This Year's Award goes to...MOM!

Mother's Day has come and gone, gifts were already given, and life has moved on. Yet, it seems to me that Mothers need more than just one day to celebrate their "Awesomeness". Many of you who read this blog realize that Amber has sacrificed being home with Greg this year in order to support our family while I finished my Masters program. What most people are not aware of is the all of the extra stuff that Amber does without complaining and often times on little sleep and food. But Greg and I notice her dedication to our family, time spent fulfilling her callings at church, and the help she often lends more than willing to friends and family. Eventually, Amber, you will read this post and when you do, Greg and I would like for you to know that you are an A+ mother, a bodacious wife, and the coolest of friends. 

Here's lookin' at you babe!

 

As a side note...I snapped this shot (below) of Greg looking at his "chubbo" legs and thought I would throw it on at the end of this post. The pediatrician noticed Greg walking along the wall by himself on Tuesday and mentioned that the "fatty" legs wouldn't be around much longer. So in conclusion...We love Amber, and Greg's fat legs are disappearing rapidly.

 

Weekend and Arboretum Part 1

What a great weekend! On Friday Amber and Trevor threw me a surprise 10,000^th birthday. It was awesome! Because my normal birthday in December 28, I have never really had a true birthday party, so this was awesome. Trevor made me a specialty plate in order to commemorate the day and Amber led a rowdy game of Noel trivia. Jeff Bird and Trevor took first place, but Jon Bylund came in a close third as he gained bonus points by knowing my parents nicknames – Skinny Lynnie and Gordie (although at first he said Skinny Minnie).

On Saturday we were invited to celebrate Jon Bylund’s graduation from Medical School. Since moving to Kentucky, Amber and I have been fortunate to know and befriend Jon and Angela Bylund and are always amazed by their enduring faith and excellent example. Congrats Jon and we wish you the best luck in your transition to your Anesthesiology residency!

Sunday was the annual scripture mastery chase between the Bishopric and the seminary students. Last year we were whooped in Old Testament mastery so this year Bishop Blodgett instituted a training regiment. It really paid off as we walloped the students in New Testament mastery by nearly 20 questions. Next year is the Book of Mormon and we are already preparing J.

For family home evening tonight we went to the Arboretum. Today’s weather was in the low 70s and sunny and we wanted to enjoy the nice weather outside before it heats up mid-week. Greg loved touching all of the flowers and kept Amber busy keeping him out of the Koi ponds. It was also his first time playing in the grass. After some crying he found out that grass is pretty cool and in the end we had trouble taking him away from his precious grass. I have included some pictures of Amber and Greg at the Arboretum.

 

 

 

10,000 Birthday and Crocs

Today, May 15, 2009 is my 10,000 birthday! Yes, that is right folks, I am 10,000 days old. I could tell you how old that is in years, but the raw day summation lends so much wisdom to my age, as if I am as old as Da Vinci. To celebrate, Amber will go to bed at 8pm so she can help with yard work and house cleaning (something she has grown unfamiliar with...). For those of you who forgot to mail me my birthday card...Shame on you! I expected flowers, chocolate, and 1,000,000 dollars. 

In reality I am just excited to have been alive for so many days. I would like to take this time to thank myself for being healthy and strong, good genes, and Trevor Wilbur for reminding me of my special day. The journey has been frought with numerous set backs such as multiple buzz cuts from Amber; being... like... the number one dad in America; and caring, working, and studying too much.

Below are some pictures of Greg celebrating such a special day.

 

 

In all seriousness, we would like to thank Grandma Dickens (skinny Lynnie) for thinking of Greg and finding him BYU crocs in preparation for BYU football season. Thanks! For my 20,000 day birthday, I do, however, expect more than gifts for Greg! :)

 

I know this post is long already, but I recorded Greg this afternoon jamming to one of our Garage Sale shopping finds - Playskool's Busy Basics Busy Ball Choo Choo. Greg loves pushing the trains main button and dancing to the music. Enjoy!

Fun Friday

Today is Friday and another chance to celebrate the beginning of the weekend! This week I was inspired by a "mistake" photo I took of Greg after feeding him some peas.

When I first pulled this image up in Lightroom my fingers went instinctively to the delete button. Before I could delete the image I received a phone call and had some other more important work to complete. When I returned to review the images later that evening I immediately thought of the song "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Greg has almost a possessed look on his face and his hands perfectly mimicked the dance video to "Thriller".

European Rockstars!

Today's post reminds me of studying in Spain. When I lived in Salamanca, our neighbors were two semi-pro soccer players with European mullets (clean in the front, but spiky in the back). One night they invited my roommate and I to one of their games and a night around town with their friends. My roommate and I decided to replicate Xavi and Raul's hairdo. I don't have any pictures of our styling, but the following two pictures of Greg about replicate our cool "European" look.

 

 

I Heart Faces: Laughter

Taking pictures of Greg always requires some sort of surprise as he is usually too busy scavaging the house. Two weeks ago I pulled out the flash and broad-sided him. The result was the following image. When Amber came home and saw the picture pulled up in Photoshop she about peed her pants from laughter. Although it isn't one of the most techinal photos I've ever taken, Greg's reaction is priceless.

 Due to Greg's facial expression I decided that this is one of the better laughter photos that I have on file. As such I am submitting it to I Heart Faces (www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com) Laughter contest. A larger version can be found on my  Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/noelyevan/3522342242/).

Weekend Fun!

Yeah!...It is the weekend and to celebrate let's include some nice pictures. Since I am in the process of designing my photography blog, I have moved my weekend fun photos to this blog. Today Amber was able to attend the temple and I stayed home to watch Greg...sounds familiar, right? :) But it was a nice pre-mother's day gift and Amber enjoyed the time in Louisville. While Amber was gone I cleaned out Greg's room and boxed up a lot of his winter clothing. During the clean-up I found these hats and decided to take some pictures of Greg showing off his smile.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Learning to Stand

Really this is just an attempt to view the quality of the video on the blog. Yet, I have a feeling that the Grandparents will enjoy seeing their Grandson.

Untitled from Noel Dickens on Vimeo.

Hanging Around the House

Finally Noel's schedule has lightened up a little and we are simply counting down the days until Amber finishes teaching school. This past year has seemed like a marathon. We started out strong and enjoyed the first 10/13 miles. We survived the 20 mile wall and are now finally beginning to sense that the end is near (aka. mile 23). Our feelings are best summarized by Greg's excited/constipated face below. 

 

Despite the difficulties that this year has presented to us, we are extremely grateful for the opportunities we have had. Amber does well at most everything she does, and in particular she has excelled in teaching. This past week Amber informed her principal that she would not be returning for next year. This decision has been difficult for Amber as she really enjoys teaching and her collegues, but misses being home more with Greg and of course...ME, aka Noel. Her principal was extremely gracious with her decision and paid her the ultimate teaching compliment, that when she does return to teaching that she seek him out first for a job. As a family we are proud of Amber's hard work and her dedication to family, faith, and work. Not teaching next year opens up an abundance of other opportunities such as a membership at the YMCA, play groups, eating a nice morning breakfast, blogging, and of course....SLEEPING (something she has not been able to do this entire year).

Noel has been busy this year being a stay-at-home dad, going to school full-time, and working as the biostatistician for the Division of Pediatric Dentistry at UK's College of Dentistry. Days tended to run from 7am (when Greg wakes up) to 1 or 2 in the morning (working or studying). Despite the extended schedule and lack of sleep, Noel enjoyed the quality time with Greg. This past week, Noel was recognized by the Biostatistics Department as their Student of Excellence for graduation. Each of the concentrations in the College of Public Health recognizes a student at graduation that demonstrated excellence both in the classroom and in their assistantships. Although Noel has not found his work and schooling overbearing, this award serves as vindication for striving to maintain a positive balance between work, school, and home life. Congrats Noel! 

Despite our busy schedules we have found great joy in living in Kentucky. Gregory has added a  great deal of excitement and happiness to our lives and we love him greatly. Nothing beats seeing your son smiling.

 

Last but not least (yes, I realize people don't actually read blogs :) ), Noel has worked hard this year to improve his hobby of photography. Below is the opening image of his new website that will open in June. Enjoy!

 

Cool Dude

This post is inspired by my older sister LesliAnn. Les's daughter, Julia, is probably one of the coolest and funniest little girls. When she was younger, Julia would put sunglasses on her face and everyone would say, "Cooooooool Dude!" It was riot and something that we have tried to implement with Greg. He still doesn't quite get the whole "Cooooool Dude!" thing but he at least lets us put the sunglasses on his face. 

Thanks for the inspiration, Les and Mike. We miss you all and hope the little ones haven't driven you two completely crazy:)

Fun Friday

Thank goodness for the weekend. Unfortunately this week has been busier than expected and as the result the house is a disaster, Amber and I are exhausted, and my favorite day-dream is a nice bed :) 

In order to celebrate the weekend I had a little fun creating a merge of Greg and a Wordle (www.wordle.net) creation.

If anyone would like me to do the same with a picture of themselves or one of their kids, feel free to send me the picture and I will see what I can do (noeldickens@gmail.com).

Happy Friday and better yet...HAPPY WEEKEND!