The Fife Family

Time for an update!

2010-03-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

It seems time to add a few more recent pics of the family from the holidays, winter activities, and basically just Cole growing up. Roslin and I are getting older too, but we don't prefer to focus on that.

Speaking of growing up, Cole finally flopped out of his crib last week so we had to convert his crib to a "big boy bed." Let's see if it works to add a video of the affair.

Now here's a few pics. Enjoy!

Cole looking adorable before church.

Sledding! Trudging up the hill at the park by our house.

Sledding is a lot of work.

The church Christmas party was a lot of fun...

...until Santa had to show up and ruin everything.

But it did get much better on Christmas morning.

Cole (and Mom) loved all his toys, especially Potato Head.

Mom loved her toy best though. Dad finally caved and bought her the Wii.

In February Dad turned 33. Everyone was very nice to him.

Cole especially liked the birthday cake.

So back to where we started - Cole growing up in his big boy bed.

And his duck-taped diapers (every night) so we don't find surprises in the morning.

Oh yes, and our snowman out front says hello...and goodbye!

2009-08-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pics from our two summer vacations. The first was a road trip (13 hour drive) to Canada in June - we met up with Brady's parents at a timeshare condo near Banff. The second was a road trip (11 hour drive) to Southern California - we met up with our college friends Eddy & Heather, and stayed at Brady's aunt & uncle's house in Oceanside.

The family at Lake Louise.

My parents wanted the same pose.

Brady and David at Greywolf Golf Club.

Mom, Roz, and Cole came along for the ride.

We saw some incredible wildlife (moose here).

And then a caribou here.

The girls shopped in Banff (here in front of the littel chapel).

But the men preferred the pool.

Cole started preparing early for the next trip to the beach.

So that was the Canada trip - it was a long trip up through Idaho and Montana, with several steps along the way. We were away 8 days in all - but very beautiful, and very enjoyable.

The California trip - just got back last night in fact - was much quicker. We went down and back in five days, with one day of travel each way. Quick and fun.

Roz got to take Cole down to the water first.

But Brady got plenty of time with him too.

Cole and Merrick became fast friends.

Some sand got in the mouth...

...but that happens when you eat your sand toys.

And getting clean and warm was a great feeling.

As long as Cole is happy in the end, it's all worth it.

A Few Family Pics

2009-02-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

We took this one on a golf course in North Carolina last fall.

Brady and Cole outside the church.

Roz and Cole in DC.

Brady and Cole acting like kangaroos.

Roz and Cole on their way out the door.

Finally finished the MBA program in July.

Cole Growing Up

2009-02-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

Here's what I look like now, at 15 months. Handsome little devil, I know. By the way that sweater cost my grandparents more than their last car, so you better appreciate it.

Here's me in the bath, with my crazy hair. Boy am I glad that little yellow baskeball was floating right there - that could have been embarrassing.

I like books. Usually I just eat them, but sometimes I read them, and occasionally, I'll even read Zoey a bedtime story.

I'm really into music right now. One of my favorite toys is my little music player, which I like to put on my shoulder like a ghetto blaster and dance to it. My dad is thinking I could make some money on the streets of San Francisco one day.

Speaking of money, here's one of my most expensive luxuries - my car seat. It's the size of a Lazyboy (whatever that is), and Dad tells all his friends it cost more than his set of golf clubs. But I really liked it, so he bought it for me.

This is me at my 1st birthday party in November. I looked absolutely adorable that day. And it was my first time seeing balloons, which are now a big favorite of mine.

No, I'm not Chinese. But the when the sunlight reflects against the snow it's really bright. This was my first time sledding. Like my hat?

Here's me in my cool stroller, at about 11 months old. This was actually taken in Washington, D.C., and with that spiky hair I had, I sure got a lot of funny looks on the street.

I really liked the monuments with water.

I'm about 9 months old here. Dad found me in the laundry room, sitting in Zoey's little bed. This is one of their favorite pictures of me.

This is me at 7 months in our neighborhood swimming pool. About 3 seconds after this, I leaned forward towards Dad, and fell face first under the water. Fortunately Dad rescued me.

Here I am at 6 months old at a summer party, and sitting up for the first time on my own. The grass was nice and long which supported me really well.

At 5 months, I had pretty chubby cheeks, but all the ladies loved it. This is actually my first time touching grass. It made me want to ponder the mysteries of eternity, which you caught me doing here.

I had one phase at 4 months where I looked a lot like Chris Farley. It shocked me too.

And this is me at 3 months. I was a pretty happy baby - life has been good to me.

2008: A Year to Remember

2009-02-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

Roslin and I have had some pretty incredible experiences together in our eight years of marriage – from our international travels, to our move to Hong Kong and back to the States, to busy jobs and busy church callings – but 2008 may go down as the most memorable year yet.

Let’s start with Cole, which makes sense, as once you have a baby it seems everything revolves around them anyway. After seven years of blissful marriage between just the two of us, Roslin and I had a pretty good thing going – we could go out when we wanted, we could host parties when we wanted, we could sleep when we wanted, and travel when we wanted. But you see, a very little baby has a way of influencing each of those wants in a very big way. As I tell Roz often – it’s a good thing he’s so dang cute, or else he may have made some enemies by now.

In fact, there have been several times in the past year when we have wondered if all the parents out there have made a secret coalition to not tell prospective parents about how bad life can get with a baby in the house. So, in all fairness to any readers out there who have yet to experience the joys of parenthood, we feel it is our duty to advise you of a few things:
• A screaming infant at 2am is terrible! We cannot understate this. It is really, really, really bad. And weeks of it in a row is even worse. It does get better, eventually, but in the beginning you will wonder how anybody actually survives the first few months of a newborn in the house.
• Teeth, however useful they may become later in life, are not to be welcomed, but rather feared. Sure, you may have heard that teething can be a bit difficult, but let us attest that just when you have your baby on a good schedule of sleeping through the night, stupid teeth will start swelling beneath the gums, and even worse, cutting through the surface, taking any thoughts of sleep far from your child’s mind. So the 2am, 3am, 4am (etc!) screams start up again, and so far as we know, they may never stop.
• Poop is even nastier of a thing than the word sounds. For most people, “number two” isn’t really much of a factor in their lives. Sure it smells a little when you go, but you flush and it’s gone. But babies are a different story. When they poop – and believe us, they poop often – it doesn’t just magically disappear down a swirling porcelain bowl. It stays in their pants (actually that’s not always true) until you change them. Yeah you’ve seen it on the movies, maybe you’ve even changed a diaper or two in your life, but until you’ve changed four or five nasty wads of brown or green or orange muck in one day, you can never know how bad it is. So, BEWARE!

But, even though we stand by the fact that having a new baby is terribly hard, like so many others, we also testify that it is terribly wonderful. Cole has brought so much goodness to our home, and a spirit that could not have come any other way. However convenient our previous life was, there was always something missing. Now, we know, that something was Cole. And we are fortunate that he is so healthy, so strong, and so beautiful. Now at 14 months, he makes us laugh everyday.

If the addition of Cole into our lives wasn’t enough to convince you of how memorable this year was—including his adoption, our sealing in the temple, and everything that goes along with a new baby—2008 brought even more to our lives. Let me start listing them:
• Travels. Though not as exotic as in our past life, we did make it by car this year to St George, Sacramento, and Seattle (yes, all with Cole in his car seat), and by plane to Washington DC, North Carolina, and Seattle (again, all with Cole!). We’ve now officially decided that if we feel the urge to travel anywhere in 2009, we are going to ship Cole in a UPS box to his grandparents first.
• MBA Program. After two long years, I was able to complete my Masters degree from BYU in July. I decided to keep my day job because my career was progressing well at Merrill Lynch (more to come on that), and so did all of my classes at night through BYU’s executive program. The schedule was brutal, leaving the house at 7am each morning and returning at 10pm most nights, which with Cole in the house made it much more difficult on Roz than even me. She was a true champ, and earned every bit of the degree that I did. By the way, one big highlight of the program was that I got to travel through Europe with the class for two full weeks, visiting businesses and seeing the sights. My first time on the continent, I toured Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, England, and France. Though it is a hard choice, I think Vienna was my favorite. The food, the architecture, the music, the history – simply amazing.
• BYU BPC / HDTV. In my MBA class I met a developing entrepreneur (Rob Neumann), who asked me to join his management team for BYU’s annual business plan competition. The business is really cool, and after hours upon hours of work on the plan (don’t ask where I found time), we presented before a crowd of 1000 business leaders and students, and took 3rd place! We won some money, and with my share of the proceeds Roz and I walked right into Costco and blew it all on a new flat screen television. So, to add to the memories, 2008 will go down as the year we were introduced to high definition TV. For those of you who have been converted like we have, you’ll understand the importance of this.
• Clientzing. Speaking of entrepreneurship, my dad and brother and I also decided 2008 was the year to develop a new business ourselves. It’s called Clientzing, which provides a simple way for salesmen to send personalized cards by mail to their clients, all in a few clicks on our website (www.clientzing.com). We just launched in December, and are excited and hopeful to see how the business grows.
• Adjunct Professor. After I completed the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program in 2007, I have become actively involved in the local CFA Society as a board member. With that association, I was asked by the University of Utah’s Finance Department if I would become an adjunct professor for them in 2009 and teach a CFA course at night. With Roslin’s support I agreed (which was asking a lot of her after the MBA program), and now I stand before 45 Masters students every Monday night from 6pm to 9pm, teaching them on various subjects of economics, accounting, finance, and capital markets. I’ve agreed to do it through April, and then see after that if I want to continue. Roz is actually a bit perturbed that I’m associated with the U in this way, but I’ve assured her it won’t sway my opinions on the football field.
• ML / BofA. Perhaps the biggest news of all—though we’re still waiting day by day to see what this will mean—is that my employer of eight years, Merrill Lynch, has gone away. As I’m sure you’ve read in the news, Bank of America has taken us over, and announced expected layoffs of 35,000. So, I go to work each day thinking it may be my last. It’s been a memorable experience to say the least, but we just have to have faith that things will work out for the best.
• Bishopric. As if my educational and professional life didn’t keep me busy enough, I have been in two different bishoprics this year as well. I was called as a counselor in 2007 in the Cranberry Farms Ward when it divided from our first ward in Lehi, and then a counselor again in the Thanksgiving Village Ward when it split off last October. But, even though I don’t know where I get the time—which again is more of a sacrifice for Roslin than me, as she faces the challenge of being a single Mom much of the time—serving in this capacity has truly been rewarding. And I have been able to meet and learn from some of the finest brethren and sisters in this great Church.
• Architectural Nexus. With all that I’ve listed above—and if you’ve been around Cole at all and seen how active he is—I’m sure you wonder how Roz still has the time to keep working outside the home. Her company has been very good to her, and allows her to work flexible hours at home, which really means only when Cole is asleep. This is usually during his afternoon naps, but often has been during the wee hours of the morning as well. She continues to enjoy her association with the girls in her department, and her ability to keep developing graphic design and presentation skills. She puts in about 10 hours a week at Nexus, and recently on top of that, has even started some additional work as a consultant for Utah Transit Authority.
• Relief Society Presidency. And there’s no rest for the weary in this Church, even for a busy Mom and employee like Roslin. She’s currently serving as the secretary in our new ward’s RS presidency, and despite the difficulty finding time, she has truly enjoyed working with the amazing women in our ward.
• Snow Shoveler. Last but not least, due to my continued absence from home, Roslin has also been employed (albeit unpaid!) as the official snow shoveler in the family. And that means a lot, since this is one of Utah’s heaviest winters on record. Fortunately, as we just learned from Good Housekeeping today in fact, snow shoveling is actually a really good form of exercise. Did you know that the average scoop of snow weighs 16 pounds, and in 10 minutes, the average shoveler throws 120 scoops of snow? We just estimated that Roslin has shoveled for 15 hours so far this winter (which includes our driveway as well as a few neighbors), and by that math means she’s hefted 172,800 pounds of snow in two months! Now if that’s not a memorable experience for the year, I don’t know what is.

With that, we head into 2009, and if our first three weeks are any indication of how the entire year will go, this could be just as eventful and memorable as the last. We’ve already had an unexpected funeral (Brady’s grandmother), moved Grandpa into an assisted living facility, and Roslin was diagnosed with stage four endometriosis and had surgery this week to remove some cysts on her ovary. So the fun never stops!

With that, we’d better put an end to this update before something else comes along which will be life changing. We promise to do a better job of updating our blog from now on, so you don’t have to wait for a big saga like this once a year. Thanks for your friendship – we love you!

Professional Photos

2008-03-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Born with all that hair

Peaceful baby

Mom lovin' on Cole

Golf Buddies for sure!

Here are some professional photos we had done. Wendy did a great job!! 4 hours to take 150 pics, 3 times he peed on us, 2 frazzled parents, and 1 bottle feed......Boy was it worth it though....

1st Hair Cut

2008-03-18T14:07:00.001-07:00

Cole getting ready.

Check out that hair in the mirror!!!

The hair on the child was unbelievable!!! It was getting so long I was getting his hair caught in his bib. The hand towel was the closest thing we could come up with for a cape.

Yum Yum

2008-03-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Not sure what to think about the cereal

Getting better

Yummmm

After 7 ounces of milk every three hours, Cole is just not staying full. At our last dr. visit, we decided it would be good to start him on cereal. He's growing like a weed and loves his food. After a few times practicing with his spoon, he's doing quite well!

Learning to Roll

2008-03-18T13:37:00.001-07:00

Cole has just figured out how to roll. Unlike most babies, Cole has figured out how to roll onto his stomach first. Once he gets onto his stomach he is stuck and ends up screaming for help!

Cole already two months

2008-01-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

Well, two months have gone by... I can't believe it. We have thoroughly enjoyed having this little guy around. He's had many "firsts", and it has been really fun introducing him to things and learning his personality. He went to the doctor on Friday and weighed in at 12lbs. 3 oz. He is 23" long. He is developing very well, and is about average in all areas. He had his first vaccinations and was a champ. He only cried for a couple of minutes -- which broke mom's heart, but with a cuddle, he quieted right down. He drinks 6oz. every 4 hours and boy does he love his milk!!! He is now sleeping through the night -- and I can say I value my sleep more than any other time in my life. Zoey loves her little brother. She loves to lay by him on his blankets and tries to sneak in a kiss or two when we aren't close enough to catch her! He loves his baths and likes to splash viciously. He had his first laugh on the 12th of Jan. with Dad. He thought Brady was so funny when he was clapping his hands.

Cole Paxton Fife

2008-01-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

Cole Paxton Fife was born November 11, 2007. He was born on his Grandpa Spaulding's birthday!! He weighed 7lbs. 14 oz. and was 21" long. He was born with beautiful LONG blonde hair!! We feel so incredibly greatful to his birthmom Lisa whom has given us this precious gift from heaven. We love being his parents!!! He is pretty laid back and only cries when he is hungery or can't get out a burp!