Sadie Chloe Floyd

We are so excited she has arrived! Sadie Chloe Floyd was born at 8:31 am on November 13, 2008. She is 6.5 lbs and 19.5 inches long. She and Celeste are healthy and doing well. The hospital staff has been great, and all in all the entire experience has been wonderful. We were called into the hospital about 2:00 pm on the 12th, Celeste received her epidural about 5:00 pm and the doctor broke her water about 9:45 pm. We waited through the night and Celeste started pushing about 7:15 am. She pushed for about an hour and 15 minutes before Sadie was born. We both have some time off of work, and are excited to be parents!

Pregnancy

trying incessantly
testing for viability
thankfully and finally missing
vomiting, sometimes twice a day
feeling ill for three months
eating ginger, sucking on lemon drops
investigating everything about gestation
endless doctor visits
pictures of a tiny person growing
probabilities and odds
kicking from inside
growing and stretching
can't sleep or find a comfortable position
have to go to the restroom again?!
Systolic and Diastolic
almost there...

We are so excited for our little girl! Celeste is being induced on Wednesday, November 12th. It has been a long and interesting road and we are ready to be done with pregnancy. Celeste more than I. Celeste has had higher blood pressure than normal for the last two weeks. The doctor has put her on modified bed rest, and she has been having to track her blood pressure and other indicators of preeclampsia. Everything is going well, the baby is healthy and the doctor decided it is time. We have been seeing doctors two to three times a week, it will be nice to actually go home with our baby. We have been having baby showers, buying clothes, putting together furniture, cleaning, and trying to prepare for her. We tried to keep up with pictures during her pregnancy to remember all the changes. The human body is truly amazing. We are excited, apprehensive, and ready all at once. The next post will have pictures of our little family of three!

The greatest man, my Dad!

Neal Nickel
1955 ~ 2008 Neal Nickel, our Dad, Grandpa, husband, uncle and friend passed away in West Valley City on September 27, 2008 at the age of 53. Neal endured the challenges of frontotemporal dementia and ALS for several years prior to his death.Neal was born in Salt Lake City on July 3, 1955, to Oliver and Melda Nickel. He married Laura Murphy on September 26, 1973 in the Salt Lake Temple. Neal worked in the airline industry, first for Western, then Delta, then Southwest Airlines. His most cherished profession and his greatest wealth, however, was that of father to his seven children. He spent countless hours teaching them how to stand in the box, keep their eye on the ball, swing for the fences, and follow through. He gave up most of his hobbies and interests in order to better their lives. He loved taking them to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, camping, to the batting cages, golfing, or just to the store for a Dr. Pepper Big Gulp. They all looked forward to Neal leading the annual excursion to look at Christmas lights all over the valley on Christmas Eve, and perhaps even more to the giant breakfast he would make on Christmas morning. He devoted every ounce of energy he had to being Dad, and we will always remember the way he would greet us with a big smile and a "what's up?" Neal's family is grateful for the sacrifices he made to give us memories of him until we meet again, and for his unconditional example of kindness and service to others. He is survived by his wife, Laura, their children Greg, Candi (Tim) McCoy, Katie, Camille, Celeste (Patrick) Floyd, Abbie (Jason) Richman and Colton, and by grandchildren Jake, Alex, Sam, Aaron, Riley, Andrew and Elsa. A viewing honoring Neal will be held Oct. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Hunter Central Stake Center, 3930 South 6000 West, West Valley City. Funeral services will be held on October 2, at 12:00 noon at the Hunter Central Stake Center. Interment following the service at Valley View Memorial Park in West Valley City. Arrangements provided by Valley View Funeral Home. The family wishes to thank the many doctors, healthcare providers and friends who have spent time and effort to make Dad as comfortable as possible during the past several months.

Yellowstone

Patrick and I went to Yellowstone last weekend. We went with my mom, dad and my little brother Colton. We had such a great time! We really enjoyed all the different geysers, hot pots and animals. We saw a ton of bison, elk, a coyote and deer. Bison were absolutely every where. We had quite the time entertaining my dad. He has dementia and has a hard time staying in one place for more then 2 seconds. He would bolt any chance he got whether walking around or trying to jump out of the car. Luckily Patrick was quicker then him in the driver seat on locking the door. LOL It was such a good thing for my dad since we were always on the go. It was so nice to get away and enjoy nature and it's surroundings in Yellowstone. It was the first time Colton and I had ever been there. We really want to go back and try and see bears and wolves. The geysers were amazing, although a little scary to think that the magma was creating these hot pockets and vents to the surface. The colors and minerals that the geysers created are quite a site. We really enjoyed the trip and were so glad we got to go with my parents and Colton. I think it was a good get away for all of us.

Newport, Oregon

Patrick and I went to Newport, Oregon with his cousin Christian and his wife Kendra. We stayed in a condo right on the the beach. It was so nice to be able to walk right down to the beach. While we were in Newport we went deep sea fishing in Charleston. Patrick caught a total of 7 black/blue rock fish, 1 tiger rock fish and 1 ling cod fish. I caught 6 blue/black rock fish. We were able to keep 10 rock fish and the ling cod. We have a good supply of fish! We also went crabbing. We rented a 14 foot aluminum boat and went crabbing in the bay in Newport under a bridge. We baited the 3 pots with the fish heads from our deep sea fishing. It was hard work to bait the pots, drop the pots, pull them back up and see if there were any crabs. You have to throw back any females or small males. Our hard work paid off (Patrick's and Christian's pulling up the pots) with a total of 14 crabs (12 dungeness and 2 red rock crab). We loved the fresh crab right out of the ocean! They cooked the crab in a huge pot right on the beach. We also went to the Newport Aquarium. They have a really cool tunnel that you walk through and sharks are swimming all around you. Patrick was able to catch a shark eyeing me. The aquarium also had sea otters, seals, sea lions, birds and all types of ocean life. We really enjoyed the aquarium. We enjoyed many great sea food restaurants and the Newport historic ocean front. It was an awesome trip to the Oregon Coast we had a ton of fun with Kendra and Christian.

Summer Events

We have had a couple summer events that we have meant to post but we have not had the time. So I thought I would catch up on those post right now. We had a family reunion up in Heber during the middle of June. My mom's side of the family goes up to a camp ground in Heber every year. They have cabins you can stay in with bunks. We go up from Friday to Saturday. They have a man made lake that you can either use a paddle boat or a canoe. So we always set up time on Saturday morning to spend time on the lake. It is really fun and I have posted some of the pictures.

For the 4th of July my work Monavie was a sponsor for the Stadium of Fire at Lavell Edward Stadium, in Provo. So Patrick and I decided that would be a great way to spend our 4th of July. I was able to also get tickets for my Dad, Camille, Colton, Katie, Kevin, Abbie and Jason. So we all were able to go to the Stadium of Fire. They had most of the employees be a part of the show and had to sit on the actual field. Since we had my dad and we did not think he would sit on the field, I was able to get box seats for Patrick, my dad, Camille and myself. So us four were able to sit in up in the box suites. The entertainment was The Blue Man Group, Miley Cyrus and Glen Beck was the host. We really enjoyed the Blue Man Group. We really were not impressed with Miley Cyrus (Colton will tell you differently). But we all agreed that the best part of the whole night was the firework show. They had two different places at the south side of the field that the fireworks were going off. The people who were on the field actually had some of the ash from the fireworks fall on them. It was an amazing firework show that you thought the whole show was as good as the finale. The drive home was such a different story. It was a parking lot trying to leave the area. It took us an hour and half just to get 20 min away and away from the traffic. All in all, it was a great 4th of July!

SAAB

Patrick and I finally were able to go from one vehicle to two vehicles! Patrick and I have been sharing a car for over 3 years now! We have a Toyota 4Runner and love it. With gas prices on the rise we figured out with what we were paying in gas we could actually afford another vehicle. As long as I have known Patrick he has been in love with Saabs. He had a Saab in high school and it started his passion for Saabs from there. Every time we have gotten into any vehicle we have owned Patrick would always say "I wish we were getting into a Saab". So through our adventure of car shopping we found a perfect Saab to stay within our budget. We got a Saab 900 SE. It has turbo which is a plus for Patrick but I had to put a cap on his speed limit. :) We have definately enjoyed our second vehicle and getting the of car Patrick has wanted for years. I love seeing the smile on his face every time he goes out and sees he owns a Saab!