Monday, March 30, 2009

Birthday Surprise!


Saturday afternoon, Brandon told me that I could turn on water which is located in my stamp room (the main water valve). (We are remodeling the bathroom - another post that will come at the end.) As I turned the knob, water rushed out like a faucet. I went to get my husband and he kindly told me just a minute. I (probably impatiently) told him he had to come right away. In the process, I started grabbed my scrapbook papers off the floor in time to notice that my entire pants were I leaned down was soaked. That's when I started yelling for help. We shut off the water, called the plumber to figure out why the main valve was leaking, and then we called the carpet people in our ward to see what to do about the carpet. We have air pushers down in that room to try and save what we can. The top picture is of the wall. The bottom (if you can tell) is the wet carpet. Everywhere we stepped became dark because it was wet.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Visit with Aunt Sondra

I don't have pictures for this post, but I just have to comment on visiting my Aunt Sondra Sunday. We were able to attend her ward and it was a wonderful experience. Imagine my surprise when all three children also went to their own classes!

After church, Sondra made a wonderful Sunday dinner for us - roast, potatoes, gravy, homemade bread, etc. It was very delicious.

And then we sat and visited. She doesn't know this, but we were planning on being on the road at 2:00 pm at the latest. But really, it was just SO much fun that we ended up staying until about 3:40 pm instead. And even then, there was not enough time to talk about everything. She is the best aunt ever!

Love you Sondra!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

THE concert

I have to say that this was a highlight of our trip to Boise. Saturday, we loaded up Dawson and Faith and went downtown to the Knitting Factory in Boise ID (see picture below).
It was exactly 12 minutes before they were suppose to open the doors and it started pouring outside. Not just a drop or two. Pouring, soaking, Brandon had water just running down his face like he was in a shower. 7:00 pm came and they still did not open the doors! We got inside about 7:20 pm - again, soaking wet - to discover that general admission meant standing room only. Yes, that's right, we had been standing for 1 1/2 hours already and had to stand for the rest of the night in a small mosh pit so to speak. To make matters worse, staff from the Knitting Factory said that we could put our kids on our shoulders or let them sit on the hand railing. So, basically, they couldn't see anything. Needless to say, very disappointing, and I'm still trying to contact the owners/managers to let them know how disappointed we were.

Lesley Roy opened the show - I had never heard her before and most of the music was interesting although entertaining.
Then we waited about 35 minutes after she finished and David came out. You really couldn't miss it because of all of the screaming teenage girls. His voice is absolutely amazing, probably even better in person. He sang in Spanish, sang some of his favorite songs from the radio, and even sang a song that he hasn't released yet called Zero Gravity - at least that's what I would call it.



Faith really wanted to go because the music was so loud and her feet were hurting. It probably didn't help that it was so late. I told her that I had to hear him sing "Crush" first. She asked Dad why he just didn't sing it so that we could leave. We weren't disappointed - that was the last song that he sang. I really, REALLY enjoyed his singing, how real/funny/goofy he was, and the opportunity to see him live.

It's just a shame that my feet hurt!!!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

2 with a NO!!!

Turning 2 is the best part of experiencing your child growing up. We had a wonderful party with family to celebrate the day. Each gift that was opened got a "W-O-W" from Kate, unless it was clothing. The clothes were tossed behind her back SO quickly. It was SO much fun!

Before the party, in the morning, she was able to open a Dora dress. (1st present to open.)


Here is her reaction! "YEAH!"

Pre-party fun with balloons and fuzzy slippers. Stylin'!

I will sit in the birthday chair.

Another present! I AM lucky!

Turning her back to open the presents!

Puzzles! My favorite - how did you know?

Since her birthday, she has perfected the art of saying "NO" with gusto I might add. She actually takes a huge breath before screaming the word each time. This might be encourage to the speech therapist that she is actually taking initiative to speaking on her own terms, but I might want a second opinion!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

PARENT-SIZED


Kids are so much fun! I think one of the best things about being a parent is hearing all of the funny things they say. Friday night around the dinner table, Dawson started a very interesting conversation.

Dawson: "I can't wait until I'm parent-sized! When you are kid-sized, you don't get to do what you want to do! When I am parent-sized, I will get to do what I want to do. When I am parent-sized, I am going to watch TV while my kids clean up the house!"

Our conversation from there went something like, "Do you think that mom and dad always get to do what they want to do?" The answer (from both Dawson and Faith,) "Yes!" I guess that it's true that you don't truly understand something until you've done it or been in their shoes!

Friday, March 6, 2009

a "HAIRY" day


Monday night the family (minus Faith) drove down to Utah because Kate's surgery was at 8:00 am (check in at 630 am). We stayed at Brandon's brother and sister in law's house in Riverton. (Amy & Justin - thank you SO much for letting us spend the night!!! You are lifesavers!) The night was sleepless - only 3 hours of sleep. Kate didn't have her crib and she can't waking up crying and wimpering. Maybe she knew that something was going to happen.

After 3 hours of sleep, we awoke and headed out at 5:45 am. We arrived right on time to a waiting room full of children and parents. As we walked in the door, Kate turned to me and said "Nack!" (snack) I felt SO bad telling her that she didn't need a snack. She asked about 10 times, but then moved on to the motherload of toys there for the kids to play with.

Kate was upset to put on the pajama gown so we gave her stickers. Then, Kate picked out a little tikes car to drive into the pre-op area. We walked down the halls to surger with her until 'the point'. I joked about them having to put her to sleep in the car and they informed me that they have done that plenty of times before. How cute!

19 minutes later the doctor told us that the surgery went well - the right ear looked good, the left ear was full of infection. That was at 8:14 am. By 9:00 am, I was a little worried because we hadn't been able to go back yet. Turns out that Kate was just a little extra tired from only have 3 hours of sleep. She was a little harder to wake up. She drank 2 cups of juice and still wanted more. Amy drove Dawson up to meet us. We went home quickly and got a nap in to complete our day.

Here are a few pictures of the 'HAIRY' day!


Kate in the waiting room asking for a 'nack!'



Kate ready to 'drive' into surgery.



After surgery she finally gets a 'juice' which is just about as good as a 'nack'.



"CHEESE! Do you like my hair?"

Monday, March 2, 2009

here's hoping

Tomorrow Miss Kate has surgery on her ears. It's surgery #3 - I think that she's out to beat mom's record! We are off the Utah and hopefully the third time's a charm! We are praying that Kate starts to feel better and grows up to be one healthy little girl!

Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes!

Love - all of us!