How Fast is Your Connection?

I loved the speed of the internet at our old apartment in University Village. I even bragged about the speed of it a while back. Lucky for us, now that we have to pay for an expensive internet connection we get more than double the speed. At least Comcast no longer practices traffic shaping. Can anyone beat it?

(The fastest I've seen is from a buddy that works at L3. 30,000+ kb/s download speeds!)

Guitar Hero III

Yeah, so I'm totally a Guitar Hero. Last night I was just rockin' out and ended up beatin' the game. I was a bit peeved that I didn't get a certificate or 'nothin, but I did get to jam to this sweet song during the credits. I've never ever beaten a game in my whole entire life. If I had known it would feel so rad I would have been beating games left and right.

Oh, did I mention it was on easy? I'm still cool though, right?

My Ada

Before we moved out of our apartment, we had a friend take pictures of Ada. She is from Russia, lived in our ward and I home taught her and her husband. As you'll see from the following selection of pictures, she does an amazing job. We posted all of the pictures on our space - these are just a few of my favorites. We're still trying to decide which of these to get printed. Thanks Anna!

What Economic Downturn?

We've made a bunch of purchases the last few weeks. Here are the big ones in order from cheapest to most expensive (ranging in price from $15 to $1800):

1. Bedside table. Ikea.
2. Barstools - Thank you Ikea.
3. A dresser for Ada. Once again an Ikea special.
4. Bookshelves/cubbyholes for the computer. Ikea.
5. Changing table for Kate. Ikea.
6. Dyson vacuum from Woot! (we already really, really like this vacuum). It's light enough that Alison can even vacuum as she recovers. Good thing too. 'Cause I'm always busy blogging.
7. Big girl bed for Ada. How could we live without Ikea? Now onto the big-ticket items.
8. New dining room table. This was delivered by RC Willey's just this morning.
9. 4 recliner sectional. RC Willey. Now we just need a big flat panel TV.
10. New Bosch high-efficiency washer and dryer. RC Willey. That reminds me, I need to send in my Rocky Mountain Power and Questar rebates...
11. The next two pictures are of our new bedroom set. RC Willey.

12. While this picture shows our bed, it should be a picture of the mattress and box springs. I never imagined that we would be sucked into paying almost $2000 for a mattress. But, Alison and I both love our new bed and have been sleeping great. So good that we don't even hear Kate crying.

Pictures of Kate!!!

Just like promised, here are a few pictures of the adorable little baby Kate. To be honest, all newborn babies look more or less the same to me - but this one is definitely a keeper. Thanks everybody for your kind comments. Nothing like a new baby to bring out the lurkers! :)

This is one of the first pictures after her birth.
She's been sleeping pretty soundly most of the day. This better change before we head home from the hospital...
The Squire Family:
Daddy's three girls:
Ada has really been having fun with baby Kate. She can't wait to take her home and has been so sweet to her. We were a little afraid of how she would react but she has just been wonderful. She's going to be a fantastic older sister.
A few more sleeping pics:

Baby Kate

She's here! I can't upload any pictures yet, but I will asap. Mother and baby are doing well and relaxing in the room. Here's the vitals:

Born: 7:37 AM - July 10, 2008
Weight: 6 lbs 13.5 oz.
Length: 20.5 inches

From what people are saying she looks a lot like Ada. I can't honestly say because all babies look about the same to me (except Kate's little nose is squashed flat). She hasn't cried one bit, but her color is good and she's been eating like a queen. Now it's my turn to go get some breakfast.

Daytripper

Yesterday I took a quick trip to Grand Junction, Colorado for work. There is a classroom building at Mesa State College that my company did the electrical, audiovisual, security, fire alarm and lighting design for. I went down to "punchlist" the building, which is basically just checking up on the work the contractors have done and ensuring that they are following the approved plans.

The most exciting thing about the trip was that we flew down in a little top-wing, four-seater Cessna. The architect had hired a plane and pilot out of Logan and they stopped at the Salt Lake Airport #2 to pick me up. It was sure nice to not have to deal with any security, lines or crowds but to just walk up to the plane on the tarmac and jump in. Here's a picture of our little plane:

The plane ride to Grand Junction wasn't too bad. It took us about an hour and a half to get there. It was my first time in a little plane and I was a little nervous for the ride. Aside from when we crossed over the Wasatch mountains and the Bookcliffs, the ride was pretty smooth.

Going home was another story. We were mainly flying into the wind, but there were also some storms rolling in over Northeastern Utah (the Uinta and Vernal areas) which caused a bit of a crosswind. This caused the plane to bounce and swing quite a bit. It felt as though you were fishtailing on a roller coaster. I've never really been prone to motion sickness but I had to concentrate on my breathing. You can't just "watch the road" because there is no road and the plane is bouncing up and down. The other problem was that it was very hot. There is no AC in those little planes and the sun is just beating down on you. I was never all that close to puking but I was sure glad when about 10 minutes outside of Provo the ride became as smooth as could be. Even though we were bouncing around during the flight it was never really scary. I can't really explain why, though.

About 5 minutes after takeoff on the way home the pilot let me fly the plane for about a half hour. I brought us up to 10,500 feet (our cruising altitude) and tried to keep the plane steady. As it turned out even the autopilot wouldn't be able to do so (see previous paragraph). It was a cool experience. I spent more time watching all of the dials and gadgets than I did the sky ahead of me. I loved being able to see everything on the ground so clearly. Flying in a small plane also felt so much more like floating in the air. Commercial airliners are so solid that it's not much different than being on the ground - but there was a big difference in the Cessna.

In other news, Alison is due Friday. We were a little nervous about me leaving town so close to the due date but, we both felt that it wouldn't be a problem. She had her membranes stripped earlier today. Keep your eyes on the twitter feed above for the latest and greatest!

America

'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,--
But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.
So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

--Henry Van Dyke

(Taken from President Hinckley's book Way To Be).