J&C Inc

It's interesting to see with whom President Monson associates with.

In anticipation of the big game this week, BYU vs TCU, Catherine and I wanted to root on our "Cougs"...... Actually, GO TCU!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some pictures from the past two months. We are loving Michigan and all of the friends we have met... Thomas is finally sitting up, Elizabeth continues to be a sweetheart. We're actually a little concerned about her exceeding ability to make friends with all of the little boys in the neighborhood and ward. When we ask her in the morning "What did you dream of?", she almost always says, "Gage", her friend down the street.

So I am just a little behind on the blogging, and I am going to try and catch up! The past few months have been NUTS! Having a baby, graduating, and moving. We are finally settled into our home and are loving the time to just sit and not pack, unpack, and wake up in the middle of the night. Here are some pics from the past couple of months.

Here is the proof Jackson did graduate!

We were lucky to have Jackson's mother and grandmother come out for graduation and the baby blessing.



This was my view on our way to Michigan. Biting my nails and praying that we would make it!

We arrived safe and could not be more happy to have a place for Thomas to sleep and Elizabeth in a Twin bed! We absolutely love the neighborhood and are still in a dream world having so much space.



Here are a few pics of the house. Thanks to my mother and sister coming out to help me organize and decorate!













A few pics of Elizabeth's freinds and the 4th of July parade:





That is it for now!

Catherine gave Thomas his first hair cut. I guess she didn't like his reverse mullet- party in the front, business in the back

The first week of June, we traveled to Newport, Ca. We had a blast.

We celebrated Elizabeths Birthday with her cousins while we were in Utah. As you can see from the pictures she was in heaven!

Since I am so good at keeping up to date on our blog and I did actually did get some sleep, I posted a few pics that were taken before the baby came.
In late January we went with some friends to the Wisconsin Dells which was a blast. Elizabeth was not too fond of the slides but loved sitting on her knees in the water. Jackson had fun driving the cars and playing "dance dance" with Elizabeth. Catherine was a little too big to display any pictures.
I will post some more recent pics next.
-Catherine

Here are the pictures of bringing little Thomas home on March 3. He's been keeping us busy since!

The last week has been turbulent, wonderful, and full of snot. Catherine delivered Thomas Scalley Lever via cesarean on Friday, February 27th. Thomas weighed in at 7lbs 10 ounces and was already peeing as the doctors pulled him out. Thomas and mother are healthy and recovering. We feel very blessed!

So far, Elizabeth has been doing well with little brother. She hasn't told us to take him back to the hospital or tried to put him in the trash yet... don't worry we're keeping our eyes open for the little guy.

It happened that the day that we delivered, I got sick.... sick as a dog. After delivering, I was resting with Catherine and I told her I couldn't believe that my entire body was aching. I thought that it was a transcendent moment in which my body was in somehow so linked to my wife's that I was worn out- ya, right. The cough and sore throat started shortly after that and I finally realized that I caught a viral bug from a classmate. Catherine spent the next four days in the hospital and due to my cough, I had to stay away. It was hard.

Luckily, Catherine's mother has been taking care of all three of us, nursing Catherine and I back to health and keeping the little ones alive. Finally after over a week, I'm feeling back to baseline and Catherine is feeling much improved.

Thank you for all of your well wishes. We wish you could be here to see Thomas yourself!

Catherine and I realized that it might be the only weekend that we could head to Royal Oaks, Michigan to check out neighborhoods for our move this spring. In that spirit, I loaded up my 35 week pregnant wife and 21 month daughter into the Corrolla and started off on a 375 mile drive around Lake Michigan.

After 200 miles, we hit some bad weather. The snow wasn't coming down hard, but the roads were slick!! We saw semi's jack knifed and trucks flipped over. I looked at my beautifully pregnant wife and daughter and pulled off at the first hotel.

The ECONO Lodge in Paw Paw, Michigan is a keeper. Just one tip- they don't have pack-n-plays. Therefore Elizabeth slept with Mom and Dad in the king sized bed. She was excited and let us know it.... every 20 seconds...... that she was getting to sleep with "Momma" and "Dadda"....... throughout the entire night (it seemed!). Somehow, we awoke the next morning and made it safely to Royal Oaks the next morning.

One of the best parts of the trip was spending time with Carmen and Alan Hillstead. It was great hanging out with them and their two boys, Dallin and Peyton. Thank you for letting us stay with you! Carmen makes some pretty mean tacos!

We spent two days driving around the area, checking out neighborhoods, meeting with realestate and mortgage agents, and becoming aquainted with our soon to be new home. Catherine's mother called and let us know that she just read an article naming Detroit as the worst / least desirable areas to live in the nation! Although southeast Michigan is being ravaged economically, we found the area about Royal Oaks quaint and lovely. Catherine and I are looking forward to our next phase of life there.

Catherine, Elizabeth, and I will be moving to Royal Oaks, Michigan this June. I matched into an ophthalmology residency program at William Beaumont! We will be living there for at least the next four years. With a little boy coming near the end of February and looking to start residency, we are excited to start a new phase of life.

Good News too! Detroit is warmer than Milwaukee! By 4 degrees!

Milwaukee, WI
Mean 18° 24° 34° 44° 55° 65° 71° 68° 62° 50° 38° 24°

Detroit, MI
Mean 25° 27° 37° 48° 60° 68° 74° 72° 65° 54° 42° 30°