See my youtube video

Yes I did film this. Let me tell you what is happening: We had 6 pallets stacked with a microwave on top of them. In side the microwave was a gallon of gasoline. We poured a bunch of gas on the pallets and lit it on fire. Also on the pallets were several new and unused propane tanks. The plan was that when we shot the propane tanks they would explode in the fire making a fire ball. Well I guess we didn't pour enough gas on the pallets to begin with and the flame went out. So Ben went back up to light the fire again and put more propane tanks up as targets. The rest, you will enjoy watching. It really was a lot of fun. Yes I did take my pellet gun, but I also took my 7mm, they are both a lot of fun to shoot. I think there were near 20 people there and I hope that we can do this again. I love my guns. I will continue to shoot my guns. I will continue to buy guns. My children will be taught gun safety, and how to shoot a gun. Education is in many ways better than elimination. Really, this was a lot of fun.

The School of Life

It has been some time since I have posted on our blog, and after taking my last final of the semester I thought that I would take a moment and remember what happened during this last three months:
Gabe was born, that is semi apparent on our blog. Having him around adds to life that really is indescribable. Some will say wait 'till you have your own, you'll see how they change your life. Initially I was thinking about the scheduling, and the sleep, and the dollar value of raising another person. I have learned that these are all minor changes in my life. I want to smile more because I want him to see his dad smile. I have recognized the true power and beauty of my heaven sent wife. She will be holding Gabe after feeding him watching the news, working on the computer, or thinking of all the possibilities of the day, and I sit next to her and rest my head on her shoulder because my day of joking with co-workers, talking with customers and playing with paper, boy I get tired after an 8+ hour shift. She is a wonder woman.
I am also a better student. When we first got married I still wasn't the best student, but now that I am responsible for being a good example for my own son, and if I want to be able to say "If I can get good grades, you can get good grades." I am also learning better to see the beauty in the moment. I have several nieces and nephews that are 4 and 5 so I am excited for that age because that is a fun play age. But watching him learn that he has hands, and a mouth that can be used for things other than eating. Watching him laugh. Watching him recognize me and my voice. I love being a dad!
School taught me to be more accepting of people and to look past the clothes, the hair, the accent of their voice, but to listen to what they are saying and try to understand why they have the point of view they do. But also that we are living in modern day Book of Mormon times and that people are selfish and prideful and willing to say anything to get them in office, I mean where they want to be. This has also boosted my faith in God. It has amazed me that some people put their trust in men more than God. They trust a man or woman who will say what they believe the public wants to hear and then flip to the other side to do what they want. Versus putting trust in a God that has a perfect record. If He says something, it will happen. A Being that has the ability to give and take life, to call the heavens together, compared to a man or woman that will say that they will change the country for the better, but can't take care of their health or marriage in a exemplary fashion.
I know that there is a God in heaven, life is to complicated, fragile and short for there not to be, and because I have felt His guiding hand in my life, I have felt His Spirit and seen His work in action. There is a God, and He is our Father.

Two Months Old

Still only in the 28% for weight, but he started in the 3%. Check out that double chin!

This is one of the best parts about being a mom.

Gabriel at One Month Old

Photos by Jamie Van Orden

Blessing the Boy

Gabe is going to be blessed tomorrow Sunday Nov. 2nd. The building is on 4395 Albright Dr. (2145 E.) Our meetings start at 1 pm and the sacrament meeting starts at 2:50. There are going to be light snacks at our house after. If any of you other father's have any tips for a nervous father about to bless his first, feel free to send them my way.

Congratulations!

For those who haven't heard, Christopher Van Orden has been called to serve in the Austrailia, Adelaide mission! Congratulations on your choice to serve, Chris! We love you!

Home Improvement

Kitchen

Before: ugly wallpaper

After:



Nursery

During: (forgot to take before pics):

This is my wonderful brother Jay who may kill me for posting this picture.

After:

Stars and moon bedding. Overstock.com rocks!

The Inspiration: Starry Night

Master Bath (tax rebate project)

Before: Carpet. Who does that?

Dry rot. One of many reasons carpet does not belong in bathrooms.

After:

Notice the toilet in the bathtub. does it look precarious to you? Shortly after this picture it tipped over and broke both the toilet and the bathtub! Yep, we're out a few hundred dollars for a new toilet and bathtub repair. It would have been worth the extra $50 to have the tile people install it for us. At least we have a great memory now of shopping for our first new toilet.

Thanks to Jay and Sabreena for all their help!

Should have known better by now, but no...

So lets get the numbers down first. Gabe has peed once in the middle of a diaper change while I changed him. He has peed several times when Jenn has changed him. Why, I am not sure. I think it may have something to do with the way she holds his legs in the air, not quite as high as I do, or something like that.

So this morning, after I had showered and had my Sunday pants on getting ready for church I went into the nursery to talk with Jenn while she was changing Gabe's diaper. As we are talking, Jenn is looking at Gabe and I assume watching what she is doing, I was looking at the floor, the window, something other than Gabe's plumbing. Jenn shriek's and kinda does a side jump. Before I know what is going on, I feel warm wet go across my belly and pants as Gabe pees. He was aimed at Jenn, and she, out of self preservation turned the fire hose off to the side keeping her out of the line of fire.
So, what is worse? The fact that I got peed on, or the fact that Jenn aimed the enemy fire toward the middle of the room onto the carpet. They are both wrong. Where was either the used diaper to use as a shield, or the clean diaper to use as a shield. Using a diaper would have been a better solution to the attack then just redirecting the fire into the a crowd of innocent bystanders.
Will this lesson teach me to never go into the nursery when Gabe is being changed by his mother? Am I going to change his diaper as often as possible to avoid being peed on? Does Jenn need to reevaluate her diaper changing process?, and yes she does take off the diaper and then put it back over the fire hose to try to prevent these kinds of terrorist attacks. I don't know the answers to all these questions, but hopefully we will learn from this experience and not pee on the carpet in the future.

2 of 8

Deep green eyes, long dark brown curly hair, and long fingers, red rosy cheeks, Montana was a beautiful baby girl. She had long fingers and long feet with little toes. Her cry wasn’t really a cry; it was more of a whimper, just loud enough to let someone know that she needed some attention. Being born at only five pounds even Helena was worried about Montana’s ability to regulate her own body temperature, but with in a few hours, they knew she was a strong and willed child and had no doubts. She had all of her motor skills that a new born should have. Would suck on ones finger and her grip was as stronger than Phoenix’s was at birth.
Phoenix was going to breast feed Montana. She had several reasons for this. Some were the sheer cost of formula, and worrying about keeping bottles warm, and enough formula with her when she went out with her baby. But she had also learned about the amazing health benefits that come from breast feeding to both the mother and the baby. In her birthing class she learned that there is a right way and a wrong way to nurse a child. So she and Montana practiced several times a day and eventually they both learned how to nurse perfectly.
While Phoenix was working at the grocery store she had a 45% off employee discount which she used to buy diapers, so much for saving up for a car. Though Phoenix didn’t know how big Montana would be when she was born, she started buying all sizes of diapers. Though her stock pile was most full of #2 and #3 diapers, no matter what they would be used some time.
Although Montana was a beautiful baby girl, and she didn’t cry loud often, didn’t mean she was a mild child. She was a difficult little girl. If you remember that she was born into a family of “gifted” women, and these gifts did not pass over her. Again recall to when Phoenix was in labor, and everyone was able to know her thoughts, as if they could read her mind, or, as if she could put her thoughts into the minds of others. And Grandma Crystal had the ability to move things with her mind, and great grandma Helena could know the future and past. When Rufus kicked Phoenix in the stomach yes this was frightening because it could have seriously injured Montana in the womb, but what no one could predict is that this would amplify Montana’s “gifts” as well. Montana, even as an infant, could move some things with her mind, just like her grandma. In most ways she was just like any other infant her age. Her arms would jerk and move with no muscle tone, or intent; the same with her eyes and feet. And every time her hands fell into her mouth she would suck on them naturally. She was too young to be able to control her body, but her mind was sharp. And though her eyes were shifty and couldn’t focus on anything at any distance, she could see shapes and outlines. One day lying on her mother’s bed she held her head still and looked up at the ceiling fan. Only seeing a large round thing, she had no idea what it was, but with no extra effort the fan was spinning backwards faster than it would forward on the fast setting. This sent paper and sheets into the air. When a lamp fell over Phoenix ran up stairs to witness the event and stared in awe. Calling her mother and grandmother, they came running and were also amazed. As far as Helena could remember, no one had ever demonstrated their gifts until they had at least hit puberty. Phoenix started to prepare from then on for what may come in the future.
Phoenix went back to school only 10 weeks after Montana was born, and Crystal, the proud and excited grandma got to stay at home and knit clothes for Montana all day! She was in second heaven. Phoenix was treated differently at school. She was treated better by her teachers and her councilors than she was before. And her class mates were worse to her than before. Though when they found that Phoenix had delivered her baby naturally, they became more kind, and patient. It was here in school that Phoenix started to perfect her gift. She was an honest student and never used her gift to get a better grade, but she did get elected as the junior class president by a clean sweep at the end of her sophomore year, and she did get asked out by all the cutest guys in school all summer long.
Montana grew fast. It only took about four months for her to be tipping the scales at 10 pounds. She still spent most of her time sleeping and eating, which means that she filled a lot of diapers. Grandma loved to watch her sleep. When she was in the REM sleep her eyes would shift and move and she would pull some of the best faces while she was asleep. She was also able to see much better and had a great developing mind. She recognised faces and could make deliberate sounds. She made a sound that she loved. It started deep and then went really high, she made her self laugh. As time passed, Montana grew like a little girl should. She was a constant learner. She loved to play peek-a-boo with her family, but soon enjoyed playing with other toys more. Though she was 12 months and still breast fed in the morning, she was eating real food too. She really liked rhubarb, fresh from the garden, and sour. She made the best faces when she was eating rhubarb! This little girl’s gift had already gotten her into some trouble. She had recently discovered that she could move things with her mind, and was told “No” several times a day when her toys would glide quickly across the kitchen floor while grandma was cooking dinner. You might be able to guess what her first word was. No, and she loved saying it. She had a very simple understanding of the meaning, but it drove her mother batty when she would say no at bed time.
When Phoenix when back to school in the fall. Crystal again took the lead on raising Montana. Helena was quite busy at the cattle prod museum and wasn’t home most of the day either. Montana and her grandmother built a strong trust spending most of their time together. Crystal tried to keep to a steady schedule which Montana really liked, but that didn’t mean she never had to cry to get something. As Montana started to crawl, she couldn’t stand to be so close to the ground, and going so slow. She saw her family walking and running, and she had to keep up. Crystal spent most of the school year watching Montana learn her world around her. Taking notes so that she could share them with Phoenix when she got home from school. As Montana became more aware of her self, learning that she was her own person, and had her own likes and dislikes, Montana was turning into a real person, instead of a poop factory. And with all the time that Montana and Crystal spent together, there was an easy to see attachment between the two. Montana knew how her mother was but, she would rather be with her grandmother. On top of spending most of their time together, they both shared the same gift of moving things with their mind. Crystal would toss Montana in the air without touching her, and Montana would throw food at Crystal without getting her hands dirty. They enjoyed that.

Gabe at 6 Days Old

Pictures taken by Jamie VanOrden

How Freaked Out Are You Really?

I have been surprised by many of the reactions I have received when people find out I opted for natural childbirth. Unfortunately, a lot of those reactions have been negative. So I would like to share my thoughts on why I chose a natural birth and what I think now that I have done it.

When I got pregnant, like most women in this country, I assumed I would have my baby in the hospital with all the drugs and monitoring devices that come along with it. That's just the way it's done, right? But every time I thought about the birth I was glad that it seemed a long way off because, quite frankely, it freaked me out! I was there when my sister Sara had her first baby, and I left the hospital that day a little traumatized by the whole experience. Ok, a lot traumatized. Every moment of the labor and delivery seemed like a life or death event. There was the epidural, the fetal heart monitor with it's tenuous readings, the IV dripping fluids and medication, the episiotomy (holy crap!). Then when the baby came out, she was plopped on a cold examination table, weight, measured and screaming before she was given to my sister to hold.

So, yes, the thought of child birth seem pretty scary to me. One day I came across the blog of an aquaintance from highschool who had just had her third baby by natural childbirth. She talked about how great the experience was compared to her first two births which had been in the hospital. What she wrote intrigued me so I decided to look into it. That night I told RT that I thought we should consider natural childbirth. When I said the words "natural child birth" the blood drained out of his face, and he promptly remided me how I had reacted just a few months earlier when I fractured my knee cap in an unfortunate shopping cart incident in the Costco parking lot (don't ask). He helped me relive the experience as he described how I had collapsed in shock and pewked all over the concrete. I couldn't argue with the point he was making. I have a very low tolerance for pain. That is just a fact of life that I live with. Yet somehow I still felt compelled to look into natural childbirth. RT and I agreed that we would look into it, but not make any decisions until we had really done our research.

I started doing research online, and found lots of great information, including info on the Birth and Family Place, the only free-standing birth center in Salt Lake City. They held an open house that RT and I went to. We got to tour the facility, meet the nurse midwife, Becky, as well as several women who had given birth at the center and were there to answer questions. Becky told us her philosophy on childbirth. She said that baby's belong in the arms of their parents from the moment they are born. That pregnancy is not a medical condition and should not be treated as one. That in a healthy woman with a normal pregnancy the body knows best how to give birth and that intervention (drugs, etc.) should only be used when necessary. That really struck a cord with me. I realized that I had felt like something was wrong with me just because I was pregnant. Suddenly I felt my entire being relax as it occurred to me that there was nothing wrong with me. Pregnancy is a natural, normal condition.

The more RT and I learned, the more comfortable we felt with the idea of natural childbirth and the more uncomfortable we felt with a medicated birth. We enrolled in birthing classes that taught the Bradley Method, and switched from the doctor we had been seeing to the midwife.

The room where Gabe was born

The weeks passed and the big day finally arrived. I'll spare you the details of the birth, but tell you that the experience was truely amazing. There was no trauma, no fear. When Gabriel was born, RT got to catch him and lay him on my chest. And there he stayed for the next hour while we stared at him.

Was it painful? Yes. But not anywhere near as painful as I had anticipated. The fractured knee cap was much worse. In fact, the events that followed that fractured knee cap prepared me for childbirth in a way I would not have expected. While I was crying and shaking in pain with my knee swelling up, RT gave me a blessing. As he spoke the words of that blessing, I felt a wave of peace come over me that made my entire body relaxed, and I found that I was no longer afraid of the pain that I was feeling. I remember thinking to myself that the pain was just as intense as before the blessing, but it didn't hurt as much anymore because I wasn't afraid of it. Because I went into childbirth, educated, prepared and with no fear, it was a peaceful, wonderful experience.

I have heard women say that natural childbirth is an empowering experience. That is so true, but not in the way I expected it to be. I don't feel like I am stronger for having done it, but I have gained an amazing new appreciation for my body, the gift that it is, and the power that it holds. I think the end result speaks for itself.