The Zenk Family

Summer 2011

2011-08-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time, so here's a bunch of pictures.

Independence Day parade

Paul greeting daddy at the door

Bethany caught three of these five, including the biggest one and the albino

At the copper mine.

With his buddy Gideon

Again, Bethany caught the biggest one

Paul had a good time, I promise.

Cake!

2011-03-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Basketball!

2011-02-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Paul's new love is basketball. Not only will he play for hours, but he'll actually sit down and watch an entire game (thanks ESPN3!) We've even heard him talking about it in his sleep! Here's a video showing some of his skills.

His record is 15 baskets in a row.

Over-due pictures

2011-02-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

Paul and Mommy at Christmas

Paul and his friend Annie

Trying to escape

High Speed Camera

2010-11-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

Willie made this video with his friend Kevin for their instrumentation class. It's a slow motion video of a drop of chocolate milk falling into white milk. Notice the part that splashes back up (the jet) is chocolate. It was recorded at 3000 frames per second. The video spans about 1/3 second real-time.

Random pics

2010-10-31T08:25:00.001-07:00

Paul at 1 year!

2010-07-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

These pictures were from a free photo shoot provided by our good friend Rachel McHardy.

Canyonlands National Park!!!

2010-06-06T17:44:00.001-07:00

We went on a 5 day camping trip over Memorial weekend with my nephew. This park is beautiful, I highly recommend it.

Paul's first camping trip.

Best Camping Baby!
The people in the campsite next to us heard Paul laughing and talking and said he had the best camping baby ever:)

Cookin over the fire.
You'll never find a camp stove in our site.

This was just south of Moab on the side of the road.

Hiking to the Grand View Point Outlook in the Island in the Sky.
This is a 2 mile hike where you can see a panoramic view along the cliffs edge.
This is a popular place to watch the sunset.

Grand View Point Outlook!
This was so beautiful.
We don't have the best camera so you can't really tell how high up we are. The altitude is about 6,000 ft and it overlooks thousands of miles of canyons.

Hiking the Y!

2010-06-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

We hiked the Y with my cousin and nephew. I had been up there before but this time it took everything in me to make it. Looks like one of my summer goals needs to be getting into shape.

Victory!!!

Cake Time!

2010-06-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

I decided that I wanted to learn how to make pretty cakes. After watching a lot of YouTube videos to see how other people did it I gave it a try. I don't have any of the fancy decorating tools that they did so I had to be creative with what I had around the house. Here is my first pretty cake. It's a double layered chocolate fudge cake with chocolate icing and covered with marshmallow fondant. (I think normal fondant is disgusting but the marshmallow kind it quite good.)

Not too bad if I say so myself:)

Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T19:14:00.000-07:00

This was my first official Mother's Day. First my boys made me dinner and then gave me some of my favorite chocolates. I have such a wonderful little family, they make me so happy.

Since our anniversary is so close to Mother's day I get to celebrate the 2 most wonderful things that have ever happened to me:

The day I married Willie.
Willie is such a wonderful husband and father. He cares about the things in life that really matter. He is sensible and has his priorities straight. He is everything I ever wanted in a husband.

The moment they handed me Paul for the first time.
I love this little boy so much. The love I have for him is so great it has helped me understand how much Heavenly Father loves us. He has been such a blessing. He is a fun, happy baby. I couldn't be happier:)

2 Year Anniversary!

2010-05-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

I took Bethany up to Thanksgiving Point for our 2 year anniversary. We went to the dinosaur museum and walked around the gardens. We have been to lots of museums and I was saving this one for a special occasion. We had a romantical time!

This place was right out of a picture book. Just as we stepped through the arch, a few birds fluttered away and there were flowers everywhere. It was Bethany's favorite.

9 months old

2010-04-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Paul's nine month checkup and other updates:

Height: 29 1/2 inches (75th %)
Weight: 16.4 lbs (zeroth %)
He was in the 10th percentile at his 6 month. He eats a lot so we thought it would go up. He is definitely tall and skinny. It's hard finding pants that don't fall off of him. :)
His first tooth came through this last Thursday!

New skills:
He likes to play catch with Daddy. We think he's a lefty!
Sleeping in his own bed all night long :) He still wakes up more than I would like, but it's getting better.
He is a pro at crawling, climbing, standing up, and getting into everything. He hasn't walked yet because he can't stay still long enough to stand on his own.

Paul reading his book from Auntie Melanie :)

Another day at the office:)

The only happy picture I got of him in this. He finds it too limiting.

My mom came to visit a few weeks ago. Here is Paul helping fold clothes.

Happy to see Daddy!

Bath time:) He is too long for this tub now. He is growing up so fast.

2010-04-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, its been quite some time since our last blog post. We have just been super busy with school we haven't had much time. But we'll be finishing the winter semester in the next 2 weeks.

As of his last doctor's appointment, Paul is in the 10th percentile for weight and the 75th for height. He's crawling all around the house getting into all kinds of mischief. He's been getting lots of bumps on the head from pulling himself up onto his feet and trying to walk. He loves to play the piano, too! Here are some pictures from the last few months.

So skinny he crawled right out of his pants!

Here's some news stories we've been following:

Black Tea Partier Refutes Racism Charges

State of Utah Seizes Federal Land

BBC News - Today - Lovelock: 'We can't save the planet'
(several short videos on this page. Be sure to scroll down to see them all)

MSNBC.com - Caterpillar executive responds to criticism from Washington

5 months!

2009-12-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Our little boy is growing so fast!
He is 14.6 lbs!

He still hasn't quite decided how he feels about his cereal.

TEMPLE SQUARE

We went up to Temple Square with Bobby, Helena, and Henry to see the lights. Just 2 1/2 years ago I was a missionary there. Now I'm married and have an adorable baby... crazy how time flies.

Random Pictures

2009-12-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

This is after one of my Concert Choir concerts at BYU.

Paul dressed by mommy.....

Paul dressed by daddy :)

Paul found his toes!

4 Months Old!

2009-11-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

Paul just had his 4 month check-up. He is 13 lbs. 8 oz. and 26 inches tall.

More pictures! 2 months old!

2009-09-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

Our little Indian brave. Uncle Delyle sent him some moccasins. They are a little big yet but he will grow :)

The Many Faces of Paul

2009-08-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

The first clip is Paul as he normally is--happy and smiley. The second part is him when he's getting hungry and trying to figure out how to cry. He's not real good at that yet!

After the video of him crying he was cuddled and given plenty of loves. We're not cruel parents, we promise!

The fam and Paul

2009-08-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Four Generations of Zenks
(listed in descending years of wisdom)
William R. Zenk
Robert W. Zenk
William R Zenk
Paul A. Zenk

Grandpa's 60th birthday and baby's 1 month birthday!

Royals fans! :-)

uncle Michael

More pictures of the little guy!

2009-07-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

This last picture is auntie Aubrey serenading Paul to sleep!

Paul Alexander Zenk

2009-07-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

Paul Alexander Zenk:

Born July 12th, 2009, 10:16 AM
6 pounds 5 ounces
19 inches long

Bethany's water broke about 5:30 AM on July 11th. The contractions were pretty constant the whole day. She was put on a progressive dose of Pitocin to strengthen the contractions. After many hours of that, they took her off the meds for an hour so she could eat something! Then she was put back on the progressive dose. It was pretty much a long and miserable waiting game for the first 18 hours. We had a great support group with Ceri (sister), Aubrey (sister), and David C. Green (friend). The doctors were discussing a c-section if things didn't progress any quicker. Little Paul was a bit reluctant to come into the world but at about 6:30 AM on July 12th Bethany got an epidural and things began to progress much quicker. Finally, at 10:16 AM Paul was born! Our wonderful nurse Christy (who worked the morning shift on the 11th and 12th) said it was one of the longest, toughest labors she had seen in a long time (over 28 hours)!

Brothers and cousins!

Happy Independence Day!!!

2009-07-10T14:33:00.001-07:00

Our 4th of July started at 7:30am when we heard a loud noise outside our window. It turned out to be one of the hot air balloons that launched earlier that morning. It was a good thing we didn't get up early to go see it because the show came right to us! The balloon had to make an emergency landing. It flew over our neighbors house and ended up landing in the street right next to our house!

We also went to the Grand Parade in Provo. My youngest sister flew in from England last night so we went all out with American activites.

Me and my sisters Aubrey and Ceri.

Thanks to all of the men and women in the military!
Of course you can't have a parade in Provo without having the missionaries be apart of it.

Memorial Day!

2009-07-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from a picnic we had with the Shelton's and the Bobby Zenk's on Memorial Day. Thanks for a wonderful time!!!

F-22 Raptor Animation

2009-06-30T18:52:00.001-07:00

I'm still learning a lot about animations. I couldn't find any more detailed pictures of the thing so this is probably as good as it'll get without having to do a piece by piece model.

Trial and Error of the Solar Powered Plane

2009-06-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Kevin Hoopes, and I have been working together on a remote-controlled solar powered airplane. The project is sponsored by BYU. Kevin was kind enough to inform me about the project and let me join in the experience. We've both learned a lot.
We are in charge of making the wings from the molds we've been provided and attaching them onto the fuselage, and minimizing weight of course. The plane has a wingspan of about 17 feet and will probably weigh around 30 pounds. Just recently we've made a few carbon fiber panels. They're very strong but we're still looking for other ways to reduce weight. Here's a picture of Kevin trimming the carbon fiber before it goes into the oven to cure.

1 Year Anniversary!!!

2009-05-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 10, 2009 was our 1 year anniversary. Ceri and Melissa came over and catered a candle lit taco salad dinner for us :) It was very romantical :) We have survived a very action packed first year together. We're ready to take on another one with the upcoming addition of our little boy. :)

Day at the lake!

2009-05-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

We hung out at the lake for a while with Ceri and Melissa. We just realized our fishing licenses are expired so we'll have to get that taken care of before long. The weather is beginning to be quite nice!

Here's a picture of our neighbor's yard. They have some sort of wild flower growing all over! We're hoping they spread into our yard.

Update on life

2009-04-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

Some people have asked to see a pregnant picture of me so here it is. I'm 26 weeks pregnant in this picture.

We also planted some bulbs last Fall. I will be planting more flowers this Spring but here is what it looks like now.

Baby Shower!!!

2009-04-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from my baby shower that one of my friends, April, put on for me yesterday. We played a game where people guessed my girth, everyone cut a piece of yarn that they thought would fit around me. My sister Ceri and friend PJ ended up winning. Everyone also wrote me notes of advice/encouragement. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to all who came and for all the gifts.

"The Game"

2009-04-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

When Willie has some spare time he likes to do lots of fun but useless things in the name of "learning". Here's some documentation of one of those things. This is a game he's developing with an open-source program called Blender 3D (see www.blender.org). The game is a platformer of sorts, featuring Blender's beloved Suzanne. The goal is to get to the end of the floating path without falling onto the grass. The game would be MUCH more visually pleasing if our computer's video card supported GLSL shaders, but we can't have everything now can we?

Update #1
February 26, 2009. In this newest update I added a menu establishing controls, animated the arms in the run cycle, new animation for jumping, fixed small kick in run cycle (left leg), added a few more polygons for Suzanne (see tummy), and added a little more to the 2nd level.

Thanks:
Blender 2.48
CamStudio
The Gimp
Audacity
Wood Workshop

Update #2
April 12, 2009: Optimized the run cycle, added a 3rd level, deleted the 3rd level, overhauled Suzanne's body geometry, animated walking backwards, made some terrain, improved jumping animation, improved collision quality, implemented GLSL shaders (not shown in video).

Thanks: Blender 2.48
CamStudio
The Gimp

It's a BOY!!!

2009-03-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

Here he is, our little baby boy, Paul Alexander Zenk!!! We had the ultrasound today and he's a healthy little boy. I'm 20 weeks now and he is wiggling around quite a bit. I'm due July 21. We are both so excited.

2009-01-31T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's been over a month since our last post. Not much has changed...

Willie is studying his brains out with physics and math. His load is a little more manageable than last semester's (so far). This semester consists of a miscellaneous physics class, linear algebra, materials science, American heritage, and the New Testament. He's also managing to learn a 3D animating program called Blender (see www.blender.org)
Here's a little clip he created. It took about 20 minutes to make.

When Bethany doesn't have choir or voice/violin lessons, she's in bed trying not to puke. But she's also taking music civilization and careers in music education. She's now about 16 weeks along. We've narrowed down our list of names to "Paul Alexander" for a boy, and "Claire Eliza" for a girl. We took Alexander from Alexander Doniphan.

Baby #1 on the way!

2008-12-14T10:47:00.002-08:00

We found out on Nov. 10th (6 months after we were married) that baby #1 is on the way! We are really excited. I will be extra excited when the 1st trimester is over. I'm told that the 24/7 nausea calms down after that. We started making a list of names but are open for suggestions.

Cabela's - Summer 2008

2008-12-14T10:47:00.001-08:00

We went to Cabela's this summer with Bobby and Helena. I had never been there before so it was fun being there for the first time. Willie really liked this moose chair. While we were there we watched the fish get fed. It was a little shocking when I saw a bunch of pretty gold fish get dumped in and immediately ripped apart and devoured by the bigger fish. We took a picture of one of the fish because it was all deformed. It looks ridiculous.

Twins at Royals - 8 Aug 2008

2008-12-14T10:45:00.002-08:00

In August we took a trip to Missouri. While we were there we went to a Twins/Royals game. I (Bethany) thoroughly enjoyed the game because the Twins won. It was also "buck night" ($1 hot dogs, drinks, and peanuts) and Friday night fireworks. We had a great time.

Fishin' - Summer 2008

2008-12-14T10:45:00.001-08:00

We decided that fishing was going to be a summer hobby for us. We tried to catch a fish all summer. Finally, someone from my (Bethany) old work told me where we could actually catch something.
Ceri(sister), Melissa(cousin), Ryan(nephew) and the two of us went and gave it a try. The trip was a success. We had someone take a picture to document the occasion that we actually caught a fish in Utah.

Bean Museum - Summer 2008

2008-12-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

On our first date we went to the Bean Museum on BYU campus. The museum has animals on display from all over the world. Since then we've been back quite a few times. These are some of our favorite animals there.