Moving Time!

It is official, Ben and I are moving to Michigan. Ben will be working with KPMG, doing economic analysis (at least that's what I tell people--he'll deal with transfer pricing, but I don't understand it well enough to explain it in depth).

We got the official offer a couple of weeks ago and finally nailed down a start date. He will start working August 29th, which means we'll be moving out there on August 24th. We're pretty excited about the move--it's a job that Ben really wanted and in an area that we really wanted to live. A big upside is that we'll be near Ben's brother Nathan and his family.

So now we're just wrapping up school and work here, getting ready to pack everything up and ship it out. We're looking at houses, so we'll be staying with Nathan and Rachel until we close on one. Yes, we are definitely becoming grown-ups--moving across the country, buying a house and having a baby.

Missouri Trip

It was a busy weekend for Ben and me, since we were able to visit my family in Missouri for the first time in over a year--the last time we were there was for our wedding reception. Much has changed....

My high school reunion was this weekend, so I was able to see a lot of people I haven't seen in years. Ben was a hit--surprise, surprise. I think he talked to more people than I did. My baby belly was also quite popular.

In fact, all weekend I had people from school, church and other random people touching my belly. No one loved it more than my family. They all wanted to feel the baby kick, and my brothers kept pointing at my stomach and saying, "baby." I think they're excited to be uncles (especially since they're having a nephew....) In further baby news, he is moving quite a bit now--I can even see my belly bounce sometimes. It's pretty exciting to feel.

It was nice to get to spend so much time with my family. We saw HP7 Part 2 (awsome), played tennis (of course) and went to the pool, which I've been wanting to do for months. We were also able to fulfill Ben's dream of having Kansas City barbeque. It was good, though technically it was in Independence. Maybe when we have more time we can take him into the city.

My mom also pointed out that I neglected to pay tribute to Josh's 18th birthday. That's probably because his birthday happened to fall on the same day that we got our ultrasound. I thought giving him a nephew would be a good enough gift, but I don't want him to feel left out, especially since Nate's made it on our blog twice. So I'll take a bit of time to celebrate Josh's birthday.



I know this is kind of blurry, but I love this picture of him and our cousin Haleigh



Joshua Robert Fernquist

Born July 6, 1993, making him legally an adult.

He played golf in high school and still likes to play in tournaments

Is obsessed with the Kansas City Chiefs. A little side note--Josh is the most laid-back of all of us by far, but apparently when the Chiefs aren't doing well, he can get pretty scary.

He's going to BYU-Idaho this fall.

Just received the Melchezideck Priesthood this Sunday--which we were there for and Ben participated in.

If playing Apples to Apples, he will always select the most random card. Festering wounds was one of his favorites and it reduced him to tears.

When he was little, his teeth squeaked when he chewed.

Visiting him in the hospital when he was born is one of my earliest memories-- Geoff and I were pretty excited.

Nate's Visit

My brother Nate came out to Provo a couple of weeks ago to go to EFY and then tennis camp. He stayed with us this weekend and last weekend. This meant that 3 of the 4 Fernquist kids were together, which hasn't happened in awhile.  You can see the excitement.

We kept pretty busy doing lots of fun activities, including playing tennis, going to the farmer's market (and Costco--always fun), watching Fast Five in the dollar theatre, playing lots of Wii, batting cages, and mini golfing (both regular and black light). Ben was surprisingly terrible at the batting cages. On his first try, he didn't hit a single one. But, true to his character, he figured it out the second time and did almost as well as me. A couple more tries might have made him better than me. Maybe.

In other updates, Ben only has less than 4 weeks until he graduates. Yay for no longer being students. He's been enjoying his last term though. His load is pretty light and he loves his ceramics class. He likes to show off his work and have me watch him throw.

It's a Boy!!!

In honor of the sex of our new baby, I am writing this entire post in blue. We had our ultrasound yesterday, and it was the most amazing thing. We got to see our little Magnum (as Ben calls him--don't worry, that won't be his real name) moving around and yawning. He's so cute.

I was so sure it was a girl, probably because that's what I always wanted to have first. I was pretty shocked when the tech asked us if we wanted to know what we were having and then said, I know I saw it around here somewhere. But we are so excited. I definitely know little boys better than I know girls. It somehow makes me feel so much closer to him knowing now that he's a him. I can't wait until we get to see him for real.

We also found out that he measures to be about 20 1/2 weeks along, instead of the 18 weeks 6 days that we originally thought. This is close enough that our doctor will have to decide if she wants to change our due date. If that's the case, Baby will be due November 21st instead of December 1st (which I'm kind of hoping for). But we should find that out at my next appointment in August.

Here are a few pictures from the ultrasound. I'll exclude the ones that prove that he's a boy. I figure he probably won't appreciate me posting those pictures for the world to see.

Here's his little profile. I think he looks like me.

Another profile. I admit, I spend a lot of time staring at these photos.

This one's kind of hard to see, but about an inch below the word foot you can see his tiny little toes.

4th of July

For this 4th of July weekend, we went up to Ben's parents in Kuna. We took my brother Geoff with us because, as Ben says, everyone comes home to Kuna. It was a pretty busy weekend by Kuna-standards.

We went boogie-boarding in the canal near the house twice this weekend. For those of you not familiar with how it's done, here is a little video to demonstrate. Sorry it's all weird and skinny, it was taken with my phone.

Ben and Geoff enjoyed it the most, they did all kinds of tricks and stayed out in the freezing cold water for awhile. I just went once and that was enough for me.

We also showed Geoff around Boise and visited Ben's Grandpa in the Veteran's Home that he just moved into. On the 4th we went to the parade in Melba. Grandpa was the Grand Marshall in the parade, and he did an excellent job.

That night, we went to the famous firework show in Melba. Ben dressed up for the occasion.



Today's a pretty exciting day for us, Ben had a 3rd interview with KPMG. We should hear from them by next week (though how definite the response will be, we're not really sure). It's also my brother Josh's 18th birthday. And most importantly, it is finally the day of the ultrasound! Today at 4 we find out if we're having a boy or a girl (or one of each).

Run, Run, Ragnar

So the infamous Ragnar Relay was a week and a half ago. I've been wanting to write about it for a little while now, but we seem to have misplaced our camera. Hopefully it turns up soon. So I will just have to use the few pictures that I took with my phone.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what the Ragnar is (aka "non-runners"), I will explain. The Ragnar is a relay race, and this particular one that we ran, the Wasatch Back, goes from Logan to Park City. There are 12 runners on a team (or if you're really crazy, 6), split up into two vans. You all take turns running and as you run, your van drives along and cheers you on and provides you with water and snacks as needed (just as Ben and Lisa are doing for Lora below).

Our team name was "Go Fish" and we all had matching shirts, not to mention matching capes. Ben still wears his around the house.

We also decorated our van and had blow up props.

Our van started early--we had to be at the starting line to check in at 5:30. But we were lucky because the times lined up that we were actually able to sleep that night. The poor runners in the other van did not have as much luck, since they had to run through the night.

Most of the time that we were running, we were in the middle of nowhere. But it was gorgeous and green--not at all like the Utah that most of us are used to on the other side of the mountains.

Even though we weren't the fastest runners (we finished in a little over 36 hours), I'd say we did pretty well--especially considering how much training some of us did . A little shoutout to Kim, who ran the entire Ragnar Hill--without stopping to walk once (of course she was one of the few who was diligent in her training, so obviously that paid off). We were all pretty sore afterwards though--there was a lot of limping that weekend. It was definitely fun, and I'm really glad we did it, but I'm also glad it's over. I did hear talk of doing it again in 3 years. I think by then I'll have been in the family long enough to be able to say no. Hopefully....

Trimester Numero Dos

I know it was not very long ago that we posted our last picture, but that picture is almost a month old, and there has been quite a bit of growth in my abdominal area. Plus, today marks a great day because I am 14 weeks. No more first trimester! Not that mine was particularly difficult.

So it's time for a new photo (mostly for the benefit of my parents). I'm always frustrated with pregnant women who only take one or two pictures throughout their pregnancy. Fat, pregnant bellies are one of the most beautiful things in the world. I talk about mine all the time. I'm sure there will be many updates over the next 5 1/2 months.

I'm also slightly weirded out by those awkward profile shots where you just stand and smile uncomfortably with your hands at your side. I decided to go with more of an action shot--yes, I had just gotten back from running. See, much less awkward.

Also, in case you noticed that knee brace, I had a stressful week because of a sudden onset of knee pain that only allowed me to run about a mile. With Ragnar only two weeks away, the time for finding a replacement has pretty much passed. I didn't want to let the family down, especially since I'm pretty sure the main reason certain Fishers have welcomed me so enthusiastically is because I complete the running team. But my doctor was brilliant enough to suggest a knee brace, and it worked!

In other updates, Ben is almost done with his second-to-last term of his undergraduate career. Since next term he's taking poetry and intro to ceramics, I'm pretty sure it's all downhill from here. He's also working as a research assistant and he gets to research Central Asia and all that good stuff. The best part is that he gets to work at home.