Thanksgiving

A little weird that I posted about Black Friday before Thanksgiving... oh well.

This year was a little different than most Thanksgivings we've had in the past. Well, it was the same in a lot of ways, but the biggest difference was the lack of people here on my side of the family. We started the day sleeping in as long as we could. Once we woke up, we took our time getting ready. Around 1:00, we went upstairs to eat with my parents. Usually Hayley, Bethany and their families will come up. But this year neither of them did. So it ended up being my parents, us and my sister Mallory. We had a wonderful feast that filled us up!

After we finished eating, we went down to the Gateway theaters and watched the movie Bolt. I was quite surprised. It was so cute! I don't know what it is about Disney, but they can make me tear up in almost any movie! It's absolutely ridiculous!

We came back home after the movie for about an hour before heading out to Ryan's parents home. His sister and family were there and we ate a wonderful meal! There is nothing like some excellent turkey! We sat and talked and the boys played together. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing.

Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving, although I did miss my family members. Hopefully we'll have a few more people here for Christmas.... hint, hint!

I also just wanted to share a few things I am thankful for this year...

RYAN - He is the kindest, most wonderful husband in the whole world. I love his witty sense of humor, his kind heart, and his never ending patience. He understands me better than any other person ever could. He supports our family without question. I love him more than words will ever express.

MY BOYS - Alex and Darek are such incredible little guys. Both of their personalities have development a lot in the past little while, and it's amazing to see the people they are becoming. Alex's tender little heart always puts me in my place. He is constantly thinking of others, especially his little brother. His smile can instantly put a smile on my face, and his tears can instantly put me to tears. I love him so much. Our sweet little Darek is such a character. He is so feisty, but can also be so sweet. We are just beginning to see the wonderful traits he is adding to our family and cannot wait to see how he develops.
Ian is and always will be a huge inspiration to me. I miss him so much, but he reminds me every day the person I need to become so I can see him again. What a perfect little guy he is. We love you Ian!

FAMILY - We are blessed to have such wonderful family. They love us unconditionally and have given so much to us. We are so grateful for all we have been given, especially in our times of need this year.

FRIENDS - We also are blessed with wonderful friends. I love having some amazing couples to hang out with that teach me by example how to be a better person. I love being able to laugh, talk, joke, and just hang out and have fun.

BEING HOME - I've mentioned this before, but I'm so grateful I'm able to be home with my boys. It means so much to be able to watch Darek as he grows. I didn't get to do that much with Alex, and it's always something that has made me so sad. Being here for them is so important to me.

CHURCH - Although I don't always love going, I'm grateful to have the gospel. I've been reminded this year (especially with Ian) how special and important it is to have the gospel and to live it. It's not always easy, and there are many things I need to work on. But I do love the gospel and it has brought so many blessings to me and my family.

I could keep going, but I have a screaming baby and a 5 year old who won't go to bed. We love you all and thank you for all you have brought to our lives!

Black Friday

Yes, I am one of those "idiots" who participated in the craziness of Black Friday! And I loved every minute of it... starting right at 3:30 this morning when I woke up. I left the house at 3:45 and headed to Walmart. Walmart did something a little different than what I'm used to. I'm used to freezing my butt off out in the cold for an hour or so and then running frantically to a general area to grab what I want. Well when I arrived, to my surprise, no one was waiting outside. They were allowing people to come in and find their item and stand next to it for an hour and wait while the clock ticked ever so slowly. But it was nice to be able to scope out the store to know where you'd be running next. I was able to get everything I wanted there (I cannot really mention what, since people reading this will then know what they are getting). After about 2 hours at Walmart, I headed to Kmart where I was also able to find just about everything I was looking for. Then I went to Gamestop and finally ShopKo before taking a break. I went home, unloaded my treasures, picked up the boys (which my parents had been sweet enough to watch since Ryan had to work) and we headed over to Toys 'R Us and Circuit City.

It was an insane day, but I had so much fun. I was lucky enough to meet up with three of my wonderful friends, Tammy, Kaylene and Beccie, at a few stores. We had fun talking and basking in the craziness of the morning. I know people think it's nuts to shop this way, but I find the adrenaline rush so addictive! I was able to get the majority of my shopping done this morning, so that will be a little less stress for the holidays. I hope the rest of the shoppers out there this morning were able to get what they wanted (and I'm sorry if I took any of your items). Happy Holidays!!!

Surprised it took this long....

Alex had his first big fall yesterday at school. He was playing on the monkey bars and fell down from them. A yard duty came over and asked if he was okay. He said he was and got up to walk away. Well, he took 3 steps and fell to the ground crying. They took him to the office and called me. I was calm over the phone and said I would come get him. But as soon as I hung the phone up, panic sunk in. I jumped into the car and drove as fast as I could to the school. I knew that he was probably okay, but wanted to be with him right then. When I got there and walked in the school, he was sitting with his back to me inside the office. I could tell he had been crying, but had stopped.... until he saw me. He burst into tears and wrapped his arms around me. The yard duty had gone to his classroom and gotten all of his stuff, so we wouldn't have to do that. I carried him out to the car and drove home. I brought him inside and had him try to stand just to see how bad it was. He cried pretty hard when he put pressure on it. So off to the instacare we went. They took some x-rays of his foot, ankle, and leg. Everything came out normal. His foot wasn't really swollen, so it was really hard to tell what was going on. The doctor wrapped it in an ace bandage and told me to watch him. If it wasn't getting better by the end of today, then we'd probably need to see a pediatrician. Oh joy... Well, so far this morning, he has been able to put a bit more pressure on it, but can't fully stand on it yet. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. In the mean time, here are some "pitiful" pictures of Alex.

I'm just surprised that it took him this long to have a big fall. I'm sure that having boys, I will see a lot more of this kind of thing.

A Tag

Here are the rules: you need to type 7 things about yourself that you don’t think anyone knows and then choose 7 people to tag at the end and leave their link.

(I don't know that this one works well for me, because I am a very open person and share a lot about myself... so if you already know this stuff, sorry.)

1- Better Cheddars are my favorite kind of cracker. They are so much better than Cheese Its or Cheese nips or any other kind of cheese cracker. Oh, they're sooo good.

2- I love stories about war, WWII specifically. It's almost become an obsession. It's hard to describe why and all the reasons behind it, except that I think those soldiers (and soldiers from ANY war for that matter) are truly amazing to sacrifice all they have for me and this country.

3- I don't want to stay in Utah. There are several reasons for this as well. But mostly because Ryan and I have felt for a very long time that we are supposed to be somewhere else. I'm actually quite excited (and scared) for Ryan to finish school so we can figure out where that "somewhere else" is.

4- I love kids. This one is not a huge shocker to anyone, I'm sure. But since I was little, I always wanted 8 or 9 kids. I would probably still want that many if we could afford it. And who knows, maybe at some point we actually will. (Ryan, have you had a heart attack yet?)

5- I hate having a dirty home. Now, anyone who has been in my home is probably very confused right now. It's very hard to keep this place clean since we have sort of grown out of it. I try to keep it as clean as I can, but when there is a room that is very dirty, I try to stay out of it as much as possible until I actually have the time to clean it. Our room is a disaster right now, so I really only go in there to sleep.

6- This is the first time in approx. 12 years that I haven't worked, other than maybe a few days between jobs. I have worked since I was in high school and all throughout our marriage. This is the first time I've actually been able to stay home and be with our kids. I love it more than anything! I am so grateful that Ryan puts up with his awful schedule so I can do this. It means so much to me.

7- I love doing "guy" stuff. For instance, we bought batteries for two of our cars the other day. With Ryan's insane schedule, it was up to me to actually replace them. I did my car without an issue, but Ryan's was a little tougher, so I got my Dad to help me a little bit. But I felt so accomplished coming in with my grimy hands and dirty clothes. I love watching/playing sports (if it's a team/sport I'm interested in), fixing things, etc. I may not be great at it, but it's so much fun to do.

Well, there ya go. I'm impressed with anyone who actually got through that. Now, who are the lucky 7? Beth, Amy G., Tammy N., Tammy C., Clover, Kaylene and Rachel.

ANTHRAX SCARE AT BYU!

BYU football practice was delayed nearly two hours today after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. Head coach, Bronco Mendenhall, immediately suspended practice while police and federal agents were called to investigate.

After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance, unknown to the players, was the goal line.

Practice was resumed today after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again.

HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!

Boys, Boys and more BOYS!

Just a quick congrats to my brother Aaron and sister-in-law Jen. They just found out that they are having another BOY! This will give them 3 boys and 1 girl. As far as grand kids go, we will be up to 8 boys and 2 girls. The girls have a long way to go to catch up. As for this little guy, can't wait to see him in a month or so!

New Van

We did it! We got our new van! I cannot tell you how excited I am about it. I was so giddy yesterday as we were signing papers, waiting for the DVD player to be installed, etc. We ended up getting a 2008 Toyota Sienna. It only has about 14,000 miles on it and is a beautiful black color. I am already in love with it! Here are a few pictures of the outside.

Oh yeah, that is a sexy van!

Now, what is bound to happen the second you get a new vehicle? Anyone? That's right, someone has to spill something, right? We bought our van at a dealership in Draper. So after we picked it up last night, we decided to go over to IKEA to look around. As we were leaving IKEA, I got a drink for me and one for Alex. We got in the van and off we went. Well at about 7200 South I picked my cup up to take a drink. While I was drinking from it, I felt a wet sensation on my jeans. No, not a full bladder, but a hole in the bottom of my cup. Awesome. So, not wanting to get my new van covered in Mountain Dew, I held the cup over my lap and just let the Dew drain out on my pants until I could get off the freeway. I finally pulled into the gas station and got out of the van (by this time my jeans were soaked) and threw away the cup. The attendant at the gas station looked at me like I had issues (considering I looked like I wet my pants, can't say I blame her). As I got back in, I stole Darek's blanket to sit on the rest of the way home. I wiped down the steering wheel and cup holder with a wipe, but managed to keep things pretty clean. When we got home, Alex forgot his drink was in his cup holder and managed to tip his over, spilling it on the seat next to him. He caught it pretty quickly, so not much damage done there. So now that we have some 15 or so cup holders, no drinks allowed in the van! Just kidding, of course. It's just the way of breaking in a new vehicle, right?

Car For Sale

We are selling one of our cars so we can get a van. Yes, we are joining the minivan team. I should have done this sooner, but I wanted to just post it on here in case anyone is interested in buying it from us.

Details

Year: 1997
Make: Saturn
Model: SL1
Mileage: 113848
Color: Dark Green

Features:

5 speed (stick shift), tape deck, am/fm radio, 4 door, air conditioning (needs update to work properly), heater (works well), in good condition. The only thing missing is the mirror on the right side of the vehicle. It wasn't there when I bought it and hasn't caused me any problems. The car hasn't been driven much in the past year. I will be replacing the battery tomorrow, so that will be brand new. The reason I stopped driving it was because the air conditioning wasn't working properly, it was the middle of summer, and my parents had a vehicle that had great air conditioning. (In other words, I was too lazy to get it fixed.) It probably just needs some kind of charge to get it working again. I would take pictures of it, but it's a little too dark right now. If I remember, I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Pricing:


Kelly Blue Book Pricing

Excellent
$2,360
Good
$2,035
Fair
$1,660

We are wanting to sell it for $1750.00. PRICE IS NEGOTIABLE. If we cannot sell it soon, we will just be trading it in to the dealership we are buying our van at. Now when I say soon, I mean in the next couple days. So if you are at all interested, or know someone who might be, please let me know. I check my comments and I check this email constantly shellybug49@hotmail.com .

Different Trips to the Same Place

I thought this was a very interesting analogy of adoption, and thought I would share it...

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place, you've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.
So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait--and wait--and wait.Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, "Relax. You'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!"
After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat."
"By BOAT!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat.
It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia.
Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip.
Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with other who also traveled by sea rather then by air.
People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are about to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, "Oh, be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy."You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself.By Diane Armitage printed in the April 21, 1995 "Dear Abby" column.

I feel so blessed that I have been able to experience the voyage by sea and by air. They are completely different, but both seem to share the same emotions. I'm grateful for both experiences and hope that I will be blessed again in the future to experience this voyage again, whether by sea or air.

Best Concert Ever!

Last night I was able to fulfill my childhood dream. I was able to see The New Kids on the Block in concert! My sweet, wonderful sister Bethany got tickets for me. We were also there with our cousin, Leslie. It was her very first concert. She got the tickets back on July 3, so we have been giddy and excited about it ever since. I cannot explain the amount of excitement in that arena. There were A LOT of women and surprisingly more men than I thought would be there. Natasha Beddingfield opened for them, and she was really good! I liked the songs she performed and she sounded great. But when the New Kids came out, I truly was close to tears. (Yeah, I'm a total geek, but right now, I really don't care.) They sang a lot of their old stuff and a bit of their new stuff also. I took my camera, but didn't get a ton of great shots. I got a lot of video and I'll to post some of that. But we truly had the BEST time. If they come again, I will be there again! Maybe I'll get Ryan to come next time!!!


Joe and Jordan




Donnie


Danny

Jonathan

I was extremely sad though. My camera battery died before the end of the show, and I missed 3 of the best songs... Step By Step, Hangin' Tough and Summertime. Oh well. I still have the memories of it!

Just some pics and video of the boys

So I just have some random pictures and video from the past few days that I wanted to post. Thought they were pretty cute...

I thought this was pretty sweet. Alex wanted to play with Darek, so he got in the little play area with him and they laid there and played together for quite a while.

I realized I had not posted any pictures really from Halloween yet, so here are a few of the boys in their costumes. It was a fun night together!

I LOVE this picture. It's so sweet with all of the guys together. Ryan adores his boys so much!

These two pictures were taken on one of those gorgeous days before all the bad weather hit. It was so much fun to take the boys out back and play at the end of October. We had a lot of fun playing outside in the backyard.

And as promised, here is a video taken today of Darek cooing. He is so sweet when he sits and talks. He usually has a lot to say to me. He is really starting to smile at people now also. I got several smiles today. I'm sure we'll start getting more and more of that every day now.

New Kids

ONLY 6 MORE DAYS UNTIL NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!! 6 DAYS!!!

Election

I wanted to wait a few days before posting about the election so I could "cool down" from all the things I've read since Obama won the election. I will try not to focus on those things, but rather, share a moment I had.

I DID vote for Obama, and not because it was the popular thing to do, but because I actually sat down and looked at over 200 important issues and how each candidate felt about them. I sided more with Obama (at 68%) than I did with McCain (at 50%).

When Obama won, I sat and watched McCain give his speech, which was absolutely wonderful. Then I waited for Obama to come out and give his speech. I was on the couch holding Darek when he walked on stage with his family. I got very emotional at that point because of what a special moment it was that I was able to witness. As he came out, I looked down at Darek and told him that he may not understand now but this was truly a great moment. To know that no matter who you are (race, gender, etc.), you can do anything you want to do in our country. I was very emotional throughout Obama's speech and thought he did an incredible job. I'm truly intrigued to see how he is as President. I am already excited about some of the actions he wants to take.

And just so I can get a little frustration out.... please, please, please, please research issues before you put false information out there. If I had listened to everyone talk about Obama, my opinions would have been so far off from what the truths were. One of the worst comments I've read so far was a reply to a comment that stated that it was ok that Obama was elected because everyone thinks he'll be assassinated anyway. It is unreal to me that there are still people out there that think like that. This kind of hatred should really not be tolerated.

Anyway, there are my two cents. Take it for what you'd like.

4 months old

Today Darek turned 4 months old. He has come a long way! Since I haven't been able to compare his size to something since day 1, I've improvised with a prop and from here on out will be able to do this every month. When I was in Virginia after Darek was released, everyone wanted to know how big he was, but it was hard to tell by just sending pictures. So one night when we got back to the place we were staying, all I had to compare him to was a Mountain Dew bottle. So I will be using a Mountain Dew bottle from here on out to show his growth.

Stitch is about as big as Darek was at birth, so this gives you an idea of his size then.

I don't have a picture of when he was 1 month old, because we didn't have him yet.

This is Darek at about 2 months old, while in Virginia. Still so darn tiny.

I did not take one of him at 3 months old. (I just didn't think about it)

And here is our big boy as of today. As you can see, quite a difference from his 2 month picture.

Darek is a very sweet boy, and has started reaching a few milestones in the last couple days. I'm hoping to post a video soon of it, but in the last 3 days or so, Darek has really started to coo and smile. He even laughed for the first time on Halloween. Sadly, I didn't get to hear it. He was laughing with his Daddy. I'm sure I'll hear it soon though. Since he came home, he has had some tough times. He has been a bit of a fussy baby (no matter what anyone thinks), but has really started to become a sweet little guy in the last couple days. We love having him as a part of the family. He is adored by every family member that has met him. We can't wait to see the fun things he'll do next!