Dr. Dibb's Duke Graduation

Two weekends ago we had the opportunity to fly back to our beloved home of North Carolina and impose on our friends the Stewarts...again, and enjoy being with Alan's parents for Alan's graduation ceremonies from Duke. The weather stayed lovely for most of the time but we did get to enjoy the fantastic thunderstorms of NC as they raged outside our window at night. Amelia was definitely a Daddy's girl the entire weekend which was fitting considering that it was his special week. We arrived late Friday night and then Saturday we went up to campus to pick up Alan's robes and hood. Following the pick-up, we meandered through Duke Gardens which will always hold a special place in my heart. They were beautiful and some of the lily pads were even blooming. Then, that night we left Amelia with the Stewarts so that we could attend the hooding ceremony and reception. Roger braved the crowds to get some great photos.
  Sunday morning we opted out of the big commencement ceremony which was being held at the outdoor stadium under threat of rain, and instead had a wonderful breakfast with some friends...courtesy of Connie and Chad. Then we took Amelia to the degree presentation for Engineering which was held in the Duke Chapel-the coveted venue. Amelia slept through the whole thing in Grandpa Dibb's arms. Then we attended church and were able to see so many great friends before heading home to dinner with friends and family...again courtesy of Connie and Chad. That night the Stewarts taught us a new game-Fresco. It was quite fun.
 Monday morning we returned the gown and while Alan took Amelia to visit his lab, Roger, Ann and I went to the library to see the first edition copy of the Book of Mormon. Something I had always wanted to do but never had. We flew out later that night and returned to AZ just in time to settle in before Amelia's illness set in (see Birthday post for details). It was a great trip. I get a little sentimental whenever I hear James Taylor sing "in my mind I'm going to Carolina".

A well deserved airport shoeshine. The shoes needed it, and I just wanted to see the shoe shiner in action.

The flowers at Duke Gardens were in full bloom.

Crossing the bridge. Very symbolic!

Amelia was enamored by the ducks.

The PhD hard at work. Doesn't he look great.

The Hooding ceremony.

Just before he was hooded.

Alan with Roger, his advisor.

At the conferring of the degree in Duke Chapel.

This is how she spent the ceremony.

Dr. Dibb

You may wonder how we got these great pictures among all the crowds of graduation? Well, in full  disclosure, the camera battery died right before Alan got his degree, so his lab mate who was sitting with us took all those pictures, and we took these after time had elapsed to allow the battery to recharge! The secrets of missing the crowds.

Proud parents and the graduate.

Proud family and the graduate.

No one knows why this camel is on Duke campus, but it is. No, really someone does know, but just not us.

Worst First Birthday Ever

Amelia turned one this last weekend and although we had not planned to do anything extravagant, we had planned on having a few people over for cupcakes. We felt cupcakes were a good way to go because Amelia could really delve into hers, but the rest of us could enjoy unadulterated cake (Alan was particularly concerned with this!)(smile). However, a few days before the celebratory day, Amelia developed a fever which progressed to the runs and then to the spews and finally to a very impressive post-viral rash that seemed to itch constantly and made her resemble that guy on the Scarlet Pimpernel faining to have the plague! Needless to say, she was not up for a cupcake and we were not up for cleaning said cupcake up once it came back up. She was pretty miserable on her first birthday. Hopefully it will remain her worst birthday ever. We are going to celebrate her birthday a week late with cupcakes. So if any of you want to come over, we promise unadulterated cupcakes for all of you!

She did get her first Popsicle out of the whole ordeal, although we have not been able to get her to eat one since.

Alan tried to get her to open one gift in the morning before he left for work.

The easter eggs have been a great toy, she loved to hear things rattle inside them. You can see the rash.

This is essentially how her present opening went! 

Alan got her a pink sports car and a dump truck. They are pretty great.

Here is the rash the night of her worst birthday ever.

She was the most cuddly she has ever been.

Such a sweet one-year old. 

Amelia's Castle

 A few weeks ago we were privileged to have a visit from Grandpa Dibb because tax season was over. While he was here we did a few fun things, but none has given such great pleasure as the castle that he built Amelia out of moving boxes. She was not too sure of it at first, but about a week after he left, I had left Amelia in the family room playing while I started dinner and I called down to check on her and got no response, and so I went to check on her and I could not find her. Then I heard some faint sounds from the castle and there she was...completely loving her castle. Here are some pictures:

What is he doing in there? 

The Castle Overview: it has multiple tunnels and a look out. 

This was the first time we put her in it.

Here she is enjoying it with Dad. She is in her swiss dress because we were supposed to be at the Sound of Music Sing-a-long this night, but they cancelled it. Apparently it was too hot for outdoor events! (Just kidding, they gave no explanation for the rescheduling at all.)

Alan went through the tiny connecting tunnel between these two tunnels and I though he was going to get stuck, so I was taking pictures.

Here is Amelia playing in the look out tower!

This is where I found her that day. Just hanging out in her castle. Thanks  Grandpa Dibb!

Acid Wash

Little did I know that "acid wash" was not exclusively a jeans thing.  Now that I own a pool, I have to learn and perform all sorts of (costly) maintenance.  Back on the 9th of this month we had to drain our pool.  We were advised to have it acid washed while it was empty.  We were going to pay a pool company to do it.  But then we had the same company come and service our filter.  After watching what the service guy was doing, I thought, "I'm paying him how much for this?  I can definitely do this on my own.  I am not paying them next week for the acid wash."  On top of that, you can only acid wash if the temperature stays below 85 degrees.  If it was going to be above 85 on the day of the wash, they would cancel and we'd be out of luck until next year.  So when it was going to be only 70 degrees that Saturday and in the 90's the next week, I thought, "I'm doing this."  So here are some photos:

The start of the draining process.  Notice the sump pump in the middle of the pool and the hose that exits the pool (to our sewage drain).  We started it at about 9pm and it was done at about 2am.

Me in the draining pool.

Acid washing away I go.

Hip waders come in handy for other things besides fishing in Alaska.

Rubber gloves, respirator, and safety goggles round out the safety equipment.

Amelia enjoying the clean pool water.

Thunderbird Park

We have a great little hiking area by our house.  Well, we can't say the whole thing is great since we've only gone on one short hike.   But that hike was a very nice Sunday afternoon activity last week.  Here are some photos:

Enjoying the fauna. 

Hydration is key in the arid southwest.

Us at the summit.

"Look, I can see our house from here."

"We climbed all the way up there."

Amelia's First Art Project

 I keep trying to think of new things to do with Amelia during the day. It seems that we do the same few activities and I often think she must be bored. So, the other day I made some edible finger paints out of vanilla pudding and let her give it a whirl:

A blank canvas and an inquisitive mind. 

The artist studies her palate and does some mixing.

The colors need to be just right to create this masterpiece.

Getting started.

Getting to the finer part of the art project.

She loved art. What can we say!

The final product....gallary worthy!

Comic Strips and General Conference

This is a continuation on the comic strip theme from my last post.  With General Conference around the corner, I often find myself wondering how I will remember and apply all the good council we'll hear.  Well, here's a new method: read the funnies page.  This is Pickles from March 25, 2011:


What the grandpa should have said was "President Thomas S. Monson once said ..."  I love that Pickles is quoting Grandpa now.