Wellsville

This is the letter Wellz had to write to the University in France. It was really late when he wrote it so he thinks it's cheesy but I think it's sweet.

To Whom It May Concern,

In summer of 2003, upon arrival back in the United States following nearly a three-month visit with my wife throughout most European countries, I could not deny the realization of what the experience of immersing myself in the culture, history, and perspective of such backgrounds had given me. Our time spent in Europe that summer, which included a week’s stay in Amboise at the heart of the Loire Valley, had forced us to depend upon our rawest abilities to communicate, then ultimately to function and thrive in our given environments. Sometimes simply breathing the air of a particular region could be regarded as a purely educational moment.

And so it is without apprehension of any kind to consider the prospect of furthering my academic career amidst the surroundings of what Poitiers provides. It is thrilling to have the opportunity of pairing two of my greatest passions—the pursuit of knowledge in the academic realm with the true adventure of travel. Of course, my acceptance into the international exchange program at ESCEM would include the accompaniment of my wife, who couldn’t be more supportive, and my two year old son, who is already shaping up to be a natural world traveler. I appreciate your consideration into this exchange program to which I will be wholly committed.

Labels: France

Emma came home from the hospital today at about 10 am. She ate and looked at her new surroundings before falling fast asleep, much to the boy's dismay. She has been asleep for several hours and they can't wait for her to wake up!

Emma is doing very well at the hospital. She is very demanding and rules the roost when she is hungry. The nurses say that I am very lucky to be nursing because she absolutely will not wait to be fed. I spent several hours at the hospital with her today and she was happily awake and eating almost the whole time. It is nice to be there alone with her to enjoy a little bit of time together. This morning she had a cute purple bow in her hair. Did you know that they stick the bows on with Elmer's glue?

She has very pretty coloring and her eyes are so blue that they are almost purple. We are excited to show her off after this hospital ordeal is over. I have had friends and family want to come to the hospital to visit, but that is very discouraged and really we have so little time together when she can eat that it is much better for just Riley and I to be there with her. We will probably be blessing her on Mother's day, but maybe the first week of June. We will keep you posted. She has tolerated this whole experience very well and we have even survived and are not much worse for wear. We have spent a fortune on gas driving back and forth, but there is really not much getting around that. I spend about 2 hours a day in the car driving back and forth from the hospital. I can't wait to just stay home with her. Well, considering that probably no one will read this, that is enough update for today.

Well, we hope that Emma won't be this much trouble her whole life. Saturday night they had a very difficult time finding a vein for her IV, so much so that they decided to do a PICC line. It is a catheter that runs through a vein in her arm to her heart. This will prevent them from having to poke her over and over to find veins to run the antibiotics through. She is doing well with this new thing in her arm. It doesn't hurt her at all and will be much better for her in the long run.

In all of our conversations with doctors and nurses they have all said how very unusual it is to have a baby with this bacteria who is not symptomatic of having it at all. We know she has it because the culture they did of her blood grew the bacteria, we are very grateful that she has not become ill from it. She has had blessings that promise her health and strength and we are confident that these blessings are the reason she is not sick.

She will be in the hospital until the 17th of April. We are so excited to get her home!

Hey, everyone, Emma is finally here. Emma was born last night at appoximately 9:20 p.m. at LDS Hospital here in Salt Lake City. Here are the stats:

Weight: 7lbs 2ozs
Height: 20 inches
Hair Color: Red
Not sure about the eye color yet, she hasn't opened her eyes that much.

Lisa was a champ and delivered naturally, with the aid of an epidural. She will tell you it is the only way to go. Lisa and Emma are doing great. Emma appears to be healthy and strong and is has beautiful red hair. Lisa and I think she looks a lot like Adison when he was a baby. The kids got to see her this morning before going to school. They sure love her. I sure love Lisa, she is an amazing mom and wife. We are so excited to have Emma in our family.

Here are some photos.

We'll be throwing a Birthday BBQ for Asa on Saturday the 7th. Come around 5 or so. We'll have the water slide up so bring your suits.

We posted about our trip to Hawaii here

Did you read the news today? Wellz won the Lottery. OH, Baby!!!