I am so excited about my new "shoes," although I'm not sure if they qualify as shoes at all. I haven't had many chances to run in them yet, but I like them so far. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to ever wear them in public, though....

Funky shoes aside, we had a good time with Grandma Marie on Friday and Saturday. She arrived on Friday evening and left Saturday morning. We are very grateful to her for watching Evelyn while we went on our date on Friday. We saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader which we both enjoyed. It follows the book fairly closely (for a movie) and was very imaginative and artistic.

Evelyn is doing well, but I can't think of any updates.... We have some cute pictures, though! She really likes to laugh lately (it sounds like a mix of hissing and gurgling).

Other news: Two of my classes end a week from tomorrow! I will be glad to have them over with, but I'm not sure how I am going to do all of the projects that are due this week.....

Just a quick update.... I had a great birthday! Thanks everyone for your thoughtful gifts and birthday wishes! Clarisse made me a special breakfast and dinner and packed a nice lunch for me too. I know, I'm spoiled. It was fun skyping with Smike and Anne-Marie too.

Evelyn is growing and is now in a new batch of cloths. It's amazing how fast she grew out of the old ones. She's about twelve pounds now, so she has DOUBLED IN SIZE! She can control her hands well enough to suck on them and seems to like to eat her index fingers best.

We tried going out to eat with Evelyn on Friday and found it to be manageable. She attracted a lot of attention (all of it positive)! Sweet Tomatoes was a bit out of the way, but it was well worth it!

Hi everyone! The adventures in Salt Lake continue. I think I’ll start off with an oh-so-rare picture of Evelyn smiling taken this past week (not that she doesn’t smile much; it’s just hard to catch on camera). Other news: Clarisse put on a birthday party for me yesterday evening. A few of our friends from the ward came as well as Paul, Kayley, Glen, and Lauren and Jeff Wall (Lauren Wall=Sister Richards of Lansing Michigan Mission fame). It was a good time consisting of conversation and eating ice cream. I had a traditional cake with candles and had a hard time blowing them out (it must be something about those weird curly candles).

I thought it might be fun to include some of my favorite sites from Salt Lake. While on my run yesterday, I took some photographs of the amazing City Hall building. The gray sky made a nice backdrop for such a foreboding structure.

It was constructed in the early 1900’s, and the style is “Richardson Romanesque.” The style gets its name from the architect who designed City hall as well as the pre-gothic period that his architecture mimicked. Like a Romanesque cathedral, it has thick, heavy walls with deep, ornate entrances. I especially like the intricate carvings on the capitals and arches.

The statue on the main spire is of Columbia with the scales of justice in her hand (although it looks like a cross from a distance). There are four other figures above each entrance, but I have forgotten what they symbolize….

Across the street from City Hall is the library. It’s huge, modern, and tries way too hard to be a mall.

If you look to the lower right in the picture below, you will see several little booths that are shops just before the entrance.

And some random library statues….
And, finally, your photographer on his downtown run.

Hi everyone! I probably don't need to tell you that we are way behind on our blog. I don't think it's really news any more that Evelyn is here. She is about 10.2 pounds now and is getting a lot happier and more manageable. Her favorite pastimes include being held, conversations consisting of goos, being wound up in a tight swaddle, and listening to static on the radio.

She has surprised us recently by deciding to like some things that she didn't before. She use to get upset if we put her in her bouncer, but now she finds it entertaining. She likes to grab and hit the hanging toys which surprised us because she has no interest in holding toys that aren't hanging. She's also decided that she LIKES having her diaper changed, which is a complete 180. She loves the attention and is usually smiley and talkative. We still haven't been able to capture a good smile on camera, unfortunately. I don't have much else to say, but I have lots of pictures to post. Evelyn's gotten much chubbier and has those fun little baby jowls.

Surprise! I'm starting a blog! It will mostly be updates and pictures about our little family. Hopefully it will not only be a great resource of memories for Matt and me, but a way to stay in touchwith our extended family.

First a little introduction to each member:

Here's a picture of Matt at the beach in San Diego. We met online through eHarmony November 14, 2008, and then met in person December 30th in California, and have been nearly inseparable ever since!

Here's a picture of me 8 months pregnant in our home in Salt Lake City. We've been married for a year and half now and are expecting our first child Evelyn Marie Streeter, sometime in November. Pregnancy has been kind to me so far; the first 6 months seemed to fly by. Because it's my first pregnancy and I have a tall torso, many people are surprised that my belly isn't larger. We're confident that Evelyn is healthy though, because of my consistent weight gain (40 lbs. so far) and Evelyn's surprisingly strong kicks. I sometimes use my belly as a desk while lying down, and it's amusing to watch the laptop bob up and down as Evelyn tries to give herself some additional leg room.

This is Tipsy and Ayso. Tipsy has a bit of white on his ear and Ayso has a black spot on her chin. Though not literally members of our family, they definitely inspire a lot of affection and laughter in our household. So don't be surprised when I give updates on their antics as well. In this picture they are cuddling on the bed, a favorite pastime of theirs, especially when it's cold.

These are pictures of the Terrace apartments. We moved here in August so that Matt could go to graduate school at the U of U. As you can see it's a large complex, with all of the apartments facing an inner courtyard. The courtyard has a play area, covered BBQ and picnic area, and a swimming pool. There's a lady in red passing by our apartment in the photo. We're on the second floor next to the elevators. We chose these apartments because they were close to downtown, and very close to the Trax and bus routes. Matt takes the bus or train directly to school nearly every day.

We enjoy living so close to the temple! It's just a mile or so up main street. It's still surprises me every time I unintentionally drive past it. We've really come to love the Salt Lake Temple. We love learning about it's history and discovering it's many beautiful facets. Matt and I go to the temple at least once a month, usually on a Saturday since that's the only time Matt has off. We'd like to visit all of the temples in Utah, but it's hard to ignore the convenience of staying close by. We did manage to go to a session and eat at the cafeteria of the Jordon River Temple on the way to Paul's last Thursday.

For exercise, I like to take walks around our neighborhood. despite living on a busy street, the area is mostly residential, particularly behind the Terrace apartments. Just north of us there is a unique neighborhood of houses with no street! The houses all face inward, and their front yards face a shared lawn and pathway. This is my favorite place to wander by on my walks because each house has it's own personality.

Most of the homes near us are beautiful old homes. I love admiring their architecture.

We live just around the corner from our church building, no more than a five minute walk. The whole ward is within walking distance. In fact, last Sunday, Matt's elder's quorum decided to use their lesson time to go out and visit members of their quorum who had been absent for a while.

Autumn is so beautiful in Utah! First the leaves start changing in the mountains, but soon the fire of color spreads throughout the valley. Because the neighborhoods around our home are older, the trees are older and taller too, and quite breath taking.