It really is crazy how fast time flies! I have been so terribly lazy regarding my blogging. I have been busy, but that really is a lame excuse. So here is the update for this last month.
Ryan is as busy as ever. This is his last semester of his Rad Tech program. His grades have been incredible throughout the whole program which totally amazes me. All semesters of his program he has received a 3.90 or higher. He is ready for graduation in May and taking the summer totally off! He has applied and been accepted to Weber State, but we are waiting to hear whether he has been accepted into the MRI program for fall or if he will need to wait another year to start that one. If he has to wait, he thinks he may continue to go to school to get a degree in Hospital Administration. So many unknowns right now. We should find out about the MRI program at the end of March or early April. It's been hard having him gone for such a long time. Many times I have felt like a single parent and I know there have been many times that Ryan has felt so sad not being able to be here. It will be nice when school is done and it's just work.
I have been doing several different things. I continue to do daycare. Right now I have 5 part time kids that I watch. 2 of them I only watch one day a week and the rest are just a few times a week. It works nicely that I'm usually done with daycare by 1:30 in the afternoon so I have my evenings available. I have also had several successful stamping classes with my friend Tammy. We also have 2 shelves down at a local boutique that we keep very updated. Between those two things, we stay very busy and stay in our craft rooms a lot trying to come up with new inventive ideas. It's quite tiring, but very fulfilling at the same time. For some reason I guess I thought I wasn't busy enough, so I decided to accept the roll of President elect in the PTA at Alex's school. That means I will be following the President around next year at all the PTA activities learning everything that I will be doing as President for the 2011-2012 school year. I am excited and very overwhelmed with this new responsibility. At least I do have some time to get used to the idea and really learn what I will be doing. I also have my two callings at church and will soon be coaching soccer again in the Spring. I am really looking forward to the summer. We already have 3-4 camping trips in the works, a trip or two to Park City, a trip to Nampa, Idaho to visit my Grandparents, hopefully a trip or two to St. George and hopefully a trip to Island Park, Idaho. We are getting our passes to Lagoon again this year because we had so much fun with them last year. We're just very excited to have some fun family time together.
Alex has been doing excellent in school. He excels in pretty much every subject. His favorite subject in school right now is art. But he is extremely good at math and reading. They haven't really done the level testing, so I'm not sure at what level he reads. But he's definitely in the top 2 or 3 in his class. The one thing I was so happy to see on his report card was that he is kind and tries to be a friend to everyone. He is a good listener (most of the time) and really truly loves his friends. His best friend right now is Reilly. He lives 2 houses away from us, so they spent every possible moment they can together. Alex continues to love playing with his friends, video games, computer programs and especially his little brother. He insists now that he only wants brothers and no sisters... EVER! It cracks me up. I know he'll love any child we have, but he sure has a special bond with his little brother.
Which brings me to that special little brother, Darek. Oh Darek. There is not one word that could ever describe this little guy. Darek is so full of energy right now. He learns so much on a daily basis. His language is incredible for a child his age. He can say well over a hundred words now and can probably recognize word to object for about 50-60 things. He loves giving kisses now. If he does anything wrong, he will immediately come up to you and kiss you on the lips. I think he knows that it will melt that person instantly and all will be forgiven. :) Darek has a very strong opinion and really likes to share that opinion. He recently has begun with temper tantrums. I think part of that is related to a really bad flu/cold that he had for over a week. I'm hoping it dissipates in the next few weeks, but I probably shouldn't hold out too much hope since he is approaching that 2nd birthday. Besides the kisses, one of my favorite things Darek does is singing to rock/pop songs. He has been singing little bits to Bon Jovi's "Livin on a Prayer" for a while now. But he recently has started singing little bits to Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi". I am not as proud of this one, but it still cracks me up. When he recognizes a song on my ipod, he'll start dancing and try to sing to it. I love how musical this little guy is.
Alright, well that brings us up to date for the most part. I'm going to start trying to take pictures more often again so I have some to post. We are still working on getting some family pictures taken. I'm hoping that will take place in the next 2 weeks (depending on weather). And hopefully my blog updates will come a little more frequently. But thanks for stopping by and waiting patiently for updates!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Very Humbled
Today (well officially yesterday since it's Sunday morning) has been a wonderful day. It's one of those days that helps you put things in perspective and reminds you of what life is all about.
We started out our day today at a PBS function. My Dad invited us to this read-a-thon activity last year and we had a great time! So when he asked if we'd like to go again this year, our answer was a definite YES! Alex was thrilled since he could remember the activities from last year. It was held inside a building on the Utah State Fairgrounds. I packed Alex and Darek up in the van and we got there shortly after 10:30 and stayed until almost 2:00. Daddy needed a little downtime, so he stayed home. Many of the activities involved science and learning, but of course in a fun way. The boys started off coloring their own face mask, then went and made some dinosaur claws, dug for gems, went on an I Spy mission, got face painted, picked out a new book and watched an amazing Japanese drum show. We had so much fun! My Dad was there taking pictures (and showing his grandsons off to his co-workers) and got to come over and play with us every once in a while. It was a wonderful way to spend some quality time with the boys. For some reason though, one moment stuck out in my mind. We were sitting on the floor watching the drum show. I had Darek on my lap and he was mesmerized by the huge drums and the loud boom that they made. Alex was sitting next to me, but climbed onto my lap as well. Although this was slightly uncomfortable for me, I didn't protest. About a minute later, without either of them thinking about it, they rested their heads on each other. I don't know why, but it was such a beautiful moment for me. They cuddle all the time at home, play, rough house, dance, sing, etc. But this was such a pure, beautiful moment between these two brothers and I couldn't help but just stare at them. It was one of those moments that you don't want to pass. I could have sat there with my sweet little boys forever.
Shortly after we came home from that fun activity, my parents were wonderful enough to agree to watch our boys for the evening so Ryan and I could go on a date. I know I'm not the only who knows how rare a date with a spouse is. We decided to go see The Lovely Bones at the theater and then go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I had read The Lovely Bones and fell in love with the book. It's a sad, yet beautiful story and I really wanted to see the movie. The book was definitely better than the movie, but the movie was still extremely thought provoking. For those who don't know, the story is about a girl who is murdered and watches and tries to help her family cope through the sadness. While we were eating dinner, Ryan and I had a really spiritual and emotional conversation. I think our waitress thought I was an emotional wreck. We talked about all 3 of our boys and what miracles each one has brought to our lives.
Ian. We unfortunately have experienced losing a child. But one thing this movie reminded me of was that his little body decided it couldn't take this life anymore. His life wasn't taken in a horrible way. Both Ian's life and death were a miracle. He shared his beautiful little spirit with us, even for a short while. One thing that I think of often with Ian is what would have happened if he had passed away before they contacted us. Would we have even found out about him? They probably would have mentioned his birth and death, but not even suggested that he still be adopted. I remember the questions that came when we mentioned having the adoption still go through after he died. They thought we were crazy. It has made me wonder how many other babies have had that same circumstance. Placed for adoption at birth, but not placed with a family until it was known whether they would live. The thought of a baby dying without a family is incomprehensible to me. I have my own beliefs as to what might happen in those cases. But I get emotional thinking about a baby being alone... without a family. I am so grateful that Ian hung on to life long enough that he could have his eternal family.
Darek. Our walking, talking, bubbly little miracle. I can't help but smile whenever I talk about Darek. The fact that this little guy is walking, talking and driving us crazy is a miracle! I don't know why or how Darek has come out seemingly untouched from being so premature. But I will say over and over again how grateful and lucky we are. Although he can throw a temper tantrum as good as the next kid, he also has this really sweet personality. He will give hugs and kisses to everyone and is so good at saying thank you. (We're still working on please) He loves his family, especially his awesome big brother. And man is he smart! He can say almost any word now and recognizes the word to the object a lot of the time. It's amazing how he fits in our family so perfectly. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how you get your kids. If they are meant to be yours, then the way will be found.
Alex. What a little man our Alex is. Yes, we have plenty of 6 year old days. But over his 6 years he has shown amazing insight way beyond his age. This kid was born to be a big brother. I don't think there was anyone better prepared. From about the time he turned 3, maybe even a little before, he was begging for a sibling. When it didn't happen and still didn't happen, he was the one who had the faith. Not only the faith, but the insight. He told me again and again that we were going to have two babies. I remember a specific walk we were on. I was introducing him to the idea of adoption. He knew what it was since Nathan and Mallory are adopted. But I asked him what he thought about us adopting a baby. He looked at me and said with total assurance, "Mommy, there is a lady that is going to have two babies and she won't be able to take care of them and they are going to be our babies." I, with my lack of faith said, "Well, that would be really neat, but I don't know if that will ever happen." But he always stuck to it and reminded me several times. When Ian died, Alex didn't quite know what to do. He was so happy to be a big brother and actually have two babies. Here was one of his brothers that he had never met, yet loved so much, gone. He asked us so many questions about Ian and about death. I thought he would have so much trouble when we went in to dress Ian for burial. But instead, he touched his little face and stayed so calm and collected. There have been many times he has cried and wondered why, but has always been unwavering in his faith. What a miracle Alex has been for us.
I'm sorry this has been so long and drawn out. But I really felt the need to write all these feelings down. The last conversation Ryan and I had on our way home was about our family. I was talking about why a big family is so important to me. I believe that from this life we won't take our jobs, our homes, cars, or other possessions. I believe we will take our memories, our knowledge and we will have our family. So while it is important to have a home and a good job here, I don't ever want that to be the focus of my life. I want family to always come first. When I die, I want to be surrounded by our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc. So I am hoping that somewhere down the road (hopefully sooner rather than later) we have a few more little ones waiting to join our crazy, but wonderful little family.
I am so grateful for days like today that help me focus on the great things of life. I hope these feelings will last so that I remember them when Darek is throwing a tantrum during church or when Alex interrupts me during an important telephone call. :) Life is never perfect, but there are moments throughout life that sure come close.
We started out our day today at a PBS function. My Dad invited us to this read-a-thon activity last year and we had a great time! So when he asked if we'd like to go again this year, our answer was a definite YES! Alex was thrilled since he could remember the activities from last year. It was held inside a building on the Utah State Fairgrounds. I packed Alex and Darek up in the van and we got there shortly after 10:30 and stayed until almost 2:00. Daddy needed a little downtime, so he stayed home. Many of the activities involved science and learning, but of course in a fun way. The boys started off coloring their own face mask, then went and made some dinosaur claws, dug for gems, went on an I Spy mission, got face painted, picked out a new book and watched an amazing Japanese drum show. We had so much fun! My Dad was there taking pictures (and showing his grandsons off to his co-workers) and got to come over and play with us every once in a while. It was a wonderful way to spend some quality time with the boys. For some reason though, one moment stuck out in my mind. We were sitting on the floor watching the drum show. I had Darek on my lap and he was mesmerized by the huge drums and the loud boom that they made. Alex was sitting next to me, but climbed onto my lap as well. Although this was slightly uncomfortable for me, I didn't protest. About a minute later, without either of them thinking about it, they rested their heads on each other. I don't know why, but it was such a beautiful moment for me. They cuddle all the time at home, play, rough house, dance, sing, etc. But this was such a pure, beautiful moment between these two brothers and I couldn't help but just stare at them. It was one of those moments that you don't want to pass. I could have sat there with my sweet little boys forever.
Shortly after we came home from that fun activity, my parents were wonderful enough to agree to watch our boys for the evening so Ryan and I could go on a date. I know I'm not the only who knows how rare a date with a spouse is. We decided to go see The Lovely Bones at the theater and then go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I had read The Lovely Bones and fell in love with the book. It's a sad, yet beautiful story and I really wanted to see the movie. The book was definitely better than the movie, but the movie was still extremely thought provoking. For those who don't know, the story is about a girl who is murdered and watches and tries to help her family cope through the sadness. While we were eating dinner, Ryan and I had a really spiritual and emotional conversation. I think our waitress thought I was an emotional wreck. We talked about all 3 of our boys and what miracles each one has brought to our lives.
Ian. We unfortunately have experienced losing a child. But one thing this movie reminded me of was that his little body decided it couldn't take this life anymore. His life wasn't taken in a horrible way. Both Ian's life and death were a miracle. He shared his beautiful little spirit with us, even for a short while. One thing that I think of often with Ian is what would have happened if he had passed away before they contacted us. Would we have even found out about him? They probably would have mentioned his birth and death, but not even suggested that he still be adopted. I remember the questions that came when we mentioned having the adoption still go through after he died. They thought we were crazy. It has made me wonder how many other babies have had that same circumstance. Placed for adoption at birth, but not placed with a family until it was known whether they would live. The thought of a baby dying without a family is incomprehensible to me. I have my own beliefs as to what might happen in those cases. But I get emotional thinking about a baby being alone... without a family. I am so grateful that Ian hung on to life long enough that he could have his eternal family.
Darek. Our walking, talking, bubbly little miracle. I can't help but smile whenever I talk about Darek. The fact that this little guy is walking, talking and driving us crazy is a miracle! I don't know why or how Darek has come out seemingly untouched from being so premature. But I will say over and over again how grateful and lucky we are. Although he can throw a temper tantrum as good as the next kid, he also has this really sweet personality. He will give hugs and kisses to everyone and is so good at saying thank you. (We're still working on please) He loves his family, especially his awesome big brother. And man is he smart! He can say almost any word now and recognizes the word to the object a lot of the time. It's amazing how he fits in our family so perfectly. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how you get your kids. If they are meant to be yours, then the way will be found.
Alex. What a little man our Alex is. Yes, we have plenty of 6 year old days. But over his 6 years he has shown amazing insight way beyond his age. This kid was born to be a big brother. I don't think there was anyone better prepared. From about the time he turned 3, maybe even a little before, he was begging for a sibling. When it didn't happen and still didn't happen, he was the one who had the faith. Not only the faith, but the insight. He told me again and again that we were going to have two babies. I remember a specific walk we were on. I was introducing him to the idea of adoption. He knew what it was since Nathan and Mallory are adopted. But I asked him what he thought about us adopting a baby. He looked at me and said with total assurance, "Mommy, there is a lady that is going to have two babies and she won't be able to take care of them and they are going to be our babies." I, with my lack of faith said, "Well, that would be really neat, but I don't know if that will ever happen." But he always stuck to it and reminded me several times. When Ian died, Alex didn't quite know what to do. He was so happy to be a big brother and actually have two babies. Here was one of his brothers that he had never met, yet loved so much, gone. He asked us so many questions about Ian and about death. I thought he would have so much trouble when we went in to dress Ian for burial. But instead, he touched his little face and stayed so calm and collected. There have been many times he has cried and wondered why, but has always been unwavering in his faith. What a miracle Alex has been for us.
I'm sorry this has been so long and drawn out. But I really felt the need to write all these feelings down. The last conversation Ryan and I had on our way home was about our family. I was talking about why a big family is so important to me. I believe that from this life we won't take our jobs, our homes, cars, or other possessions. I believe we will take our memories, our knowledge and we will have our family. So while it is important to have a home and a good job here, I don't ever want that to be the focus of my life. I want family to always come first. When I die, I want to be surrounded by our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc. So I am hoping that somewhere down the road (hopefully sooner rather than later) we have a few more little ones waiting to join our crazy, but wonderful little family.
I am so grateful for days like today that help me focus on the great things of life. I hope these feelings will last so that I remember them when Darek is throwing a tantrum during church or when Alex interrupts me during an important telephone call. :) Life is never perfect, but there are moments throughout life that sure come close.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
I Take It Back
Ha ha... so ya know how I mentioned in my last post about a new job. Yeah, I quit. For those who haven't read through facebook, let me explain a little bit more.
When I accepted this awesome job at the bakery, I was told I'd get to do a little of everything. Decorating, cookies, cakes, bread, cleaning, etc. Well it turned out that all I would be doing was the cleaning part, with a little bit of slicing bread thrown in there. I really wasn't happy about leaving my boys to be paid minimum wage to be a janitor. I know that eventually things may have gotten better but I'd rather do some learning on my own from home where I can be with my boys. So after 2 weeks there, I told them that this wasn't going to work out and that it wasn't what they had described to me that I'd be doing.
I've already been having fun from home. I've made some cupcakes and just today did 5 caramel apples. I'm excited to learn new things and get better at what I love to do. I will continue to do daycare and am looking for 1-3 full-time or part-time kids. Please let me know if you or anyone you know is interested.
So there is the update for now. I'm just happy again being at home!
When I accepted this awesome job at the bakery, I was told I'd get to do a little of everything. Decorating, cookies, cakes, bread, cleaning, etc. Well it turned out that all I would be doing was the cleaning part, with a little bit of slicing bread thrown in there. I really wasn't happy about leaving my boys to be paid minimum wage to be a janitor. I know that eventually things may have gotten better but I'd rather do some learning on my own from home where I can be with my boys. So after 2 weeks there, I told them that this wasn't going to work out and that it wasn't what they had described to me that I'd be doing.
I've already been having fun from home. I've made some cupcakes and just today did 5 caramel apples. I'm excited to learn new things and get better at what I love to do. I will continue to do daycare and am looking for 1-3 full-time or part-time kids. Please let me know if you or anyone you know is interested.
So there is the update for now. I'm just happy again being at home!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
New Years cake
I don't have much desire to blog right now, so I'm gonna make this semi short. I wanted to get some pictures up of the New Years cake we made. My brother in law, Chad and I have wanted to make a cake together for quite some time. So we decided New Years would be a great opportunity. We talked about what we wanted to do and had my sister, Hayley, draw out a sketch of what we wanted. Chad, Bethany and I went shopping for the materials and went to work. On Wednesday we baked the cake, filled it and covered it with fondant. We refrigerated it overnight and went to work decorating all day Thursday. We had a blast making the cake and working together. I didn't get pictures of the whole process, but I do have some pictures of taking the cake to Buca di Beppo for dinner on New Years Eve. It was quite the tasty cake too. Although I'm not a fan of fondant and took most of that off, the red velvet cake with chocolate ganache filling was quite excellent!
Anna, Tyson and Alex
Beth and Chad
Dad and Mom
Cute little Darek
Beth, Chad and myself holding our masterpiece
Taking the pin out so the ball can drop. We wanted something with more mechanics, but didn't have the time. Maybe next time we can try something a little cooler. 
Anna, Tyson and Alex
Beth and Chad
Dad and Mom
Cute little Darek
The Cake
Beth, Chad and myself holding our masterpiece
Taking the pin out so the ball can drop. We wanted something with more mechanics, but didn't have the time. Maybe next time we can try something a little cooler. Tasty cake
The whole family (minus my brother and his family who couldn't make it out this year) From left: Hayley, Ryan, Darek, Dad, Mom, Anna, Tyson, Alex, Bethany, Chad, Mike and Brayden
Monday, December 28, 2009
A New Day
Today was kind of a sad day for me. I have been doing daycare now since November 2008. During that time I had a cute little boy named Truman full-time. He is 5 months older than Darek, so it worked out really well having the two little boys together. It seems like they grew up together when I think about how little each one of them was when I started watching Truman. Anyway, today was my last day with Truman. I knew it was coming. His mom (Emily) notified me that they were going to get him into a daycare/preschool at the beginning of the year. But it seems like the time went by too fast.
We "celebrated" the day by eating lunch at McDonalds and playing in the playplace. After exhuasting ourselves there, we headed down to Sandy to the Living Planet Aquarium. The place was totally packed, but the last time I had been there was when it was down at the Gateway. It had been really small and there wasn't much to see. This was much better! We walked all around and saw the new Sea Horse exhibit. We watched as they fed the Sting Rays. Darek and Truman were totally mesmerized with the fish. In fact, Darek tried as hard as he could to jump in with the Rays to "take a bath" as he put it. We were all more than ready to head home and relax. After his nap, Emily came to pick him up. It was sad saying goodbye, but at least we'll still get to see him a lot. Emily just took my place in the nursery at church. Truman and Darek will still be in nursery together, so this was definitely not goodbye. But we will miss seeing him everyday and seeing that cute little smile. Love ya Truman!!
With saying goodbye to Truman, I decided that I would need to go out and find a job. As I mentioned a while ago, I had been offered a job at a local bakery. Well the timing didn't really work out, so I declined the job. Well I talked to the bakery again and they had another job available. I am going into the bakery tomorrow to work out my new hours and what exactly I'll be doing in my position. I am very excited and a little nervous. It's always scary starting a new job and wondering if it's something you'll enjoy. I'm really hoping I'll love this job. I should be starting next week, so we will see how it goes!
Nerf War II
Before Nerf War III starts, I wanted to do a quick blog about Nerf War II. This past Saturday we scheduled the church for our Nerf War. We did one last year during the holidays and had so much fun. So we decided that it needs to be an annual (or more often) occurrence. There isn't much to tell as far as the war went. We had 6 people for this one... Me, Ryan, Alex, Beth, Chad and my Dad. We split into teams and had a blast. After a few rounds with the Nerf guns, we decided to try some hand to hand combat with Nerf swords. I think we had more fun with the swords than we did with the guns! And it was an insane workout! Our video coverage didn't end up working out so well, but we did get some pictures of our fun time! Tomorrow will be Nerf War III and we can't wait to see how that one turns out!
So excited for tomorrow!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
A Very Happy Christmas
It's hard to believe another year is coming to an end. It's always amazes me how quickly each year goes. But Christmas is always something we look forward to and wait anxiously for. This year was no exception.
Alex seems to enjoy each year more and more. At almost 7 years old, he has so much energy and it radiates through our home. I enjoy watching him as Christmas comes closer and closer. He has so much fun trying to figure out what we got him and what Santa is bringing him. He loves being off of school and spending time with family. I think that is one of my favorite parts as well. I love when he is out of school and we get that extra time together as a family.
Darek still has no idea what is going on. He knows who Santa is, but really does not like him at all. But I think that by seeing the lights, Christmas tree and feeling that excitement from his brother has given him those clues that it's a special time of year.
Christmas Eve and morning were really wonderful. Darek went to bed at 8:00 and Alex stayed up until about 9:30. I was figuring that Alex would probably be up for quite a while, but when I went to check on him around 10:00, he was fast asleep. After the boys went to bed, we (along with Santa, of course) got everything ready for Christmas morning. I also figured that we would probably only get to sleep in until 5:00 or so if we were lucky. I was pleasantly surprised to have Alex come in and wake us up at 8:00. Very happy about getting a full night's sleep!!! We let Alex see what Santa brought him (2 Zero Gravity Laser cars) before going in to get Darek up. Santa had already set up Darek's present for him, so when Darek came out, he ran right over and jumped into his new ball pit. I wasn't sure that we would be able to get him out of it to finish opening presents, but somehow we managed.
We brought all our presents upstairs to open them with my parents and my brother in law and sister Chad and Beth. It always feels like we only take a matter of minutes to open all the presents, but before I knew it, it was almost noon. We were able to do a video chat with my brother Aaron and his family. It was fun seeing my nephews and neice, even with them being across the country.
After cleaning up all the presents and having a very late breakfast, we took the boys over to Ryan's parents home. We arrived around the same time as his sister and her family. We all opened the wonderful presents that they got for us. Each of the boys (including our nephews) got some kind of weapon, so they went outside with Grandpa to have a mini-war. We had a wonderful time with them.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing. We all had a wonderful Christmas. I am so grateful to have such an amazing little family. We all enjoy each other so much. I'm grateful Ryan was able to have this whole week off of work so that he could experience and enjoy this time too. Sadly, he will go back to work Wednesday night, so there will be a few things he won't get to do around New Years. But this week will be full of fun. My older sister Hayley and her family got here yesterday and we have some really fun plans in store. Hopefully I will get to the blogging sooner rather than later.
Merry Christmas everyone. I truly hope this has been a wonderful holiday for you and your family.
Alex seems to enjoy each year more and more. At almost 7 years old, he has so much energy and it radiates through our home. I enjoy watching him as Christmas comes closer and closer. He has so much fun trying to figure out what we got him and what Santa is bringing him. He loves being off of school and spending time with family. I think that is one of my favorite parts as well. I love when he is out of school and we get that extra time together as a family.
Darek still has no idea what is going on. He knows who Santa is, but really does not like him at all. But I think that by seeing the lights, Christmas tree and feeling that excitement from his brother has given him those clues that it's a special time of year.
Christmas Eve and morning were really wonderful. Darek went to bed at 8:00 and Alex stayed up until about 9:30. I was figuring that Alex would probably be up for quite a while, but when I went to check on him around 10:00, he was fast asleep. After the boys went to bed, we (along with Santa, of course) got everything ready for Christmas morning. I also figured that we would probably only get to sleep in until 5:00 or so if we were lucky. I was pleasantly surprised to have Alex come in and wake us up at 8:00. Very happy about getting a full night's sleep!!! We let Alex see what Santa brought him (2 Zero Gravity Laser cars) before going in to get Darek up. Santa had already set up Darek's present for him, so when Darek came out, he ran right over and jumped into his new ball pit. I wasn't sure that we would be able to get him out of it to finish opening presents, but somehow we managed.
We brought all our presents upstairs to open them with my parents and my brother in law and sister Chad and Beth. It always feels like we only take a matter of minutes to open all the presents, but before I knew it, it was almost noon. We were able to do a video chat with my brother Aaron and his family. It was fun seeing my nephews and neice, even with them being across the country.
After cleaning up all the presents and having a very late breakfast, we took the boys over to Ryan's parents home. We arrived around the same time as his sister and her family. We all opened the wonderful presents that they got for us. Each of the boys (including our nephews) got some kind of weapon, so they went outside with Grandpa to have a mini-war. We had a wonderful time with them.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing. We all had a wonderful Christmas. I am so grateful to have such an amazing little family. We all enjoy each other so much. I'm grateful Ryan was able to have this whole week off of work so that he could experience and enjoy this time too. Sadly, he will go back to work Wednesday night, so there will be a few things he won't get to do around New Years. But this week will be full of fun. My older sister Hayley and her family got here yesterday and we have some really fun plans in store. Hopefully I will get to the blogging sooner rather than later.
Merry Christmas everyone. I truly hope this has been a wonderful holiday for you and your family.
Monday, November 30, 2009
NO NIPPLES!!
I had to write this down before I forgot about it. I was getting the boys ready for a bath. Alex was already sitting in the bathtub. I put Darek in the tub as Alex made an observation. "Mom, Darek doesn't have nipples like I do." I giggled a little and said, "Yes sweetie, he does have nipples." "No, not like the ones I do." I pointed to Darek's nipples and said, "These are just like the ones you have." Alex looked at me like I was dumb and pointed to his face where his DIMPLES are and said, "No Mom, these nipples." I just laughed out loud and corrected the word. He blushed and laughed a little when I told him the right word.
I just love little moments like this!
I just love little moments like this!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Halloween
I never blogged about Halloween, so I figure I ought to get to that before Thanksgiving rolls around. We went down to Hurricane/St. George for Halloween this year and had a blast! We went directly over to my sisters (Bethany) house in Hurricane for a How To Host A Murder party. It was such a fun evening. It was fun watching everyone get very into their parts and we all just laughed and laughed. The next day was Halloween. We started the morning with carving pumpkins. We did pretty basic faces this year since I was not in the mood to be creative. :) We met my other sister (Hayley) and her family at a cute place to eat called Pirate Island Pizza. It was a really neat little place and we found out they are building a couple up here, which made us pretty happy. After we all ate, our husbands took the kids back to Beth's house while the girls went shopping. (Don't feel bad for the guys... they went back to play games.) We had so much fun shopping and made me miss the old days when we used to shop together all the time. Before we knew it, it was time to get back to get the kids ready to go out trick-or-treating. We got lots of pictures of all the kids dressed up and while they were out. Ryan and Chad were gracious enough to stay behind for any trick-or-treaters that came by. But really they just sword fought out on the lawn. :) The next day was pretty relaxed and we left in the early afternoon to go back home. It was a great trip and we're thinking of making this a tradition.
Alex (Snake Eyes) and Tyson (Darth Vader)
My cute little Snake Eyes
This one creeps me out a little.
Darth Vader coming in for the kill
My cute little Woody. I couldn't resist this costume!
My little nephew Brayden.
All the cute cousins having a blast together!
Hayley with Anna
I got some of the funniest faces from Brayden.
Love this picture of Anna
Once Darek got one piece of candy, he didn't want to move on until he ate it. :)
Back at Beth's house, Darek found the stash!
Alex was so excited to join in the sword fight when he got back. I love this picture!
Alex (Snake Eyes) and Tyson (Darth Vader)
My cute little Snake Eyes
This one creeps me out a little.
Darth Vader coming in for the kill
My cute little Woody. I couldn't resist this costume!
My little nephew Brayden.
All the cute cousins having a blast together!
Hayley with Anna
I got some of the funniest faces from Brayden.
Love this picture of Anna
Once Darek got one piece of candy, he didn't want to move on until he ate it. :)
Back at Beth's house, Darek found the stash!
Alex was so excited to join in the sword fight when he got back. I love this picture!
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