Dear Kiddos

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Bump-Date

I haven't been the greatest at photographing my growing belly.

But here are a few pics that I have snapped.

3 more weeks to go!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

It's a ....

IMG_2534 from Marlies Hill on Vimeo.

GIRL!!!!!!

We were both are so surprised and so excited to have a sweet baby girl!

My parents cute neighbor Brenda Hansen made the beautiful cake for us! She did such and amazing job and went above and beyond what I imagined!

Friday, January 1, 2016

We are having a baby!

Surprise!

We are pregnant!

We couldn't be more excited and happy to meet this sweet baby coming in July!

We found out the day before Halloween. I took the first test first thing that morning. I wasn't sure if I was actually seeing a very very faint line or if I wanted it so badly that I was making it up. So I quietly put the test back in the box without saying anything to Dillon. He left for school and on my way to work I stopped off at the store to pick up another test. Like I mentioned this was the day before Halloween and I had to dress up for work that day. So I walked into the store dressed up like a deer.... yup a deer. I was so embarrassed but my excitement trumped the embarrassment and I marched in there as a deer and asked the sales associate for a pregnancy test!

I got home from work and took the second test. Again I saw a very faint line but wasn't sure if it was in my head or not. So back to the store I went. This time to get a digital test (and not as a deer). I took the third test and sure enough that little YES+ popped up. I think I just sat there staring at the test for 2 minutes before I could move. I was so shocked! I just sat there staring at that little yes!

I was so excited to tell Dillon but I wanted to be able to record his reaction. So I very impatiently waited until he finished work. He texted me earlier that day when I was at work to see if I had taken a test that morning. I told him that I had and it was negative but that it was still early so I would try again in a few days... sneaky. I made a "Welcome Home Daddy" sign, hung it up, and finally it was time to pick him up. I am very proud of how cool I was able to stay!

IMG_2367 from Marlies Hill on Vimeo.

I still go back and watch the video all the time! It is one of my favorite things ever! When Dill catches me watching it again he thinks I'm ridiculous, but I just love seeing the moment when He found out he was going to be a dad!

We can't wait to meet our lil' Hill!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

This past weekend we took a little trip to Kampot. It was absolutely beautiful. I'm disappointed that the pictures don't even come close to doing this place justice. We stayed in little bungalows that were right on the bank of the river. Our first day we went to some rapids and ran into a group of Australians tubing down the river. They told us it was only $5 so of course we had to do it. We went to their little hostel that they owned and it was a total party house! Everyone there was totally wasted and high out of their minds. It wasn't until we were in the truck on our way to the top of this river that we began to realize how sketchy this was. We were just trusting these two drunk Australian guys to bring us safely down the river. I was so out of my element, I'm really not a spontaneous person... at all. But I'm so glad we did it! It was so much fun and the view from the river was incredible! Again, I'm so disappointed that the pictures don't do it justice. I'm also so so so disappointed that I left the GoPro in Phnom Pehn. Duh.

The second day we went to the beach which was just as fun and just as beautiful. I've really only been to the beach about three or four times in my life. Dillon was laughing at me because I guess I was acting like a little kid. I felt like the waves were pretty big but everyone else kept telling me how tiny they were haha.

I made a short video of our weekend but unfortunately didn't get any videos from the river or the beach.

Kampot Trip from Marlies Hill on Vimeo.

Our hotel/bungalow

The river before we found our Australian friends

Me realizing how stupid of an idea this was

Next stop: Thailand

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

As promised I thought I would do a quick post explaining what we are doing in Cambodia!

Last year Dillon got a job as a student facilitator for the BYU South East Asian public health study abroad/internship program. The Kennedy Center made changes to the program this year so although the student facilitators (and their wives) in the past were able to go with the students they told Dillon when he got the job that it wasn't in the budget this year for us to go. We were disappointed but Dillon accepted the job anyway and was excited to contribute to the program. A few months later Dillon called me after a meeting with his boss and told me that they shortened the program to only summer semester (instead of spring and summer semester) and that it was now in the budget for us to go to Cambodia! To say we were excited would be an understatement. Dillon served his mission in Cambodia and we were really wanting to make it back there before we started having kids. However, it just didn't make a lot of sense with us trying to save up for medical school to spend that kind of money on a trip. So when we found out Dillon would have a scholarship that would be paying for us both to go, we were obviously beyond thrilled!

We spent the next nine months preparing for Cambodia. During winter semester Dillon taught a prep class to nine students where he presented on basic Khmer language, culture, and a little bit about Cambodia's history and recent genocide.

We are now finally here in Cambodia! It seemed like this summer would never come and now we are already a month in. All of the students are doing different (public health related) internships. Dillon and I (as well as another student Amy) are working for an NGO (non-profit) called CEDAW. Dillon has been translating legal documents as well as teaching English classes to the staff here. I found out when we got here that I would be teaching two design classes a day, I've been teaching basic Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. It's been very interesting due to the language barrier, but I feel like over the last few weeks the classes have been going a lot smoother.

It has been so fun for me to be here in Cambodia and experience for myself the country Dillon fell in love with. It has definitely been an experience we will never forget.