I need to keep updating things before I forget. The Summer has continued to be busy for us but we're making it through ok. We're getting closer to Steve being done w/ his Summer class so that's exciting.
Nyles has been seriously teething the past couple weeks so sleep has been a little rough around here. All of his 4 top teeth have been coming in at that same time. They are all just now popping through. We were glad we had the 4th to sleep in a little since we were all pretty exhausted. We just chilled most of the day then went up to Dave/Joann's for a BBQ in the afternoon. We didn't stay very long though since we wanted to get Nyles home to bed, and us too ;)
Friday the 5th I had work, then we went to the South Towne Mall to pick up a free towel I ordered, then we came home and had pizza and put Nyles to bed. It was a fun little outing/night.
Saturday the 6th we went to Wheeler Farm for a family outing. Nyles loves animals, loves being outdoors, and loves going on walks so we figured it was a perfect combination. We had a lot of fun looking at the animals, especially the ones that moved a lot like the Geese and Ducks.
Monday the 8th we learned that Bailie, Dave/Joann's dog wasn't doing well. The Vet said she wasn't doing well and needed to be put down. We had noticed at the 4th of July BBQ that she seemed pretty slow moving, but didn't think too much about it. With the news that she needed to be put down sooner than later, we all made time in our schedules to go say our "goodbye's" to Bailie. Bailie has been there w/ the McGrath family ever since I met Steve so it's hard to imagine not having her around. She was there when I met Steve at his house for our first date to Lagoon and went w/ us up to the cabin when we became "official." She was such a cute loving dog. She loved her carrots and doing anything for food. Nyles loved petting her and following her around the house. We're all so sad she had to leave us so soon but we know it was what was best for her. Here are a couple pics we got w/ her the day before.
Bailie----when I first met her....so cute and special ;)
Bailie w/ Nyles, Steve and I
About this same time the Jeep died. We made due w/ just one car until we could get it in to be looked at. The battery was dead, again, so since we had just bought it they replaced it for free. When we re-registered the Jeep in March it almost didn't pass inspections. The Cadillac Converter was basically on its last leg before it would need replaced, which is a couple hundred dollars, plus labor. So we had anticipated that we'd probably have to replace the Jeep sometime before we get it inspected again. We've put a decent amount of money into the Jeep since we were married and figured it was time to get another vehicle unfortunately. Since I was the one mainly driving it just to the train and back, 2 miles one way, we haven't put as many miles on it. It's a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee and had about 132,000 miles on it. No bad.
Cute Nyles fell asleep coming to pick me up from work
While the Jeep wasn't working Steve would either take me to work or just take me to the train depending on how things went the night before and how much sleep we got. If Nyles was up and lot and we didn't get much sleep we slept in until 7am then Steve just took me to work directly. Otherwise we were up at normal time which is about 6:15am so I can catch the 7am train and make it in time. It's unfortunate that taking the train takes so much longer in that I don't get as much sleep and I don't get to see Steve and Nyles quite as much, but the good thing is that my work pays for my annual pass and we don't put as many miles on our car. This of course helps to lower or gas and maintenance bills.
A shirt I got for Steve, pretty much sums it up
Nyles helping get the mail
So for the past week we've been searching for a car. Steve wanted to have something w/ all-wheel drive for the snow and a V6 engine so we could pull something w/ it. We also wanted more leg room in the back since we have a rear-facing carseat, and also when we have adults in the back it's nice to have leg room. So we started out looking at smaller SUV's and Steve would first see if he could fit his head in the vehicle when in the driver's seat. It was surprising how many vehicles he doesn't even fit his head in. The next thing we checked was to see if we could fit Nyles' carseat, rear-facing of course. I was REALLY surprised how many SUV's you couldn't even do that, let alone if Steve needed to put his seat back in order to fit his legs.
After ruling out the smaller SUV's we moved to the mid-sized ones. We really liked that we had more room not only for Steve's legs and head but also for passengers and a rear-facing carseat. We liked the Toyota Highlander at first, but after comparing it's MPG we wanted to find something w/ better MPG. We then tried the Ford Edge and REALLY liked it. After going back and forth on whether to buy new or used we ended up deciding to buy new. One of the biggest reasons was that we could do zero percent financing for 5 years. Though we've saved up enough to actually pay for a new car with cash, we didn't want to use up a lot of our savings either, "just in case." We also liked the idea of knowing we were the only owners of the vehicle so no surprises that way, and we can control how many miles we put on it. Since I'll be driving it to the train every day, we won't be putting on many miles that way. Plus w/ the new vehicles they come w/ warranties up to 5 years and roadside assistance, which is nice.
After praying about it and shopping around at all the Ford Dealers, we ended up getting a new 2013 Ford Edge up in Bountiful. The color of the vehicle is called Kodiak Metallic Brown. When Steve saw the color he was like, "Oh I like this car!" Of course it came w/ several "fancy" features as well such as:
- A tow package
- A visual package, it has a light on the mirrors which show you when someone is in your blind spots
- A Power liftgate
- All weather floor mats
- 20-inch wheels
- Leather seats
- SYNC voice activated technology and MyFord Touch
- A Navigation System built into the car
- Rear View Camera and sensors that beep
- Buttons to make the back row seats go down from the cargo area
- A button to have the liftgate go back down (not hands, also on key)
- Keyless entry
- Hands-free talking on your phone
- Controls on the steering wheel
- The computer tells you your mpg and also what the speed limit is on the road you're on (really handy when in unfamiliar territory)
- The backseats recline
- LED lights in the front
- etc......
So there are a lot of fun features, many that we're still learning. I'm planning to read the owners manual on our way up to Idaho this weekend.
Good-bye Jeep......
Hello Ford Edge!!!!
The next morning, Saturday, July 20th, we went to our Annual Stake Pioneer Breakfast. Every year that we've lived here our branch puts it on for the Stake, but this year the 1st ward actually put it on. Ironically this is the first year President Thorup hasn't been here, so maybe that's why. It was nice not to have to worry about the setup/clean up of the breakfast. We invited Steve's friend Rob to come w/ us. Steve of course had to drive the new Edge up to the church even though it was only a block away. After the breakfast Steve went w/ Rob to go help him clean up some waste at his new house he's working on while I went and put Nyles down for a nap. While they were gone I also cleaned up and got things in order, especially since we were gone all week w/ meetings/school/shopping for a car.
After Steve got home we got ready to go to the temple to do sealings w/ Rose, Pauline and Chris. Joann came down and watching Nyles so we could go. He just went down for a nap so he was sleeping when she got here, and ended up sleeping for a while thankfully. We made it to the temple in good time. Oh course we had to drive our new Ford Edge of course. We were the first ones there so we waited in the lobby for Rose and Pauline to get there. We then got ready and went and did sealings for family members; it was incredible! It was my first time doing sealings for family members w/ family members. I had some names that Steve and I had been working on from Stephen Naylor we think from Great Grandma Lee's side and Rose had the names from Grandpa Hegerhorst's side that we'd been working on. We had another couple join us and then one other couple towards the end so we could seal some sons to their parents.
It was really neat to be doing work for family members. The veil was really thin during the sealings and during one sealing in particular we could all really feel the Spirit. The sealer even got choked up and had to stop for a moment to gather himself. You could really tell that when we sealed together Wilke Haddendorf and his wife, Margarethe Stalhut. They are
ancestors of Grandpa Hegerhorst and had waited since apx. 1575 for
someone to find them and do their work. From Rose's blog, "I know that they were there and their hearts were overflowing with joy.
Others had all of their work completed in 1938-1940, except for their
sealings and had then waited about 75 years for someone else to find
them again to complete their work. What a blessing it was for us to
gather together and perform those ordinances. Words truly cannot express
my feelings of gratitude and joy in being there yesterday." I completely agree. The sealing powers are REAL and we can have those blessing in our lives not only after this life but NOW also. As we were doing the sealings of parents to their children I couldn't help but think of having all of our children sealed to us. More than ever I want all of our children to be w/ us forever after this life! What a blessing that will be!
After the sealings we went and showed Rose, Pauline and Chris our new car. Rose had to leave to go do some work, but we took Pauline and Chris for a quick ride to Maverick and got a drink. We then headed home. Nyles was good for Joann thankfully. It was dinner time by then so I started making Shepherd's Pie and invited Dave and Joann to stay. Dave came down to get some new ties and shirts for his new job (which would start the 29th in Park City) and also so Steve could give him a shot. While they went and got some shirts and ties I made dinner. They then came back and had dinner w/ us and then I put Nyles to bed. It was nice to spend some time w/ them.
The next week we were pretty much getting ready for our trip to Idaho for our Family Reunion, so I'll have to update that next.
