Thursday, July 30, 2009

A Prego Update

Good news! My ultrasound 5 weeks ago showed that my due date is actually January 11th, not the 19th! That means one less week of pregnancy for me! Wahoo! That also means that I only have to wait 3 weeks for my next ultrasound, instead of 4. So in 3 weeks we will know if we are having a boy or a girl! I can also officially say that I am 16 weeks pregnant instead of 15. I like it.

A 16-week old fetus

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Lucy, the Basenji

People walk into my house and see two small dogs that look like "a cross between a pig and a fox" and wonder, "Why this breed?"

Adam's Aunt Rosemary bred basenjis back in the day. From his aunt, Adam's family first got Mali, a red and white female basenji. Then along came Kido, the Franson's second basenji, who was black and white. Mali and Kido had puppies, one of which was Lucy, a black and white female, who was placed in a home as a young pup that wasn't able to keep her. Adam's family took Lucy back and kept her as their own. So, Adam grew up with, not one, not two, but three crazy basenjis.

I have grown to love these little dogs. When Adam and I wanted to get a dog of our own, I fought for a basenji. Mali, Kido and Lucy were an integral part in Adam's childhood. I heard too many stories about these African dogs not to want one for myself. Now I have two.

Driving around Farmington (we did that a lot when we were there), we wondered if Lucy was still alive, so we decided to stop by the family's house that Adam's parents gave her to after they retired and moved out of state. They were home and, what do you know, Lucy was there! (A little overwieght and slow-moving, but still there!) I almost cried, actually meeting one of the Franson's basenjis! I can't tell you how many stories I have heard about this dog. Meeting her was so special.


Farmington, ME

The town Adam was born in and lived in until he left for BYU. It is a very sweet little town an hour or so north of Portland with plenty of nature trails, rivers and little shops to keep one busy. I really loved this place. We were able to hang around Farmington for a week. Adam did a lot of cruisin' down memory lane, where he would drive by this person's house who did this once or that store where this happened or this street where this race was ran or over this bridge that people jumped off of...

The first day we were there, driving through downtown, Adam shakes his head as if trying to wake up from a dream and says, "This is unreal! [pause] I can't believe I am here, driving my own car, with my own family." Adam hasn't been back for 7 years, and that was only for 2 weeks after being away for 3 years! It was fun for me to finally see all these places that I have heard SO much about. It was fun to see Adam on his old stomping ground.

Adam's childhood home. (above)

Where Adam's father taught English courses.


Adam worked at Pike's Farm growing up. The girls are enjoying large, ripe Pike's strawberries here. They ate them like candy! They loved the peas too!


The strawberry fields.

The health food store, where Adam's mom did some shopping.


The movie theater.


Renys! A 3-level dept. store. It is a one-stop shop, trust me. I was amazed at the variety of goods packed in this place! Rakes, rain boots, toys, food, clothing, coolers, fishing gear... you name it.


Bus #39, Adam seems to think that this is the exact bus #39 that he rode on 10+ years ago... We drove around the school yard searching for #39. It was funny.


The fitness center. Where Adam would sneak a visit with his girlfriends. :)


Adam's high school.


Jack's trading post. Just around the corner from Adam's house. The Franson kids got all their treats and sweets here, I believe.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Boston, MA

The second day of our vacation we stopped in Boston (on our way to Maine, our destination) to see a great friend of mine from HS, Kaileen. Kaileen is a grad student at BU and was very deserving of a visit. :)

We went to lunch at the Bell in Hand, a tavern where Paul Revere himself ate back in the day. Then we took a Boston Duck Tour... we rode on a transforming bus/truck around Boston and cruised down the Charles River all in one vehicle with an enthusiastic pirate-wannabe tour guide. Adalin is driving the boat/bus down the Charles in the picture below. It was fun, and pouring rain. I didn't get many good pics b/c of the rain. :(

I have to mention to anyone that reads this not to ever attempt to drive into Downtown Boston. It will most likely produce one of the most stressful events in a marriage, even equipped with 2 GPS's, both of which don't work when the highways spontaneously go underground. It is also very easy to hit pedestrians who jump out in front of your vehicle. Oh yeah, and Bostonians have not a clue how a 4-way stop sign is supposed to function. Besides the driving we did, Boston is a great place.




Palmyra, NY

We were bommin' along on I-90 on our way to Maine after deciding to forgo a side trip to Niagara Falls, which would have set us back 2-3 hours on top of a 500-mile day, when I noticed that Palmyra is only 6 miles north of the Interstate. So we stopped.

Palmyra, NY is a historical site in our church, where the 14-year old Joseph Smith questioned the truthfulness of churches of his day and prayed in these woods pictured below to ask God the truth. There he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, received an answer he did not expect and his life changed forever.

It was a wonderful stop and I am glad we were able to see these sites, even though we didn't take a lot of time there. It is interesting to me, that this event that is second in importance only to Christ's Atonement, is something that one can only know happened for sure by faith. There is no proof, no one took a picture, there is no one alive today that was present to testify that this vision happened. One can only read Joseph Smith's account, maybe go to Palmyra and, most importantly, pray to know if it's true. Let me say though that walking through those woods was magical. Joseph had his vision there. I felt in my heart that he did. There Christ began to restore His true church on the Earth in these last days.



The Smith family's frame home. (above)

The Smith family's log home. (above)

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

A Little Peanut

Here is Franson Baby #3's first photo. S/he will be here mid-January!
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