New Family Pictures

Here is our latest and greatest family pictures. My sister-in-law took them for us. She is wonderful. She even brought us cupcakes!!! That was our bribe to be good during the photo shoot! Grayden was sure that Cheeto the stuffed dog had to come, and I was sure that eddie the dog had to come too! We had lots of fun and got lots of good pictures.

Who Needs a swimming Pool

Really who needs to pay to go to a swimming pool when we have showers and buckets!!! Plus the liklihood of drowning in the shower is pretty slim!

Meet Eddie

So I have been convinced for a long time that Cassie is dying. She makes this noise ALL the time that I can only describe as Huffing. Sometimes, well lots of times, she huffs so hard that she makes herself throw up. It is very gross. Well I finally took her back to the vet and they "diagnosed" her with congestive heart failure. Well to make a long story short, the only thing they can tell for sure is her heart is enlarged and is pressing on her trachea which causes her to huff. As for her life span they really can't say any thing for sure. At any rate, I figured if she was dying it would be easier if we had another dog around so I started checking out the humane societies website. Well one day I came upon this and I had to have him. It was a bit of a struggle to convince Chris to let me keep him, but he lovingly gave in. I might of played the I can't have anymore babies card and this fills that void!!!:) But really he has been a great dog. And he adores me and that really can't be bad for one's confidence even if it is a dog!

Should I be Worried?

So I am wondering if I should be worried. These are some of the things I find my children doing when I am not around!!!!

DISNEYLAND

Last week we took a little trip to DisneyLand with Chris' family. We had so much fun. I am such a fan of amusement parks. The kids had so much fun with all their cousins. We even took Chris' Aunt Grace for her first trip to Disneyland. She only had to wait 88 years! Jordyn was not afraid to go on anything. She went on every single ride with great enthusiasm. Carter went on all the rides except the rollar coaster in California adventure. He was not such a fan of the tower of terror, but he did survive it and has a shirt to prove it. Grayden was in heaven. He loved everything. He was always happy to have his picture taken with the characters and he loved all the rides. He did have a hard time warming up the the bear from brother bear.

Anyone who knows Grayden well knows he is a little afraid/obsessed with bears. I was a little worried about going on this trip as it was so soon after my surgery. I was afraid I would not be up to it, but I actually felt really good. I was more tired than I normally am, but that was it. I am amazed at how fast the recovery process has been.

Happy Anniversary!

So today is the 11th anniversary of Chris' lovely skiing accident. 11 years ago today Chris decided to go skiing with some friends. I might add just to be fair that he went in an effort to forget about the fact that I might have dumped him the night before after he sent a dozen roses to my work for Valentine's day. It really was a very nice gesture. He sent them as a "happy friday before valentine's day" present because he knew that I was not a big fan of the actual holiday. Who knows why that scared me a little. I cannot begin to understand what was going through my very silly head those many years ago. So to make a long story short, his friends talked him into skiing with them and to this day I am not sure that I understand how it happened, but it had something to do with a broken backpack, no ski poles, and a tree and that led to a beautiful helicopter tour off the mountain. Unfortunately for Chris he missed the tour because he was laying face down on a stretcher. Needless to say my Valentines roses arrived yesterday as a "happy dump day" gift. And they say women never forget!

I SURVIVED

I survived my surgery! I am feeling so much better now. I almost feel normal, just a little low energy! I was a little worried about my survival when Carter asked me at least 5 times the night before my surgery if I was going to die! I assured him he would not be rid of me that easy, but my confidence waned a bit when I called Chris to tell him the surgery had changed from the minor outpatient surgery to in patient surgery. He was a little upset, because he was not able to get work off to be with me so when it was more complicated he asked me how I expected to have major surgery with him in Ogden. He said and I quote, "What happens if you die, I will be two hours away!" After we worked through that one he called me back to make sure I had sent in the life insurance checks that were due this month! Thankfully everything went well. Chris even made it to the hospital before I came out of surgery. His wonderful work rescheduled all of his patients for two days so he could be with me. It was great to wake up to his lovely face and know he would not be collecting his million dollars!!!!! I am just happy that I won't be having to do that again. I am running out of parts that can be removed! I should have had my appendix out while I was under!!!:) But seriously, I have had so much help from family and friends. I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life!!! It amazes me that is is possible to have surgery and be feeling well so quickly. It has only been a week and a half. We are going to Disney Land next week so hopefully I will still be feeling as good when we get back!

My Baby turned 3 and started preschool!!!!!

I can't believe my baby is three! Grayden has been a wonderful addition to our family. He is so full of imagination and spunk. He is usually happy and very easy to entertain. He gets so excited about the littlest things. Every morning is like Christmas at our house when Grayden discovers Cheeto his stuffed dog! He will do anything (except poop on the potty) to go on the merry-go-round at the mall.

My little man also started Pre-school on Tuesday. Because of his speech delay he qualifies for the early intervention preschool through Jordan School District. The big yellow school bus comes to our door to pick him up and drop him off. He looked so little climbing aboard that big bus all by himself. But he was so excited. I will say I got a little sad for a second watching the bus leave, but that was short lived when I had three quiet hours to myself to clean, excercise, and shower!!!! Too bad it is only two days a week!

AWESOME PICTURES

My sister in law takes some of the greatest pictures. For Christmas she gave me a disc with some of the pictures she has taken of my family over the past year or so. These three are my most favorites. It seems like there were a lot of Grayden. He is just always around and doing some of the craziest things! Thanks Amy for the super cute pictures. Grayden has been taking the book you gave us to bed at night to look at all the pictures. Should I be worried that he loves looking at pictures of himself??

Christmas "Boogie"

So for those of you who don't spend much time around us you may not know that we fondly refer to Grayden as "boogie." My sister has often questioned the choice of nick name that we have assigned to him, but after viewing this picture there will be no more questions as to how he has earned the beloved name!!!! We were in the kitchen on Christmas morning making breakfast and Grayden walked into the kitchen from the living room and this is what we saw!!! You may ask what possessed us to take a picture instead of get the poor kid a tissue, but really have you ever seen a string of snot this long and thick before? Money is a little tight after Christmas and we were hoping this would win us an award!!!!!!

I know I am a little late with this post, but I always seem to be behind. Anyway on Dec. 4 Carter was baptized and confirmed. It was a wonderful day, and everything went just perfect. It was very nice to spend the day with family and friends. Carter was so excited for this day to come. We are so glad that we were able to share it with him!

Happy Birthday Carter!!!!!!

Carter turned 8 today! I really can't believe I have a child that old. There are so many new things they get to do when they turn 8. We have shopping for new sunday clothes for his baptism on Dec. 5 and today we got to visit the scout store! I was a little surprised that it cost $65 dollars to buy the scouting necessities! Oh the joys of raising kids! I do love watching my kids get older. It is nice to be able to spend time talking to them and feeling like you are having a real conversation. Carter is a great boy and I am very proud to be his mom!!!! I hope the next 8 years are as good as the last!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARTER!

Grandma's glasses

So we were over at my mom and dad's the other night and my mom was going through her cedar chest that is full of the blankets and pillow cases my grandma had made before she passed away. Amongst the stuff were the glasses that she wore until she didn't know she wore glasses anymore. My mom did not really know what to do with them so she just put them in the chest. Well Grayden found those glasses and decided that would be the momento he would have to remember her by. He has not parted with them since. He even had to wear them to church yesterday. Needless to say, he distracted several of the ward members from watching the primary program. When he is not wearing them he nicely tucks one arm in the neck of his shirt and wears them that way.

Ragnar Las Vegas

So two weeks ago Chris and I went to Las Vegas so that I could run the Ragnar relay. It was the first time they have had one in Las Vegas. I was super anxious about the whole event because I came down with a nasty cold three or four days before the race. But thank you to my mother-in-law and her herbal medicine chest I managed to make it through the weekend in pretty decent shape. The race was so fun and I am so glad I did it. I had the first leg and that was awesome because it meant I always finished first in my van. Amy, my sister in law, ran the race with me. I am so glad that she came. I would not have made it through without her. She was definately my moral support. She met me at the end of each of my runs with a banana and ibuprofen. What more can you ask for!!!!!!!!!

Hawaii

I know I have been neglecting my blog, but I have a few minutes to myself this afternoon so I thought I would do some updating. We went to Hawaii last month with Chris' family and had a lot of fun. It was definately a break from some of the other not so pleasant things that we have been dealing with. It was good to get away with family and just be on vacation!!! It was beautiful the whole time we were there and we loved just sitting in the sun on the beautiful beaches. Grayden was happy just to have sand!!!! Jordyn was in heaven in the ocean. I don't think she ever got out and Carter went back and forth from sand to water. Good thing they all inherited their dads skin and esceped sun burn free for the most part.

LOST

So I don't really have an excuse for my absence. I guess I would rather look at other peoples blogs instead of blogging about my own life. Not that I am not enjoying my life. I am also horrible at taking pictures. I think my sisters and sisters in law have way more pictures of my family than I do. We have had a short summer this year. We are on year round school so the kids were only out of school for three weeks before they had to go back. Unfortunately they went back for three weeks and are currently off for another three weeks. We really haven't been doing anything out of the ordinary this summer. We have spent a lot of time at the pool and playing outside. We spent a week in Park City with the Beardshall family. Our big vacation is coming up in a few weeks, with the Olson family. We are spending a week in Hawaii. We have enjoyed many barbeques and trips to the park. We spent a day at lagoon last week, which the kids really enjoyed. I must admit that I am still very much a fan of roller coasters and fun rides! I miss the summer we lived in Farmington and had a season pass to Lagoon. We have even camped out at Wheeler farm for our annual ward camp out. I know it sounds like a strange place for a camping trip, but we very much enjoyed it. So there you have it. We are all doing well and enjoying the summer. So here are a few random pictures from the summer!!!!

Runnaway dog

I will tell you that I adore my dog, however, she is constantly running away. I get so tired of chasing her. Lucky for me, Jordyn is in love with her or any other animal for that matter and is generally the one that is sent to rescue the wild beagle. She (meaning the dog) is a little infatuated with the neighborhood cat "meow"se. Jordyn is a little in love with the cat too. But cassie is bound and determined to bug that cat on a daily basis. Anyway the point of this post is to ask, why when she has such comfy sleeping conditions does she feel the need to run away all the time? I should really just lock the door one night and make her sleep outside, but I am afraid she wouldn't care and Jordyn would be devastated.

This is what happens when mom is not home!

Stevie Wonder

Thank you, Thank you to my dear and wonderful parents who decided to donate their piano to a very good cause. Carter has been dying to start taking piano lessons. Unfortunately we have never had a piano and since they are so expensive we have just never bought one. Carter has had two lessons now and is really loving it. He has always loved the piano. Even when he was just a tiny kid he would sit on my moms lap while she played the piano and put his hands on hers and pretend it was him playing. He has been waking up early everyday so he could practice before school. We are just hoping that the newness does not wear off and that he will continue to enjoy learning how to play! Unfortunately for me Grayden thinks he should also play everyday!!!!! It can be very loud at our house sometimes!