Thank You

We appreciate the love and concern that many of you have shown. We are posting this in the hopes that it will allow you to be involved during this time without having to call the Budges personally for the information you need to do so.

There will be a viewing Sunday night from 6 to 8 pm. There will be a second viewing at the church from 8:30-9:30am on Monday, the funeral to start at 10 am. The services will be 10 to 11:30, followed by going to the cemetery for the grave dedication. The Lehi 34th Ward Chapel is located at 1631 E 900 N, Lehi, Utah, 84043.

If you would like to help out, Cryssy says that donations to their website will be used to put together an education fund for the kids and would be of the most use.

Any flowers sent, should go to the funeral home so the staff there can arrange them for the funeral.


Holladay Brown Funeral Home
P. Mark Brown
66 S. 300 E.
Santaquin, UT 84655

Cryssy has posted an update.

Once again, thank you. Your prayers and support are much appreciated.

The Post I Never Wanted to Post

Matt passed away a few hours ago. His funeral will be on Monday. Please pray for my sister and their children.

Personality Portraits Caption Contest!

Here are some more pictures of James, of course. His great personality is really starting to show through, don't you think? We would love to have everyone come up with some captions for these adorable photos below. This is your chance to be really creative! Just add a comment and number your captions to correspond with each photo. If you don't want to sign in to Blogger, you can just leave an 'anonymous' comment. We will be giving a small prize to the winner! ;)

1:

2:

3:

4:5:

Crawling? Not yet... but soon.

An Ode to My Mom

I just woke from the most delicious nap. James had fallen asleep, things were relatively picked up, and it is Saturday morning so nothing was too terribly pressing. I asked Daniel to put on David Attenborough and I tucked myself into the couch. Settling in, I focused on the smooth voice of David and the soothing background music. French horns, a drumbeat. Yes, that is how snowflakes are formed. Red snow algae. Mountain goats butting heads and jumping nimbly. That's as far as I made it when I fell deeply asleep.

So why is this an ode to my mama? Well, I awoke refreshed and to the sound of David explaining that hot molten lava rises to the surface and becomes basalt, forming many different landmarks across the world. I relaxed, remembering the many happy times during my childhood and how my mama made them happen for me. (Coincidentally, she is also the person who has always known how to get me to take a nap.) I realized how blessed I am and wanted to put it down on paper, as it were.

So here's to my mama and the childhood she gave me:

Chocolate milk, deli meat and dinners rolls,

Eaten before playing standing up seesaws at the park.

Chasing us around the house with a rolled up towel ,

Giving us reasons to scream and giggle.

Spraying us down with the garden hose.

Singing.

Holding us when we were hurt, making it okay.

Frog races on the picnic table.

Snowmen, snow locomotives, snow tunnels and forts.

Woken in the night to watch the comets fall,

Warm cookies in the crisp evening air.

Hiding in the fabric racks at the fabric store.

Playing tag the trees.

Picking me up from school when I was sick,

tucking me in with a Sprite,

making me feel secure just by being nearby.

Listening to her talk on the phone, laugh on the phone,

and the snap her fingers at us when we tried stuff.

Saving, or trying to, baby birds,

knowing what to say when it didn't work out.

Listening to me,

putting down what she was doing to do so.

Quietly stroking my head when I had no words.

Forgiving me for mistakes,

teaching the benefit of honesty.

Believing in me.

There is so much more. To all mom's out there. You are doing a good job. Your best will be enough. I know this because just having my mama's love made my childhood magical, even when, looking back as an adult, I see realities that could have easily colored my memories more negatively. They didn't though, and I am grateful. More than anything, this is also a pep-talk to myself too. I have such a good example to follow and so I know what I have to do.

I know that many people have less than ideal childhoods for one reason or another. I am so sorry. I hope you will take this post as a sign that there is hope in this crazy world and an opportunity to try to make it better.

The Eating Montage

We are not alone. At the dinner table, that is. Gone are the days when dinners at home felt like a nice private date sans the restaurant. Someone we know has become extremely interested in this stuff that we grown-ups seem to put in our mouths a lot. So before he tries to stake a claim on our steaks (rubbed with seasonings then pan-seared with sauteed mushrooms and onions and served with a side of hash browns, no less), we decided to let the little man try some rice cereal.


Yum... James is excited to be eating solids. He waves his hands and wiggles his legs with a joy that is proportionate to the size of his puppy-dog eyes. He is so happy, that he tries to grab the spoon and its precious contents before it lands in his mouth (effectively thwarting the landing of any plane into its hanger). I guess this makes sense biologically, because his saliva-laden hands technically start to pre-digest the food, right? He has been an efficient eater so far, after all.

So let's review, shall we, James? Rice Cereal is YUMMY! Beef steaks rubbed with a special blend of seasonings then pan-seared with sauteed mushrooms and onions and served with a side of home-style red potato hash browns are not so good. Got it? Good. Now we all can have a nice date.

James and the Giant Peach Head

James continues to be big. His head is fuzzy and perfectly round and he has a piercingly cute gaze about him. The other day I was asked to hold a baby who was roughly the same age as James. Have you ever tried to lift something you thought was heavy but wasn't, so you ended up almost launching it into the air? Well, luckily I didn't toss the baby. But soon afterward, I picked up James again and thought, "Wow, he is definitely a solid kid." Charity claims it's a Chapin attribute, so I'll blame her side of the family for any chronic back pain.

I ran some errands around town and decided to sport James in my arms instead of in the carrier. I can honestly say that I have never received better customer service. Everyone I talked to seemed to stop mid sentence and be compelled to tell James how adorable he is (with puckered lips and bobbling heads, no less). One even suggested I look into baby modeling. Later, when I checked out some books at the library, I discovered that the entire time I was there, the ladies behind the check-out desk were betting on his age. They all guessed older than he is (by the way his 5 month mark is tomorrow!).

James truly has a gift of loving people. He likes to smile and interact with anybody at anytime. He seems to brighten the day for those around him (in addition to giving free strength training for anyone who wants to hold him).

James decides he'd like a drink.

While we were in Utah, we sat down with our friends for a nice chat. While talking, we noticed that James was fixated on Charity's glass and kept reaching for it. So, we decided to see what would happen if we let him drink:

New Jersey Traffic

I have a theory about New Jersey traffic. At any given time I would guess that about 20% of the people on the road are lost. Lost people speed up and slow down because they don't know where they are and are trying to read the signs. New Jersey puts their signs up according to the township that you are currently driving through, no matter that some townships are only a few feet accross. If that weren't bad enough, some roads go from one lane then to two lanes, then to one lane roads within a 400 feet distance. Oh, and the left hand turns are really jug handles; not the kind you hold onto to drink but the kind that make you stop three times, and be three times as likely to have an accident, when you are trying to turn left.

To add to the confusion, New Jersey has round-abouts sprinkled around any major traffic hub. Oh, and if you are stuck in traffic, anything goes to get out of it. Even the police have had to adapt and rarely pull people over for small infractions. They must understand that a good number of people on the road are lost and they'd have to give directions if they pull too many people over (which they don't have because they don't know the roads either). They have a polite 'bree-ur-bree-ur' when they want you to pull over so they can pass you and get on with life.

What does this all add up to? Craziness. Stop-and-go traffic and swerving, sweating, and sometimes swearing drivers. Oh yes, and honking too. Honking is an art in New Jersey. There is the polite millisecond honk that lets you know that you haven't hit the gas and the light turned green a millisecond ago. There is the second-long honk that says 'Get out of the way' or 'What do you think you are doing?'. And there is the loud drawn out honk that can mean, 'You idiot! How dare you cut me off first?' or it could be teenagers just scaring their fellow Jersey driver friends for fun. If they are really upset there is a combination of the three. It can sound like 'Beeeeeep beep beeeeep beeeeep bep beeeeep'. If you are not a veteran of the New Jersey traffic it can be a whole new world, one that reduces you to a puddle of anxiety every time you think about leaving the house.

Fortunately, I am now a veteran. Like all other New Jersey-ians I know that the fast lane is really on the right, that the turning lane is in the middle (because it could really go either way), and the best way to cut in is to just do it and then wave courteously because you won't go anywhere if you wait for an opening. I've also learned to pass on the right or you will get stuck behind a turning car and everyone will pass you. I don't even notice the honking anymore.

Chores Bingo

My hardworking wife asked me this morning at around 5 to go and see what James wanted. I, of course, did not hesitate because Charity rarely lets me in on the all-night fun. So I went in and picked up James, made a bottle, walked back to the crib, and when I set James down, he had already fallen back asleep. Knowing that if I went back to bed, I would wake Charity from her rare intermission of sleep, I stayed up and wrote (or rather hacked) a javascript bingo game and turned it into a household chore manager.

The rules are simple. The kids compete with the same board and whoever can do a row of five chores first gets a prize (clicking on the chore turns the square blue). Of course, that prize depends on the chore being checked-off by the parents. There are two "Freebees" on the board that will help even out the varying difficulties of a particular row, column or diagonal.

There are certainly revisions and tweaks that will need to be made in order to accommodate "fairness" disputes by the children. My reply will be that if they didn't wake us up so early in the morning, maybe I could have done a better job. ;)

Labor Day Weekend

WARNING: This is a large, unwieldy, stream of consciousness post. Please do not expect it to have smooth transitions or an overall theme. I pretty much just typed what I wanted around the pictures, which were taken in chronological order. Enjoy!


James flew for the first time this last Friday. I was really anxious about how it would go and was relieved when it went better than I had imagined. We arrived early in the morning at Newark airport and made it through security without a problem. James got a lot of smiles and enjoyed charming his public. We were surprised by how many people were willing to strike up conversations with us because of James. It was nice but a little unnerving.

We let James try out a hard cookie on the plane ride to Utah. He was awe struck by the flavors and seemed to analyze the chemical makeup of the cookie as he slobbered away, gumming it with an intent expression on his face. Since then he focuses right in on food, especially once he sees me eating it.

James did pretty well although he did fuss a little in the middle of the flight. He was rescued by Sister Kelly, who is in our ward and was also on the flight. (It's a small world after all....) The descent was hard on his ears but he only cried for a short time and then was his normal happy self. Pheww! We were glad to have arrived.


We picked up our rental car... or should I say minivan? We had requested a compact car but got upgraded to a minivan because the compact cars were all out. We felt like an established family driving around in it. Fun.



This is us in front of Sizzler. We were very hungry after our trip and it was great to eat and see friends.
From Left to Right: Daniel, Charity, James (A-1 bottle), Margaret, Renae
We were amazed at how much the Budge kids have grown! They seem to have become miniature teenagers overnight. They are all taller and have each developed more individual personality. It was nice to see them. James was in awe of all the big kids. Caleb took a shine to him on the first day and started bringing him Lego blocks to play with. The rest of the kids commented on how cute he was and on how sad it was that he 'can't do anything' yet.

Grandma Chapin was also there, taking care of all the important details like food and laundry. She was happy to see James, and us too. She took very good care of us and it was such a nice visit. We stayed with her in a camping trailer in the side yard and had a great time catching up. It was a really nice camper and now Daniel and I are dreaming up our own 'dream trailer'. Hee hee.

Here's our baby basket case.
In the trailer, relaxing.
We were pleased to have James meet Matt and Cryssy. Matt says that James took a shine to him because they both have the same hair cut. Cryssy was able to get a lot of 'baby-therapy' because James was very happy to have her hold him.

Tall, dark, and handsome.... Daniel was an immediate hit with all the girls.
James took a page from his cousins and got very much more coordinated over the weekend. So much so, that he was able to wrestle some with his dad.

Once we booked our trip we began to realize how many other people we know who live in Utah. During our weekend we were able to meet up with a few of them. I was happy to see Renae, Margaret, Wendy, and Christie.... and to have them meet Daniel and James. We had such a good time catching up that I didn't want to leave. It was nice to hang out with them and to visit. We only wish we could have seen everyone. Friends are truly precious.

How big is James? This big....

Despite his intriguing encounter with his hard cookie, James is still averse to some solid foods-

Die banana!
We also got to see Cameron, one of Daniel's school buddies. He and Daniel had fun talking about design, school, old friends, etc. Apparently, he was really happy to see Daniel...

This is us with my friend, Christie. She's the programmer that I want to be like when I grow up. Her recipe program is amazing!

Me and Renae:
Renae, Charity, Margaret, James:

We took a driving tour of Provo on Monday. Here is the house that Daniel lived in during college:

The beautiful Provo temple:

Here's Hurricane Hannah tearing through breakfast: The Howell's and the Budge Parents:
We arrived at the end of the second week of school for the Budges. Nathanael is in the 6th grade, Sari is in the 5th grade, Bekah is in the 3rd grade, and Rachel is in 1st grade, and Cryssy is in the 7th to 8th grade (as the teacher!). Cryssy is one of the math teachers at the charter school that the kids are going to. I am very proud of her. She is getting her certificate at the same time that she is teaching. The school administrators were impressed with her resume and, no fools, offered her a job when she applied this summer. She is loving teaching and sharing one of her favorite subjects, math, with kids. Although there are many more meetings than she is used to, the job is a blessing to her and her family.

Cryssy and the kids going off to school. Bye! We'll miss you!

We had a very very very long day of travel on Tuesday to get home. It really made us appreciate being home when we finally go here. We left Tuesday morning, got through security, and got on our plane. Unfortunately, our plane never left SLC. We sat during the flight check, and then another flight check because it had failed the first brake check. Then we waited for the mechanics to come and do a manual check. Which it failed. Then we waited while they did three more different tests, to make sure it had really failed. People were leaving the plane like rats jumping ship. Daniel was one of those rats. He got us on another later flight so when the flight attendants said to get off the plane (without admitting that they were cancelling the flight) we had a plan 'B'. We had hoped that the delay would mean that we could see my sister in Dallas during the layover but that time got eaten up by the many failed brake checks.

James was a very good baby during this time. We, and everyone around us, kept him entertained. The only problem was that he did not get any sleep during our three hour sit. We trooped off and got on our second flight ......and then our third flight. When we arrived in Newark our little guy was limp and sleepy in my arms. Poor baby. He seemed very happy to finally be in his car carrier and then home when we got there. It was 3am. He's been making up on his sleep during the day since then.

Award

I am pleased to share an award that I received today for one of the projects that I was a part of at work. The President's award was given to my team and to one other team for excellence in the workplace and for adding value to the company. Last year we worked very hard to get a product ready for a large clinical trial and were able to deliver against all odds. I feel proud to have been a part of it and am pleased that our executives were willing to recognize our work. They presented us with this award at the Jasna Polana Resort. Very posh.


In addition to this crystal plaque, I received a congratulatory letter, and a monetary award. I feel very blessed as this award came in time to fund our trip to visit the Budges over Labor Day Weekend.

More on our trip to follow...