Oh my goodness!

I have been slacking on my blog! There have been so many things going on (I know, excuses) that I just haven't had time! So I've got a LOT of catching up to do! My Grandpa's health continues to decline and he has been moved to a hospice facility to make him more comfortable. He refuses to eat ANYTHING and has only had minimal amounts of fluids. I am a little discouraged by all of this, but he is still strong mentally and enjoys visits from everyone. This is such a hard time because you just don't know what is happening to his body or how long he can hold on with little to no nutrition. He's in pretty good spirits though, which makes it more confusing given most of the circumstances. On a lighter note, we FINALLY took the kids to see Santa at the Mall and had so much fun watching the anticipation, wonder and awe on their faces! I was a little disappointed by the lack of Christmas spirit displayed by all involved with Santa, including the Santa himself. They were so involved with how close to closing time it was, that they were kind of shooing people through without much of the interaction typical for Santa. It's good that the kids were so engrossed in the atmosphere because they didn't seem to notice or care. Phheew. Thank goodness!

This year the snow has been really late and lackluster for us (not that I mind!) and we were starting to wonder about what the spring and summer were going to look like if we didn't get the needed moisture in the mountains. Well I evidently cursed us saying how nice it had been because it's all coming down at once! Mother Nature decided to play a joke on me and dumped in two storms what we normally get in 2-3 weeks! It's very pretty and I know we need the moisture, but couldn't it just stay in the mountains??!?? I know, I live in Utah...Snow is not just part of the deal, it is THE deal. One of these days I'm going to move somewhere with little to NO snowfall. Yeah right. I've threatened that now for going on 10 years and I don't think I could ever do it, it's a nice thought though!

This month has had some of the best experiences and memories for me! One of my really good friends, dating all the way back to junior high/7th grade got married/sealed to the neatest guy I've ever met! She has had a lot of trials and heartache in her life and has finally found her peace and happiness. Together they have 9 children! Oh my goodness!!! But they are so happy and by far the cutest family I have ever seen! Congratulations Seleste and Jayson!

Well, it's time to finish my cookies and fudge for the neighbors! I think I'm gonna have to get a snowmobile to deliver them!!

A week of Thanksgiving....

This has been an interesting week to say the least. Things started out on a bit of a down note with my Grandfather's health declining. He was admitted to the VA Hospital last Saturday and has since been transferred to a care facility. It is disappointing to see him in such a fragile state considering what grand memories I have of him. He has good and bad days, but I'm just not sure where things will go/should go from here. Thanksgiving was a little on the solemn side without either of my grandparents attending (Grandma stayed with Grandpa at his bedside) again. Last year they both had a bout of the Flu and I was so excited that they were going to be attending this year....well that was not to be. Thanksgiving was still nice and it was a relaxing laid back day all things considered. I decided that I wanted to cook EVERYTHING by myself this year and had a great time doing it. I spent the night before baking the pies..(ALL HOMEMADE FROM SCRATCH!) Since we're still eating them, I think I made a few too many: pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato and a chocolate peanut butter pie. Then in the morning I prepped and started roasting the Turkey, made Watergate Salad and started the stuffing, yams and green bean casserole. I did get a little help, though. Tom peeled and cut the potatoes for me while I was doing everything else. Thanks Tom! So of course we then proceeded to stuff ourselves silly! The kids were so cute making noises of content with each bite, helping me feel good about all of the work I'd done. Everything really turned out so nice and I got great compliments from everyone about the quality of the food! Chris was especially greatful for my research and execution of true southern pecan and sweet potato pies. I have to say that I am pretty darn proud of myself.
Since Chris's schedule is so crazy, he was the first to drop for the obligatory nap. Followed very rapidly by my mom, the kids and I. What a nice day. Then, of course we had to plan our attack for the next morning. Yes, Chris and I are INSANE! We went Black Friday shopping, again. What a blast! We got up at 3:30 am and started at Wal-Mart. We took our friend Marguerite for her first Black Friday experience and I don't think that it was as exciting for her as we'd hoped. All things said, we got essentially everything we wanted, AND we survived! Later that day, my Mom took me for a girls day out and got me a MUCH NEEDED perm and hair cut! It's been a long time and I really needed it. Thanks Mommy! Then like we do every year, we went to Temple Square for the lighting of the Christmas Lights. We were late due to my hair appointment, but we still made it. This year was a little crazy and since my hair was still wet, we couldn't stay long because I was miserably cold. But at least we still got to go.
I am starting to realize that I have been a little uptight and tense for the last couple of days and I think I've finally figured it out...it's almost been a year since my surgeries and hospitalization and I think I am reliving the anxiety and fear that I was feeling then. I don't think I have ever verbally expressed the fear and uncertainty that I experienced and had just been greatful to just be okay. So, I apologize if my mood has been a little off..I will snap out of it soon, I promise!! :-)

Wow! Where does all the time go?

I was doing so good at keeping up my weekly blog, happily, until recently. I guess I've gotten so wrapped up in the excitement that I forgot to share the fun! So, since the last time I blogged so much stuff has happened. I started babysitting Mikey (our friends/neighbors 3 month old) 5 days a week and have fallen completely in love with the idea of having a baby around. I forgot how much I love this age! Well, circumstances being what they are, I guess I'll have to be content with babysitting. Darn. Mikey has become an extension of our family and the weekends are hard for me when he's not here. He is just so much fun! Taylor and Danny have loved having him here so much that they fight over who gets to hold him, change his diaper and make him laugh! Who would've thought? Anyways, I'm just thankful for the baby therapy! Then we had Taylor's 5th birthday. Oh boy. I got myself in WAY over my head. I decided to throw a party at our house like a good mommy and totally overdid it! I made darn near the cutest Pirate Ship cake EVER, hand made a "Pin the Patch on the Pirate" game, played "Musical Planks" and made treasure maps with each kid! We had 12 kids under 6 running around hopped up on cake and pizza! I know, I'm nuts. Hey, it turned out so stinking cute that I'm even considering doing it again next year! Maybe. :-) Grandma Stefenee took Taylor to her first Salon appointment for her birthday and had her hair and nails done. Tay had such a great time that she wants me to take her there once a week. Oh boy, I think we created a diva! After that chaos calmed down, I hosted a Lia Sophia jewelry party at my house (three days later!) thanks to some intense urging of an unnamed partner in crime...cough, sneeze Jessica, cough cough. It turned out to be a pretty fun girls night. NO kids or husbands and lots of jewelry. Almost heaven on earth! Almost. Okay, I think I've about summed up the fun for this week. Hopefully I'll get back on track and keep my posts coming weekly!

Halloween Fun!

I forgot just how much I love Halloween!! My Dad absolutely made my whole week in his Batman costume! Grandma Stefenee and Papa volunteered to help with Taylor's Preschool Halloween party and were awesome sports and dressed to the hilt to impress the kids! They really went ALL out and made great memories for Taylor that will last forever! When Taylor got out of school, we went with the Mckell family to their work Halloween "party." Party just doesn't do this justice!
He works for Omniture and they don't take Halloween for granted....at all! They had TWO office buildings totally decked out so well that they rivaled any Haunted House (except it wasn't scary, it was a Super Hero theme) It was the COOLEST thing I have EVER seen!! Thanks for inviting us guys!
After the party we went to Grandma Stefenee and Papa's house to go trick-or-treating and as soon as we walked out the door, it started to rain! The good news was that it was a very nice night and the rain was intermittent, so I really enjoyed two of my favorite things combined! When we had made our way around their neighborhood we decided to come back down to our house so that the kids could trick-or-treat to their friends houses. What a treat that turned out to be! The Wingers (Taylor's friend Kates family) did a spook alley in their garage that was so COOL! The kids spent 20 minutes playing in there and probably would have stayed for hours! Then the Christensen's also did a "haunted garage" for the neighborhood that could be customized to it's audience. Taylor and Danny decided that they were big enough and brave enough to go through the SCARY version with Grandpa, Uncle Tom and Daddy. I was a little worried about them getting too scared, but they surprised me and loved every single second of it! Did I mention that I LOVE our neighborhood?!? Everybody does the funnest things and is so awesome! Thanks for the great memories guys!!

More Fall Fun!

I absolutely love this time of year! Great weather, fun activities and family. What more can you ask for? We went to Hee Haw Farms with Papa and Grandma Stefenee and our niece and nephews Monday night and had a blast! We went last year and just loved the atmosphere, so we decided to do it again this year. In addition to the regular farm activities, they had a "trick-or-treating hay ride" that was so much fun. We got to go for a hay ride and have candy thrown at us!! It was really cool. This year they built a LARGE slide with plastic sheeting overtop of hay bales...I wanted to go down soooo bad, but was convinced that my spine wouldn't like the "bounce" at the bottom. Boy was I grateful to everybody because as I was watching my kids come down, I realized what everyone meant as another adult came down grimacing in pain. Thanks for stopping me guys!!! Oh well, I guess I'm at that point in my life where sometimes pleasure doesn't always outweigh the pain!!

We're so lucky to have great family!

What a great week! We got to spend time with one of my cousins and his wonderful family...we don't get to see eachother near enough! I wish we lived closer so we could repeat these memories weekly! Taylor and Carolina were instant friends like kindred spirits and Danny and Landon had a great time having another boy around to do "manly" things. The poor guys have big sisters that kind of rule their worlds! I guess that's good practice for later in life though, right? We went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point and had so much fun together that I'm struggling to pick favorite moments to blog about! Where do I start? Well, I'll start off saying that my stepmom leaned over and whispered the most profound statement to me during our visit...."I just realized, you really DO have 3 kids!" She is SOOOO right! But I am so thankful for Chris's playful personality and willingness to do fun and silly things. It makes everyday so much fun! Chris went from area to area experiencing all that Thanksgiving Point had to offer...literally. We even got Matt in on some of the action! After walking around and playing, we went to the Pig Races!!! Now this is kind of a legendary experience at our house..two years ago we came to Thanksgiving Point's Pig Races and I got picked out of the crowd to kiss a pig for good luck. Well, I actually did it and Taylor thought it was so gross that she wouldn't acknowledge my existence or speak to me for an hour! Now this year she wanted to kiss a pig...well, she didn't get to, but thanks to some loud and obnoxious family, Stefenee did! We thought that since it was her birthday, she needed a memorable time! What a good sport!! We love you Grandma! What great fun! I wish it could have gone on forever!! Then we went to dinner and proceeded to embarass Grandma even more! We made sure that everyone at Chuck A Rama knew it was her birthday and they did a bang up job gathering a crowd to sing! I am so glad we got to spend time together and look forward to the next time we can do it again! Love you guys!

Happy Anniversary!

So today Chris and I celebrated 6 wonderful years! We started out the morning with a fun breakfast that the kids and I surprised Chris with...HOMEMADE Biscuits & Sausage Gravy and scrambled eggs with Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider (by candlelight!) Yum! I know, it was silly..but FUN! Of course we then went to church, where we substitute taught Taylor's CTR 5 class...that was an experience to say the least! I am VERY, VERY thankful that we don't have to do that EVERY week!! :-) Then we had a nice, lazy afternoon nap followed by a neat photo opportunity..at the park where we were married exactly 6 years ago! My Dad graciously agreed to take the pictures and did a fantastic job! It's fun to have a family photo in the exact spot we stood 6 years ago, starting our life together as a family!
So I thought that I'd list 6 things I love about Chris:
1. His cute/silly smile!
2. His infectious laugh!
3. His willingness to work hard to provide for our family
4. His outgoing personality
5. The way he holds my hand whenever he gets the chance
6. That he made and honors the covenants that allow us to be together forever!
I love you honey, Happy Anniversary!

Weeeeee!

So Chris hasn't been feeling good for a couple days and he had even gone to see our Family Doctor, but kept getting worse. Late last night he started having pain in his chest and a little trouble breathing and when he got in from Wyoming this morning he was really struggling, so he went to the ER. I packed up the kids and went up to meet him there. Well, I'll make a very scary and long story short...he has Pneumonia in his left lung that was putting pressure on his ribs and around his heart. What a relief! It's still not great, but at least it's not what we were thinking! So after the IV antibiotics, the Doc gave him some Morphine for the pain. Oh BOY! Chris on morphine is like the funniest comedians all bundled up together! So this evening we sat outside enjoying the sunset and temperature and watching the kids play, and then it happened...the next dose kicked in.....and here you have it: Asphalt Fishing! He was casting his line in the road and told me he was gonna catch him an F-150! I wish the pictures did the moment justice!
I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! Now wait, I know what your thinking. What a great REDNECK moment...Believe me, that was the FIRST thing I said! Now what you can't see in the pictures is that he has his hand held CB radio in the cup holder of his chair with the antenna mounted on my van. I think all that is missing is 100 mile an hour tape! (that's DUCT tape for us NON-Rednecks!) :-)

Southern Ladies...

I got this from my cousin and his wife and thought it was too funny not to post! A little comic relief that every woman at one point has had "hallucinations" about! I guess this is why Chris married a west coast girl! :-) LOL


Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given their new wives duties.

The first man had married a woman from Iowa and had told her that she was going to do dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day he came home to a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man had married a woman from Illinois . He had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a girl from Georgia . He told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal.

He said the first day he didn't see anything, and the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day some of the swelling had gone down, and he could see a little out of his left eye, enough to fix himself a bite to eat and load the dishwasher.

"Chicks dig scars"

Danny and the concrete had a bit of a disagreement the other night...he was riding his tricycle (quite frankly he is probably too big for it) down the sidewalk and got a little too "comfortable." He took his feet off the pedals so he could go faster, lost control and went head over the handle bars. Ouch. Right on his face...after assessing the situation we were concerned that his teeth had gone through his mouth and decided to go to the ER. He was such a brave little dude! The Doctor couldn't believe he was only 3 and complimented him on what a "big boy" he was being. Long story short, they decided NOT to do stitches. So he's got some road rash on his face and arms and the FATTEST lip I have ever seen! Daddy pointed out to Danny and the nursing staff that "Chicks dig scars" to which I just had to laugh!

What a nice week

This was one of the nicest weeks! Chris got a long weekend thanks to Labor Day and the temperature has been absolutely wonderful. It's been so hot for so long that we are really enjoying the open window breeze (except Taylor, it's killing her allergies!) My niece Jessica spent the whole weekend with us, I love her so much!! We went to the dollar movies (yes, I'm cheap), went swimming and just hung out together as a family. Nowhere to be at any particular time and no one to impress, thus defining what a nice week(end) means to me!
Taylor has really settled into preschool and absolutely loves to go. I personally think she just enjoys the time away from our house and routine and the chance to be so "grown up." Danny has finally decided that it's not that big of a deal that she's gone for 2 1/2 hours. Actually he's really quite enjoying it! I had to do some special things with him for the first couple days to keep him from crying, but the other day he told me: "Mom, I wuve being your big boy helper!" "I wuve you mom, you're the best!" Wow. That is the best thing I've ever heard in my entire life! We've taken a couple trips to the store while Taylor was at school and Danny has been allowed to walk instead of riding in the cart...now this may not seem like a big deal to you, but for him (he's kinda distracted at the store, so to minimize his wandering I have made it a RULE that he ride in the cart) it's monumental! He is acting more grown up to match the new found freedom! I forgot how much easier it is to get things done with only one child!! Next year they'll both be in school for an overlaping amount of time! Whoa..WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?
I have been working hard with both kids to learn their letters (visually and phonetically), their colors and our phone number/address. (Taylor has shown some real issues with color.) And this weekend, both kids gave Grandma and Grandpa a little "talent show." They both showcased their ability to say the sounds of all 26 letters, count to 20 (14 for Danny), basic colors, recite our phone number and say where we lived! I am so proud of them! They also have started the basic math addition and subtraction where they count the number of objects and then we discuss how many are there when I add or subtract an object. I can't believe how much progress they are making with just a little effort and time. (I do have to give Leap Frog a lot of credit for their wonderful products!) I love my kids! They're the BEST!

Taylor's 1st Day of Preschool

Wow. I made it! She's at preschool and I haven't cried...yet. I can't say the same thing for Danny though. He is a total emotional wreck! The first thing he said when we walked through the door is "I miss Tawor, Mom" and he is asking every two minutes when we can go get her. I thought that he would be so excited to have time alone with Mom with no competition, but I was wrong. Hopefully things will get better with time!
When I picked Taylor up and asked her what they had done, all she replied was "We had snacks..." I guess I know where her priorities are! Danny practically tackled her giving her hugs and kisses telling her how much he loved and missed her! What a precious moment! All in all I think it was a good day, full of new adventures and emotions. Now that she's home from school things are quickly returning to normal with the "wonderful" sounds of sibling rivalry!

Who knew? And other Life Observations

So I guess I should've known that the fun would eventually wind down, but I really didn't want it to! We've been so busy and on the go lately that this week has been kind of a nice break. We took things slower and spent some time with our family. We went with Grammy Cindy to her work party and enjoyed the entertainment, food and friends. The kids spent almost the whole time on the "bounce house" and were totally worn out by the time we left! And then last night we went swimming and had a BBQ with Grandma Stefenee, Papa and Uncle Tom. I love spending time with family! But with all the good that's been happening, you know there's always a party pooper....Taylor and Danny tried to be sneaky and retrieve a toy that I had hidden ontop of the fridge and opened the freezer door to climb up. Well, long story short, they left the freezer door open for heaven only knows how long and everything in the freezer defrosted and MELTED all over my fridge and floor! What a mess! Luckily everything but the ice cream was cold enough to be safe and refrozen. Too bad about the ice cream, though. :-(

I also have just realized what an unusual place we are in our lives. Taylor is starting preschool Monday and I am no longer going to be with her 24/7. At first this sounded like a huge blessing :-) but then I heard the Trace Adkins song "You're gonna miss this"(it's on my playlist below if you're not familiar) and realized how big of a deal it is from this moment on. She is growing up and starting her independant adventure and all I can do is watch and hope I've given her all the tools she needs to succeed. I also feel like I'm losing my best friend. I have taken for granted the wonderful time we get together and up until now she has been my "personal assistant" and confidant. What am I going to do next year when Danny goes? Jeez, I better get a dog!? LOL. In all seriousness, I am in awe of where all the time went. She is getting so big and mature and I really am "going to miss this!"

Another Fun Filled Week!

I am really starting to get addicted to blogging! I have to restrain myself from blogging every single moment or memory as immediately as they happen, so I've decided that I am only going to blog once a week. Let's see how long that lasts! :-) This last week proved to be just as awesome as the weeks previous. I got a really cool surprise when Suzette and her family showed back up in town a month earlier than I was anticipating! I missed them so much!! Yeah, they're back in Utah!!
So then Chris won tickets (I know, he has to be the luckiest person I've ever met!) to the Nascar Camping World Series race at Miller Motorsports park and we took the kids and my niece and nephew. It was absolutely awesome! It's so much fun to see my husband acting like a kid in a candy store. What a great memory I will always cherish!
We also got to go to the Draper Safety Fair with Suzette and the kids. There were all sorts of fun things to do and exhibits to see. The kids got to watch a police dog in action doing bite training, climb in a fire truck, watch the Highway Patrol and Airmed Helicopters take off, do child I.D. kits, ride a mechanical bull and climb the rock climbing wall. Oh, and lets not forget all the treats and popsicles that almost every booth was giving out! The kids thought they died and went to heaven! I am so thankful for the neat things we learned and all of the great memories we created!

Good Food, Friends and Time!

What a fun night we had with our "Framily!" (Thanks Christy!-- For those of you who don't know, Framily is defined as good friends we CHOOSE as our family.) Joenette and the kiddos were in town and we went to dinner and then came back to our house to hang out. What a blast! I miss them so much and it was great just to spend time laughing and joking around! By the end of the night we were all a little slap happy after watching Jeff Dunham and laughing until our guts ached! Then there was Kim and Chris singing the Oompa Loompa song. Wow. What a great night. I wish we could do this more often, but it's a 10 hour drive to see eachother! I guess it's one of those things you have to look forward to and anticipate!
Kim caught Chris off guard and I got the pic! Oh I wish I could properly relay the amount of fun we were having and the topics of conversation! It's amazing what can happen in a years time! Oh the poor people that were sitting anywhere near us! We definately weren't being quiet. Sorry! :-) It was all in fun!

Expanding our Horizons

So I guess it's time to catch up with the rest of the world and get our blog going! I had previously been blogging on Myspace, but decided to keep up with the "Joneses!" So here we are!
This has been a really great month for us. We have kept REALLY busy and have enjoyed every second of it! We started out by celebrating the 4th with a neighborhood breakfast (I love our neighborhood!) and then drove to Provo to secure a spot for the Stadium of Fire. We had no idea just how cool our day would turn out! When we got there we drove around looking for just the right spot to see fireworks, but also to hear Blue Man Group and of course the REAL reason we were there, Miley Cyrus! We found a nice spot under some trees just outside the gates and set up our "camp." Chris held down the fort while I moved the van (they were towing vehicles from where we were parked!) and while I was walking back to the stadium I noticed a group of Limo Service vehicles heading for the parking lot. I'll make a long story short...it was Miley arriving for her sound check, just yards away from us! We got to see her and then got to listen to her sound check like a private concert for almost an hour!! It was the coolest experience and fun to watch my kids' eyes light up! The rest of the night was just as amazing! We met new friends and saw the best fireworks. What more could we ask for? Our next adventure this month has been celebrating my birthday with our family! I could go on all month celebrating! :-)
So on to the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert...Chris got tickets for Father's Day and I wasn't all that excited to go, but I love him, so I went. It was a COOL concert! I am so glad we went! It was really nice to spend some one on one time with my hubby...we don't do it enough! A few days later we took the kids and my parents to a Utah Symphony Concert at Sandy Amphitheater. Oh I love that place! The atmosphere is the calmest and most relaxing with a gorgeous view of the valley and mountains! I could stay there forever!
Oh, did I mention we've been swimming every weekend this month? (Thanks Uncle Tom!) Tay and Danny have really shown interest and major improvement in their skills each time we go. Danny is a real fish! Taylor has just recently broken out of her shell and decided that Danny wasn't going to keep stealing the show! She finally jumped off the diving board by herself!! Wow. I never thought I'd see the day!
Then there were Draper Days! Papa and Grandma Stefenee took us to "play" and enjoy the free entertainment (Hermans Hermits). We saw some of the scariest looking snakes I've ever seen! Naturally Danny was drawn to the display, so Daddy had to take him cuz I wasn't going ANYWHERE near them! The kids got to participate in a really cool adventure with the Draper Fire Department; they had set up an RV to teach fire safety and the kids hung on every word the Fireman spoke. They taught them how and when to dial 911, hidden dangers in the house and actually filled the bedroom with smoke and taught them to crawl on the floor and feel the door for heat. I was so impressed! What a cool adventure!
Then there's the 24th of July....I got the itch to take the kids to the parade downtown! So I enlisted my niece's help and off we went. It was really fun for the first hour and then I started wondering what I was thinking! By 10 am it was 90 degrees and by the time we left (an hour later!) it was 98. I decided that next year we will be enjoying the parade from the air conditioned confines of our couch!
Well I think I've practically written a book! But as you can see it's been a fun, busy month!