Meet the Parents

Welcome Joshua!!!

2011-06-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Joshua Steven Parent was born on June 4th at 11:11 am. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. I am so glad to have him here so I can hold him and kiss his chubby cheeks.

Joshua is such a good baby!! He is happy and just so sweet! He looks a lot like his brother Michael did when he was born.

Joshua has also been sleeping 5-7 hours each night, which is fantastic! Cross my fingers that he stays that way!

Joshua is such a blessing to our family! Michael is a very proud big brother and such a big helper! He loves holding his baby brother and helping me change his diapers!

Picnic at Wheeler Farm

2010-06-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a long time since I have gotten on here to blog, so I thought I would start it back up today!

Michael and I took a picnic to Wheeler Farm and Wayne met us there on his lunch break since he is 2 blocks from there! We had a lot of fun! Michael loved seeing all the animals and had a blast playing on the tractors. I did forget to bring some bread to feed the ducks, so I promised Michael that next time I would remember to bring it. We had a lot of fun just walking around and seeing the different animals. Michael cracked me up by chasing a chicken around a tree. It kept going around and around. I finally got my camera out and took a video of it! Too funny!!

Michael's 4th Birthday!

2010-02-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

My baby is 4 years old and I am not sure how I feel about that! :) Time goes by so fast! Michael had so much fun on his birthday!! He turned 4 on February 17th, so on his actual birthday, he opened up our presents for him which was his first bike! He loves it! We had to go for a bike ride that very second even though it was freezing!! Then we went out to dinner at Carls Jr with some of his friends. That night was so much fun!!

On Saturday, we had two birthday parties for him. One with friends at the Little Gym and one with family at my mom's house. I loved doing his party at the Little Gym because I didn't have to do anything!

Then at my mom's house we had more presents, a pinata and more cake! We had a lot of family and friends come. Thank you all for coming! Michael appreciates all the fun he had plus the presents he got!

Michael's Birthday Countdown

2010-01-20T14:05:00.001-08:00

Michael has 28 days until his birthday and asks me everyday if it is his birthday yet. So, I decided to make another Birthday Chain. He had a lot of fun making it with me. So everyday, he will get to cut off a link on the chain until his birthday is here. Hopefully he will stop asking if it's his birthday, but I am not going to get my hopes up, because I am sure the question will still come. But at least this is a fun way for him to know how much longer he must endure until the big day comes!

Vote for Michael

2009-09-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

I entered Michael into a photo contest and need your help in voting! One boy and one girl will win to be the cover model for Utah Family Magazine. Click here to vote and find Michael's picture. You will need to enter your email address, then check your email and confirm your vote for it to count. I need all your help!! You can do this every day until October 20th.

Thanks!!

Newcastle Preschool

2009-08-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

Michael is going to preschool at the Newcastle preschool here in Draper. I love this school and am so impressed with what they have to offer. We had orientation last Thursday and he didn't want to leave! He asked me almost everyday if he can go to school. His first day is on Tuesday. I can't believe my baby is old enough to go to preschool! I do love that he is so excited about it!! He can't wait to finally go to school! Let's just hope that he always has that attitude toward school!! :)

My First Wedding Cake

2009-08-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

I just made my first Wedding Cake and am so excited about it!!
You can also look at my cake blog to check out more pics! Click here to check it out.

Happy Father's Day!!

2009-06-21T18:24:00.001-07:00

I just want to say Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there!! Even if you are not a dad right now, you still play a special part to your family!! So Happy Father's Day to you too!!

Wayne, I love you very much!! You work so hard for our family and you are a wonderful man!! Happy Father's Day!! You are wonderful!!

More cakes added to my cake blog- Check it out!!

2009-06-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have a made a few more cakes. I have added pictures to my other blog- www.cakesbysheree.blogspot.com

check it out!!

Viva Las Vegas!!

2009-05-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

It was due time for us to take a break and go on vacation... Wayne took Michael to Logan to stay with his parents and from what I hear, he is loving it!

Wayne and I met my sister Cindi and her husband Eric in St. George yesterday then drove to Las Vegas. We are staying at one of our time shares here and had a great welcome party last night. There was live entertainment and they asked Wayne, who they thought was Danny Gokey from American Idol (I know it's kind of funny!!) to sing... Of course he didn't sing. A few people did come up and ask me or him if he was Danny Gokey, or that he looked a lot like him. We did stand up to introduce ourselves as owners and as a joke, Wayne introduced himself as Danny Gokey, then said he was kidding and gave his real name.

Today, I actually got to sleep through the night without a toddler coming into bed with us or waking me up because he has to pee.... It was fabulous!! Then I got to sleep in until 9 am which is un heard of at my house.

We drove up to Jean, NV to the Buffalo Bills Casino and Hotel to ride the biggest roller coaster which is the largest and fastest roller coaster in Nevada. It was awesome!! We rode it twice and had a blast! It was worth it!

Tonight we are going to see 'The Lion King' and are very excited about that! We got a free CD of the music last night at our welcome party so that was a nice surprise for us.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt @ Grandma's

2009-04-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

We had our Annual Easter Egg Hunt at my Grandma Cluff's house today. It's always nice to get the whole family together. We ate lunch first, then sent the kids upstairs to play with toys while we went outside to hide eggs.

Michael had a blast. We had to keep taking eggs out of his basket and re-hiding them because he didn't want to stop. It's so fun him get so excited about everything.

I also made another cool cake for the party... see the bottom for the picture!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2009-04-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Wayne's Mom's birthday. We decided to go to Logan today to celebrate it with her. I made her dinner and a cake. It was fun day! Wayne and his sister Kari did a little wrestling and Michael of course had to get in on the action! It was so funny! Here are some pictures!

Michael took this picture... can you tell?

New addition to our family

2009-03-28T15:41:00.001-07:00

We have a new addition in our family. We got a Chihuahua from a good friend of ours who had to give her a new home due to some changes in their apartments. They were really sad to lose her, but felt better knowing that she would be in a good home.

Cricket is 1 1/2 years old and fully grown and weighs 4 lbs. She is so cute and so sweet! She really has filled a void in our home since our dog Gigi was killed last December. She definitely has a different personality than Gigi, which is a good thing. Cricket is a lot calmer, but just as playful. She can play fetch for hours! She is so much fun! I already love her and am so excited to have her in our family.

She can also sit and lay down on command. We are working with her to 'come' to us, but that will take a little time since she is new to us. She is a very good dog. She is also paper trained ya!!!

We took her outside to play today, and she was a little hesitant because she is an inside dog. She didn't run away like Gigi would have, but she did explore. I was very nervous when my mom took her out without a leash because I don't know if she will run off and because of my experience with Gigi, I just was afraid. She did good, but I am not ready for that. We walked her down to the park with a leash, and she didn't really want to go. It took her running after a bowl of food in Wayne's hand to get her going. It was pretty funny. It's probably because she is in a new home and different surroundings.

We are very excited for Cricket to be in our home and look forward to getting to know her better.

Going into business

2009-03-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

So, I think I am going to start a business. I have made 4 awesome cakes in the last month and have had so many compliments (and people telling me to start a business already!!) So, I think I will. I am looking into. I want to know if anyone has a suggestion for the perfect name for my business. Please let me know if you do. I would really appreciate it. Here are some pictures of some of the cakes I have made.

Here is the Penguin Cake I just finished today for a girl in my ward.

Dinosaur Cake for my nephew Kayzin

Curious George for a girl in my ward.

Michael's Monkey cake (3rd Birthday)

Thomas the Tank Cake for Michael's 2nd birthday

Wayne's Graduation cake (ice cream cake)

I also made a snowboard cake for my brother Steve, but I can't find that picture. It was really cool. It was the board, with boots. I will have to find a picture and post it.

If any of you have any suggestions for names, please let me know. Thanks!

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

2009-03-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

For FHE last night, we made shamrock cupcakes. They turned out so cute!! It was really easy to make. Fill the cup cakes half full then make little foil balls and stick them between the cup and pan in three even spots. Once they are done and cooled, frost with green frosting (we also put on green sprinkles) then with a toothpick, make three lines to represent the leaves then insert a cut up piece of green licorice (I used Twizzlers Rainbow twists).

Fairy "Prince'

2009-03-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

Michael and I went over to a friends house yesterday for a play date. My friends little girl, likes to dress up, so she dressed Michael up too. He was a fairy. He thought it was fun for a little bit, but then had to be back in his clothes... Here are a few pics.

Monkey on the net...

2009-02-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

I decided to submit Michael's Monkey cake on CoolestBirthdaycakes.com and just got the acceptance email. I am excited and wanted to share. Click here to see it. You can also make comments too!

Michael's Birthday Party

2009-02-16T08:18:00.000-08:00

Michael will be turning 3 tomorrow! Time has really flown by! We had a Birthday Party for him on Saturday with Family and he had a great time. Michael keeps asking when all his family can come over again... While he was opening presents, his cousin, Sophia (who is 2) kept coming up to him saying wow! Michael got so mad at her and yelled "Go back Sophie! Go back!" We all had a good laugh!

I made an adorable monkey cake for him- yes I really did make it! It was a lot of fun and by far my favorite cake that I have ever made for him! When it cake time to dig into it, he wouldn't. He didn't want to get his hands dirty! So, he used a spoon and a fork! What a funny boy!

We had a great time! Thank you everyone for your love and support and for the gifts that Michael got! He loves them!

POP!-ular Teacher Valentine

2009-02-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the Valentines that I made for Michael's Terrific Tot's teachers. I also got the idea from FamilyFun.com. They turned out really cute!

Love Bugs

2009-02-10T18:03:00.001-08:00

Michael needed to make some Valentines for his Terrific Tot's class, so I looked around and we found these way cute little valentines. They are made out of Michael's favorite candy- Smarties! We had a lot of fun making them. I used two different phrases on the back of them- "I don't mean to bug you, but will you be my Valentine" & "Just buzzing by to say Happy Valentines Day!"

They turned out really cute!

Physical Therapy

2009-02-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

I had my first session of Physical Therapy this morning. Unfortunately my foot is going to hurt worse before it gets better. My Dr poked and prodded first, which my foot as already hurting after that. Then as a warm up, I rode the bike for 8 minutes, then did easy leg presses to get the rotation of my ankle. That burned so bad! He asked me after the exercise how it felt and I told him that it felt like my foot was on fire. He said that is a sign of inflammation. So, we stopped there. Then an ultrasound was done, then I got hooked up to electrodes with ice for about 15 minutes or more, then was released. I get to go back on Friday. I have to go in three times a week for a while until it is better. It sucks because this is going to cost me a lot of money... Oh well, the price you pay for health!

Birthday Chain Countdown

2009-02-02T12:33:00.001-08:00

Just about every day, Michael says it's his birthday because he is so excited about it. His birthday is February 17th, so he has a couple week's to go. Today, we made a birthday chain countdown so every day he gets to cut one of the links off until his birthday. He is so excited about the idea.

Finally some answers!

2009-02-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

You all know that I have been dealing with a bummed foot for months now! I finally found out what is going on. I had an MRI done last week and got the results this morning. I have a chronic sprain in one of my ligaments and also a small amount of arthritis. I have to go to physical therapy now. Can I just tell you how excited I am about that?! NOT REALLY! But, anything to make the pain go away, I will do. I am just so grateful that I finally have some answers and can finally get over this!

Sorry to make you suffer...

2009-01-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

I have just been informed that my blog was still playing Christmas music. Thanks Brandi for bringing that to my attention and for the rest of you... shame on you! :) JK Sorry to make you all suffer for listening to Christmas music in January, unless you are my sister-in-law, who likes Christmas music year round... I kind of forgot that I put a playlist on my blog.

Anyway, hope you all like my new favorite song "Leave out all the Rest" by Linkin Park.

It's official! Michael is potty trained!

2009-01-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

Michael decided on January 3rd that he would like to poop in the potty. It only took about 2 months! I am so excited and very proud of him. He wanted to go to ChuckE cheese, so I guess we will be going this weekend to celebrate!

Ya Michael!!

Michael's Christmas Progam

2008-12-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

Last week was Michael's Christmas Program in Terrific Tots. It was so cute to see all the little kids singing together. Then, I got to help Michael make a gingerbread house out of graham crackers. It got pretty messy for me! Michael had a blast and was the last one to leave because he felt the need to fill his house full of candy!

It doesn't get better...

2008-12-15T13:28:00.001-08:00

We got a call yesterday that Wayne's Grandma died on Saturday night.... I really cannot do this anymore!! PEOPLE (AND ANIMALS) PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE STOP DYING!!! This brings the count to 5 loved ones in three months. NO MORE!!

My poor little puppy!!!

2008-12-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

I cannot handle any more death!!!!!!!!!

Losing 4 loved ones in three months is way too much!!! First it started with my Grandpa in September, then a good friend, Anona, right before Thanksgiving, then my Grandma Gray just after Thanksgiving and now my dog. I know she wasn't a person, but she was a living thing and a part of my family.

She was hit a speeding car (who didn't even stop!!) in the road a few hours ago. I saw it happen and can't get it out of my head! Her neck was broken and it didn't take long for her to die after she was hit. I am pretty sure that she didn't know what hit her and wasn't in any pain... It was traumatic for me to see it happen. The sight of her being hit, and tumbling and bending/twisting in ways that no body should move, the sound of the hit, the image of her lying there, twitching not making a sound, and the feel of her heartbeat so fast, then just stop! ... just everything!! Now, I am afraid to go to sleep because I am afraid that I will dream about what I saw and I just want it to go away! It's like a broken tape going on and on and on and it's getting to be too much. I am trying to remember all the great moments of her life, but it's too hard, at least tonight. I am sure that it will get easier and better. It's just hard to believe that she is gone...

You never know what you have until you lose it! I miss her so much! I never thought that I would miss her barking and yipping at everyone and everything outside, or the way she would follow me around everywhere, or even eating my blinds and drapes! I will miss her cuddling up against me at night. I will also miss the way Michael and Gigi fought like siblings! I just keep expecting her to come running in and jumping up to me, licking my face and cuddling with me. But it's not going to happen.

I just wish that I didn't see it happen...

Luckily Michael didn't see Gigi being hit! I know what it's doing to me and I can't even imagine what that would do to my little two year old! We explained to him that Gigi died and went to live with Heavenly Father. I don't know how much he understood, but he didn't ask for her the rest of the night. He would say "Gigi died" and then would comfort me and bring some water to drink (in his eyes, water is magic and helps you feel better- he is such a sweetheart!) Anyway, we will see what happens tomorrow and I might have to explain to him again.

I didn't realize how hard it would be to lose a dog! I really did love her and as much as I was frustrated with her at times, I would rather have that back than feel this way! It's really hard...

This was the last picture I took of her...

I always loved this picture of her. It was at Lake Powell last year after she had gone for a swim... Oh I miss her so much!

Goodbye Gigi!! We love you!

Potty Training!

2008-12-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce that my little Michael is potty trained!! Hip Hip Hooray!! We are still working on pooping in the potty though... For three days now he not worn a diaper (except for night time diapers) He has never asked for one, which I am thankful for! He is so excited about going potty, which means I am so excited!!!! Michael loves putting star stickers up on his potty chart, which is filling up fast!

It all started Thursday Morning, when I asked him if he wanted to wear big boy pants and use the potty. He said yes. I was shocked because I ask him this quite often and he usually says no. So, when he said yes, I was excited. To my surprise, he wore underwear all day. Of course we went through all of them, which happened to be maybe ten or so. He would start to pee in his pants then stop, tell me and then go to the bathroom and finish. The next day, he did better and by the afternoon, he would tell me he needed to go before he even started which is awesome!

Today, he didn't pee in his pants at all! He would even go potty then come tell me... Pooping, is another story, but we are working on it and because I now refuse to put diapers, or pull ups for that matter, he will just have to learn. I will also get the lovely opportunity to clean that out.... yuck!!! Anyway, despite that, I am way excited! I just hope that when we do leave the house he will be just as good! I will be prepared though!

Ya!!!!

Saying 'Good Bye' to Grandma Gray

2008-11-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

My Grandma Gray died last Friday, early in the morning. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease for close to 10 years if not longer. I think at this point in her life, she only remembered her husband Frank, which is so sad. I can't even imagine living and not remembering anyone in my family, including my children.

I lived with her while in my first semester in College at Dixie in St. George. It was fun to get to know her better while I was there. I also used to spend some time with her a few years ago and help clean her house and make dinners.

I know that she is in a better place and is no longer suffering. She is happy and healthy! I know it's hard to understand that while we are missing her so badly, but I am happy that she is happy!

Here is a picture of my Grandma and Grandpa Gray with Michael when he was 8 days old.

Meeting Santa

2008-11-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

Michael and I went to the South Towne Mall to see Santa. This Santa is there every year and is perfect! I decided that I wanted to get pictures this year because this is the first year that Michael is really excited about Santa and Christmas. I wanted to get to Santa before Thanksgiving to miss the huge crowd that Santa will be getting, so today is the day!! The pictures turned out so cute!!

The Staples are out!

2008-11-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

We went back to the hospital this afternoon and got the staples out. I tried to take a picture of the staples before they were taken out, but discovered that my camera is broken.... We were in the ER for all of 10 minutes (HOORAY!!) The Nurse was quick, and of course, Michael didn't like it at all! He cried, which is what you would expect. The Nurse taped the staples to a stick so he could keep them. She also gave him a toy plane to keep, which he loves! We got ice cream on the way home because he was such a brave boy!

Michael has a pretty nice scab right now, but it should get better soon. Other than that, it should heal up nicely!

Michael's first ER visit

2008-11-13T21:30:00.001-08:00

Me and Wayne were on our way to see 'Grease' at Brighton High School (my sister Serena is one of the Tech Managers). On our way there, I got a call from my brother Seth who was watching Michael, mind you we were only gone for about 15 minutes, to say that Michael was chasing the cat and fell down the stairs. He originally thought that Michael had a bloody nose because he was bleeding, but then blood started gushing out of the side of his head. Seth freaked out a little when he discovered that Michael cut his head open on the baseboard (our baseboard sticks out half an inch- supposedly it's an upgrade, but really it's a danger zone!!) He applied pressure to the wound then called me to say sorry, but you need to come home. I felt so bad for Michael and for Seth for having to deal with that. I told Seth where the Tylenol was for Michael and he gave him some.

So, we turned around and headed home. Michael was not crying by the time we got there, but running around acting like himself. Seth said that once he took the Tylenol and some water he instantly felt better. (A side note: according to Michael, water is magic! When I don't feel good, he will bring me a glass of water and tell me to drink and that it makes you fell better) He is so stinking cute!!

Seth took Michael's clothes off because they were covered in blood, poor kid! So, I put a button up shirt on and some pants and we headed off to the ER. My poor brother Seth feels so bad, but it wasn't his fault. He said that Michael was so excited to see him that he was showing off and it went all wrong!

We spent a good three hours at the ER, waiting, and waiting some more. Michael was actually in good spirits running around and laughing in the waiting room. He was still bleeding, slowly, but had blood crusted in his hair running down. Oh, I guess I should tell you where the gash is... it's on the right side of his head about 2-3 inches above his ear.

The hardest part was holding Michael down as the nurse gave him the numbing shot. Michael screamed and screamed and I just wanted to cry right along with him. He really was very brave! After that, it just bled and dripped all down his neck. Michael hated it when I wiped it up because he was afraid that I would touch it again and all he remembered is that it really hurt!

Then, an old boyfriend from High School shows up to clean the wound (that was a surprise!) It was really sad because after he cleaned the wound and sanitized it, he shot water right into it which created a huge lump, then it would bleed all over the place. He did that about three or four times to clean it out. Michael didn't like that very much.

Then again we waited for the DR who brought out a staple gun. They don't like to do stitches on little kids because it takes too long and kids fidget. Before she stapled his head together, she had to feel around the wound to make sure that the skull wasn't fractured, which it wasn't. It was a really clean cut (straight) so it would staple and heal good with little scarring. The cut was actually really deep, a lot deeper than I expected. I was teasing Michael saying that I could see his brains, but in reality, it was cut down to the bone! How sad!!

5 staples later, with ice cream, a sucker and some milk we were finally able to go home. I don't think Michael wanted to stay another minute. He was ready to ditch us and run home :)

Of course he fell asleep on the way home, being that it was after 10:00 pm. I did sneak some pictures of him as he slept. It's hard to see, but there are 5 staples there. He has to have them in for a week. We go back to the Jordan Valley Hospital ER next Thursday to get them pulled out.
This is where Michael cut his head open. It's amazing that those spots of blood aren't any bigger. Seth did a really good job of saving my carpet :) I wouldn't have cared though if there was a bigger stain. If you have a choice to get the baseboards like this, DON'T!

Update on 'the foot'

2008-11-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took me so long to update this. I did got see my uncle Larry last Thursday. He actually did a better job of examing my foot than the Podiatrist. Everyone, if you need to see a Podiatrist, DO NOT see Dr. Call!!! Anyway, So, my foot still does hurt. In fact I started noticing it hurting last Wednesday, which only means the cortisone shot was wearing off?! I don't know. However, the pain is no where near what it used to be.

Dr. Andrew did an ultrasound and found no blood clot, which is great news. He doesn't know exactly what is causing the numbing and tingling, except that it probably is a pinched nerve. He suggested that I get an ankle brace to help support my foot and help it heal faster. He did give me a shot (not cortisone) in my foot and wrapped it. Because of the examination, my foot hurt more when I left than when I got there.

As of today, I don't have any more numbing or tingling effects. Every now and then, It will be a little tingly/ numbing around my ankle and lower calf, but it doesn't spread farther than that and it doesn't last for a long time. I can walk on my foot with no problem. It definitely feels better with arch supports and the ankle/foot brace. After a while, my foot will throb and hurt if I am on it for too long. At which time, I just need to ice it and put it up. Luckily I am not on 'bed rest' anymore because that really started killing me!

I have made best friends with crocs. They are the best shoe for lounging around in the house, since I can no longer go barefoot and can't stand wearing my tennis shoes all day!

So, supposedly everything is good and ok I just need to not over do it (ya right!!)

Numbness

2008-11-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here is a quick update on my stupid foot.

The cortisone shot worked as far as taking the pain away. Which is fantastic!! However, I still have the numbing tingles going on all over my foot and within seconds/minutes it starts going up my leg. As soon as I step on my foot, it starts tingling and going numb. Weird. It's strange that a pinched nerve, supposedly that is what it is, would cause the pain and the numbness, then have the pain go away, but leave the numbness... You would think it goes hand in hand.

So, I asked my Chiropractor if there was anything I could do about that, if there were any adjustments that could be done. He said there were, but with the inflammation, he wouldn't dare do it. I asked him what he thought about my situation. He looked at my leg and then my other leg side by side. Upon examination, you could see a color difference between the two. My left leg, the good one, was a nice rosy color, where as my right, the bad one, was pale. It was also slightly larger (swollen) and when you press your finger on my leg, it would hold the print indent for a few seconds. Not a good sign. Robb thinks that I have a circulation problem and need to see yet another Dr... GREAT!

So, I called my Uncle Larry and told him what is going on. There could me a blood clot, Tarsel Tunnel, or something else,who knows. He will do an ultrasound on it and wants to look at the x-rays, so I will need to get those from the Podiatrist because I am not going to pay for another one!

I have my appointment set up for tomorrow at 2:00 pm, so I will keep you all updated.

THIS REALLY SUCKS YOU KNOW?!

Gigi the Menace!!

2008-11-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

My cute little Teacup Poodle, Gigi, is very cute and cuddly, but also very obnoxious at times. She is high strung and has to go everywhere we go or she whines, but I guess that is a typical dog. She is also really hyper at times and needs a chill pill.

She has a way of destroying my house. Over the past two years, she has chewed threw all of the blinds on our main level of the house as well as other things.

She cannot be trusted when we are gone. So, I leave her in her kennel when I leave the house. Usually she will not in the same place I left her. She will actually move her kennel all around the dining room. Well, today when I was gone to take Michael to Terrific Tots, she had scooted herself to the wall under the window and somehow got a hold of my drapes and pulled the bottom of them through her kennel. She ended up getting the whole bundle of fabric through and was chewing on it which ended up pulling the drape down, bending the rod. I can't get it out of the whole because it is in there so tight. I may have to cut it out, but either way, the drape is destroyed because there are so many little holes in it from her chewing on it. urgghh!Having a dog can be such a pain in the butt!

Winter Wonderland

2008-11-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

We were all a little surprised to wake up to a couple inches of snow this morning. Wayne went out to shovel the snow and Michael was dying to go out with him. So, I got him all dressed up and sent him out. He was so excited to play in the snow and throw snow balls at Wayne.

My stupid foot and the Podiatrist

2008-11-02T10:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here is what’s going on with my stupid foot… In August, at my last Lake Powell Trip, I took a nasty fall on the wakeboard which ripped my right foot out of the extremely tight boot and it hurt so extremely bad. For two months it didn’t hurt me, well, it kind of did, but bad. Then, about three weeks ago, I had restlest leg syndrome in my left calf and decided to put a heating pad on it. My foot was hurting that day, so I rested my foot against the heating pad, which felt really good, until the next morning when I couldn’t walk on it. The pain was so bad, but I dealt with it, because I am stubborn. So, for three weeks, I have had from little pain to excrutiating pain here and there. Some days I couldn’t walk on it, and others I could. It was really weird. I found my self limping more often than not. I started getting a prickling numb sensation all over my foot along with startling pain everywhere. Then, I found that my leg was starting to go numb. The night before I saw a Dr, I woke up at midnight with my right leg completely numb up to my butt. It kind of scared me.

I met with a Podiatrist last Thursday and got some good and bad news. I had some x-rays taken which showed no fracture or stress fractures, which is good. He then said that it looks like I have arthritis! WHAT?! (I found out later, that it wasn’t arthritis) He wasn’t sure if it was arthritis or not, but it looks like it. It is enflamed and is pinching a nerve which is causing me a lot of pain and numbing all over my foot and up my leg. The pinched nerve is connecting with everything in my foot, which causes the pain when I walk. That is why sometimes the pain is really bad and others not so bad. He says that wrapping may help, but it may hinder because it may cause more pressure on the pinched nerve. He did say that according to the x-ray, my joint is not equal like it should be, so they are rubbing against each other…

He ended up giving me a cortisone shot that will help with the inflammation, but it won’t really work for 3-5 days. When he gave me the cortisone shot, it hurt soooo bad! First, he sprayed this ‘cold spray’ on my foot, which was cold, but after a few seconds, it started to burn with cold. Then she said that was perfect. I guess he needed the area frozen first before the shot. Then the shot itself hurt extremely bad. He put it right into the inflamed area and let it go. Holy crap! He gave me a prescription for lortab for the pain, but told me first to get the free sample of Celebrex 7 pills. It’s a stronger anti-inflammatory and pain killer. It’s supposed to work really good, but it’s pricey. He says 7 pills for about $30. Ouch!

I am to Rest, Ice, Compress & Elevate (RICE). He did also say that I needed to go to REI to buy some inserts for my shoes that will give me better arch support. That will help raise my foot and should help with the inflammation. Oh, and I am supposed to wear my shoes all the time!! No going barefoot!! Yikes! I love going barefoot! That is all he said about it. He says that hopefully the shot will work and I may not have any more problems with it in the future.

So, I got my prescription of Celbrex at Smith’s on the way home. I couldn’t walk at all! I was walking a snails pace and completely limping. That shot hurt so bad and now my whole foot feels worse! Once I got home, I put my foot up and iced it. I was so close to tears because the pain was so bad! If I even moved my toes a tiny little bit, just a twitch, my whole foot screamed in pain! It was terrible! I kept ice on my elevated foot for hours. This is just frustrating! My foot aches so badly!!!

So on Halloween, I tried to be down as much as possible. Wayne made me use crutches, which really suck and hurt too. So, I dressed up in my scrubs and used crutches. Fun for me… NOT!

On Saturday, we went to a baptism and I talked with one of Wayne’s co-workers wife who is a Nurse Practitioner. She was very helpful. I explained everything the Dr said to me. She said it is not arthiris that it is soft tissue damage because it was from an injury and she see’s that all the time. She was so much more helpful. It’s soft tissue damage that is inflamed and just needs to settle down. I told her what the Dr said about RICE and she does agree. She did also mention that since I have the crutches, I should use them. The more I use my foot, the longer it will take to heal and could actually get worse. She said for the next two or three weeks, I should stay off of it and use the crutches when necessary to allow for healing time. I really should just stay down and ice it and let it heal. But, Wayne works and I have a 2 year old, so I will do the best that I can!

Robin made me feel so much better about my injury and gave me more hope. I do actually wish that I had broken my foot, because then it wouldn’t be so hard to heal. This soft tissue damage is so much worse than a broken bone!

Robin did say that the right shoes are key. My tennis shoes will work, but she actually recommends that I get new shoes with better support. So, somehow, someway, I will get Wayne to take me shopping for shoes.

So, that is what is going on with my stupid foot. It really sucks! It hurts all the time and aches, so hopefully the shot will help and the inflammation will go down so my nerve stops getting pinched so I can be normal again!!!!!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Michael dressed up as a Monkey and would go around saying "ooh, ooh, ah ah Monkey!" It was really cute. He loved saying Trick or Treat and going around the neighborhood getting Candy. After all the trick or treating from the Trunk or Treat, the Zoo, Wayne's work and around the Neighborhood, he got a lot of candy, which we will have to hide because he loves candy!

Wayne's Parent's and his sister Debbie came by to have dinner with us. It was fun to have them over. I made homemade Chilli and cornbread and a yummy fruity drink with raspberry sherbet. Once we ate dinner and got Michael ready for Trick or Treating, they left to visit more family in Provo.It started raining a little, but not bad when Wayne took Michael Trick or Treating. Michael had a blast and didn't want to stop despite being hot in his costume and his bucket full of candy. My mom and sister Serena came by while they were out. Michael was so excited to show off his candy to Aunt Ree.

Then we headed to Springville to visit 'The Witch' who happens to be my Grandma. She is the best Witch ever and has the cackle down perfectly. My went in early to go to the bathroom while I was getting my camera and video camera ready. My Grandma happened to be hiding and scared my mom as she headed to the bathroom. It was really funny. Wayne and Michael went to the front door and I headed in the back to get a good shot. As Grandma opened the door and acted like a witch with her cackle, I was actually surprised that Michael wasn't scared. I thought he would be. He thought she was the coolest thing ever and even gave her a hug! He loved watching her because of the way she looked. He kept calling her Witch! Then, after taking pictures, he stripped his costume off and headed upstairs to play with toys.

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

2008-10-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

My friend Traci and I took the kids to the Cornbelly's Corn maze at Thanksgiving Point last night. There was a lot to do with the kids, such as tons of slides, corn boxes, wooden trains, story telling stations, cow train, pig races, pumpkin patch, haunted monster (which looked really cool, but the kids were scared to death), mining, giant jumping pillow, etc. Michael and Emmy loved it! In fact, they loved it so much they decided to turn their ears off, so they were incapable of hearing us at all! Stinkers!! Oh ya, and they also lost control of what their legs did, which explained why they would run away... Anyway, we had a great time. We didn't stay for the corn maze because #1 we didn't want to get lost, it was getting cold and dark, and my foot was killing me, which meant my leg was also hurting like no other and I couldn't stand it anymore! I will give more detail in another blog after I have my Dr's appointment tomorrow afternoon. I have never been so excited to see the DR!!! Cornbelly's was a great activity to take the kids to, so if you have a chance, go and have fun!
Michael thought this Chicken show was great. It was funny at first, but then got really annoying after a few minutes. Michael kept getting up to push the button so the chickens would say another joke...
Here's Michael finding Corn husks in the corn. He thought it was so much fun!
This is Traci, Emmie (who we couldn't get so smile at all!!) and Alli playing in the corn
Michael riding on the cow train pulled by a tractor. He loved it!!
Michael...
Emmie...
and Alli racing to the finish line!
Here is the cool Monster Haunted house. If the kids weren't so terrified, it would have been really cool and fun!

Boo at the Zoo

2008-10-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went to the Zoo for Trick-or-Treating with my Brother and his family. It was crazy busy and extremely crowded, but a lot of fun. The line just to get into the Zoo was down to the end of the parking lot and wrapping around...
Once you got into the Zoo, there were three new cars with candy in their open trunks, in front of the Train. Here is Michael climbing into one of the trunks to get candy. He didn't want my help, but being a Monkey, that is understandable...
Then all through the Zoo, there were tables set up with vendors giving away candy and some even passes for free kids meals. We couldn't get Michael to stop eating the candy, so we ended up taking it away.
They even had animals out to pet.

Little Gym Halloween Party

2008-10-27T11:14:00.001-07:00

Michael's Little Gym Halloween Party was last Saturday and he had a blast!

This is Michael with Miss Sarah, one of his Terrific Tot's teachers
This is Michael with Miss Erin, the other Terrific Tot's teacher
This is Miss Lila. She was his instructor before he got into Terrific Tots. He loves her!
Here is Michael bowling.And going down the slide.

Parent's Pantry

2008-10-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Traci, I decided to start a new blog :) It's a food blog of recipes that I use. I will update it as I go. I will be fun to share my recipes with everyone. I am always looking for new recipes, so if any of you want to share, please do so!

Check out the Parent's Pantry!!

My Halloween Treats

2008-10-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

These are some of the Halloween Treats that I am making. Yummy.....

I found the idea for the spider cupcakes on the Family Fun website.

Ingredients:


	Chocolate cupcake (body)
	Canned chocolate icing
	Chocolate sprinkles (hair)
	2 pieces of eye-type candy (I used spice drops & chocolate chips- Family Fun used Bassett's Liquorice Allsorts)
	Clean scissors
	Ruler
	1 package of black string lace licorice for the legs (I used black pipe cleaners because I couldn't find the right licorice)

1. Frost the cupcake with chocolate icing and cover with sprinkles. 2. Press the eyes into place. 3. Use scissors to cut eight 4-inch pieces of licorice for the legs. Holding all of the legs together in a bunch, bend them in half and crease. Push the end of each leg into the cupcake as shown.

Yummy Mummy Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup HERSHEY'S Mini Chips Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1 to 2 packages (12 oz. each) HERSHEY'S Premium White Chips
1 to 2 tablespoons shortening(do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil)
Additional HERSHEY'S Mini Chips Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Directions:
1. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in 1 cup small chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough 20 minutes or until firm enough to handle.

2. Heat oven to 350 F. For mummy body, roll 1 tablespoon dough into 3-1/2 inch long carrot shape; place on ungreased cookie sheet. For head, roll 1 teaspoon dough, roll into ball the size of a grape; press onto wide end of body. Repeat procedure with remaining dough.

3. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

4. Microwave 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) white chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in microwave-safe pie plate or shallow bowl at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted.

5. Place 1 cookie at a time on table knife or narrow metal spatula. Spoon white chip mixture over just the top of cookie to coat; place on wax paper. (If mixture begins to thicken, return to microwave for a few seconds.) Melt additional chips with shortening, if needed for additional coating. As coating begins to set on cookies, use toothpick to score lines in body and on face to resemble mummy . Place two small chocolate chips on each for eyes. Store, covered, in cool dry place. About 30 cookies.

Spaghetti Monster

2008-10-01T11:37:00.001-07:00

Michael and I had left over spaghetti for lunch. He almost all of it before he got into the 'Cookie Monster' mode and completely finished his plate, which most of it did end up on the floor for the dog to eat. It was so funny! Then, he felt the need to squish his corn then eat it. Funny boy.

Building a fort

2008-09-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

Michael, Sophie (my neice) and I built a fort in my living room. We had a lot of fun!!

It's good to be home!

2008-09-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

We got home last night and am so excited to be back. I loved being able to hug and kiss Michael after a week. He was so cute when he drove up. He ran to us with the biggest smile on his face! Such a reward!

It's good to be home!

Vikingsholm

2008-09-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today, our last day here at Lake Tahoe, we hiked down to Vikingsholm Castle on the shore of Emerald Bay. It was a mile hike down hill, then of course a mile hike uphill. We are so out of shape!! We are now so sore from the hike.

Once we hiked down we saw the beautiful castle.

This is the view from the front of the castle. I would love to have this kind of front yard!

Then, we took another small hike from the visitors center, just east of the castle up to Eagle Falls. This is a picture of the waterfall, which as you can see is non existent. It would be gorgeous in the spring time though with the winter rundown.

Heavenly Flyer

2008-09-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today, we went up the the Heavenly ski resort up the Gondola and then we rode on the flyer which was AWESOME!!

We rode up the Heavenly Gondola 9,156 feet, which was also very steep. The view was spectacular!

We got to get off at the top of the mountain for an awesome view.

Then we got back on the Gondola to get to the ski resort. There was rock climbing, blow up slide for kids, a restaurant , trails and tons of lounge chairs. We hiked and lounged- we were prepared and had our books- while we waited for our turn to get on the flyer.

At 3:00, it was finally our turn for the Heavenly Flyer. We took another lift up another 3,100 feet where we prepared for a 525 foot drop. Sweet!! We had fun talking with the other people in our group, mostly women, who were going on about how nervous yet excited they were. I was more excited. During the 525 foot drop, and 3,100 foot length, you could go about 60 MPH.

Me and Wayne had the pleasure of going first. We got strapped in and were told to lift our feet up off the ground and lean against the gate. Then they opened the gate and we soared off. It was exhilirating!! You felt so free as you flew down the mountain over the trees. It was awesome! It lasted about a minute, but it was still worth it! Once we got to the bottom, there were coils to slow us down. Then, we were unhooked and just slid down out of the seat. What a thrill!!

MSDixie II Dinner Dance Cruise

2008-09-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last night we went on our Dinner Dance Cruise across the Lake to Emerald Bay. The MS Dixie II is a paddle wheeler, which also has five diesel engines to help it along. It was a sunset cruise, which was really neat, but by the time we got to Emerald Bay, it was hard to see Fannette Island as well as the Vikingsholm Castle. So, some of our pictures didn't turn out because our camera sucks at night time. Oh well... We did see through the big spot light the paddle boat shown on the Island and Castle, but it would have been better with day light.

It took an hour to get to Emerald Bay. It was kind of sad that there were people there who were already drunk before getting on the boat. So, it was kind of interesting. Some people are funny drunks, but these people were the annoying kind. Most of them belonged to a big biker group and came together, so they probably were feeding off of each other in their drunkeness. Some of the guys would stand on the front of the boat with their arms wide open and looking up at the sky... they were impersonating Rose from The Titanic.

It was so cold on the top deck. We stayed on top for the whole hour to the Bay to watch the sunset. My poor ears were frozen. Cuddle time!! It was fun to watch the sun set. it was really pretty seeing the reflection of the sun along the shore of the lake. Despite not having the sunlight to see the Fannette Island, it was still cool to see that close.

We were then called down to dinner. We sat with a couple from Colorado, which we had met up on the top deck. They were really fun to talk to. For dinner, we had shrimp cocktail, caesar salad with garlic bread sticks, choice of steak, artichoke heart stuffed chicken, Mahi Mahi, or ravioli. Wayne chose the steak and I the Chicken. For dessert there was a chocolate trilogy cake. It was really tasty!

After dinner, there was a live band playing and dancing on the middle level indoors. A lot of people danced and got all crazy, it was fun to watch them. Me and Wayne went up top for a minute to see the stars for about 5 minutes, that was about all I could handle of the cold. :) We spent the rest of the evening watching the people make fools of themselves dancing and singing. We did sing along as we watched.

We had a good time on the boat. It would have been funner if we had some close friends with us, but that is ok. We still had a great time.

Emerald Bay

2008-09-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

Wayne and I drove to Emerald Bay today. WOW is all I can say! It was beautiful! The water was so blue and clear! And the trees were everywhere and so tall!

The Island is called Fannette Island and is the only island on Lake Tahoe.

After Emerald Bay, we kept driving and finally turned around at Meeks Bay. It is a 71 mile drive all the way around the lake at 35 miles per hour... that's why we turned around. On our way back through, we stopped at the Taylor Creek Visitors Center, which was really cool. The actual center was nothing, but they had a Rainbow Trail that was really cool. It was beautiful and well worth the walk.

Halfway through the trail, there was a really cool underwater observatory where we could see the fish and crawdaddys.

Day around town

2008-09-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

We decided to do the 45 minute owner update with our resort, which was cool because we learned some great stuff about our timeshare that we didn't know which I wish I would have known. Anyway, by doing this owner update, we get a free gift. We got to choose from a $75 American Express gift card (awesome) or a few other activities around town, such as the dinner/dance cruise, which is 3 1/2 hours long, including dinner, dessert, wine or beer, which we will not partake :) and dancing on Lake Tahoe. That alone costs $71 per person. What do you think we chose?! Of course the cruise!! We set it up for Wednesday night, so we will let you know what it was like. I am so excited!!

After our little Q&A meeting, we left the state of Nevada, and headed into California. I didn't realize how close to the border we were. I don't think we were over 5 miles away from our resort. Pretty cool... Anyway, we did some shopping and sight seeing. I found a cute little stuffed bear (like a beanie baby) for Michael and then a pair of earrings for myself. Other than that, we saw some interesting stuff...

We did see some cool wood carvings around the shops. Here are some pictures:

Lake Tahoe

2008-09-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Wayne and I are at Lake Tahoe for a week without my cute little Michael. It is kind of wierd being without him. We are so greatful for Wayne's Mom, Elese, who is kind enough to spend the week at my house watching Michael. It helps to know that he is in good hands.

We are staying at our Worldmark Resort in Tahoe 3. This is the view from our building.

It is Beautiful here! I want to come again next year. The atmosphere is so nice and peaceful. If we could ever afford it, we would love to have a summer home up here, or somewhere like this.

We were hoping to actually sleep in since Michael won't be up at the crack of dawn to jump in bed with us, but the sun woke us up way too early! Our Resort is at the top of the mountain over looking the lake, so that doesn't help our cause with the sun.

We went on an awesome hike this afternoon which gave us a great view of the lake. It was amazing! The hike we chose was a short .25 miles called the Vista.

We got off the trail and hiked a big rock and were amazed at the view. We stayed on that rock until the wind picked up and started freezing my face. It was so beautiful! I couldn't help but think of how God created this spot and how enjoyable and peaceful it was to just sit and watch.

Michael's Monkey Bathroom

2008-09-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

I just decorated Michael's bathroom in Monkeys. I bought all of this from Kohls. I love the monkeys and think they are so cute. It fits Michael because he is a monkey!

Grandpa's Obituary

2008-09-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to my Grandpa's Obituary (click on the title)

Death....

2008-09-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa Gabbitas died this morning. He fell in the bathroom and took the towel rod with him. By the time my uncle Dave was able to break the door down to get to him, he was dead. From what I understand, Dave did CPR on him, with no luck. When the ambulance arrived, they also tried to resuscitate him, and succeeded. He was taken to American Fork Hospital and kept on life support. He was unresponsive. He died around 9:00 am this morning. I got the call at 8:25, hoping to see him before he passed on, to tell him goodbye, but even if I had rushed to the hospital, I still wouldn't have seen him alive. I cried a lot and when I saw him at the hospital, I knew he was gone. It was just his lifeless body on the bed. Wayne said that he looked so happy and peaceful, the most he has seen him happy in years, and he is dead. I am sad to see him go and regret not seeing him sooner. Now I will never see him in this life again. But, I am happy that he is now happy and with my dad again, of which he hasn't seen for 22 years. I am positive that he is having the best reunion and is in a better place. I am grateful for the time I had with my Grandpa, but will sorely miss him.

I love you Grandpa! I will miss you, but I am happy for you because you no longer have any more pain! Say Hi to my Daddy for me...

Oops, I did it again!!

2008-09-06T21:56:00.001-07:00

THIS REALLY SUCKS!!!! I changed the layout on my blog and once again and it erased my links, etc. Now, when I go to the dashboard, the 'layout' link is no longer there and so I can't change anything, or even add my friends links again. WHAT THE CRAP!! Can anyone help me?! If anyone knows how to put the layout link back, I would appreciate help, because I really don't know what the heck I am doing... the help section doesn't help at all either. So, I may have another blog started up soon if I can't figure this out....

Baby Shower Invitations

2008-09-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

I am throwing a baby shower for my friend Laura Lund on Sept 13th. I am so excited about the way my invitations turned out that I wanted to share.

Minnetonka Cave

2008-08-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to the Minnetonka Cave in Idaho. Click here to see a short video of the cave. It was awesome! Michael loved it and loved to order Daddy to walk (he was sitting in the baby backpack for part of it, until he insisted on walking himself) It definitely was an adventure for him, and us. The temperature inside the cave is an average 40 degrees and there are 444 steps into the cave, then you have to walk back another 444 steps for a total of 888 steps. The formations inside the cave were awesome! They have named a few of the formations the seven dwarfs, miss piggy, bacon, pile of gold (located in the treasure room) and more. We could also see into the devils office and they have a stairway called 'The Stairway to Heaven'. The last room in the cave is called the wedding room. Formations in that room include: the bride, groom (the bride is growing from the bottom, and the groom growing down from the top & when they finally reach eachother in 5,000 years they will be married, so they have a very long engagement) also, there is the organ, and the mother-in-law (also known as the witch) hehe. On the way back through the cave, we could touch one rock, which happened to be slimy and smooth. In early spring there is a small river going through part of the cave (but it wasn't there when we visited today) that runs down somewhere. A while ago, people put dye in the water to see where it went to, but never found it... interesting. On the walk back to the exit, Michael ran off and tripped and fell. He started screaming so loud and being in the cave, it echoed. We were in the back of the line, so everyone was looking back because they thought that maybe he fell down the stairs. I had to tell everyone he was ok and just tripped. Besides that little fall, he was ok and had a blast.

Four Wheeling at Bear Lake

2008-08-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

We are up at Bear Lake this weekend and having a blast so far, although we do miss our friends Darrin and Traci who weren't able to come with us... :) We are staying at our timeshare with Worldmark. We went four wheeling and had a blast. Michael loved it. We stopped at a meadow and had a picnic. Michael had a bee land on his hand next to his sandwich, which he ended up dropping in the dirt because it scared him. Luckily, I had extra cheese and ham for him. It is so beautiful up here and the weather is perfect right now. After we went four wheeling we went into town for a Bear Lake Famous Raspberry shake. Tasty tasty!! We bought Michael an ice cream cone, for only $1.39 and it was well worth it! That sucker was half the size of Michael's head! It was HUGE!! He thought it was awesome though!

Been too long...

2008-08-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

It seem's like forever since I have written anything. Currently, I am feeling overwhelmed and trying to do everything at once... I just can't help it. Oh well. Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day cleaning the house and today, you wouldn't think I had done anything... Life of a mother!! It's kind of frustrating knowing that you spend so much time trying to keep your house in order, just to know that when you turn your back, it will be a disaster again. Sometimes I just want to give up!!

To catch up in the last month, after I got home from Lake Powell (my last entry) I got really sick with Sinusitus and was ready to ask my husband to kill me because I was in so much pain. It was miserable and lasted forever! Then, from July 30- Aug 2nd we had our Parent Family reunion. We rented a cabin up in Heber, which was really fun, as you can see from the picture! hehe.

Then, my sister got married on Aug 8th. It was awesome! She made such a beautiful Bride!

I was one of her bridesmaids, and Michael was a ring bearer. He did such a good job! He also looked so adorable in his tux!!

Then a week later, we went to Lake Powell again. This is my third trip this year!! We had a lot of fun, but were so ready to come home and be home! This time, I did not get sick ya!! Third time is a charm!! :) I feel like I have been gone all summer or have been sick when I have been home. It's good to be home, but now I feel like I am playing catch up with housework and organizing! Fun for me! Oh, yes, and how can I forget?! We are again going out of town next week to Bear Lake, then I am throwing a baby shower for my friend Laura, which I am really excited to do, then going out of town to Lake Tahoe. Holy cow!! This summer has been crazy, and won't really settle down until the end of September. Crazy!!

What really sucks!

2008-07-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

You know what really sucks?! When you get home from vacation to find out that a lot of your son's favorite DVD's, that you were told were packed in the car by someone else, are in fact not in the car at all and NO ONE knows where they are! Now I am left with empty cases of Disney movies and educational movies with no movies in them and a sad little boy who wants to watch those movies, but can't. The DVD case probably fell out of the car when we left, so some lucky person who found them has about 20 or more of my son's (and mine) video's. How irritating!!!

Lake Powell July 17-24th

2008-07-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

I took my 2nd trip to Lake Powell this year, without my husband because he was on a business trip. Me and Michael had a great time. We had a perfect spot which was very secluded and quiet. It was really nice not having a lot of boats come and go and always feeling their wake. It did rain on us a few nights, two of which stopped after a little bit, but one night it kept up and we ended up sleeping inside the houseboat. Unfortunately there were no tsunami's this time, but our wave runner did decide to start up by itself and try to get away. Luckily it was tied up, so it didn't go any where. Crazy. I had to jump in the water and shut it off. Michael had a great time feeding the fish and the Chiki's (chipmunks, squirels). He just loved being in the water and playing with the orange floater, which he loved blowing water out of the end. He also loved to throw water balls and swim to get it. At night we would all get in the water, Michael included, and throw glow sticks at each other in total darkness. It was fun! We also went back to the Indian Ruins. We all had fun tubing, skiing, and wake boarding. We jumped off cliffs and actually met up with old friends that we met last year on our trip. We had gone to check out our old spot and found the same houseboat (Dad's Legacy) in their same spot. They remembered us (mostly because of the fireworks, and the redneck boat ride (pulling the birthday girl on a tube behind a canoe...) Every year, our family friends, Jeff & Wendy Martin come- they are family to us!! Jeff always does this thing called 'Boomer' He stuffs a pipe with newspaper, gun powder and light sticks (he puts those in because sometimes they blow up and little specks of the stuff inside fall down and float on the water) Well, he did 'Boomer' every night. He waits until we are ready, says "fire in the hole!" lights it, runs away and hope that everyone plugs their ears because it's extremely loud. Well, something went terribly wrong the last night. Jeff didn't get a chance to say fire in the hole. He lit the fuse, and it suddenly went off. Jeff was right there. Wendy yelled to him asking if he was ok, but there was no response. We all started getting really worried. Finally once the smoke died down and we got a light on Jeff, we found him in one piece. He was deaf from the boom, but otherwise ok. Luckily he hadn't been leaning over to light boomer or else he would have been seriously hurt. After an hour, Jeff was back to himself and was ok. It was really scary though. I think he may decide to retire boomer. We will see next year. I did get a cold, which included a sore throat and coughing, but thank heavens, I got to keep my voice. My mom was not so lucky. She lost her voice for half the week! I read two books while at the Lake, played a lot of 'Skip Bo' & 'Five Crowns' as well as other games. All in all, we had a great time, though I did miss my hubby! It's nice to be home!

Ahh!

2008-07-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to try and use a new template, and accidently erased all my links and some pictures!!! ahhh! So, now I will need to go back and re-enter all those in. Fun for me!

Making brownies...

2008-07-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

I made brownies while my nephew, Kayzin, and niece, Sophie (or as Michael calls her Fifi) were here. I let them lick the bowl and spoons. Lets just say that the pictures speak for them selves!! It was so funny!! Yes, they did end up in the tub afterwards.

Vertigo

2008-07-09T16:25:00.001-07:00

I have had a bad case of Vertigo since I got back from Lake Powell and it sucks!! You would think it might last a day, but I am three now and I am ready for it to be gone!! My Dr says it could be a viral thing, who knew, so I need to drink tons of water t0 help flush it out. Hopefully it works because I hate these dizzy spells!

Lake Powell over the 4th of July

2008-07-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Lake Powell over the 4th of July weekend and had a blast! We went to Bullfrog Marina on the 4th to watch fireworks over the Lake. It was really cool, but when we got there, the boat somehow made my dads GPS short out, which we were counting on to get back to our houseboat, so we had fun navigating our boat in the pitch dark back home. My dad almost killed us by heading awfully close to the shore, then right into the rock wall, but luckily my mom was there yelling at him to slow down and and guiding us with a spotlight. With a lot of prayers and some luck, we made it safely to our houseboat. It was a tense ride. Then, the following night, we survived a rock fall and a mini tsunami... JK we were never in any real danger. There was a huge boulder that did come crashing down across the lake from where we camped. It happened around 11:00 pm on Saturday night. The lake was so smooth and there was no wind. All of a sudden we heard this huge rumbling noise that reverberated and falling rocks... I actually thought a boat was out and crashed... then this huge wave hit us. It made our houseboat move about 4 feet and our waverunners come way up on shore then back again. It was crazy!! The next morning we discovered that a huge boulder fell off the rock wall and was in the water. You could see the top of it. Scary to think that someone could have been anchored up to that spot in the water!! Despite our adventures, we had a great time. Michael loved playing in the water and going for rides on the waverunner. Michael especially loved driving by himself!! Of course he wasn't alone, but he did a really good job of steering. He doesn't quite have the strength to hold down the gas, but he loved to steer while idling. My little two year old is already driving a waverunner!! Next, I am going to teach him how to ski!!- Maybe in two years. :) I even got up on one ski (I haven't been able to the past two years) so I was way excited about that. Wayne dropped a ski and stayed up on one ski for a little bit. It was awesome!! We really didn't want to come home to the real world, but what do you do?!

Favorite Song

2008-06-25T21:53:00.001-07:00

My favorite song right now is "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock. I just love it!

10 years flew by!!

2008-06-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

After graduation, I headed south to St. George where I went to Dixie College. I graduated in 2000 with my Associates Degree. I had a great time there. During my last semester, I met my husband, Wayne, who was going to Utah State in Logan. We were married in the Salt Lake Temple in March of 2001. I was the on-site manager at the apartment complex that we lived in for 3 years. I was glad to get out of there when we bought our house in Draper 5 years ago. I used to be a loan processor for a couple of different mortgage companies, then worked as a medical insurance biller for Anesthesiologists. We had a hard time getting pregnant, but when we did we were so happy and thankful. I am now a stay at home mom, which I do love, most days :) Michael is 2 years old and is such a happy little boy!

I love being a mother

2008-05-14T20:30:00.001-07:00

I love being home with my son, Michael. I am so proud of how he is growing. He makes me so happy and I love being home with him- most days :) There are days where I don't feel like I am doing a good job, but when he does those little things that I don't think sinks in, and it really is, I think otherwise. For instance, he folds his arms before we eat and when we go to bed, reminding me that we need to pray. Or when he knows the order of things, that I didn't think he knew. I am so grateful that I taught him to pray and to say his please and thank you's and other things. He is only two and already has those seeds planted. I love Michael so much!