Yellowstone!

Hope you enjoy our pictures and appreciate the fact that narrowing 300+ pictures down to 32 took me literally all day. So, with that in mind, there are 32 pictures below, so if you have dial up, you may want to go make yourself a cup of tea, go to the bathroom, watch an episode of Scrubs or three, and take a short nap while you're waiting. Sorry!

These pictures are backwards, because that's the order blogger puts them in. One of these days they'll realize the folly of their ways, but until then, scroll down and read up. Thanks! :)

Finally, after four long days, three *very* long nights, with two full memory cards, and one slightly sun-kissed baby, we head to Utah for Josh's satellite conference!

And a chipmunk!

And some butterflies...

The whole way to the Hidden Falls, people coming back warned us of bears they had seen. Josh wanted to turn around, but I convinced him to keep going. And we never saw any bears. Just a marmot!

Our little tree-hugger.

We found them!

On our last day at the park, we went on a 5 mile hike to see some hidden falls.

Livi was in love with our rental car, the PT Cruiser.

Josh was in love with these mountains!

Look, she shares! How sweet.

Here, Livi was in a good mood because she has her very own apple.

And here's the last leg of our journey - the Grand Tetons! (Olivia took the picture... j/k, she was napping in the car a few feet away.)

Here's more Mammoth Hot Springs. Hard to believe that there are times of the year when this whole area is covered with a beautiful steaming spring.

The Mammoth Hot Springs... it wasn't hot and there were no springs.

I especially thought it'd fly off in the breeze of this waterfall!

By the end of the trip, Livi was absolutely exhausted and a little sunburned. We had to teach her how to wear a hat. Every time we'd put it on, she'd rip it off. We'd just have to walk with a hand on her head until she forgot it was on. I'm surprised it's not at the bottom of some canyon.

Isn't this a great picture of Josh?

This was our humble home for four wonderful days and three loooooong nights. It got so cold at night I slept in 2 pairs of socks, a t-shirt, 2 long sleeve t-shirts, a hoodie, shorts, jeans, and under three blankets and still froze. And of *course* being so very first trimester, I had to get up at the coldest part of the night to go to the bathroom. Usually, I woke around 3 a.m. and tried for a couple hours to convince myself I really didn't have to go that bad and finally went around dawn. Yeah, not much sleep. Livi, though, slept great - snug as a bug inbetween Josh and me.

I can cook anything, anywhere.

Buffalo! (Yet another wild/living thing!)

A gorgeous rainbow at the foot of the lower falls.

Livi liked the Lake Of Fire.

And what is this? The Lake Of Fire? I always thought that would be underground...
Note all the dead trees in the background.

It's wild...and it's alive...it must be
WILDLIFE!


How about now?
Yep, it's Ol' Faithful.


Can anyone recognize this famous landmark?

There were so many dead trees, everywhere we looked. Apparently there was a huge forest fire in the 80's.

What IS a bacterial mat? And why am I not supposed to mark them?

She thought they all looked alike.

This is how Livi toured most of Yellowstone. She looks a little grumpy here because she's about to go to sleep. She was bored with all the steaming hot pools that smelled like sulfur.

More wildlife! Anyone know what kind of bug this is?

Yay, wildlife.


So here we are a Yellowstone National Park, ready to enjoy all of God's glorious creation! If you're reading this before seeing any of the pictures, congratulations, you can follow instructions. If not, grrrrr to you. You've ruined all the humor I worked so hard for.

Utah and Yellowstone to Come; Alabama for Now

I still have to locate our camera and download the pictures before I can share with you our amazing trip out west. So for now I'll let you in on a little stress that's come over my poor husband.

He got a job offer. Now, different people react to things differently. For example, I'd be breaking out the bubbly (if certain circumstances were different - you knew I was pregnant, right? I assume everyone who reads this is either family or was at Ashley and Paul's wedding). But Josh thinks things over a little more thoroughly than I do. He has to weigh all his options. See, the difficult thing about this job is that it would require a move to Huntsville, Alabama. And this is a difficult decision for Josh because he is only 4 credits shy of completing his Ph.D. at Purdue (he could do his dissertation remotely) and that traslates into a year's worth of classes. The company in Alabama is not willing to wait any longer than the end of the semester. I think that's the main concern for him, but there are others. For one, the company is only 10 years old and the division that he would be working for is brand-spanking-new. That means there might be some instability. Another is that they have to win government grants to continue funding their projects and so in two years, if they don't win any more, the project is dead and that would leave Josh with a project he didn't sign on for. And of course, there's the fact that Olivia might develop a Forrest Gump accent.

But that's only looking at the negatives, and that's not the way I look at the world! When I look at this situation, I see... well, let's be perfectly honest here, I see the paycheck first and foremost. It's hard being married to a student - and we'll soon be a family of four! I was in the WIC office getting coupons for free groceries the day we found out about this offer. Of course I wanted him to take the job! I also see a great opportunity for Josh to get involved in the area he wants (attitude control, for those who don't know or might have forgotten). And what really are the odds that this company is going to crash? And I believe that if he got this job, he would prove himself in no time; his work ethic and dedication are the finest examples I've ever seen. If this currect project doesn't continue to get funding, they would simply relocate him. And if it were to a department he is not as interested in, then he could search for another job that suits him better. Did I mention that this job in Alabama would put him in a leadership position within a core group of engineers? How great would that look on a resume? I'd say about as good as a Ph.D. from Purdue. I don't think he'd have a problem finding a job he was more interested in.

But then... what about his goal to become a professor someday? Without a Ph.D., that wouldn't work. But then again, at universities, they don't necessarily look at the alma mater as much as an engineering firm would. Not all the professors at Purdue graduated from Purdue. He could get it from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. They even have a world-renowned researcher in controls that teaches there. But he's worried if he doesn't get his Ph.D. soon, he'll get distracted by career and a growing family and it won't happen til he's 65.

Well, speaking of getting distracted by family, Olivia's crying. She's not going to sleep very well tonight. What do you think? Should we move to Alabama?

Birthday, Haircut, Wedding

In my defense:
I started this post August 3. Bogger wouldn't upload the pictures, so I quit and went to Indiana, Utah, Wyoming, Utah, and Indiana and tried again. It apears to be working now.

I finally got the computer to recognize the usb cord for my camera and uploaded hundreds of pictures! You've missed so much out there and I apologize. I've also been gone a couple weeks here and there, and will be gone again in another week.

So, in my absense, Olivia has turned one!


She was a little confused by the cake and the fire and the cameras. I had to "help" her blow out the candle.


She was confused by the frosting, too. I had to help her with that as well. She didn't realize it was edible at first. She thought it was just for smooshing inbetween her fingers


She eventually got the hang of it.



After a good old-fashioned birthday bath (complete with party hat), she got to open presents!



One thing she hasn't grasped yet about opening present, though, is that the point is to just see what it is and then move on to the next. She got mad at us when we tried to take away a new toy so she'd open up another present.



Look at that possessive grip on that toy! We finally got her to open all her presents and she loved them all! Well... almost all of them...


A few days after her birthday, Great-Aunt Martha (I think that's her title) came and saw great need for a haircut!


I wondered how she'd keep Olivia from grabbing the scissors, but we found ways to make it happen.


Now that she's got her hair cut all pretty, it's time to get in her pretty jewelry...


And her pretty flower girl dress...



And practice!!


Here she is on her big day - a little nervous.


She actually ended up handing off the big job to Daddy once she got on the aisle.


Strange enough, that shy nervousness turned into pure nervous energy pretty quickly and she had to be removed from the sanctuary.


Here's Olivia and the beautiful bride, Ashley Borrego!


Congratulations, Ashley and Paul!

Apartment Hunt and Thesis Defense

We have an apartment! We even passed the credit check (whew!) so it's official. We just don't know which apartment specifically yet. It's called Beau Jardin, it's 5 minutes from campus, 1/2 a block from some nice bike trails. It has a baby pool! It (the apartment) is about 960 sq. ft., so about the size of our old one, and will cost $509 if we get one upstairs like we want ($489 if we get one half-underground). That's about $100 cheaper than our old one. The only negative about this place that we could find is that we cannot bring our washer and dryer. But there is one on the first floor of every building - coin operated. We can survive that, if we can find a diaper service. So that's a hidden positive right there! Did you know it's still cheaper to have cloth diapers with a diaper service than to use disposables? Don't know how much cheaper as we haven't found a service yet. Anyways, do you know anyone who wants to buy a 3 year old washer and a dryer that, well, we don't know how old it is...?

Josh passed! He's officially got some kind of abbreviation after his name. I just don't know what it would be. Masters of Science? M.S.? Joshua J. Zapf, M.S. Looks good to me. And in three years he'll be Dr. Joshua J. Zapf. Craziness. Anyway, there was a bit of excitement there, too. (No, he didn't forget his thesis at home, for those of you who were there at his graduation... hehe). One of the professors at his defense was extremely optomistic. He told Josh he wanted three copies of his thesis. One for himself, one for a guy who works at APL (a prestigious laboratory on the east coast), and one for the director of the Pluto mission! I about asked for a signed copy myself after hearing that! Then he told Josh that he had once before given a student's resume to the guy at APL and the student was hired immediatelty! So we may not be living in W. Lafayette after all! Hehe. Well, I'll keep you updated if we move out to the east coast.

That's enough for now.

A Year Ago Today

My feet were so swollen I couldn't wear shoes.
I had grown out of most of my maternity clothes.
I was frequently kicked from the inside by little feet.
I went to the bathroom a lot.
I loved my baby.
I didn't sleep well this night a year ago.
I had doubts about my parenting abilities.
I thought babies slept through the night in their cribs.
I had never changed a diaper.
Yet I was so very excited about the future.
I coudn't wait to meet my baby.

Today -
My feet are bony again.
I can wear the pants I wore in high school!
I am frequently kicked from the outside by little feet.
I can last the whole night without a trip to the bathroom.
I love my baby.
I still don't sleep well.
I still doubt my parenting abilities.
Babies don't sleep through the night or in cribs.
I have changed over 2,000 diapers.
I am still so very excited about the future.
I can't wait to see what my baby will do.

Where's Olivia?

"Here I am!" This is still her favorite game.

Look at that face!
Can you believe those photo contest people haven't contacted us yet?
I don't understand...
we must have won, right?

Splash!!
If you click on that picture and make it full-size, you'll see the water flying.

Ready for the pool!! Look at our little swimsuit model.

Livi loves spaghetti.

Here's Olivia on the trampoline trying to beat us to the edge. If she looks unsteady at all, don't be fooled - she was mid-gallop.

Olivia loves to read. She'll point to a picture so you can say the word. Sometimes she'll grab your finger and make you point to the picture as you say the word. I've said, "Caterpillar" way too many times this summer.

Settled... For Now

Well, we're in Missouri - in the middle of nowhere. Our road (Bethel Church Rd if you want to GoogleMap it) is a dirt road by which we see dozens of horse drawn buggies travel each day. I'd post pictures, but they're on Josh's computer with is used round the clock by him in hopes of finishing his thesis by July 11. Actually, that's when he defends it. It's due in written form the week prior. So, speaking of which, we will actually be back in Indiana July 10-14ish so Josh can defend his thesis, Olivia can get her 12 month check-up (and shots), and we can apartment hunt in W. Lafayette. So if you want to hook up during that week, let me know!

In the meantime here are some developments. Olivia, I believe, is officially in toddler-hood. It's hard to watch her walk as well as she can and still call her a "baby." Her first birthday is less than 2 weeks away. We've already gone shopping and her goodies are hidden away upstairs. Her gift from us, though, has been out of the box and in use for a few weeks now. It was a big-girl front-facing carseat. We decided that the 5 hr trip to IL and then the 6 hr trip to MO would have been unbearable for her while staring at the upholstry of our back seat. It would have been enough to drive me insane, anyway. We're also getting her a flower girl dress for Ashley and Paul's wedding. By the way, we've been practicing for that already, and if she performs as well as she practices, she's going to be amazing! We had her walk up the aisle at church last week and she went the whole way waving and smiling her big toothy grin. Then at home, we took it a step further and tore up some napkins and put them in a basket. Then we gave the basket to her to see what she would do. She put the basket on one arm and then with the other, proceeded to fling the napkin pieces all over the house! (With a huge toothy grin, of course). When we get her dress, she'll have to practice in that - and that will be even more fun!

This summer has been a busy one for Olivia. She's discovered the trampoline, the pool, and the staircase; and has amazed us all on each of them. She LOVES walking/running/falling on the trampoline. I've never seen a child her age walk as well as she does, let alone on a trampoline! She even plays a game on it with us. When she's walking, we say, "Livi's walking, Livi's walking, Livi falls down!" And at the last part, she actually falls down for us (When she feels like it; when she doesn't, she just looks back, smiles, and keeps going.) We weren't sure what she would think of the pool (I've got pictures of her first experience - remind me to post them when Josh takes a bathroom break). I had heard that babies don't really appreciate the pool until their 2nd year. But we tried anyway, and like everything else in life, she thoroughly enjoys it. She doesn't like being put in her pool toy/floating-seat-thing - but that's congruent with the rest of her preferences. She wants to be out moving like the rest of us. She loves it when we skim her across the water's surface. And she shreaks in delight as she splashes different people. I have to interject here: as I type this, she is squealing as she prances past me - cell phone in hand. Okay, back to the many adventures of Olivia. :) Since being here in Missouri, she has had the opportunity to discover stairs for the first time. She didn't need any climbing lessons - we learned the quickly enough. She smiles and babbles as she crawls for the first time in her life - right up a full flight of stairs. She is constantly wanting to climb them - so that we have to put chairs in front of them 24 hours a day. This morning, we forgot the chairs and there was a breach in security as I thought someone else was watching her and they thought I was. We searched the whole downstairs to no avail when we finally came to the inevitable conclusion. Sure enough, she was upstairs in our room, playing with our laundry. She was so quiet, too. She knew she had done something we hadn't wanted her to do.

There is so much more I could talk about! But I've already written a full novel. Alright then, briefly: Josh submitted a paper in a conference in Utah where the top prize is $10,000 and he recently received news that his is in the top 6. So we will be going to Utah mid-August to see him present and find out if we win any money. It would be an answer to prayer for sure, because I won't be able to teach next year. God will provide as we need it.

Okay, I have to go. Olivia is crouching on the table, playing with the laptop.
Bye!