Dialann | Issue 1, January 2011

ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2011

Welcome, Fiona!

ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2011

table of contents 4

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OPENING THOUGHTS

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Welcome to our family magazine

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July–December 2010

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Our first annual holiday letter

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Fiona’s baby blessing

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First impressions

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Fiona’s arrival: A photo essay

By Dustin | In undertaking this project, we are trying to follow latter-day prophets.

MILESTONES

In 2010, a new tradition: a yearly letter to family and friends to wish them happy holidays and update them on our lives.

A transcript of Fiona’s naming and blessing.

By Fiona | Fiona puts in her two cents.

Fiona’s birth and homecoming, from the hospital to Fiona’s 0th birthday party.

TRAVELOG

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12 Fiona’s first journeys by rail

By Susan | Charleston and Fredericksburg.

OUR TIMES

16 Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33

By Donald G. McNeil Jr. | the new york times The big news of the past six months: the rescue of 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine for 69 days.

COLOPHON Our family Susan Jane Hibdon Joyce, Dustin Tyler Joyce Fiona Claire Joyce Dialann is published quarterly, in the months of January, April, July, and October.

The nameplate on the front cover includes a portion of a photo of the sculpture at Platz der Synagoge in Göttingen, Germany. The photo was taken by Wikimedia Commons user Daniel Schwen on 2 March 2007.

The original can be found at http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Goe_ Platz_der_Synagoge_Detail_2_noCA. jpg. It is used herein under the the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.5) license, http://www.creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en.

The photo on the front cover was taken 3 December 2010; the photo on the back cover was taken 19 September 2010.

Sans serif text is set in Hypatia Sans Pro. Serif text is set in Adobe Text Pro. The motif color used in this issue is C=100, M=50, Y=0, K=0 This issue was designed on a HewlettPackard G62-340US laptop, with 3 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive, and an AMD Athlon II P340 dual-core processor with a speed of 2.2 GHz. The software used includes InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator in Adobe Creative Suite 5, as well as Microsoft Word 2010. The operating system was Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

OPINION

18 The city is the place for us 18

By Dustin | The city’s beauty is why we live and raise our children here.

WE BELIEVE IN CHRIST

19 Hearing with our ears—and our hearts

By Dustin | It seemed a silly question. But the Spirit had something profound to teach.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

20 The new lives it feels we’ve always had

By Susan | Fiona’s arrival has changed our lives, yet we can’t remember life without her.

Did you know? Fiona’s baby blessing was given during a sacrament meeting in the meetinghouse at 5460 Western Avenue,

Chevy Chase, Maryland. This is the same building where Susan and Dustin’s wedding reception was held on 1 March 2008. SEE PAGE 6

OPENING THOUGHTS

By DUSTIN

“Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.”

PRESIDENT SPENCER W. KIMBALL

J A N U A RY 2 0 1 1

Welcome to our family magazine

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elcome to the first issue of Dialann, our family magazine. We hope that this is the beginning of not just a new chore or habit for our family, but the start of a tradition and a fun activity that we can all work on together.

Why a family magazine?

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints have long counseled members to write and maintain a regular journal. A search for the word journal on the Church’s official Web site, lds.org, yields numerous articles on this topic that have been printed in the Church’s magazines over the past four decades. One of these, “The Angels May Quote from It” by President Spencer W. Kimball, was first published in The New Era in October 1975 and then reprinted in that magazine in February 2003. In this article, President Kimball writes: Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events.

As much as Susan and I hate to admit it, we’ve not been the best at keeping a journal in our marriage. In short, we’ve not kept one at all.

Sure, we’ve recorded important events in our lives—our wedding, trips we’ve taken, and so on. But we’ve never had a systematic, organized way to do it, which means that we’ve never established a regular habit of it. And now, with the addition of Fiona to our family, the need to make a record our lives, including the exciting and exceptional as well as the quotidian and mundane, is more urgent than ever.

So in this new year we have resolved to begin a family journal. We decided that it should take the form of a family magazine for a number of reasons. We felt that a journal in this format would be more fun than blank pages waiting to be filled with lines of text—and if it’s more fun,

we’re more likely to do it and make a habit of it.

We plan on publishing this magazine through Blurb, which means it will be of a high quality, and we will be able to easily get reprints of it whenever we choose, in case of loss or other factors. A family magazine will more easily allow us to include photos and creative use of text and layouts—more engaging and “multimedia”, if you will. And that means that not only will it be more interesting now but also in years to come, and something we will be more likely to look at and read decades from now.

We hope to publish Dialann on a quarterly basis, in January, April, July, and October.

Each issue will be approximately 20 pages (the minimum number of pages required by Blurb to produce a publication in this format) and will highlight our lives in text and photos over the previous three months. (This issue, being our first and fairly closely following Fiona’s birth, will actually cover the past six months since she was born.)

Why the name?

In situations such as these, choosing a name tends to be the most simple and yet most difficult decision to be made. After all, how do you choose a title that accurately reflects not only what you’re trying to accomplish but also your motives and hopes as you complete your task? In the end, this is our journal, and the best word to summarize this effort is just that—journal.

But that’s a boring title. So we repeated what we did the last time we had to decide on an important name: Fiona. We looked to our Irish heritage. Dialann is Irish for journal.

We are very excited about this new endeavor. It intimidates us some; it’s a lot to take on in our lives that are already so busy with other activities.

But we are putting our trust in the counsel of the Lord’s prophets and hoping that we truly will be blessed as we undertake this effort. d

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holidays events in our lives

July 4 15 17 21–22

travel events in the Church

MILESTONES

birthdays world events

Independence Day Fiona is born Fiona comes home from the hospital Dustin to Chicago (business)

August 18–22

Dustin to Utah for Daniel and Tiffany’s endowment and sealing 31–1 Sep Dustin to Twin Cities (business): Financial Planning Day September 14 District of Columbia primary election day: Vincent Gray defeats incumbent Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary 22–24 Family to Charleston, West Virginia Fiona’s first trip via Amtrak 29 Susan returns to work Dustin begins working from home to look after Fiona October 2–3 8–9 15–16 24 30 31

180th Semiannual General Conference Dustin to Denver (business): Financial Planning Day Dustin to Twin Cities (business): Financial Planning Day Susan is called as a Primary teacher Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on the National Mall Halloween: Fiona dresses up as a bunny

November 2 Election Day: Republicans take control of the United States House of Representatives; Vincent Gray elected mayor of the District of Columbia 5 Susan’s birthday 5–6 Family to Fredericksburg, Virginia 12–13 Dustin to Indianapolis (business): Financial Planning Day 25 Thanksgiving December 15 With a final payment of $4,363.10, Susan and Dustin pay off the last of their student loans and become 100% debtfree 16–19 Susan to San Antonio to add teacher certifications in English as a Second Language (ESL) and German 21 Dustin to Atlanta (business) to meet with the Foundation for Financial Planning 25 Christmas 27 Dustin resigns from his job 31 New Year’s Eve

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Our first annual family holiday letter Washington, D.C. December 2010 Dear family and friends,

PHOTO TAKEN 3 DECEMBER 2010; COURTESY OF YÁNDARY ZAVALA

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e hope that this is the beginning of what will become an annual tradition. We are nearing the end of a very eventful year for our family. Not only did Target begin selling a store brand of our favorite cereal—Blueberry Crunch®—Dustin also bought a purple tie.

Oh, and our family grew by 50% with the addition of Fiona Claire Joyce.

Fiona was born on Thursday, 15 July, in Washington, D.C., which means that she was born without a voting representative in Congress.

We are amazed by how quickly she has grown and learned new things. At her last doctor’s appointment, she weighed 13 pounds, 14 ounces and was 23¾ inches long. She loves her pacifier, reading books, modern art (she’s not an art connoisseur so much as she’s interested in bold shapes and contrasting colors), and her best friend, Dinky. Dinky is a squirrel puppet. We named him after the Dinky Train in Princeton, New Jersey. Fiona had her first solid food on Thanksgiving Day, and she just mastered the Greek alphabet.

Okay, maybe not quite yet. But she’s working on it.

One of Fiona’s favorite pastimes is riding around her hometown on the bus. She gets to sit in our lap and look out the window at all the fascinating people and buildings passing by. She also enjoys riding the subway, though the inside of a tunnel is not quite as interesting as a city street. Indeed, she enjoys this so much that she is a 100% car-free baby. That’s right: in her five months of life, she has never been in a car. Her transit adventures began two days after she was born, when she rode the bus and subway home from the hospital. So, not only is she protecting the environment and promoting good urbanism, she’s also building major street cred.  This photo of our family accompanied this letter when we posted it on Facebook.

In short, Fiona is an amazing addition to our family. She is beautiful, with a glowing personality, and she loves socializing and exploring the world around her. We are so fortunate to have her.

The rest of our lives are much as they have been for the past few years. Susan continues to teach government at Bladensburg High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland, just east of Washington, D.C. Dustin is still doing political consulting with a downtown D.C. firm, though he now works from home fulltime to look after Fiona. We are still living in our beautiful apartment on Meridian Hill, a mile and a half north of the White House with a sweeping view of the nation’s capital from the Washington Monument to Washington National Cathedral.

(If you ever find yourself needing or wanting to come to D.C., please accept this as an open invitation to stay at our place anytime.) In spring we went to Philadelphia and the surrounding area for a week, and Fiona took her first train trip and first overnight trip to Charleston, West Virginia, in September. While we try to take one or two big trips each year, and having a baby has limited us a little bit this year, we are already working on some big plans for the coming year.

We hope this letter finds you well. We have certainly appreciated the support you have provided as we embark on the adventure of raising a baby. Please let us know if there is anything we can ever do for you.

We wish you joy and happiness through the holidays and all the best in the new year.

In 2010 we started a new tradition: a yearly letter at Christmastime to family and friends to wish them happy holidays and update them on our lives.

Always, Susan, Dustin, and Fiona

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Fiona’s baby blessing Fiona Claire Joyce received her baby blessing from her father, Dustin Tyler Joyce, during the sacrament meeting of the Washington DC 3rd Ward on Sunday, 19 September 2010.

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notes 1. Luke 2:52

the Book of Mormon and the other scriptures that we hold to be so dear. We bless you that you will, in due time, be able to receive all of the necessary ordinances to be able to return to live with your Father in Heaven, including baptism, confirmation, and the ordinances of the temple.

Above all, we bless you with a knowledge of the reality of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of his perfect example to us, that as things go well in your life you will always remember where your blessings come from, and that you will always have a desire to walk in our Savior’s footsteps; and that at times when things are not so good, or that you feel that you have made a mistake, that you will always retain the knowledge that no sin or mistake or human emotion is beyond the reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and that you will turn to him in all your hours of need.

Last of all, we bless your parents, your grandparents, your other family members, and the teachers, both in school and in church, and all the others who will work with you throughout your life, especially in your young years, to raise you and to teach you. We bless them that they will always remember that this responsibility is a stewardship given to them by our Father in Heaven, and that, above all else, you are his daughter.

We love you very much, Fiona, and we bless you with these things and everything else that you will need in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. d

PHOTO TAKEN 19 SEPTEMBER 2010

 Fiona with those who participated in her blessing (left to right): ■■ Our bishop.

■■ Dustin’s stepfather.

■■ Dustin.

■■ One of Dustin’s mission companions.

■■ One of Dustin’s friends.

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ur Father in Heaven, by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, we take this child into our arms to give her a name and a blessing. The name we give her is Fiona Claire Joyce. Fiona, you’ve been born into a very loving home, and we bless you that as you mature and grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually that you will follow the pattern set by our Savior, Jesus Christ, as he grew “in wisdom and [in] stature, and in favour with God and man.”1

We bless you physically, that you will grow normally, without any major illnesses or medical conditions. And we bless you that at those times that you are sick that you will be able to recover quickly and get back to having a fun and enjoyable time with your family and friends. We bless you that you will take joy in being physically active and in running and playing, and that you will have an understanding and a desire to obey the Word of Wisdom and the other counsel that we’ve received about how we should treat our bodies in the scriptures and from latter-day prophets and Apostles. And we bless you that you may know that your body is a temple, and that you will treat it as such and that you will always have the expectation for other people to treat it that way.

We bless you mentally and emotionally, that you will be curious about the world around you, that you will do well in school, and that you will learn everything you need to know to achieve the dreams and hopes and goals that you will have in your life. We bless you with a compassion for other people around you and that you will have the ability to know the things that you can do serve our Father in Heaven by serving others. We bless you, too, that you will take joy in the beauty of the world around you and that you will always be cognizant of the impact of the things you do and your lifestyle on the world around you and on the people around you.

Above all, we bless you spiritually, that you will grow with faith, with knowledge of the existence of your Father in Heaven and of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in your life. We bless you that you will gain a testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of the prophet and the Apostles who lead it, and of

First impressions

HEADSHOT, WHICH IS FIONA’S FIRST PASSPORT PHOTO, TAKEN 3 JANUARY 2011; PHOTO OF FIONA AND DINKY TAKEN 22 OCTOBER 2010

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’m told that this column should be about my thoughts on my first six months of life. I’m not really sure what a month is, or what “six” means, but I’ll give it a shot.

My first memory is of being warm and comfortable, and hearing Mama and Daddy telling me about how they planned to “bust me out of there.” I wasn’t sure that sounded all that great—I mean, it was a little cramped in there, but it wasn’t so bad. I just went to sleep and the next thing I knew, my warm, cozy space was gone and I was surrounded by lights, voices, cold air, and rough towels. Fortunately, I went right back to sleep in about five minutes.

Those first few days were a blur. I still slept a lot, but each nap was interrupted by some unpleasant experience. Sometimes it was a diaper change; other times I had to learn how to eat; and other times it was some sharp thing being stuck in my heel. I began to feel I had been born to baby torturers. After we left the hospital and came home, there was time for me to take it all in. We had some good times making faces at each other and playing games, which I hadn’t done before. Eventually, I realized that no matter how long or how loudly I protested the diaper changes, they weren’t going to stop.

I’ve made some discoveries and learned some things about myself. I found out, for example, that I have hands and that I can control where they go. I’ve gotten in touch with my inner self and identified some deep-seated fears, like the vacuum and the blender.

There have been times I felt I was near starvation, and have been relieved to see that the bottle was ready just moments before I probably would have fainted in weakness. There was a moment of clarity when I realized that Mama and Daddy don’t cease to exist when they walk out of the room. I’ve also learned about a few adrenaline surges, like being tossed up in the air or having a toy almost dropped on my face, and had a few moments of abiding joy, like being tickled and bounced on Mama and Daddy’s bed, or the feeling of curling up in my fleece and falling asleep on my side after a long day. And, like any other baby, I have some dreams: typing on the keyboard while Mama and Daddy are working, crumpling up an entire newspaper, and putting that—whatever it is—in my mouth.

Okay, well, it’s time for me to go play with Dinky. And find out where my bottle is. It’s tough being in charge sometimes, but somebody’s got to do it. d

By FIONA

 Fiona and her pet squirrel, Dinky.

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Fiona’s arrival A PHOTO ESSAY 14 July 2010 Making ourselves at home at the hospital

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1 7.44 Glasgow, our IKEA dragon, keeps us company.

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2 7.46 Susan’s favorite food at the hospital is ice chips, mostly because it’s the only thing she can eat. She is hooked up to all sorts of equipment that monitors her and Fiona’s vital signs.

3 17.22 Dustin gets all suited up for Susan’s epidural.

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4 17.25 Anesthesiologist: “Do you have any questions about the epidural?”

Susan: “How fast can you get it done?”

5 17.25 The necessities: chocolate Teddy Grahams, a banana, and a cell phone.

6 18.04 Apparently, the most convenient place for doctors to measure Susan’s pulse is in her toe—probably because it’s the only place on Susan’s body that isn’t already attached to a piece of equipment.

7 18.05 The biggest side effect of hospitalization: extreme boredom.

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5 Stork Bites The crunch that delivers

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15 July 2010 Fiona enters the world—and is none too happy about it

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1 1.42 Two minutes after she was born, a first-ever photo of Fiona is captured.

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2 1.48 Fiona is weighed and her length measured for the first time. The scale indicates that she is 7 pounds, 15.4 ounces; she was 19.5 inches long.

3 1.53 Susan holds Fiona for the second time. (The first time wasn’t captured on film.)

4 2.36 Dustin holds Fiona for the first time.

5 2.57 You’ll notice that in all these photos, Fiona is either screaming or sleeping. In this photo, Fiona’s first bath warrants the former reaction.

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6 3.01 With a cap on her head and a diaper on her bottom, Fiona is ready to take on the world.

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15 July 2010 Fiona achieves nirvana ‌ and meets her grandparents

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1 2.59 Just 1 hour, 19 minutes old, and Fiona has achieved inner peace.

2 3.03 The nurses were professional swaddlers; they always wrapped Fiona up into a perfect little portable baby log.

3 18.29 Fiona meets Grammy and Papa for the first time.

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4 19.23 Fiona meets Mimi for the first time.

16 July 2010 Fiona and Susan enjoy the good life at the hospital

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5 13.46 Sleeping like a little baby log.

6 13.55 Susan and Fiona soak up some rays through a hospital window.

7 14.07 Fiona takes a peek at Glasgow the Dragon—and gets a first-ever photo taken with her eyes open.

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17 July 2010 Fiona comes home from the hospital 1 14.27 Suited up in her robot onesie, Fiona is ready to go home.

2 14.44 Fiona sees the outside world for the first time.

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3 14.48 Sibley Memorial Hospital 5255 Loughboro Road NW Washington, D.C. 4 15.00 Secure in her car seat, Fiona is ready for her bus and subway ride home.

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5 15.04 Fiona and Susan take Ride On route 29 from Sibley Memorial Hospital through Montgomery County, Maryland, to the Friendship Heights station on Metro’s Red Line.

6 15.28 Fiona sleeps as a subway train comes roaring into the station.

18 July 2010 Fiona’s 0th birthday 6

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7 16.24 Susan and Dustin celebrate Fiona’s homecoming. Also present for the celebration are Grammy and Papa, Aunt Karen, Uncle Bob, and cousins Michael and Charlotte.

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TRAVELOG

By SUSAN

Fiona’s first journeys by rail

Charleston, West Virginia 22–24 SEPTEMBER 2010

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Charleston

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Distance from Washington, D.C. 394 rail miles Our itinerary wednesday, 22 september Amtrak train 51, Cardinal depart Washington 11.10 arrive Charleston 20.10 thursday, 23 september Explore Charleston West Virginia State Capitol friday, 24 september Amtrak train 50, Cardinal depart Charleston 8.16 arrive Washington 17.55 Where we stayed A Best Western Charleston Plaza 1010 Washington Street East Charleston

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he journey began at 11.10 on a Wednesday morning, when we boarded the westbound 1 Cardinal. Because it’s an overnight train, the seats have extra legroom, even though we were traveling in coach. This came in handy when Fiona was ready for her nap, since there was plenty of room for her car seat at our feet. But she wasn’t that interested in a nap for a while. After all, it was her first train trip, and she had to explore her new surroundings.

The seats were interesting, as were all the other people passing by in the aisle—but nothing was as interesting as 2 looking out the window at the trees, rocks, cars, and buildings that we passed. Fiona lived up to the slogan on her new shirt, which said “Amtrak baby.” She was so enthralled by the train (and so naturally eventempered) that passengers walked by and said, with surprise, “Oh, a baby! … There’s a baby in this car?”

We arrived a bit late in Charleston. After some confusion about how to get from the train station to the bridge, we crossed the Kanawha River into the city. Things seemed a bit dead downtown, and when we arrived at our hotel, we asked if any restaurants in the area might be open after 21.00. No luck. So, instead, in a display of 3 American-style hedonism, we ordered a Hawai‘ian pizza, got a Dr. Pepper from the vending machine in the hall, and sat on the bed eating our dinner and watching TV. Although Fiona didn’t get to partake of the pizza and soda, she was satisfied nonetheless, because it was the first time she had ever watched TV. She would

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PHOTOS 2 AND 3 TAKEN 22 SEPTEMBER 2010; PHOTOS 4–9 TAKEN 23 SEPTEMBER 2010; PHOTOS 1 AND 10–12 TAKEN 24 SEPTEMBER 2010; MAPS ON PAGES 12 AND 14 BY BING MAPS, http://maps.bing.com

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not take her eyes off it. Good thing we don’t one.

On Thursday, we walked to the 4 state capitol. Fiona fell asleep on the way there, but she woke up when it was time to 5 climb the steps. As we carried her into the building, she was 6 staring up at the ceiling, and what a ceiling—the rotunda was beautifully decorated. We visited both 7 the House and the Senate chambers and the governor’s office, where Fiona stood at the 8 podium where the governor gives press conferences.

From the capitol, we took a rubber-wheeled trolley to the farmers’ market, where we saw hundreds of pumpkins, heirloom tomatoes, and dahlias, and explored an amazing store called The Purple Onion. They had all sorts of bulk food items, including dried beans in varieties we had never seen and chocolate-covered everything.

Our main purchase: a gallon Ziploc bag full of Lucky Charms marshmallows. Then came lunch in downtown Charleston and a visit to Ellen’s Homemade Ice Cream and Taylor Books.

One of our final activities of the day was a visit to the Charleston Town Center.

Unremarkable in most ways, the mall does have both air conditioning and a pretty cool toy store where Fiona and Dustin crawled into a 9 playhouse. Later, as Fiona sat in her stroller, Dustin found a squirrel puppet and popped it in front of her, dancing to an Elvis song. Fiona brightened up and gave the squirrel a huge smile.

We didn’t buy the squirrel then, but later went to a toy store at home and adopted Dinky, the Charleston squirrel’s brother.

For dinner, we went to the Vandalia Grille, which had some delicious fries and nice décor. Fiona slept on a bench briefly while we ate. Then, it was back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep before our trip home.

The next morning, Fiona woke up at about 5.00, as she normally did, after about six hours of sleep. I was tired, so rather than getting up to feed her immediately, I rocked her to see if I could get a few more minutes out of her. Two hours later, she woke up again, and from then on, Fiona was an eight-hour baby. We got to the train station with plenty of time for some early-morning 11 pictures with the 10 South Side Bridge in the background. Fiona demonstrated her understanding of safety procedures by 11 standing behind the red line on the platform before the train arrived.

On the train ride home, we ate lunch in the 12 dining car, which was luxurious as usual.

We discussed how impressed we were with Charleston, which was not at all how we pictured it, given most Americans’ typical impression of West Virginia. It was a relaxing and interesting few days with our new baby.

Destinations B West Virginia State Capitol C Capitol Market 800 Smith Street D Ellen’s Homemade Ice Cream 225 Capitol Street E Taylor Books 226 Capitol Street F Charleston Town Center G Vandalia Grille 212 Hale Street Train station 350 MacCorkle Avenue SE

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Fredericksburg, Virginia

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5–6 NOVEMBER 2010

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Fredericksburg 5–6 NOVEMBER

Distance from Washington, D.C. 52 miles Our itinerary friday, 5 november Virginia Railway Express (VRE) train 313 depart Washington 18.40 arrive Fredericksburg 20.08 saturday, 6 november Amtrak train 66, Northeast Regional depart Fredericksburg 19.33 arrive Washington 20.58 Where we stayed A Inn at the Olde Silk Mill 1707 Princess Anne Street Fredericksburg Destinations B The Otter House 1005 Princess Anne Street C Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop 1020 Caroline Street D Eileen’s Bakery & Café 1115 Caroline Street E Riverby Books 805 Caroline Street

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PHOTO 1 TAKEN 5 NOVEMBER 2010; PHOTOS 2– 12 TAKEN 6 NOVEMBER 2010

Train station 200 Lafayette Boulevard

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n Friday, 5 November—my birthday—we went on our second big train trip as a family. We had planned to take our trip to Fredericksburg, Virginia, the week before, but we had to change our plans due to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which was held in Washington on 30 October and will be covered in a future edition of this magazine.

In any case, Fredericksburg was a lovely place to spend a fall birthday weekend.

We had some delays in our departure. That morning, two trains had crashed into each other at Union Station. “Crashed” may be the wrong term, because it wasn’t necessarily all that serious in terms of property damage or injuries, but every train for the rest of the day was delayed.

We took the VRE, a commuter train with an unusual arrangement on its two-level cars. The aisle between the seats on the upper level does not exist—it’s open to the lower level. Scary, if you ask me. But once I sat down, it was less so.

Fiona entertained herself with her 1 fuzzy dice, which hung nicely from a cup holder in front of us, while the commuters across the imaginary aisle commented on how lovely, smart, and wellbehaved she was.

After we arrived, we walked up Caroline Street, past some old- and Halloweeny-looking houses, to our hotel. As we approached the 2 Inn at the Olde Silk Mill, I had some doubts about it. It seemed to be part of a small strip mall, complete with a long, narrow (and nearly empty) parking lot in front. Much to our relief, it turned out to be quite a nice place. We stayed in the Stonewall Jackson suite, a bedroom, bathroom, and living room with old photographs of Jackson on the walls. The bed was so high off the ground that they even had a set of steps to help us up.

That wasn’t necessary for us, spring chickens that we are. We didn’t spend much time in our room, but if we were ever to go back to Fredericksburg,

5 7

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say, for Christmas, it would make a very cozy holiday hotel.

For dinner, we went to the Otter House restaurant, which was not the most memorable place we’ve ever eaten. It was cold outside, so rather than explore, we went back for a good night’s rest to prepare for Saturday’s adventures.

On Saturday morning, we headed 3 downtown, stopping to note some historical—and 4 not-so-historical—markers along the way. At the visitor’s center, we signed up for a 5 carriage ride around town. It was Fiona’s first ride in a horse-drawn vehicle, and she was attentive as ever. We explored some 6 shops, including an Irish store, a bookstore, and some antique stores. One store in town had some 7 amazing window displays straight out of the ’50s, shiny and color-coordinated.

One local historical attractions is the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop and Museum. We joined some Girl Scouts as our guide explained how “the good doctor” would amputate our arms, should that become necessary, and checked out 8 leeches in jars just waiting for a patient.

Upstairs, Fiona stuck her head through the 9 hole where gentlemen would get their wigs re-powdered after treatment.

Another of Fredericksburg’s claims to fame is that Mary Washington lived out her days there in a house built by her son, George. We walked by the University of Mary Washington, along some back streets with large, fancy houses, and found the memorial to “Mary, mother of Washington,” which we thought sounded like a tame way to curse. Across the street was a 10 Delorean that may have been ready for time travel, but we didn’t have any garbage to stuff into the gas tank.

For a late lunch, we stopped at Eileen’s Bakery and Café, which is housed in an old church. Although most of their sandwiches were already sold out for the day, we still ate quite well and enjoyed sitting in the dining area, which was once a chapel. Afterwards, we looked for more warm places to hang out until our train arrived.

We discovered a used book store called 11 Riverby Books, which also has a location here in D.C. They even had an area where bookbinders repaired old books, though, unfortunately, no one was there working on one so we could watch.

At the train station, we watched a Sesame Street video on our fancy phone. The train pulled in, we hopped on, and Fiona took her place in 12 her own seat. She took a nap and it seemed we were home in minutes. And that’s the way it was. d

15

OUR TIMES

By DONALD G. McNEIL JR.

“We are safe in the refuge, the 33 of us” Trapped 2,300 feet (700 meters) underground after a mining accident on 5 August 2010, 33 miners in Chile were rescued as the world watched on 13 October 2010.

This article originally ran on page A1 of The New York Times on Thursday, 14 October 2010, with the title “33 Miners Are Out, Defying Dire Predictions on Fitness and Spirit: Medical Care, Good Diet and Even Some Running”. Minor typographical changes have been made to dates and commas.

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efying grim predictions about how they would fare after two months trapped underground, many of the Chilean miners came bounding out of their rescue capsule on Wednesday as pictures of energy and health, able not only to walk, but, in one case, to leap around, hug everyone in sight, and lead cheers.

The miners’ apparent robustness was testimony to the rescue diet threaded down to them through the tiny borehole that reached them on 22 August, but also to the way they organized themselves to keep their environment clean, find water, and get exercise. Another factor was the excellent medical care they received from Chilean doctors who ministered to them through tubes leading 2,300 feet into the earth.

Late on Wednesday, the last of the 33 miners was pulled to safety. Chile’s health minister, Jaime Mañalich, said that one miner had acute pneumonia but was improving with antibiotics, and that two others needed dental surgery. At the moment, he added, the rest seemed to be in “more than satisfactory” condition.

Indeed, the 27th miner to be rescued, Franklin Lobos, is a former soccer star who juggled a soccer ball on his foot moments after emerging from the capsule.

While many details of the miners’ health care and living conditions have been reported, misconceptions and misinformation persisted as the ordeal continued and as the public’s fascination with their deprivation increased.

In recent days, some television and newspaper commentators had speculated that the men would develop the bends on the way up, or suffer heart attacks or blood clots. Some people said that their muscles would have atrophied, that they could have serious skin funguses, vitamin deficiencies, and rotted teeth and be blinded by the daylight.

None of those predictions came true—and some bordered on the absurd.

“The bends?” said Dr. J. D. Polk, chief of space medicine for the Johnson Space Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, whom the Chileans consulted.

“The miners were at sea level. The mine entrance is at 2,400 feet. They were no more at risk of getting the bends than you are going up to the

15th floor in your building.”

The men kept themselves fit and received excellent medical care. And they were not confined to the “rescue chamber,” the size of a Manhattan studio apartment. (The first drill bit reached the chamber in August and the miners attached a note to it saying that all 33 were alive.)

“They had the run of the mine,” said Jeffery H. Kravitz, acting director for technical support at the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration. With half a mile of tunnels open, he said, “they had places to exercise and to use for waste.” One miner ran several miles a day.

“They even had a sort of waterfall they could take a shower under,” Mr. Kravitz said.

“They requested shampoo, and shaved for their families.”

Also, although fresh air was pumped in, asphyxiation was never a danger. While coal mines can fill with methane gas, the San José operation was a copper and gold mine. The air was nearly 90 degrees and humid, but it contained about 20 percent oxygen, like outside air. The men dug three wells, and had potable water.

Doctors from NASA and Chilean Navy officers with experience in submarines were consulted on the strains of prolonged confinement. Alberto Iturra, a psychologist, talked to the miners, sometimes several times a day, to sort through their frustrations and depression.

Over all, Chilean health authorities “did a phenomenal job,” Dr. Polk said.

Just after the miners were discovered alive on 22 August, they were in danger, he said. They had survived for 17 days on just two spoonfuls of tuna, a cup of milk, one cracker, and a bit of a peach topping every other day. Their digestive and insulin systems had nearly shut down and they were breaking down their own fat and muscle tissue.

People on starvation diets can be killed by eating carbohydrates too quickly; as the body struggles to make insulin in response, it can upset the electrolyte balance, stopping the heart.

“We learned that the hard way in World War II, giving candy bars to prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates,” Dr. Polk said.

HUGO INFANTE/GOVERNMENT OF CHILE

 Chilean president Sebastian Piñera sings the national anthem with chief supervisor Luis Urzúa, the last miner out of the rescue hole at the San José mine near Copiapó, Chile, on 13 October 2010.

Urine test strips were sent down the tube, allowing Yonny Barrios, a miner with paramedic training, to report that about half the miners were dehydrated and spilling ketones and myoglobin proteins into their urine, a sign that their muscles were breaking down, from starvation and, possibly, from sleeping on hot rocks.

They were told to nearly double the amount of water they drank. Liquid gels with protein and vitamins were sent down the three-inch tube in packets known as “passenger pigeons.”

Slowly, day by day, their calories were increased to normal levels.

By Chilean Independence Day, 18 September, they were fully recovered and getting celebratory empanadas (baked as cylinders to fit down the tube), barbecued steak (cut into strips), and fresh papaya. Their request for wine was declined. They got cola.

(More recently, they had to be monitored to make sure they would fit in the rescue capsule, 21 inches in diameter.)

Eventually, all sorts of comfort goods were going down three narrow tubes: dismantled camp beds, clean clothes, letters, movies, dominoes, tiny Bibles, toothbrushes, skin creams.

The smokers were first allowed only gum and nicotine patches, but doctors eventually relented and let 40 cigarettes a day go down.

The tubes also accommodated fiber optic cables and, by the end, each miner was getting a daily video consultation with a doctor. They also had jobs to do, including reinforcing walls and clearing debris from the rescue drills.

Mr. Barrios also took blood pressure

readings, sent up urine and blood samples, and gave shots against tetanus, pneumonia, meningitis, and flu.

Mario Gómez, 63, the oldest miner, had silicosis—a respiratory disease caused by breathing rock dust­—and was helped by inhalers, though he developed pneumonia. Another miner with diabetes received insulin.

Contrary to a rumor, the miners were not in the disorienting dark all the time. Small fluorescent lights were sent down early in their ordeal and a circadian rhythm was kept up, with a red light at nighttime.

The rumor about the bends, Dr. Kravitz said, could have arisen from the 2002 Quecreek mine rescue in Pennsylvania, in which pressurized air was pumped into a flooding mine to hold back water. Ten compression chambers were set up in case any miner got the bends, but none did. The bends, or decompression sickness, is a threat to scuba divers who surface too quickly; nitrogen that dissolved into their blood when they were under heavy water pressure comes out and collects as bubbles in their joints and blood vessels, causing pain and, in extreme cases, death.

Early on in the crisis, the Chilean authorities asked for advice from NASA, which has experience in keeping astronauts physically and mentally healthy.

All the miners came out of the capsules in expensive dark glasses—donated by Oakley—to protect them from the sun, but the main health effect they all shared was very pale skin from being in the dark so long. d LIZ ROBBINS CONTRIBUTED REPORTING.

This article was revised to reflect the following correction.

Correction: 15 October 2010 An article on Thursday about the rescue of Chilean miners trapped for two months misstated the diameter of the cage used to bring them to the surface. It was 21 inches, not 26. And because of an editing error, the article also misstated the reason that fresh air was pumped into the mine. It was for the comfort of the men; it was not used to prevent their asphyxiation.

(The miners were never in danger of suffocating because the air in the mine naturally contained about the same amount of oxygen as outside air.)

17

In the city, we pass by people who are like us: young professionals who enjoy life in the city.

But we also pass by plenty of people who aren’t like us.

They are of different religions (or none at all) and political opinions. They are of different colors and nationalities, and some of them speak different languages.

Most of them have homes; some of them do not. But we’re all there together.

Fiona sees that, and she sees that people who don’t look like her are just fine, too.

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The city is the place for us

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round the time Fiona was born, a lot of people asked us one question: “So, are you going to move?” Some of those making this inquiry were undoubtedly thinking of our one-bedroom apartment. In that context, the simple answer is yes. We would eventually like for Fiona to have her own bedroom. But when babies are small, they wake up so much during the night that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to leave them in another room. Besides, our current apartment is rather large for a onebedroom place, so we have more than enough space. (In fact, if we could rearrange the walls and squeeze in another bedroom somehow, this apartment is actually a great size for us.)

But others, no doubt, had this apartment's address in mind—in the heart of the District of Columbia, one of the most urban places in this country. See, in America the mindset goes something like this: it’s great to live in the city when you’re young, but as you begin to settle down (they always use the phrase “settle down”) and have your own family, you need to move to the suburbs. For the children’s sake. Since, of course, they need a yard to run and play in. Oh, and the schools are better. And it’s just not good to grow up around all that crime and all those strange people.

There are millions of families who are perfectly content with their suburban lives, surrounded by acres of perfectly-manicured lawns, shuttling from one cul-de-sac to the next in minivans, and filling their McMansions with all manner of fine furnishings and other products stamped made in china that they bought at the big-box store in the local strip mall.

That is definitely not the life we want for us.

Or for our children.

As of this writing, Fiona has never been in a car. We hope that using a car for day-to-day activities is as foreign to her as taking a bus or subway is for a suburbanite. She clearly enjoys riding the bus. Being able to be free from a car seat and sit in our laps as we ride down the street looking at all the interesting people and buildings passing by—what a life! The dark inside of a subway tunnel isn’t quite as interesting, but seeing a loud, colorful subway train come roaring into the station, with all those lights shining

through its windows, is always a thrill.

Running errands on Saturday morning is a joy, not a chore. We’re able to walk to get all the basic necessities we need, and what a treat it is to step out into the fresh air on a warm, sunny Saturday morning to run up to the farmer’s market to buy fruits and vegetables and freshly-baked bread or to stop by the bank to deposit a check or to pick up an item from the dry cleaner. On our way, we pass by plenty of people who are like us: young professionals who enjoy life in the city. But we also pass by plenty of people who aren’t like us. They are of different religions (or none at all) and political opinions.

They are of different colors and nationalities, and some of them speak different languages. Most of them have homes; some of them do not. But we’re all there together. Fiona sees that, and she sees that people who don’t look like her are just fine, too.

Then there is the sublime beauty of the city—quaint and majestic, organic and geometric, embellished and unadorned. A walk down a simple sidestreet can be a tour through history, with the architectural styles of centuries at your feet. The view from the bus as it crosses Pennsylvania Avenue NW reveals one of the grandest and most sweeping vistas ever conceived. The intersecting vaults of Metro Center, block after block of colorful rowhouses, the Great Hall of the Library of Congress—all create a place that fills our lives with beauty.

Yes, indeed, the city is the place for us. d

PHOTO: DANIEL SCHWEN, “NYC EMPIRE STATE BUILDING.JPG”, 26 MAY 2008 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

OPINION

By DUSTIN

Hearing with our ears—and our hearts

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PAINTING BY ARNOLD FRIBERG/COURTESY OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

en years ago this month—on Wednesday, 17 January 2001, to be exact—I entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, to begin my service as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was there that I had one of my most profound experiences of being taught by the Spirit.

One day in class, we were having a discussion on 3 Nephi 11. This chapter records the beginning of Jesus Christ’s ministry among the Nephites and Lamanites. That made it an important chapter to us as missionaries; we would usually ask new investigators, on our first visit, to read this chapter as a starting point in developing a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

This class discussion took the form of a question-and-answer session: one member of the class would ask another about a particular verse or aspect of the chapter, and the other class member would give a response. This exchange was done in front of the entire class. Once the response was given, another member of the class would ask a question directed to another classmate, and so on.

A sister missionary was the first up to ask a question, and she decided to direct her question to me. She referred to verse 8: And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

She then asked, “Why did the people think that an angel had appeared to them?”

My first though was, Well, that’s a bit of a silly question. Surely there’s something more profound she can think of to ask than that! Then, despite my skepticism, the Spirit had an opportunity to teach me something that was truly profound.

I looked at the preceding verses. In verse

3 we read that the people “heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard.” In the next verse, the people hear the voice a second time and yet again fail to understand it. Then a third time they hear the voice, but this time is a little different: they “did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.”

The voice was that of the Father introducing Jesus Christ: “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.” It is in the next verse that we read the people thought it was an angel who had appeared unto them. So, clearly, they understood the voice’s words, but they failed to comprehend the voice’s message. Why?

Look back at verse 5. They “open[ed] their ears to hear” the voice, “and their eyes were towards the sound thereof.” What was missing?

“Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 8:2). They had attuned their physical senses—their eyes and their ears—to the Lord’s voice, but they hadn’t turned their spiritual senses—their hearts—to his message.

The same applies to us in our own lives. We can hear the Lord’s words and we can see his work moving forward. We may even go through the motions ourselves. But unless we open our hearts to his gospel and his message, we will fail, as did those in the Western Hemisphere who were witnessing Jesus Christ’s coming among them, to see the Lord’s presence in our lives. d

WE BELIEVE IN CHRIST

By DUSTIN

I thought it was a silly question. But the Spirit had something very profound to teach me.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

By SUSAN

Fiona’s arrival has changed everything.

Except, we can’t quite remember what life was like without her.

The new lives it feels we’ve always had

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lthough many things have happened since July, it’s all overshadowed by one thing. Fiona’s arrival has changed everything. Within a few hours of her birth, we already couldn’t remember what it was like before we had her. She was not a stranger—she was familiar, someone we had known for a long time. She seemed to think the same thing about us (most of the time, anyway—during diaper changes, she wasn’t so sure).

One of our reasons for starting this magazine is to record Fiona’s life so that we will remember and she will be able to learn what she was like when she was very young. She has grown and changed so quickly that some things, like the way her chin wobbled when she cried for the first three days, were never captured on film, but we will always remember anyway. Most of her little quirks and eccentricities lasted longer than three days, but she has already aged out of

Fiona’s sleeping positions

Field goal

Disco

Riverdance

them nonetheless. She always wanted to suck on something, and the nurses in the hospital taught Dustin to use his little finger for “suck training.”

So Fiona got in the habit of sucking on Dustin’s little finger every night as she got ready for bed (because those diaper changes were just so traumatic). She didn’t like pacifiers, at least until we found the right one—it is now one of her best friends, and she doesn’t spend much time sucking on our fingers anymore.

During Fiona’s first few weeks, when she still slept in her crib, we were amazed at how much

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DIAGRAM OF FOOTBALL FIELD: XYZZY N, “AMFBFIELD.SVG”, 29 JULY 2006 VIA WIKIPEDIA, CC BY-SA 3.0; DISCO BALL: KIDICARUS222, “DISCO BALL,” 17 JUNE 2005 VIA FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0; SHAMROCKS: GRAYMALKN, “CLOVER”, 25 MAY 2009 VIA WIKIPEDIA, CC BY 2.0

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she moved around. She could roll onto her side with ease, and she had several different sleeping positions: left side, right side, field goal, disco, and Riverdance. Once she started sleeping in her car seat, she stopped rolling around so much and had to relearn that skill after a few months.

Mealtimes brought out some interesting responses from Fiona. She learned pretty quickly what a bottle was, and she would pant and shake her head as it approached her wide-open mouth.

Because of her voracious appetite combined with acid reflux, we had to take her bottle away every few minutes to try to slow her down. She was not pleased with that. Nor was she enthused about being burped. Once the acid reflux started to go away, we let her eat as she wanted, and she developed some new eating habits. For a few weeks in the fall, she would raise one hand as she ate from her bottle, almost as if she had something to add to the conversation (she never did say much, though, since she was so busy eating).

We have learned a lot about babies in the last few months. Who knew that babies get acid reflux (or that it causes them to throw up entire meals every couple days)? Who knew that some babies just won’t sleep anywhere except their car seat? Some things, like how much we enjoy watching her play, are less unexpected. And a few things are welcome revelations, such as the knowledge that it’s not that hard to go out and do fun things with a baby.

Many of the things we’ve documented in our first issue have been big events—Fiona’s birth, our trips, and so on. But some of the things we have enjoyed the most haven’t been photographed or recorded in any other way.

Sitting together in the evening and playing games, sleeping in the living room next to the Christmas tree when it was too cold in our bedroom, and putting Fiona between Mama and Daddy in bed on Saturday mornings have been some of the happiest experiences we’ve had. We have learned about the peace and safety that can be found at home with family. d

“Fiona, you’ve been born into a very loving home, and we bless you that as you mature and grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually that you will follow the pattern set by our Savior, Jesus Christ, as he grew ‘in wisdom and [in] stature, and in favour with God and man.’”

SEE “FIONA’S BABY BLESSING”, PAGE 6