and a lot more...but we need your help with something more important...a name. Okay, so we still have plenty of time, but we thought we would get some of your opinions on some of the names we are stuck on. Who knows, maybe something completely different will come to us later, but it will be fun. Leave other suggestions with a comment if you have a good name.

Here are some quick thoughts as to why we like each of these names. Brett likes to bring up this subject, but we really haven't put too much time into it. When he is born we may completely change our mind, but we thought this would be fun to blog about.

Bracken: We would name him Bracken Carl using Bracken from Brett's maternal grandparents and Carl from three generations on the Valdez side. He would also copy his dad's nickname in BC. We like that it is unique but not crazy.

Brady: Brady Martin would be named after Dy's paternal grandparents (Brady) and her maiden name. It really is a name we like with the added perk of having family ties.

Carson: This has always been a top choice for the two of us. Carl would be the middle name with this as well.

Ian: This is a little bit of a newer name on our list that we have grown to like.

Jackson: This is one that keeps moving around our top ten or so. Brett really likes the nickname Jack, but Dy prefers the full name. Either way, we like this option as well.

Adventures in Marysvale

Since Brett gets his birthday off for work, we decided to take an extra couple days and make a vacation out of it. Since we happen to know a few people who actually own some bikes and trailers, we headed down to Marysvale, Utah to explore some of the Paiute Trail. It is nice to have some friends and family we can free load off of...thanks Scott, Bri, Chad, & Kristi.

We headed down Thursday morning and came back Monday afternoon. After over 150 miles of ATV riding in three days, we decided to take it easy on the fourth and took a trip into Capitol Reef National Park in a vehicle.

After taking off nearly two weeks of work, Brett now has to save up his leave for a few days when the little one comes. Next up for us is tackling our rock and weed infested yard to replace it with some good soil, trees and grass. The goal is to finish it before the baby is here. You would think that would give us enough time, but we welcome any help we can get.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy from our adventures in Marysvale.

Nearing the end of our 86-mile day trip. Good thing Dy had on her helmet so she didn't have to force a smile when her pregnant body said...ENOUGH.

Apparently a kids body says the same thing, wedgie and all. It is amazing the kids assume this position for hours at a time. It can't be that comfortable.


Here is a picture of Scott, Bri, and fam. There really were some great trails down there that led to some lakes, wildlife, dense forest, and waterfalls like this one at Boullion Falls.

Relaxing at the camp after a day of riding. Notice Brett's beard is begining to actually look like a beard.

Proof that we visited Capitol Reef National Park.

Thanks Brian...and Jill

Dy's brother-in-law rented a house near San Diego (Carlsbad to be exact) and invited the whole Martin clan to come and free load for a week. The agenda was packed full of the typical SoCal attractions; Disneyland, Sea World, the beach, Legoland, and for us it also included a Padres game. Brett's old roommate also lives in San Diego so we spent an evening with Kevin, too.

It was fun to get away for a bit for a pretty relaxing vacation. It didn't hurt that Brian and Jill made it pretty inexpensive for us, too. We are trying to petition for Hawaii or the Caribbean next time. :)

Here are some pictures from the week.

Just playing with some starfish at Sea World. For all of the places the Martin's have invaded as a family, surprisingly this was the first time at Sea World.

Just petting a dear at the San Diego Wildlife Park...or something like that.


Probably the funniest part of the park was watching the birds flying all over to drink the nectar out of our hands. Between Dy and Chelsea, we got quite the entertainment.


Doesn't Brian look so happy on the merry-go-round?


We stopped by the San Diego Temple before going to Cameron and Rachel's (Dy's brother) for church on Sunday. It sure is a beautiful building.



Dy was a good sport and went to a Padres game with Brett. That really is one of the nicer parks in the majors. We enjoyed some first row seats in left field and obviously had our ballpark brats for dinner. Good times.


Although overall Legoland was definitely more of a place for kids (as we expected), we really enjoyed "Miniland" that had cities built out of legos. New York City (above), San Fran, Vegas, New Orleans...it was pretty cool.


Dy being Dy.


After waiting for 25 minutes and thoroughly captivated by the log flume, Ethan changed his mind once he got splashed.

It's a boy!

Before we headed out for a little vacation, Dy and Brett stopped by the doctor for the ultrasound to tell us the gender. We are both very excited to have a little boy. We would have been happy either way, but we both realized how much we also want a little girl. Now...picking a name. Any suggestions?

It's Harder Than We Thought!

We sincerely apologize for our lack of posts. Without the internet at home, we are bad at making the time to regularly update the blog. We will have to start doing a better job, though, so we can update everyone on the status of Dy's pregnancy.

That's right, we are expecting! Though not official just yet, the due date is around October 16. Obviously, we are both very excited. Dy has been getting a little more sick the past couple weeks, but it is typically in the evening. Brett is great to help out and Dy is learning to accept his help more willingly.

Anyway, hopefully this will motivate us to find time to blog a little better.

We have pictures!

It only took a month, but we finally have some pictures of the house. It is mostly put together, but there are still a few things left to put up. Enjoy!

Here is the front view of the house.


When you are in from out of town an need a place to crash, this is where you will sleep.


The entry way is one of the things we initially fell in love with.


It is so nice to have a kitchen with enough cupboard space to put all of our stuff...plus some. Dy was able to talk Brett into the cabinet upgrades and we both love the decision.


Our family room could use a little wall decor, but we are still deciding the setup option we prefer.


Family room part two. We imagine this will end up being some sort of additional sitting space, but furniture budget is spent for 2009...and no more window shopping.


After a year in storage, Dy was finally able to display her shelves and couch in the "Church Room."




We are still working on what exactly will go on top of the "Dust Collector Shelf," but we have a decent start. We stole all of the good deals from Pier 1 Imports.



We really love our master bedroom. Plenty of space but not too much. Even though there aren't any pictures of our bare Master Retreat room, when there are a bunch of teens and their friends running around in a few years it will truly become our retreat.


Master bath with the closet in the background. We also have a jetted tub and separate shower off to the right.

All in all, we are so happy to finally be in a home. Now we just need to break it in with a little house warming party. If you want to help us with that, keep Saturday, February 28 open for a little party. Leave a comment if you want to come and we will be sure to send details.

We are in!

Good news, bad news. We are finally in our home. Bad news...no internet. Our updates may be limited, but we will try to do our best. We decided to go with television rather than internet. Who knows how long we will last before going crazy.

Well, we were able to officially move in on December 23. We absolutely love it. There are still a few things the builders are finishing up and/or fixing. Yesterday as the satellite was being installed, we found out they failed to put any insulation in our attic. There are a few more things such as missing light bulb, chipped cement, and our mailbox.

Last night for New Year's we broke in our house with a little party, kids included. it was fun to entertain a little bit with comfortably fitting 15 people where our previous limit was about 4. We will work on getting some pictures taken and get it posted.

Until then...we will start enjoying 2009!

Just a Night in the Hospital

So we had an adventuresome little Thursday night. Brett started having a little stomach ache while at work on Thursday. After a couple hours he ended up going home to see if he could sleep it off. It just kept getting worse and by 4:00 his parents called the family practice. The practice is closed on Thursdays but the PA, or Dr. Darin as everyone calls him, met Brett and his mom at the clinic. His best diagnosis without blood or CT scan was appendicitis. Since Dy was working at IMED, Brett got a shot for nausea and headed to Salt Lake. It was nice to head to the same hospital Dyana was working at and eventually ended up on her floor with a few recommendations. While sitting in the ER for several hours Brett's temperature was 103 with uncontrollable shaking....even with 7 warm blankets heavily resting on him there was nothing that could make him comfortable. Thanks to Morphine Brett was resting comfortably before entering the operating room. After receiving a blessing from Uncle Bruce and Andrew, by about 11:00 Brett was in surgery and had his appendix removed. While not technically his nurse, Dyana pretty much did all of those duties. After a long night with many interuptions and little sleep we checked out of the hospital by about 10:00 on Friday morning.

Great timing as the Holidays approach, wrestling tournament, a busy week at work, and not to mention an upcoming move. We are still blessed that everything went so smoothly and there were no complications with the procedure. Brett is doing pretty well and is anxious to get out of the house and attend a few Christmas parties.

That brings up another point, we can especially use a few more hands now that lifting is limited for Brett. As things look right now, we hope to move into our new home next Friday and Saturday (Dec 19-20) with most of the big things on Saturday. Our walk through is scheduled for Tuesday and we hope to close Thursday or Friday. It all depends on how fast the appraisal and insurance stuff will be finished. Regardless, Castle Creek said they would work with us so we can move in next weekend.

Happy 1 year!

So I just had to write a post letting my wife...and all of you...know how much I love her.

At the risk of sounding too sappy and gushy for a blog, I will leave out most of the details for in person. But she is my everything and makes life so mush easier and enjoyable to live each day. Thanks for making me feel so special and loved.

You are the best and I love you.