All about Nate

It has been quite some time since I've written about Nate.  I can't believe how quickly he can grow and how much he can learn from one day to the next.  So what is he like these days?  It is pretty strange but for 30 to 60 minutes at a time he actually likes to spend some time on his own.  He needs to know that mom and dad are close by but he doesn't need as much interaction anymore.  He has learned to wave hello and it is sooooo cute!  He still loves to click his tongue by himself and when mom and dad do it too!  Nate keeps turning more and more into a little boy instead of a baby.  Now he just wants to keep playing instead of falling asleep.  It is so cute to see him fight off sleep!  He laughs and smiles like crazy!!!!!  I always wonder what he is thinking and I want to talk to him soooo bad.  He is my little boy and I love every second that I get to spend with him.   

Akeelah and the Bee

Have you ever heard anyone complain that Hollywood does not produce an good natured films?  I have heard so many people complain about stuff like that.  Anyway, I had heard a lot of good things about a film titled, Akeelah and the Bee.  It has been in our blockbuster online queue for quite some time and finally came the other day.  Well, all I can say is that Julie and I loved it.  You must see this film. 

LOL

Donate Old Computer

Does anyone have a computer that they are not using any more?   I'm looking for something to convert into a linux box and start messing around with that operating system.  I eventually want to make my laptop dual-boot windows and linux but I need something to practice on before I do it to my own computer. Let me know. 

Gondwanaland

So when I was a kid my dad told me that when the continents were all connected that it was called Gondwanaland.  I thought that I was pretty cool and smart.  Years later in elementary school the teacher asked what the name of the land mass was when all the continents were stuck together.  I was so excited and I raised my hand and said, "Gondwanaland!"  Much to my dismay the teacher said that was incorrect!  All the kids laughed at me and I was really embarrassed.  I mean let's face it, it does sort of sound funny!  I was like no it's not!  Anyway, I was troubled by that experience for some time. 

So the other day Julie was doing her homework for one of her classes - Natural Disasters - and she said to me, have you ever heard of Gondwanaland.  I was so excited when I heard her say that!  So I asked her what it was and told her that I had definitely heard of it!  So Gondwanaland is actually the name of the southern supercontinent after Pangea split.  For your information the northern supercontinent was called Laurasia.

BLaugh - I feel his pain!!!

This is so funny! 

Cool Article on Dark Matter and Energy

I was reading a post over at the Bad Astronomy Blog where Phil mentioned that some pretty cool developments have occurred in the area of dark matter and energy.  He referenced a very good article on the new developments at the CosmicVariance site.  It is pretty compelling and well explained. 

Fear

Julie and I were discussing how interesting it is to watch kids begin to learn fear.  Up until a few weeks ago Nate wasn't afraid of anything.  Now every once in a while something will freak him out for no reason that we can see. 
The other day Nate was playing with some toys that his great grandma gave him.  One is like a sink with a dishwasher and the sink had a spray hose.  So he was playing and having a great time when I decided to pull out the spray hose.  For some reason this just freaked him out like crazy!  So I picked him up and put the spray hose down.  I wanted to see if that was really what was going on so I pulled out the spray house again and he started to freak out once again!



Nate is also practically fearless when it comes to climbing things.  It has been so interesting to watch him learn that things can hurt him and that he needs to be careful. 

17

I was going through some photographs and found this AWESOME picture of Rob at his Junior Prom in 1997. It's such a great picture and I just laughed. So I thought I'd post a comparison picture of me at the same age (17). Do we look like we belong together? Even back then?

Humble Dwelling on Lifou

I will be posting some pictures from my mission the next few weeks. A lot of strange and interesting things happened to me while I was serving in New Caledonia.

In March of 2000 another missionary and I reopened the Loyalty Island of Lifou. The local government was basically organized in tribes with a great chief over the entire island. When we arrived we stayed with a local family while looking for a place to live.

This is a picture of our humble abode. As you can see it is not exactly the Marroitt. The floor is concrete with a loose roll of linoleum spread over it. We laid a couple of mats down under our 3 inch mattresses and I of course installed the mosquito netting! Or clothes were hung on a wire that we nailed into the window frames. Nobody had glass windows here, it was either open to the air of covered in plywood! The family trash pit was located 2 feet away from our front door as you can see in the picture below!

In spite of how difficult the living conditions were I had many amazing experinces while serving on Lifou and I hope to share some of that here. Here are some other pictures.