Sorry blog followers

This post goes out to all of you who check (or stalk) our blog, and have been saddened by my lack of posting. This is the first update I have done in almost 2 months! Yikes! I'm a slacker I know, but I just have other things that keep me busy at the moment (like a little person named Eden, and another one named Owen). I felt the need to update our blog however, considering the events that have transpired recently. Our little Owen was blessed yesterday at church. This is actually our second try at having him blessed. The first blessing date was set for October 12th, but oddly enough, we happened to have over 2 feet of snowfall that day, and church was cancelled. So we set the date for yesterday. We had Clint's family here, minus Jimmie, Kandy and Lexie who are in Pennslyvania. We also had my family here, minus Julio, Emily, Nic, Tony, Amy, Sydney, and Dante. Here are some pictures of our snow (that is all melted now), and some of the blessing.

Four generations of good-looking guys! The Abrahamic Covenant at work.

As you can see, Owen looks very dashing in his white tuxedo (thanks to Derek and Keli Andersen). However, shortly after arriving at church, I was conducting Primary and my mom held up Owen and there was a large poop stain on his cute little white tuxedoed bum. Don't worry though Keli, my mom washed it out, and Ana took it home and threw it in the dryer, and was back in time for the blessing, so all was good!

Also, call me crazy, but Eden was an angel for Halloween. I know that it's kind of an oxymoron to be an angel for Halloween, but I thought it would bring some Holiday joy to the otherwise dark and spooky holiday. She made a pretty cute angel too, but I don't think anyone can top my brother Tony's Buddy the Elf costume!

I also thoroughly enjoy the next pictures. The first one is of Eden reading to Owen, and the next ones are of Owen getting a face painting job. Yes, I let my 2 year old paint the baby. Not intentionally of course. That's what I get for leaving her alone with paint for 2 seconds. It was pretty funny though.

Wielding a brush

And finally, for those of you who are reading our blog, let's be honest, who does Owen look like the most, Sara or Clint?

Baby Sara and brother Tony

Sara

Clint

OWEN IS HERE!

Well I finally found some time to update my blog. A lot has happened since my last post about a month ago. We now have 2 kids, so life is a little more hectic these days. Right now I am sitting downstairs at the computer with little Owen asleep in my lap, and Eden is upstairs watching Cinderella. The big news is that we had our new little baby boy, Owen David Edwards two weeks ago, on September 3rd. He was born at 8:12 am, weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz, and was 19 1/2 inches long. I had to have a c-section, but I am recovering nicely. Here is a picture of me a few days before giving birth.

Clint holding the new addition to our family. "Whew," he says, "it's a boy!" You can almost see the relief in his face.

Here I am with my new little son. This is the first time I got to hold him after coming out of the recovery room. My spinal anesthesia was wearing off, and I was starting to be able to feel my legs again. (And the pain from the incision in my stomach!)

Home at last! Eden missed us. She had fun playing with grandma Rodriguez for a few days though.

Eden and Owen

Some more new additions to the family. My mom brought up these kittens for us when she came to help out with Owen. Their names are Gus-gus and Dot-dot (Eden helped name them.)

Owen had jaundice pretty bad, and his bilirubin was 18 (which is quite high), so we had to have him on the portable lights for a while, which is why he looks like he is glowing (either that or he is just really innocent and pure)

It has been almost 2 months since my last post. Yikes! The reason being that we just recently got our internet set up. Quite a bit has happened lately. I'll start from the top:

1. Clint turned 30 on July 17th. He actually just said today that he will be 50 before Eden leaves home. I was like, "Actually math whiz, you will only be 46. Stop being so dramatic." We had my mom up visiting us during his birthday, so she watched Eden while we went to a movie. The reason my mom was visiting leads me to #2.

2. We moved into our new home in Burley, Idaho on July 14th! My mom came up to help us clean, organize and unpack. The house is great. It has 3 bedrooms upstairs, 1 bathroom, a bedroom and an office downstairs, a built-in fish tank, a large screen TV, a large garden, and lots and lots of land! We love it. Here are some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

3. Clint left for Fort Knox, Kentucky on July 26th. He had to go to an Army Scout Platoon Leader's Course for 2 1/2 weeks. During the time he was gone, I went down south to visit my parents. While I was there, we celebrated Eden's 2nd birthday on August 2nd. I guess that means it was her golden birthday! I found it ironic that while we were celebrating her birthday, Clint was at Fort Knox which is where she was born! Well, I thought I would be creative, so I made her a barbie birthday cake. Just don't tell Eden that the Barbie in her cake had to have her feet amputated at the ankle so she would fit in the cake. (Don't worry, it was just a dollar store Barbie!)

Eden and her cousins, Elena, Nic, and Evelyn at her birthday party.

4. We also did some other fun things while we were visiting grandma and grandpa. We went to see my sister Ana where she works at Deer Valley, and she took us on a tram ride. Eden also got her hair cut by Allie, and we also got to visit Eden's other grandma and grandpa in Logan, and have a good-bye party for Clint's brother Jimmie, his wife Kandy, and their little girl Lexie. They will be going to Pennsylvania for 2 years so Jimmie can go to PA school (Physician's Assistant). We will miss them a lot!

Eden saying good-bye to cousin Lexie.

5. Finally the last bit of news. I am only about 2 1/2 weeks away from having our baby boy. We are super excited, and we will be sure to post pictures of him when he gets here!

El Salvador

We've been home from our trip to El Salvador for about a week now, so I figured it was time to post a few pics. Things have been pretty crazy lately. We are trying to get everything in order so that we can move to Burley. We put on offer on a house yesterday, so we will see how that turns out. Anyways, we had an incredible time in El Salvador (my father's homeland). My whole family went and there were 16 of us in all. We rented a big bus to drive us around while we were there. The first few days of our trip were spent at the DeCameron, an all-inclusive resort right by the ocean. It was exactly what you would think a tropical vacation should be. The biggest decisions we had to make were: go swimming in the ocean, go swimming in the pool, drink pina coladas by the pool, go get a massage, eat, take a nap, or read by the pool. It was awesome! Clint also earned the title of "Mister DeCameron", but we won't go into the details of that. If you want to know more, ask Clint (or shall we call him "Shakira!")

We also went to Guatemala and Honduras while we were there. We stayed in Copan, Honduras, and visited the Copan ruins, which are ancient Mayan ruins.

Some other highlights of our trip included visiting one of the five most beautiful lakes in the world, Coatepeque Lake, going to church in Santa Ana, visiting Chalchuapa, the birthplace of my grandma Rodriguez, and a big family reunion with all my dad's cousins and aunts and uncles. It was so great getting to know family that I have never met before. My dad's uncle Nayo and his wife Mima, were so kind and planned the whole trip for us. My dad's aunts are amazing too, and it was sad to leave them when we had to go. It was an awesome trip, and luckily no one got too sick. My mom found out when we got home that she has a ruptured disc in her neck and pneumonia, but she was a trooper the whole trip even though she was in a lot of pain. Well, that about sums it up...best vacation ever!

Hooray!

For those of you dying to know out there, we finally found out where we will be going. Like I said on a previous post, Clint got hired as a full-time seminary teacher about 4 weeks ago, and just yesterday we found out where! We have been waiting anxiously to hear, and we now know that we are going to...Burley, Idaho! We will be moving there sometime in the middle of June. We are excited for this new change in our lives. I know this is where we are supposed to be. It should be an adventure!

About Us

1. Where did you meet? Clint and I met at the gym. He was flexing his gigantic muscles in the mirror, and I thought, “Wow, what a hunk!” Not really, but we did meet in the gym. We were actually in the same student ward at Utah State University in Logan, but the first time we talked to each other was at Academy Fitness where I worked, and he worked out. He recognized me from church when I was coming in to work one day. He was a good conversationalist and we hit it off nicely. I thought it strange too that every time I came into work after that, he was there working out. Hmmm… coincidence. I think not!

2. What was the first thought that went through your head when you met? I don’t remember exactly what I thought, but I do remember thinking, “he has no hair.” Luckily he has a good-shaped head. I also recall the first time I heard him play the guitar. He invited me up the canyon with some friends for a campfire cookout. He pulled out his guitar and started playing, "Here without you" by 3 Doors Down. That is my all-time favorite song, and when I heard him play it and sing it, I was smitten. To this very day, that is "our song." It's true what they say, guys with guitars get the chicks.

3. Do you remember what he was wearing? I don't remember what he was wearing when we first met, but I do remember a church activity that I went to shortly after we met. He was there and he was throwing the football around with his friends. He was wearing a blue sweater that matched his eyes, and accentuated his musculature.

4. Where was the first time you kissed this person? We went for a walk and he took me to this nature park that was pretty close to where I lived in Logan, but it was hidden and not many people knew about it. There was a bridge that crossed over the river, and we stopped on the bridge to talk. School was almost done for the semester, and I was leaving to go home for the summer in a day or so. I said something like, “It’s a shame when you meet someone and start to like them, then just have to leave.” He said, “what do you mean?” I was like, “Duh!”, but I didn’t say that, I just said, “you know… like how we just started hanging out and now we have to leave for the summer.” “Ohhh...”, he said, after a moment of clarity. Then he took off his ball cap and kissed me.

5. How did he ask you out? Well, he never really asked me out, but I remember going home for the summer, and he said he would call me. I didn’t hear from him for almost a week. So I decided I would take matters into my own hands, and I called him. He says now that he was just about to call me when I called him, but I like to think that I was the one that got the ball rolling. After that we called each other frequently.

6. Where did you go for your first date? We went to the ranch where Clint worked for the summer for his uncle. It was up near Soda Springs, Idaho. He invited me up for the weekend. Our first date would probably be stopping at Subway to get some grub, then he took me up to a beautiful scenic spot, and we had a little picnic. We also rode horses that weekend, went down the river, went to Lava Hot Springs, and finally had dinner at his grandad’s house in Malad with his family.

7. How long did you know this person before you became a couple? Ummm…probably a few months. We don’t like to waste any time. Actually it was just the right time for both of us. We started dating in May 2004, got engaged 4 months later, and were married 3 months after that. We were both read y to move on and were sick of the whole dating game.

8. Has this person ever proposed to you? Yes. September 11, 2004. We were down at my parent’s house in Provo Canyon. Clint asked me to take him on a hike to my favorite place in the mountains. So I showed him one of my most favorite places up in the meadow. While we were there, we were enjoying the scenery, and he started fumbling in his pocket for something. Before I knew it, he pulled out a little box, got on his knee and asked me to marry him. I hugged him and said, “yes, yes, yes, yes!” Then he tried to put the ring on my finger, but it was way too small. I guess he didn’t know me that well after all!

9. Do you and this person have kids together? Yes! Eden Rose = 1 ½ , and #2 on the way (it’s a boy!)

10. Have you ever broken the law together? Ummmmm….. No (for the record)

11. When was the first time you realized you liked this person? When we would have long conversations at the gym and I realized that he was really interested in what I had to say. He was a good friend to me, and he was so easy to talk to.

12. Do you get along with this person ex's? Of course… I even let one of the girls he previously kissed be my roommate. I’m not the jealous type (yeah right!)

13. What's the most expensive thing this person has given you? My wedding ring, and Eden.

14. What is the one thing this person does that gets on your nerves? Well, sometimes he forgets to push his chair in at the dinner table, and for some reason it drives me crazy. But that’s about it!

15. What is the one thing you do that gets on his nerves? I’m sure there are many things, but one thing I know for sure is when I try to talk to him and tell him all about my day right as he is trying to go to sleep, or when he is really getting into a good book. For some reason I just get really talkative right before bed or when he is in the middle of doing something.

16. Where do you see each other in 15 years from now? Hopefully in a home that we own, in a place we both love. Also, we would like to have a few horses, cats, dogs, kids, and a nice yard. I would like to be playing soccer and coaching my kids, and Clint wants to just have the freedom to roam around the mountains with his horse and his gun.

For those of you reading this, now it's your turn to share all about you, so get going! Thanks for the fun tag Keysh!

Spring has Sprung (I hope!)

Finally we have a warm day. Yesterday was pretty decent, but today the high is supposed to be in the 70s! That's warmer than we ever kept our house during the winter! Whoa! Well, it's been a great day. Eden and I took some lunch to Clint out at the seminary building, and we all sat outside on a blanket and enjoyed our little picnic, while we watched the baseball team practice. Clint and Eden are now taking a nap, and I'm wondering, "Hey, why am I not taking a nap too?" Well, I have started packing up a few things here and there. We don't know where Clint will be teaching seminary, but we will find out soon, and then it's "adios Blackfoot, Idaho!"

Pregnant Sara, 20 weeks along (halfway there!)

I thought I would leave you with a tip from your friendly neighborhood dietitian. Did you know that 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate has almost 10 times the antioxidant power of 1/2 cup of broccoli! Now I'm not telling you to skip the broccoli and load up on chocolate, but I just thought it was interesting. Also, cocoa and chocolate may also have beneficial effects on maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, increasing blood flow in the brain, and keeping skin healthy. Great news eh!

GOOD NEWS!

So this week has probably been one that both Clint and I will remember for the rest of our lives. It is the most life-changing week of all weeks. Just yesterday, we found out that we are going to be having a BOY!! I can't tell you how happy Clint is about that! I could hear him exhale a sigh of relief during the ultrasound. He would have been happy with a girl too, but I think he just wanted to make sure that we got at least one boy for him to do guy stuff with. I'm way excited to have a boy. I think it will be great fun. I'm pretty sure he'll be an athlete, and I can't wait to go to all his sporting events. (and Eden's too!) I'll be able to relive my glory days through my children! Profile of our baby boy

The second piece of good news we got was today. I'll just give a little update before I share this news. So Clint has been student teaching for the Seminary program for the church at Snake River High School (up here in Blackfoot) for the past school year. Throughout the school year, he has had to have many different interviews and evaluations to determine if he would be a good seminary teacher. We have had an interview in our home with a man from Salt Lake, and a few weeks later we had an interview with a general authority, Elder Sheldon F. Child. Clint has also had many different people come to observe and critique him on his lessons. It is an extremely LONG process to hire a seminary teacher. Anyways, today was the day that we found out whether or not Clint would be hired on full-time as a seminary teacher. We have been anxiously awaiting this day since August of last year. Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep last night, and I was so anxious all day today. We drove to Pocatello to meet with Brother Egan, Clint's boss, at 11:30 this morning. He proceeded to tell us that out of about 50-60 eligible teachers, they were only able to hire 21.... and Clint was one of those 21!!!!!!!! We are so excited to finally have a career, and a salary, and we just feel so completely blessed. We don't know where the job will be yet, but we will find out in a few weeks. We just want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts on our behalf. What a great day!!!!

The Dancing Sensation!

So, in the previous post I wrote about Eden's love for music and dancing. Tonight she was feeling in the mood to groove, so I thought I would capture it on film. Take a look! She's got the moves!

(More than) 8 Things about Eden

Eden has been tagged, which I didn't really know what meant, but after reading Amy and Tony's blog, I guess that I just write a few fun facts about Eden for your reading enjoyment, and for those of you who don't get to see her often.

1. Eden was born at Fort Knox, Kentucky on August 2, 2006. She was born C-section because she was breech. She did not want to conform to the norm, and she has been that way ever since.


2. Eden's full name is Eden Rose Edwards. My dad likes to call her E.R. I was flipping through a baby name book and came across the name Eden. I've always thought it was a pretty name, so I went with it. For her middle name, I thought of something beautiful that must have been in the Garden of Eden, and "Rose" seemed more appropriate than "Forbidden Fruit."

3. One of Eden's first words was "ashes", as in "ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" She spins in a circle as she says it, although it sounds a lot more like, "asses."

4. Eden loves to be outside. Everytime I ask her if she wants to go outside, she runs and grabs her shoes and tries to put them on. No matter how cold it is, she wants to be outside. When I bring her in after more than an hour of being out, she cries and cries and tries to open the door and go out again.

5. She is very bow-legged, which was not a huge surprise to us since Clint and I are both bow-legged people. When I ran track at William Penn, someone once told me that bow-legged people are fast runners, so maybe she will be a track star.

6. She loves nursery. The first time I took her there, she walked right in, and didn't even notice I had left. She wasn't even 18 months old yet.

7. Eden is NOT shy. She will go up to anyone and lift up her arms for them to pick her up. Nice, but sometimes a little frightening for mom. She loves everyone and has since she was just a wee baby.

8. She is a picky eater, and she would probably rather do anything but eat. She likes oatmeal, pancakes, french toast, and most breakfast foods, but after breakfast, it's a chore to get her to eat. She does love milk though, and jelly beans.

9. Eden is a very independent individual. She can entertain herself for hours on end. She loves to look at books, and for those of you who have heard her laugh, she has the most contagious laugh ever.

10. She loves to dance, and listen to bluegrass music (takes after her dad). Anytime she hears music, she starts to groove, and I must say she is a pretty good dancer (takes after her mom. However, Clint would beg to differ!) Sometimes she will even dance when there is no music at all (kinda weird!)

11. Eden is lively, energetic, and will one day be a great soccer player. Watch for her during the Women's World Cup in about 18-20 years!

A Typical Day

Well, not much exciting is going on in our lives right now, so I thought I would write about my typical day. Clint and I wake up every morning at 6:15 am. I usually end up laying in bed until about 6:30, trying to bring myself to get out of my warm bed. To conserve heat, we set our thermostat to 58 degrees at night. I know it sounds cold, but don't worry, we have a space heater in Eden's room. Our house is small, so it doesn't take much to heat it. After I drag myself out of bed, Clint and I eat breakfast together, I pack him a lunch, and Eden wakes up at about 7:00, right before Clint leaves for work. Eden eats breakfast at 8:00, then the two of us head to Gold's Gym. I usually meet with one or two clients and get a workout in, while Eden plays in the day care there at the gym. Then we come home, have lunch, and we both take a 2-3 hour nap (I love to sleep!) Clint usually gets home at about 3:00 or 4:00, then he goes to the gym for a workout. Sometimes I go with him if I haven't already got a workout in. When Clint gets home, we usually have dinner, then just spend the rest of the evening playing with Eden, watching T.V., reading books, or just talking. So there you have it, a day in the life of the Edwards family. Exciting, isn't it! However, today Eden made a new friend, as you can see. It is a gray cat that came from out of nowhere, and it loves Eden. Also, I let Eden take her Barbie big wheel outside today since it is rather warm outside for once. She loves being outside. She can't quite reach the pedals on her big wheel, so she just scoots herself around with her feet.

Eden is 20 months old today!

Poor Eden

It's been awhile since I last posted anything, so I thought I would write about Eden's disease that she got in the middle of March. We went to visit grandma Suzy and grandpa Ju for my birthday, and Eden broke out in this bad rash. We thought it was chicken pox, but it didn't quite look like it. She had really red cheeks, and was all spotted. She also had a pretty bad ear infection in both ears (which we found out about when we got back to Blackfoot), and she was pretty miserable. It turns out that the rash was actually what they call "Fifth's disease", aka "slap-cheek", or the more medically correct term, "Erythema Infectiosum". It usually occurs in children ages 2 to 12 years, and shows up in early spring. It can sometimes cause fever and joint pain. The rash covers the body, and can reappear on and off with exposure to heat (bathwater, sun) for 2 or 3 weeks, or even months. So just in case anyone ever gets this disease, hopefully this will help. My mom and dad helped us out a lot, and we rubbed Eden down with calamine lotion, and gave her lots of cool baths. Dr. Julio (dad) was even the one who figured out what she had!

Well, here is our blog. I don't really know what a blog is, or what it means, and I have basically spent all day trying to figure out this whole blogging deal, but hopefully it will be something fun. Clint and I are both pretty computer illiterate, so this is pretty big for us. I hope those who view our blog will find it informative and somewhat interesting. As you can see, we are expecting child #2. I am currently 13 weeks along, and the baby is about 2 inches tall right now. So far I don't feel very pregnant, but the little guy (or girl) is definitely in there. I had an ultrasound last week and he/she was moving around like crazy. It's definitely going to be a soccer player!