Closing went through!

We've got a house now, and here's the proof :)

I found a red raspberry bush in the back yard and ate a raspberry from it today. Teresa and the kids will be here on the 4th of July. Yay!

Summer pics

Here are a few pictures from this summer. We lost our camera' s battery charger, and picked up a new one today. Had several shots on the camera, including some from Hal's bowling birthday party.

Baby birthday safety

So we celebrated Dan's birthday today, with a cherry pie in the grass in the front yard. Much easier to keep the house clean for prospective buyers that way--

We lit the pie with three candles to celebrate Dan turning three as he sat smiling on this very pleasant summer day. It was somewhat tough to get the candles lit with the light breeze in the yard, but we managed. After singing "Happy Birthday" Dan promptly blew out one of the candles but leaned too far forward and put out the other two candles with his cheek and side of his nose. He fell too fast for us to catch him, and he ended up upset with two white waxy patches on his face which turned red from the mild burn. He was surprised and a little upset, but he came out of it OK and forgot all about it after he opened a couple of Hot Wheels cars.

Yesterday was spent at the church historical sites in Palmyra like the E.B. Grandin book store, Joseph Smith home, and Peter Whitmer Sr. home. We also walked in the rain up the hill Cumorah and around the sacred grove. We said a family prayer there even though it was a bit wet.

Things cleared up in the evening, and we went to Niagra Falls. I was too tired to do any tours, but we did get to look at the American falls and Horseshoe falls. We were close enough to the falls to get wet for our second time in the day, which was pretty fun.

I took a secret picture with my camera phone in priesthood opening exercises at church. This is Hal conducting the opening hymn. They have the young men take turns directing the music. He's been a deacon for two weeks now, and he's doing a good job passing sacrament.

















We went to dinner at the Hayes family's house tonight. Teresa spent time with Sis. Hayes in the Young Women presidency at church, and this was a going-away for us. Enjoyed having some time with them.

I picked up a rental car for my two days in Columbus this week (I fly back to Chicago on Wednesday). I had Allie with me, and she wanted to ride in a convertible, so I asked about it, and they were willing to switch me over to a blue Chrysler Sebring convertible. I ended up spending a while this evening taking kids for rides in the car with the roof down.

I got some nice gifts for father's day, including a wallet that Allie made with pretend money & gift certificates for things she would do for me (one included going outside whenever a realtor came to the house) :) I also got a Monopoly game that electronically keeps track of the money, and we played that out on the lawn for a while this afternoon while Dan played with his new Hot Wheels.

Week at work

Having a good week at work. Officially saw my first paycheck today, so it's good to know that I am not working for free :)

Met with the Columbus U.S. marketing team on Tuesday and went to a Cubs game with them that night, which was a fantastic 10-5 win over the Braves. Last night I went to a concert with three guys at work who had an extra ticket. I'm fairly tired today, but having a great time.

Thinking about going to Palmyra with the family on Saturday, which should be fun. I'm flying home instead of driving, since I'll have meetings in Columbus next week.

The kids had their last day of school yesterday, and Courtney had a 7th grade field trip to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, which sounded like it was a great time.

Things are coming together with the house in Chicago-- we're a couple of steps closer-- the inspection of the house went fine. A couple of minor plumbing and drainage issues.

I'm having a hard time eating well right now. There is a McDonald's right in the middle of the short distance between my hotel and work, and not having a great desire to cook in my current situation, I sometimes indulge. There is a special $3 for a Big Mac + Quarter Pounder w/cheese. Dangerous!

Got the house!

It's official-- we're moving to Buffalo Grove. We just found out, and will close on 6/30. We are so excited! I'm glad that Teresa and the kids will be able to join me here in Chicago relatively quickly.

We're eager to have everyone come visit, too!

Same size

We always measure the kids on or around their birthdays on the family height board, which Hal is prominently displaying here. After being measured today, we noticed that he is 5 feet 4 1/2 inches, which is exactly as tall as Teresa is. Strange to have a child that size. We measured Tyler and Dan also, and, remarkably, they are both taller than they were one year ago.















We are going bowling tonight for Hal's birthday party. He's having us plus six of his friends to do Cosmic Bowling and eat pizza at Freeway Lanes here in Solon. He's also getting the Aaronic Priesthood tomorrow in church, since he turned 12 years old. We believe that Grandpa Harry will be on hand for that event.

I drove home from Chicago after work last night, and got in at 2am. It's a fairly long trip, but it's a four-lane highway the whole way.

We are in waiting mode on our house right now in Buffalo Grove. We've made an offer, and the sellers are interested, but it may be next week before we find out if it will go through.














Here is the house we're looking at. We like that it has a park behind it. If that doesn't work out, we'll start looking again at some other options.

After Day 2 at Abbott

I'm official now-- here's a picture of my Abbott name badge that I wear around my neck all the time. I like the job a lot so far, from my limited time there. Day one was mostly spent at a big orientation session with HR, then I got to meet with the Russian marketing team who were here visiting the US headquarters. Yesterday I signed up for benefits and started planning some marketing research that we will be doing in 7 different countries-- fun!

My specific products that I will be responsible for are the "tolerance formulas" -- as opposed to the "everyday formulas"-- so Isomil, Alimentum, Similac sensitive, soy formulas, and anything for preemies. Essentially everything that is made for babies that don't use regular formula. Should be interesting because there is a lot of innovation and growth in this area.

We put an offer on a house in Buffalo Grove, and are hopeful that it comes through. The house backs up to a park, which we think would be fun for the kids. It would be close to church, work, and the temple. They also have a good school system. We have our fingers crossed, and should know today what they say.