19 years ago today!

 Nineteen years ago today, this little chubster came into the world with a bang.   Born eight days late, early in the morning on the day he was scheduled to be induced, he made sure none of us overlooked this 4th child.   My pregnancy with him had been one of my easiest, but his birth proved to be the most complicated.

  

At some point during labor his heart rate started dropping, thick meconium was present when my waters broke,  and the doctors realized the cord was wrapped around his neck. Everything after that was a whirlwind and though ultimately he was born without a c-section, his APGAR score when he was born was only a 2.  He was rushed to the NICU as soon as he was born and stayed there for a week.     At nearly 9 pounds, he was by far the giant of the NICU, but definitely still had his fair share of issues.  He was on oxygen and had tubes and wires coming out of his head and arms.  It was a very mentally and physically exhausting time for all of us, which didn't end when he came home.   Ultimately he was readmitted to the hospital a few weeks later for lingering issues and a few weeks after that I developed mastitis, which was pretty much horrible too.  

He was by far our hardest baby and toddler, which we attribute to all the poking and prodding he got during his first and fifth weeks of life.   We really just felt like he needed a little extra reassurance that all was right with the world and as such needed to be snuggled and held pretty much all the time. We remarked many times that we were glad that he was our 4th child and not our 1st, or we may not have ever gotten to Ellie.   

With the rough start though....he had a smile that could light up the world and honestly it was that smile that got us through those exhausting first months of his life.   

 

Somewhere along the way, the crying stopped and he turned into a happy, well-adjusted kid.   We are thrilled to celebrate another trip around the sun with him and in honor of his 19th birthday, here are 19 things you may or may not know about him....

1. he was born 8 days late on the morning I was scheduled to be induced

2. he was almost 9 pounds when he was born

3. he had the most difficult birth of all my kids and spent 2 weeks in the NICU 

4. he was by far my hardest baby and toddler

5.  he cried A LOT and needed to be held pretty much 24/7

6.  his first word was, "uh oh" and it was usually followed by throwing something across the room

7.  we called him our "baby scientist" because he was always trying to figure out how things worked or how big a crash they'd make

8.  he one time broke his foot after getting it run over by a full shopping cart at Costco

9.  that foot is still half-size smaller than the other foot

10.  he is the king of board games and usually beats us

11. he will race ahead on family hikes when he's feeling irritated about something

12.  At almost 6'2", he's the tallest Goold by a few inches

13. he'd rather do 1000 math problems than have to write a paper

14.he's the best traveled of all the Goold kids (and recently passed up Glen too) -- 25 countries and counting

15. he's got a fun sense of humor and has never outgrown his love of a good "what if" question

16. most of the way through high school he did ~ 200 push-ups a day

17.  he's a master cookie baker and even makes me delicious gluten free versions of my favorites

18. he loves nature and is somewhat of a bird identifying expert (though he's not as familiar with western species yet)

19.  he has great friends--young and old -- and we are grateful for the light and joy he brings to our family!

Fish, Smoke, Snow, and Leaves

 A letter sent to our missionary 10/10/21:  

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Hola Emma Girl!

Don't get too excited, but I think I've set a new record for starting your letter before 8:00pm. Never mind that it's literally 7:59pm, I think you should give me some kind of award or something (or at least eat a cookie for me or something). But then again, earlier does not always equal better (as you know from the goofy letter from a couple weeks ago), so refrain from too much anticipation. 😜

So, what are we doing this week? Eating, eating, and more eating. I don't know why, but suddenly there's good food everywhere and I'm eating it all.    

Also, have I told you that you're going to like our new kitchen? It's not fancy, but it is nice and certainly bigger and more organized than any other kitchen we've ever had. I think you'll enjoy it.

Also, GUESS WHAT?!! I'm finding you some new friends for when you get home. One is named I----- and she lives with her parents in the ward. I don't know her story, but 1. she was homeschooled 2. she's about your age 3. she's very nice. Also, I met A----- today. She lives two doors down from us and she is recently returned from the Vancouver, Washington mission. There's also the BYU student whose family lives kiddy corner behind us who served in the Toronto Mission (she just happened to already be out when COVID went down, so she got to stay), so you were basically meant to be friends one way or the other. We will definitely have a YSA gathering at our house when you get home, so you all can get to know each other. :)

My next mission is to start finding you some dates too.  

Yesterday Dad took Adam, Logan, and Ryan H. fishing on Strawberry Reservoir.

If you remember the weather yesterday, it was COLD, SNOWY, and WET, but they dressed for it and had a successful day. They caught 20+ fish--including a monster big one that Adam caught....

Tonight Dad smoked a few and we ate well (see the eating problem I mentioned above).

YUM!

 

Speaking of cold, snowy, and wet--have you seen this weather alert? 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

It's funny, because last time I lived in Utah, I was coming from Minnesota and I remembered the Utah winters as pretty wimpy. Now we're coming from somewhere where they cancel everything every time there's an inch of snow and I'm getting increasingly worried that these winters are going to knock my socks off. As it is, I am 10000% NOT excited about a winter storm in October!   😱

I heard that leaves were at their peak this past week, so we braved the cold, soggy weather this week and took a drive through Big Cottonwood Canyon, over Guardsmen Pass, back through Heber Valley and back home through Provo Canyon. The weather in the mountains was a good 20 degrees colder than home and significantly windier too, so we pretty much froze. But we did get some beautiful pictures and I think the bad weather kept the crowds away.

What else did we do this week?  

Adam went to homecoming with his friend, Sydney...

I heard they had a fun time and I found these pictures in the camera roll, so it looks like a success.  

We also found the cutest little alpaca farm about a mile from our house and I think Ellie is ready to be adopted into their family, so she can see this cute little fellow every day...

We talked her into staying home after I promised to drive by at least once a week.  Be sure to remind us and we'll drive you by when you get home too.    It's so stinking cute it's sure to make you smile when you're having a grumpy day! 

A couple last things....

The L---- family (from VF1 in Pennsylvania) came to breakfast this morning.  It was great to see them and I truly feel like they were one of the reasons why we needed to live in PA.   

On Thursday, we went to BYU Homecoming Spectacular.  I sent you a couple videos from it, so you can see that it was AMAZING!!!!    Brian Stokes Mitchell was the headliner and the whole thing was so fun and so well done!   

Spence opted not to come, so we searched for someone to take his place.   Katelin D. was available and  we enjoyed spending the evening with her.  

This month is a pretty busy month.  Next weekend is Ellie's Fall Break and Dad is going on ANOTHER fishing trip with a colleague.  Later Dad will fly to Dallas for a wedding, after which Ellie and I will fly to Austin for Cami's baby shower.  I'm getting so stinking excited to be a grandma I can barely stand it!  I just hope that they end up getting residency somewhere closer than Texas.

Speaking of babies....Dad's cousins (Marilyn's girls) all had babies within a few months of each other and they asked me to take pictures of them when they came to town.  I was SUPER intimidated, but talked Heather into coming along too, and I think they turned out beautifully (thanks to Heather).  It was fun to see them again and meet their sweet babies.   

Jane's baby is P----.  He is about 8 months old.   Stephanie's is C----- and he is 2-3 months old.   Jill's is M---- and I believe she is about 7 months old.   They live in 3 different states currently (Texas, Virginia, and Utah).  

They were all completely adorable ...

And it was fun to see the sisters reunited!   

They sent these beautiful flowers as a thank you gift.  😍

Well, I've definitely set a new record.   I'm wrapping up now and it's not even 9:30 yet, so HALLELUJAH, I might actually get to bed at a reasonable time!  

I hope you have an AMAZING week!  WE love you!!! 

Love, 
Mom 

Fall in Utah

After 25 years of living in the East, I wasn't sure I'd ever find anything quite so lovely as a Virginia or Pennsylvania autumntime.   The humidity fades, the temperatures drop, and the bright yellows, oranges, and reds of autumn start making their appearances.   It's glorious and I look forward to it all year round.  

Coming here to Utah, I expected everything weather related to be more extreme than the East.   I expected and wasn't surprised by the super hot dry summer.   Yes, it's nice that it's not humid, but the average summer day here was still 10-20 degrees hotter than the average summer day in the East, which means that it's still not fun to spend time outside in the heat of the day.    We haven't done a winter here yet (since my BYU days), but I remember  that it stays colder and snows more regularly here.  And worst of all, apparently life doesn't stop when it snows and you still have to go places.   Now before you all go laughing at my cold wimpiness, please remember that I grew up in the great state of Minnesota and I have experienced more than my fair share of extreme cold (the likes of which we will never feel here in Utah).  However, also please remember that I have fully raised my kids in places where the world pretty much shuts down whenever it snows and  I've grown rather fond of the random excuses to stay home for a day or two scattered through the winter.  

I guess I'd never really given much thought to spring and fall here in Utah.   

BUT....it turns out that Utah autumns are pretty spectacular as well.    AND....it turns out that Adam has the same penchant for taking sky and scenery pictures that I do.   

Here is some pictorial evidence of the beauty of fall in Utah...

This fairytale scene was taken along our hike to Adam's Falls a week or two ago...

Here are a couple scenes from my walk this morning.  I was completely enchanted by the streaks of color amidst the clouds that made it look like God had gotten out His paintbrush to paint an extra bit of beauty into the day.   

Meanwhile, Adam was down at BYU taking these pictures of the sky within 10 minutes of me taking mine....

Here's another gorgeous one he took recently from near his dorm...

This scene only a few blocks from our house caught my eye the other day and had me snapping this while sitting at a stop sign....

The trailhead to Horsetail Falls isn't too far from our house, but it's all uphill, so it's a hike that gets our blood moving (in a good way).  We are totally enamored with the views on the way back down, so it's a trek we take a couple times a week.  Here are a few shots we've taken over the last few weeks...

And here are a few more from a recent hike that Adam took with friends...

So, what's the conclusion?   

It's simple actually...

Fall is officially my favorite season no matter what state I am in and being outside as much as possible in the autumntime is the way to be!   

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!