Drum Roll Please............... It's a...

Now I can't remember, was it a girl or was it a boy. I just hate when that happens. Oh well if you really want to know you'll just have to watch the ultrasound below.

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Vidoeo of the Gender

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Were you able to tell?

If not let me give you a hint.

It rhymes with

TOY

You guessed it,

IT's A

Michelle and I are so happy and the best thing is that the baby looks healthy. We are excited for the next few months to pass and our little guy to get here.

Welcome..... Three new members to the Family

So this weekend has been exciting with the arrival of three new members to both our own family and extended family. The first arrival was our new chest freezer, all 7.2 cubic feet of pure frozen tundra. One would think that we wouldn't have room in our little apartment, but we make space for our priorities.

The freezer in its first and new home. The corner.

Our empty freezer, but not for long

The second arrival was a quarter of a cow. You may be wondering how we got only a quarter of a cow. Easy, all you have to do is raise it, kill it, and then cut it into quarters. OK, we didn't do any of that ourselves, but our friend Jed's family did. A few weeks ago Shan and Jed offered us a deal on half a cow, not an actual half a cow, but half a cow cut up into smaller pieces. Being the meet lovers that we are we said sure. Jed's family has a farm and we knew that the beef would be some good stuff. After a little thinking we thought half a cow would be too much for just the two of us so we settled for just a quarter. In the end we ended up with close to 200 lbs. of pure beef which included hamburger, roasts, ribs, steaks, and other cuts of beef. Now for a second you might have wondered where we would put a quarter of a cow, but then you remember that we just bought a new freezer (you should by now realize the true reason for buying a freezer). We are truly happy about this addition and tonight we are going to enjoy a huge T-bone steak for dinner. We'll let you know how divine it is.

Our freezer now half way filled with pure beef.

Close up of our pure beef.

For the last year and almost a half we've been taking advantage of having Michelle's grandparents living next door by using space in their garage freezer. It has been nice because Michelle likes to buy me frozen meals for my lunches when I work. She only buys then when they are on sale, so when they are she buys a lot. We have appreciated the grandparent's rent free food storage, but we've decided it time to become adults and store it ourselves.

Our freezer now full with the stuff we've been hiding in the grandparent's freezer.

Now for the final arrival...... Baby Bracken Carl Valdez son of Brett and Dyana Valdez. Michelle's sister Dyana gave birth to their first child just minutes after getting to the hospital. I will let them share the details, but we are excited for the both of them and think Bracken is just the cutest baby ever. We can wait to get one of our own in March, but that is so far away. For now we will just be content with finding out the sex of our baby this Wednesday. Keep your eyes out for a post later that day.

Bracken Carl Valdez

So little

Bracken getting his first diaper change from his father Brett.

Michelle with her newest nephew

Just five more months till I'm a Dad. It can't come soon enough.

Another Weekend Come and Gone

So another conference weekend has come and gone and it didn't come without its little adventures. First Scott flew in from Arizona for a missionary reunion. His mission president had just returned home and after being home for two years himself, Scott was anxious to catch up with the Pres. and some missionary companions. With missionary reunions, the BYU vs. USU game, and those arriving for conference, it only took us two hours to get from my apartment to Orem, UT. Yes, you heard me right, two hours. Scott said it was the longest he had ever spent in traffic in his whole life. Scott dropped me off at Michelle's parent's house while he went to his reunion about an hour late. During the next half hour I was met by Dy, Glenn, Carol, and Michelle. We all went to Red Lobster to celebrate Glenn's birthday and just because I really wanted to eat the all you can eat shrimp. It was really good. When we got home from the restaurant Chelsea and Darren arrived from Idaho. It was fun to have them home. After a good nights sleep we woke up, had some waffles and bacon, and then all piled around the ten inch TV, yes once again you heard be right, ten inches. Very small. So small in fact that we ended up having to turn on the radio to listen to conference. Between sessions Michelle and I decided to start our first project for the baby, making a quilt for the baby. Since we still don't know the sex of the baby we went with materials that are a little more unisex, but I have to admit we did good. After a good beginning on our project and the end of the second session of conference Russell, Ben, Tina, Grandma, Grandpa, and Nana came over. Us boys including my brother Scott, Darren, and Glenn were going to eat dinner together and then go to the priesthood session while the girls went to a baby shower for Nicole, Russell's wife. After the session we all hung out talking and eating home made cheesecake back at the Martins. We were pleased to have Rachael and Steve join us after their trip back from St. George. Rachael had run the marathon that morning. We were proud of her hard work. It is quite an accomplishment. After it all settled down Michelle and I returned home. Sunday morning came fast. We went to Rachael's apartment to say goodbye to Scott before he returned to Arizona. We turned on conference and completed our projects which included one baby blanket, two mini baby blanket so you don't have to take the whole blanket everywhere, and two burp clothes. I am proud of it all, especially since I did most of the work. You can ask Michelle and she'll tell you. We plan on making more items to have a matching baby room set. We'll just need a room to put it in. The weekend was a good one, but as always went by way too fast. Michelle and I are excited as October 14th is coming soon and we will find out what the gender is of the baby. We will be sure to post something as soon as we know.

Rachael with a friend before the marathon

Rachael just after finishing the marathon

Rachael with her number one supporter Steve after the race

Rachael, Scott, Michelle, and Andrew before Scott leaves for the airport

Rachael, Scott, Michelle, and Andrew trying to be from the hood

Scott and Andrew looking good

Michelle cutting the squares for the baby blanket

Andrew sewing the baby blanket

Almost the finished product

The finished products, Baby blanket, two mini blankets, and two burp clothes