Story Time

The final pic of the mustache...i'm speechless...

So, as i told you in the last blog i had an interesting flight home. For those of you who don't know i was PRETTY nervous about flying with Emma. I was worried about how she would handle things and if i would be next to baby haters etc. Yeah, i know i'm so optimistic (i'm working on it people). So the flight out was great. Emma did great, the people were great and we made all in one piece. Well the flight home i was a little more comfortable since Emma had done so good on the way out, but i was nervous cause it was a packed flight which meant emma would be on my lap the whole time. Well we get to the airport and i feed her before we board and as i'm waiting in line with a TON of other parents and their young babies and children there's a woman at the gate desk looking posh and none too pleased. I didn't really pay much attention too her cause i was about to board. Well i get back to my seat and am trying to get situated with my bags (mind you i'm on the side of the plane with 2 seats) when i look up and posh girl is coming at me still looking irritated and says, "Um are you sure you're in the right spot?" and i reply with a smile, "yes." Then looking at Emma she says, "Isn't she suppose to have her own seat?" By then i'm getting nervous and so i kind of laugh and explaining how she's sitting on my lap cause i didn't want to pay for another seat. I then asked if she was the number of the seat next to me and she was. What she said next made my stomach drop, "Well i just want you to know i don't do kids, i don't like kids and i don't have kids for a reason, so..." Like what do you say to that?! I half expected her to tell me to find another seat. I was so scared and caught off guard at how blunt she was that i nervously laughed and said, "Oh, well, i'm sorry. She's usually pretty good, i'll try my best to keep her quiet, ha ha ha (nervous forced grin)." Yeah how awkward is that!
All in all it ended up being a good flight and she actually turned out to be a nice girl and she even admitted that Emma was cute and had won her over, but man alive she scared me at first! So yeah that was my interesting experience. Crazy huh?



So this was from a couple of weeks ago when emma officially began crawling.



Since we're moving Emma's been watching me do a lot of packing so i'm not sure if this is her trying to copy me, but its funny watching her chat away with daddy.

Home Sweet Home

So we've been home now for almost a week. Brad got back the 10th and i got back the 11th (funny story about my trip that i'll share soon) and then we stayed with Mom and Dad Newbold till the 16th. It's nice to be home again although we're looking for a new place to live since this one has gotten to be too expensive due to greedy little real estate people...but i'm not here to vent about that;) Anywho, we got home to a massive pile of mail that i was only able to JUST finish getting through yesterday and in that pile of mail there was an anonymous letter from someone wishing me a happy mothers day and a money order check for a substantial amount of money. Now i don't know who sent it, but from the bottom of my heart i want to thank you for your INCREDIBLE kindness.
I am (and have been) truly humbled by the kindness and generosity people have shown us with the birth of Emma. SO many of you have sent things just when i was wondering what i would do because she REALLY was too big for the clothes she had. You have been constant reminders to me that Heavenly Father loves and cares for his children. You have been his hands, and for that i really do thank you. I don't know that you'll ever really know what angels you have been to us.
I'll try and post some updates soon on how things are going and of my interesting flight home. We love you all so much!!!!

So now that emma's more mobile it's a bit more difficult to take her monthly photos by myself. But it sure makes for a funny photo:)

Fun in the sun!

So i can hardly believe its been about 6 weeks since we arrived in PA! It's been so fun and so nice to be here that it's bitter sweet knowing we're leaving in a few days time. Here are some pics from the last week or so of Emma and the good times.

She had just taken a bite of food when she sneezed and then promptly wiped the remnants all over her face. Obviously she thought this was great fun:)


Emma is all about the recycling of paper. I need to start a pile when i get home.


Emma, like most babies, loves phones. This was an old one mom and dad aren't using anymore and has thus become a toy for emma.

Grandma and Grandpa just got this cute little pool for Emma and since it's FINALLY warming up we went out for a dip in it yesterday. She had fun and was so cute! Luckily we can deflate it and bring it to UT with us for some more summer fun!

And i thought she had loaded diapers when i got her up in the morning!

All done:(

Brad's Adventure Part IV

2 June 2008
Well, our final week in Petra is here, and it’s laid out like this…. Tue: final day of excavation, Wed: process artifacts and human bone analysis, Thu: field trip to Jebel Haroun and the Tomb of Aaron, Fri: Church, Sat: final processing and analysis, Sun: pack, Mon: travel to Amman , Tue: fly home.
The whole excavation has gone quite well, and we’ve gotten a lot done. We’ll be finishing up the last cist grave in my tomb tomorrow (which seems to be pretty well looted). My major task of the field school, aside from supervising the tomb excavation, has been training and supervising the students in human bone analysis. Each cist grave was dug by a pair of students who are then responsible for the complete analysis of the artifacts found in their cist, from bone (human and animal) to potsherds to beads. Most of the cists contained quite a bit of scattered and fragmented human bone (some near 1000), and so the learning curve for the students has been quite steep. There were probably only 3 or so out of the 24 who had any familiarity with human osteology, and so for each group I had to orient them on the whole process of dealing with and analyzing human skeletal remains (which got quite tedious and repetitive). But to their credit, almost all of the students have worked through the ordeal and become quite proficient at the whole thing (although I still wouldn’t use their data in any real publication or anything). ; )
In fact, it’s been a great training ground for me, as well. I’ve found it to be true with archaeology and other aspects of life, that the best way to learn something well is not only to do it and practice it, but to teach it to others. I definitely have had to be on my toes with all the questions and problems that I get bombarded with each day for hours on end regarding the bones specifically and the archaeological method in general. And after dealing with a few dozen whiny undergrads for the 3rd year in a row, it’s still what I want to do. I guess that’s a good thing.
Congrats again, Nate, on graduation. Nick, happy b-day, again. Hope everyone, especially Mom, is continuing to heal well and take it easy. I’ll either email or call regarding my flight home. We get in about 10:40pm on Tue the 10th.

Love you all—

BRAD

P.S.
Brad posted the following as a reply to a comment but in case you didn't see it here's the new GPS stuff:

"sorry about the coordinate mix-up. i was using a different system. ancient downtown petra is located at 30 19' 47"N 35 26' 24"E. we're working along the large canyon that runs northwest from that, and the bedouin town where we're living is just to the northwest as well."


Brad + Daisy, BFF

driving Miss Daisy (really her name), she was surprisingly easy to ride and control

Dushara block with Dionysius medallion, combining Nabataean and Greek religion

headless lion fountain, water would've run down the channel and out it's mouth

horned incense altar (think Solomon's temple)

resting at a shrine with a dam for a giant cistern

Scott, Holly, & assistant recording a niche

students waiting around before hike

The Soldier's Tomb, our monumental tomb is modeled after it