Does He Talk?

On Saturday we traveled up to Ogden to visit the Bennett Family(Good friends of our parents and Ours) We had so much fun, it was really good to see them again before we left Utah. It is always nice to just sit and chat. The kids played the piano, recited a poem and showed us their latest homemade videos. I think however the highlight of the trip for me was when we sat down for lunch. We were just chatting about the latest travels and such when their oldest son, Nicholas says, "Do you talk?" referring to Jon, we all laughed. I told Nicholas that no Jon doesn't talk. For those of you who know Jon very well, you know that Jon talks. If you don't know him very well, you think he talks.

I still can't help but laugh, "Does he talk?"

Unexpected Visitor

A couple days ago, I was sitting in the living room reading the morning news paper. Then I saw it, quite possibly the biggest ugliest BUG. Now I am not afraid of bugs, by any means. I have killed plenty of them with out even shuttering, as some of you can attest. This one how ever was different, and it gave me the chills just looking at it. So what did I do? I yelled for Jon, showed him the bug(it was huge you couldn't really miss it) and made him kill it(Ok I didn't make him kill it, he did it willingly). The Bug was happily perched high on the wall, so Jon sprayed it with water, until it was low enough to use our swiffer with a paper towel on it to kill it.

A few days later when Jon's parents were here, they were all sitting in the living room and there was another one. Mom said that it was coming at her so she moved to the couch. Once it got close they killed it.

Does anyone know what kind of buy this is? It has two heads, and lots of legs! Maybe that is why it is so scary, or maybe because that bug was seriously huge?!

Graduation and Glares

Thursday was the huge university graduation. Which was fun despite the traffic, the walk, the benches, the heat in the Marriott and even the glares. Yes the glares, I don't think I have received more glares in my whole life. As we sat there listening to the speakers, Brett started to get a little restless. You would too if you had miss all of you naps in one day. As mom, dad and I desperately tried to make him happy, the people in front of us would turn around and glare at us. First of all it was not like Brett was screaming at the top of his lungs, he wasn't even crying. At times he was even laughing(I think a laughing baby is better then a crying baby, don't you?) The stares and glares from this other family made my mom so uncomfortable that she was willing to take Brett outside. I stood my ground and kept Brett in with us. He was doing no harm and even though we would not remember what happened that day, I wanted him to be there for his dad.

It was very interesting the people behind us however loved playing with Brett. They were getting a kick out of him laughing and playing. He would even turn around and play with the couple. The grandma behind us, loved Brett like her own and would rub his cheeks and tell him that he was so cute, and that he was well behaved. I guess it is all about perspective.

After graduation we met up with Jon and got a few pictures. I will update our slide show after church so that you can see all of our fun. I am so glad the school is over for now. Even I can feel the weight of school lift. Congratulations to all of our friends that graduated, good luck in all of your endeavors. Please keep in touch!

Graduation Part 1

know some of you want to see pictures of graduation, and we have tons of cute photos to show off. We are still really busy with family and running around, but I wanted to post a little video of Jon receiving his diploma, so that family who couldn't make it could still enjoy our excitement for the day! Next week I will post the rest of the pictures and tell you all the exciting and jerk-ish things that went on! I am so proud of Jon, he has worked super hard for this.

1 Day Left!!

With that being said, it is going to be busy at our house. Jon Promised me lots of pictures and so I will post them when we get them!! Happy days for us!!!

Winter 2006

This might sound a little lame, but I have no idea what happened this semester. I had to dig out Jon's journal to refresh my memory. Since Jon takes time to write in his journal almost every night, it has been extremely helpful.

In Januray we moved into our new house on Elm, which we shared with the Pendergrass'. I was "laid off" from my job at Emergency Essentials(don't get me started). So the Job hunt began again. In March I got a job as a TA at Farrer Elementary in the special needs preschool, I loved the kids. This just happened to be one of the most stressful semesters for Jon. He had a chemistry lab that he absolutely hated, and history of creativity which he loved. He also started working for a Chemical Engineering Professor, Dr. Beckstead doing research on rocket propellants. That is, I think by far his favorite job, and Dr. Beckstead is absolutely wonderful. We were also Group activity leaders. We developed lots of friendships this semester, The Perrys, Floyds, Fields, Felts, Pendergrass' and the Blaylocks. Just to name a few close ones at the time.

4 DAYS 5 HOURS 0 MINUTES AND 36 SECONDS!!!!!

I am not at all excited to have Jon graduate, can you tell? I told Jon today to be sure to pick up his cap and gown tomorrow morning, the first 100 people get a free gift. His parents are flying in on Wednesday, it will be nice to have other people to play with Brett so I can do my chores. I want to reflect the next couple of days on our time here in Provo, I think I will tackle that one semester at a time, which is exactly how we survived our years here.

FALL 2005

Jon and I had been married for only 4 months when we moved here. When we arrived in Provo, the drivers were so scary that we didn't make it much past Jamba Juice on Parkway before we decided that we wanted to go back to Rexburg. We moved into a basement apartment on 1250East(which put us in the 5th ward), and I commenced to try to find a job and transfer to BYU. I started working at Emergency Essentials and unfortunately was not lucky enough to transfer to BYU. Our most memorable experience was that while we were gone for Christmas, our basement apartment flooded. When we got back our whole place was moldy( I am very very allergic to mold). The bad news was that I had sorted laundry before we left, so that when we got back I could throw our dirty laundry from the trip in the the other piles and have a slight head start on laundry. Well our bedroom was three-quarters completely soaked/moldy and so was everything on the floor. We lost a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff. Needless to say we did not stay there the next semester, but to find a new place was crazy. We searched and searched and right before we had to move out we found a place. Why the Lord did that to me I have no idea, but it was stressful.

Our March Madness

Last month we decided to do a March Madness theme for Brett's monthly pictures. Everything we used in his photo shoot was given to us, and it all happened to be University of Michigan. With that being said we decided not to post the pictures, until we knew where we were going. Now that we know, here are a few photos. Did I mention that I have a very cute little boy? Enjoy!

Stupid Criminals

I really get a kick out of reading those story about stupid criminals, I never cease to be amazed by some peoples complete lack of judgment. For all of you out there who also enjoy a good stupid criminal story here is a post for you...

Kat and I have been fighting bronchitis for the last week. I have had it the worst and the doctor put me on a cough syrup with codeine. The codeine part has been working great but the cough part hasn't done anything, this has resulted in me sleeping all night making all kinds of noise and Kat hasn't been able to wake me up to save her life. One night was particularly bad and Kat decided to go to the couch to try and get some sleep. This worked until about 5:30 when the paper boy decided to throw the paper really hard against the garage. When I got up Kat complained to me about how hard the paper boy threw the paper. I didn't think anything of it until I opened the blinds. I noticed that the paper laying at the end of our driveway opposite the garage; obviously it wasn't the paper boy that Kat heard. So what did she hear? As I scanned our front yard I noticed that our mailbox had been obliterated.

Since we are such good citizens we did our civic duty and called the police. An officer came out, filled out his paperwork and promised to look into it. Kat decided to take the mailbox down so whoever did it wouldn't be able to drive by and get pleasure out of their misdeed. As she was taking it down a dark green car slowed down as it drove by and the two young men inside pointed and laughed. Kat didn't think anything of it because hey, if I saw a mailbox like that I would probably think that it was pretty funny too. Kat finished taking down the mailbox and left a note to the mailman apologizing for not having a box because some jerk blew it up. Later that day a dark green car drove by, really slowly. The car then backed into our driveway a girl got out, took a picture of the sign, and then got back into the car and the car drove away.

There are a few stupid parts to this whole episode. Their first mistake is in visiting the scene of the crime, twice. The first time that they came by Kat was in the front yard, of course you are going to get noticed. The second time my sister-in-law was in the garage, with the overhead door open. We are also still trying to figure out why you would take a picture of the sign. Unless you knew something about what happened who would pay attention to a 3x5 card on a post in someones yard, and who would care enough to take a picture? If you really feel a need to go back and visit the scene of your crime, don't act suspiciously. Another stupid mistake is that they are BYU students. Since this is finals week if they get caught they are bound to miss some of their finals. If charges are pressed then they will probably be kicked out of BYU. Even if charges aren't pressed they are bound to miss a few of their finals and therefore be on academic probation next year. Oh well, I guess some lessons you have to learn the hard way.

Acceptance #5 Purdue

We applied to five grad schools and we received our fifth acceptance (from Purdue) today. There were some crazy things going on at Purdue, which from our understanding made their decision very late. Since it is late they are FedEx-ing Jon's acceptance letter. Come on FedEx, plus they wanted us to email them our answer, so we did.....GO BLUE!!! We are still extremely excited for MICHIGAN! I am so proud of Jon, he is so smart and he is the best.

Tomorrow we have a very exciting story.......Stay Tuned!

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN or PENN STATE??

After much deliberation and a little bit of agony we have decided where we are going to spend the next five years of our lives. Now before I spill the beans, I just want to say that this was such a hard decision. Both Penn State and the University of Michigan are great schools and would afford us wonderful opportunities and blessings. We really had to be led by the spirit on this one, I thought that it would be an easy decision, but I was very wrong. We had to look at every aspect of each university. We even listed the pros and cons of each university, hoping that would give us an answer. Finally we went to the temple and prayed and afterwards we made our decision. Even after we made our decision I felt so bad to the professor and the university that we did not pick. Yesterday I was in this state of questioning, did we pick the right university? I had been questioning myself the last couple of weeks, so I was not surprised at all that I was questioning our decision now. As we continue to go forward with faith I now that the Lord will bless us as we attend the University of Michigan. I have gained that personal witness that we will be taken care of and that this is right. We know that is where we need to be and we are so excited to be starting our new adventures. I wanted to climb to the top of the Y yesterday and to tell everyone, but I hate climbing the Y so that was out! The next couple of months are going to be crazy, trying to pack and find a mover, but I look forward to it. Nothing could as hard as trying to decide the next five years of your life, after that decision I feel like I could take on the world. I am so grateful that Jon and I had the Lord to rely on, I am ever so grateful for Him and for His love for us.

FE Exam

Some events in life are so frustrating that you just can't help but tell everyone about them. This last Saturday I experienced one of those events. The event of interest was the Fundamentals of Engineering exam (or FE for short). This exam is a professional exam that is the first step for engineers who desire to become a certified professional engineers. The exam takes 8 hours to complete and costs $130 to sign up.

I decided that I should take the exam so I had the option of certifying later. I paid my money and on Saturday I went to take the exam. The exam was held in Salt Lake City at the State Fairgrounds. Even though we were the only ones using the fairgrounds on that particular day they still felt the need to charge everyone $3 for parking. Then they put us in an exhibition barn with cheap, hard, molded plastic patio chairs to sit on. The tables were old, had the bolt holes in the top, and were splintery. The best part though were the bathrooms, they didn't have toilet paper or paper towels in them. $130 for an 8 hour test and that is where they stick us. I couldn't believe it.

Seeking Answers

Thursday afternoon Jon and I made it back to the Temple after a few months. Jon and I went to the Temple with so much uncertainty and so many questions. As I walked into the Temple, I could just feel most of that leave me as I walked through those sacred doors. I knew right then that the Lord would hear and answer my prayers that day. Sadly, I was so distracted during the session. I kept trying to focus and to pay close attention, in everything I did I tried to gain understanding and at the same time try to find my answer. As I sat in the celestial room, I prayed with all of my heart that the Lord would just guide me. I didn't even want an answer anymore, just guidance. As Jon and I started talking, so many things came to us, so many thoughts and even more questions. We sat there for a good 40 minutes, just sorting things out. When we had finally made a plan and felt good about it we left. When we got home we immediately put our plan into action. It has been absolutely amazing to see what we have accomplished. What was once agony over a huge decision, has now turned into a sweet experience. I felt like no answer would ever come, sadly when we decided to go to the temple I honestly didn't feel like going. I was in such agony over this and I kept praying and praying. I didn't think that the Lord would give me an answer there either, and he didn't. He did how ever give me the tools to help me get my answer. I think that maybe the Lord needed His daughter to come and sit in his presence, so that he could truly bless her life. This experience has strengthened my testimony, that I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants the best for me. He always cares.

Hazardous Plastic?!

My Dad called me yesterday and told me that I needed watch a video clip. This clip was aired Wednesday on NBC in San Diego. I don't know how you feel about that, but after I watched it I went to the cupboard and started looking at the plastic that we have in there.......All 5's. Then I looked at all the plastic that we use for Brett a few 7's and no numbers on the rest. I called the Playtex company and Brett's Bottles are a 7. I looked up Brett's sippy cups.......7. What is Bisphenol A anyway?? I happen to love wikipedia, so that is where I found my answer.

Then I decided to do a little research... I found some pretty interesting stuff, actually hoards of stuff. I will separate it into the good, the bad, and the helpful.

Good
Time.com
Baby Center
Avent.com

Bad
Seattle PI
Environment California
Consumer Reports
WebMd
Fox in Reno

The Helpful(if you care)
CHEJ
Soft Landing(BPA Free)
BPA-Free

So my question is....Should I be throwing away Brett's stuff?? I know that there are a bunch of moms who read my blog!! I really want to know what you think about this, really I do! Does this concern you or not and why? I am still trying to decide. It is kind of a hard decision.....The FDA says that it is ok, but they also recall a lot of drugs every year. They say that in the lab studies that the amount of BPA in mice was "minimal," but when they tested humans the exposure wasn't "minimal." Who decides what is minimal anyway? I don't think that we can prevent getting BPA in our systems, just because it is in so many things, but is it worth even trying to minimize it? Sometimes I have an "were all going to die anyway" attitude, but in the same sense I want to live to see great grandkids. Help me out!

There is way more information out there, that I have not even touched. Feel free to do your own research, let me know what you find.

My Curious Little Boy

Brett has become more curious everyday and so now all the doors in the house have to be shut behind us. Jon and I were getting ready to go to the temple last week. Heather was still at school and when she got home she was going to watch boo, while we were gone. I watched Brett while Jon got ready. I started doing my hair and I closed the bathroom door behind me. I thought Jon was watching Brett, needless to say Brett crawled into our Bedroom and was just playing around. Well it got quiet, in fact too quite. So I went out to see what he and dad were up too, and there was my boy. Next to dads night stand, sitting in a pile of muscle rub. Brett had managed to twist the lid off and squeeze it all over himself and the floor. Luckily for us he didn't put any into his mouth, but I bet his hands felt funny. We gave him a quick bath as a precautionary measure.
We are going to have to watch him close from now on. Jon thought that I was watching him, I guess we need to make sure we know who is watching him. What could have been a scary situation, luckily turned out to be a bedroom that now smells like Bengay.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

My Birthday was pretty fun, my birthday usually lands on or around conference and since I love conference I am ok with that. Lets see for my birthday I got a cake decorating starter kit(I have done cake decorating before, but now I can get good), I got a book titled 2001 amazing cleaning secrets(if you have a stain and need help, let me know!) I also got two animated movies(jungle book and robin hood), Jon created that wonderful post that made me cry, and Brett took three steps. I also received numerous emails wishing me happy birthday. So as you can imagine it was a good birthday for turning 24.

Like I said I LOVE conference!!!! I will admit to falling asleep(sleep deprivation can do that to you), luckily we have conference on Comcast on demand so I can re-watch it! I always look forward to watching conference and listening to it, however I always seem to get chastised. Don't get me wrong I deserve it, I am always chastised with love, and then I kick myself!! This time it was brought to my attention that I should not spend tons of time surfing the internet. With that being said, I will still faithfully check all of you blogs, even though I check more then thirty of them. And I will stay up on the news, but other then that I am cutting myself off. I find that I waste too much time just dinking around, when there is so much else around my house that needs to get done. This might sound lame but I crated a chore chart of things that need to get done Daily, Weekly and Monthly. That way I can keep busy and reward myself when I have accomplished things. Conference is not only about repenting of those things that have been brought to my attention that I should not be doing, but also it teaches me things that I should be doing. For example Elder Ballard talked about mother's and taking time for ourselves, I loved that talk. He helped me realize that I need more time for me then I give myself. With that being said I blocked out time for me on my chore chart, that way I don't forget it and I have to do it once a week!!

Before conference I pray that the Lord will tell me things that I need to hear, through his Prophet and Apostles. He has never let me down, I always seem to hear those things that I need to hear. I am so excited to have a chore chart to be able to do those things around my house that will make me feel better. Instead of waiting until it piles up to do it, then I am just too overwhelmed to do anything.

Happy Birthday to the Most Wonderful Woman in the World

Today is Kathlen's birthday and so I thought that I should write a little post about her.


I first met Kat in the spring of 2004 when her brother moved into my apartment. He moved in and the next thing that I knew is that there was this beautiful blond that started hanging around a lot. She was fun, outgoing, and enjoyed random, spontaneous things. This was perfect for me because I was a quiet, recluse physics major who was preparing to go to BYU to work on a degree in engineering. Her enthusiasm for life was contagious and I was attracted to her because she was able to create balance in my life.


For the next 7 months we saw quite a bit of each other since her brother and I were good friends. However, she wasn't quite sure that she wanted anything to do with me. I had to spend all that time doing my best to show off my charms and convince her to give me a second look. Meanwhile, she continued to impress me. She is an incredible leader yet ever willing to serve. She was always involved with some campus committee and always planning or coordinating some event on campus. She was also always reaching out to those who needed help and lifting those who were down and bringing a smile to those who were sad. All those activities gave me an excuse to spend time with her while helping her out. Finally, I wore her down and she agreed to marry me.



We have been married almost 3 years now and every morning I wake up and wonder how I managed to marry such an amazing woman. She always knows what to do to make me happy and she will sacrifice whatever she has to to make me happy. She has been such a strength and support to me as I have struggled through school. Even when times got stressful and finances were even shorter than usual I know that I always have a home to go to where I am met with a big smile from someone who can always find a way to love me.


Just about 10 months ago she brought a little baby boy into our family. As I have been watching her take on the role of mother I am even more amazed by her. Her willingness to sacrifice and her capacity to love are magnified by our son. Each day, as I see her sacrifice for him and interact with him I am more grateful that she is in my life. I am so grateful that our son has such a wonderful mother to look up to and who will train him and teach him and help him develop into a wonderful young man.


So thank you my Princess. Thank you for being willing to take a chance on me. Thank you for accepting me as I am and for working patiently with me as I try to become a man that is worthy of the most wonderful woman in the world, for you truly are. Happy Birthday!

Videos of Brett

So we had a little problem with youtube, and so we decided to switch to google. Thanks to Jon for all the work that he put into it(I told you he was brilliant)!! Here are the videos now. Hope you guys like them, I think they are pretty cute!!


Brett is so cute when he sucks his lips.



Brett with the Kleenex



Brett trying to walk! He could do that all day! We'll work on steering later!



Brett loves to have his teeth brushed.



He loved the duck pond!!

Line Rider

I thought that I would post something fun. Click on the link and start drawing your line. Can you make you little guy zoom across the page with out crashing or falling?? I think that it is slightly addicting. Thanks to who ever created it!

Tag I am it, Again!!

Since this is the second time, that I have been tagged. I am going to link my last tag right here, and I am going to do a tag about Jon:).

WHAT IS HIS NAME: Jonathan Brett Wierschke

HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN MARRIED: Almost three wonderful years(right babe?)

HOW LONG DID WE DATE: Depends on who you ask(I say 2 1/2months, he says almost a year)

WHO SAID I LOVE YOU FIRST: He did, I faked like I was asleep and so I groaned. Lame I know

HOW OLD IS HE: 25

WHO IS TALLER: He is by two inches

WHO EATS MORE: I bet I do

WHO SINGS BETTER: He does

WHO'S SMARTER: For sure him(Nuclear Engineering, come on)

WHO PAYS THE BILLS: I do

WHOSE TEMPER IS WORSE: That just might be a tie

WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED: Looking at the bed I do

WHO MOWS THE LAWN: Ha ha….he does, when he does, and it is all up hill

WHO COOKS DINNER: I do, but sometimes he does thankfully

WHO DRIVES: He does, I love it.

WHO'S MORE STUBBORN: I am

WHO KISSED WHO FIRST: He kissed me while watching Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban

WHO ASKED WHO OUT FIRST: I did, Except I remember that I already had a date so I canceled it.........Jon remembers different(very sensitive topic for him)

WHO HAS MORE FRIENDS: uh I do?? I think

WHO HAS MORE SIBLINGS: I do, 5-1

WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN THE FAMILY: Depends on the situation, Mainly Jon though

I tag: Abbie, Alysa, Chris ( I don't care which tag you do)

April Fools Joke??

At about 2:56am Brett woke me up, usually when this happens I figure that he is hungry. I got up went to the kitchen, and in my half asleep half awake mode, commenced to make him a bottle. I put him in bed with us and started to feed him. About two minutes into this bottle he shoved it away and began to rollover on to his tummy and sleep. My first reaction was "yeah right!!!!" I tried to give him his bottle again, no luck. I went and put him back down in his crib and gave him some teething tablets, he fell right to sleep. I crawled back into bed and began the process of getting warm again. Not even two minutes later I was up again, I tried rubbing Brett's back. I tried cuddling with him, I turned off the humidifier(he has a little congestion), I tried putting him in his swing, I changed his pants(he was barely wet), I slept on the floor(at least I tried), I let his cry it out for five minutes, I covered my ears. Finally after two hours I gave in and now he is just content to sit on my lap while I type this. The thing the puzzles me is that his naps were very short yesterday. This kid should be wiped out, he is rubbing his eyes and yawning, is this his idea of an April fools joke? Not funny. I guess Mother's group this morning is out of the question. If you had planned on calling us today, or wanted us to have a play date with you. Thanks for the thought, but forget it we're sleeping!