Clean Bill of Health

As of one hour ago, I have been given a clean bill of health by my ob! Baby's heart rate is normal along with all my hormone and blood pressure levels. I can now start exercising again amongst other things.

So far, I have not started showing much at all. I lost a few pounds and inches over the first tri., but nothing to worry about. All my clothes still fit just like normal. The only difference is a tiny amount of pudge around my belly button. It depressed me for a while that I was so sick and had nothing to show for it. At least an expanding belly would remind me why I have to be sick. Now, however, I have a miniscule amount of pudge to show AND I haven't been sick at all for three days! Everyone told me life would get better, and, what do you know, it did!

P.S. We will find out the sex of our baby in approx. 8 weeks! Be very excited!

Righting a Wrong

It has very recently come to my attention that none of the Boizelle side of the family has seen our ultrasound pictures. As a self-proclaimed righter-of-wrongs, I, of course, set out to right this wrong. After one or two tedious minutes of scanning, here they are!


Baby at nine weeks.
















I had a little trouble interpreting, so it's facing down with the head on the left. That little blob under it is an arm and the little blob on the far right is a leg.


Baby at 11 weeks! (We got a second one. You can decide whether that was lucky or unlucky.)
















You can see the skull and jaw bones in this picture.

















This is a full frontal shot. Our baby is practicing for its audition in the next "Thriller" remake. It seriously looks like a ghoul.

It's a hard knock life!

Jon had two exams last week for which he almost killed himself preparing. However, he still didn't have a lot of the material down for his Governmental Accounting class. He got out of the exam looking a little "shell shocked" as the proctor later told him. Jon's been terrified all week about finding out his results today. He even went so far as to say that he'd rather skip class than find out what grade he got and that he would be relieved if he got a B. I spent the week telling him that I'd still love him even if he got a C.

After all that drama, he got his grades back today, and, wouldn't you know it, he got 101% on his exam. It's a hard knock life!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving! Just thought I'd psych everybody up for the true Thanksgiving holiday which occurs on Monday, Oct. 12 this year! And, to all my American relatives, it's Ok to be jealous. Not every household gets to have 2 Thanksgiving's per year. One with pickles (oh yeah!) and one without (unfortunate, but true). If you're feeling horribly deprived, you can always put pickles on your Thanksgiving table and say that you're doing it in my honor. I'll collaborate!

Jon and I agreed to celebrate both Thanksgiving holidays in our household from now on. Our Thanksgiving in Canada involves many of the same traditions as American Thanksgiving. We still have all the family over. Dinner involves turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc. The one thing I've noticed is the pickle thing. Everyone I know in Canada eats pickles at formal meals. You just slice 'em and serve 'em. Jon thinks that's weird. However, my family has some traditions that differ from most due to personal preference:

We always have both turkey w/mashed potatoes and ham w/ applesauce at Thanksgiving. You can choose. One side of the family fights over the dark turkey meat and the other side fights over the white meat. I personally like both, so there's always plenty for me wherever I go! Beets and cranberries are absolutely forbidden in the house, let alone on the table, and weird jello salads are a must for the Watson's (I'm talking cherry jell-o with pretzels, fruit, and whipped cream. Yuck) By the way, Jello is a side dish in Canada, not a dessert.

Every member of the Quinton family HATES pumpkin pie (we call it stoolie pie), although Mitchell might like it. We're not actually sure that he even tastes his food as he shovels it down. Pies for the holiday include lemon without meringue and banana cream with the bananas on top, not inside. The Watson side of the family has an obsession with Orange Dream Jello salad (orange jello mixed with whipped cream). That jello salad shows up at every Thanksgiving. My mom makes it the best, but my immediate family got so tired of it that she refused to make it. Now my aunt makes it every year (not as good).

The Quinton family also HATES Jello that has anything in it. We like it plain. No fruit, no whipped cream, and definitely no cheese, nuts, lettuce, or hamburger (I did warn you that Canadians like weird Jello salads).

Add all these ingredients together and you have the perfect recipe for a GREAT Canadian Thanksgiving!

Making a racquet!

So, I'm officially kind of obsessed with tennis. I played for a season in High School and really loved it. Unfortunately, I stopped playing while I was at college and on the mission and got a little rusty.

A few weeks ago, Steph and I went in and bought tennis racquets for the both of us. I even got a great deal on the racquets (To quote Dad, "there's no status in overpaying"). Since then I have started playing with a few friends and Steph has been learning to play. It is a really nice balance because it allows me to play both competitively with some friends and recreationally with Steph.

However, I don't expect that to last long. Steph has been learning very quickly and is starting to get pretty good. She even beat me in one of our games! I uh.....just couldn't get my serves in. No really!

It is really good to be back in the game and getting a little exercise in when I'm not swamped with schoolwork. I hope to play again tomorrow!

Some warm Montana lake

For those of you who don't know, Steph's grandparents own a cabin on Echo lake in Montana. For you geography buffs (that's you Dad), Echo lake is located just north of Flathead lake and is southwest of Glacier National Park. We just got back from spending a few days up there with Steph's immediate family and had a great time. It was actually the first time Steph's entire immediate family has been together for two years.

This was also my chance to get to know Mitchell, since he has been serving as a missionary long since before Steph and I got engaged. We had some fun together and even spent some time in the lake together after I tackled him off the tube while unawares. It's nice to have another brother.

While at the cabin, we had some wild rides on a three-person tube, I got to water ski, drove the wave runner, and we did a little swimming in the lake. The lake was fuller and warmer than last year, making swimming more plausible.

We also watched some great movies, including the new Harry Potter. It was pretty good and handled the book to movie transition as well as could be expected. Those who stayed awake also watched What's Up Doc and Meet the Robinson's.

Thanks Quinton's for a great time! Good luck to Jessica and Mitchell as they leave for school!

The Day has finally come!

After 13 years of under-undergrad and 5 long years of undergrad (that's 18 years!), Stephanie Dawn Boizelle can officially take her place among the ranks of diploma'd people! Hurray! It was a long time coming, but now that it's over, I can say that it was worth it. I learned a great deal in school (both before and during college), but the most important thing I learned is that most learning originates in the home. My parents were the ones who taught me to love learning. They were also the ones who taught (by example) how important school is. Many were the nights they stayed up late helping me finish projects or break through mental barriers (that's for you, Dad!). I doubt I would have made it so far if I hadn't learned solid principles like discipline and hard work before I ever stepped one foot into an institution of learning. So I would like to say thanks to my parents. This diploma is just as much their's as mine. We worked hard for it. And the fake gold leaf is so shiny... ;) Thanks mom and dad!

The inscription reads

Brigham Young University-Idaho, on recommendation of the University Faculty and on authorization of the President and the Board of Trustees, has conferred on Stephanie Dawn Boizelle this Bachelor of Arts in English Education together with the honors, rights, privileges, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Given in Rexburg in the State of Idaho the tenth day of April in the year of our Lord two thousand and nine.

Signed by Thomas S. Monson and Kim B Clark.