Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

With the holidays here already, we have been super busy with work, school, and daily events. So far this year we have been to the Christmas Village lights in Ogden, made gingerbread cookies and just tried to survive the daily grind.


Lately we have had the most destructive children. I'm looking forward to the day when my boys haven't gotten into something naughty or broken something. I'll elaborate:


About 2 weeks ago my babysitter went to get Jace up from his nap. For the past month or so he wakes up from his nap, stands in the pak-n-play and then works open her dresser drawer (it has no handles and she has a hard time opening it, yet my boy gets in daily), he then proceeds to pull out all her underclothing. So she decided to move the pak-n-play to a different spot. She found him after his nap covered head to foot and sitting in a puddle of massage oil! Suprisingly, the oil washed out.


Last week Levi decided that he wanted to jump on Abbie's (her daughter) bed, he then jumped over to the Pottery Barn little kitchen set. You guessed it, crash, boom, bang, it broke. Levi cried but I think he was just scared more than he was hurt. Hopefully her husband can fix it.


Then today I get a picture text message showing that Jace had pushed off the top of the end table (it was glass of course) and it shattered. Levi was sitting inched away. Luckily no one was hurt. One more thing for us to fix.



Like I said, looking forward to the day when the boys are not in destructo mode.

Thankful

With next week being Thanksgiving I thought it would be a good idea for me to acknowledge the things that I am thankful for. The past several weeks have been... in a word, CRAPPY. Rick had to have surgery AGAIN. The economy has finally hit our little family as well as the thousands out there who have lost jobs and are also struggling.
Rick's job/business (he works with the stock market) is basically in the toilet right now. He is still working but we won't be able to receive any income from it for a very long time. And because he has been "self-employed" for the past 5-6 years, he doesn't qualify for unemployment (although we have contributed our fair share to the government). We have decided that he is going to go back to school and work in a field where he will have a little more job stability.
So here is where I need to start listing what I am thankful for, because though there have been many tears, frustration, and "pity-parties", we have truely been blessed.
I am thankful for:
1. A husband who tries so hard to provide a good life for us and has always supported my dreams.
2. 2 healthy boys, though at times they try our patience, they definitely bring joy and love into our home.
3. Did I mention that we are healthy? (Despite the recent surgery)
4. We have incredible parents who have taught us well and continue to be supportive of us.
5. I was able to find an additional job, apply, get a job offer within 1 week and start working the following week. With this job, I should be able to work 1-2 days extra per week and we will be able to be okay financially.
6. An education that allows me to make a good living and provide for my family. We sacrificed for a few years to get me through school and it is definitely paying off.
7. A Heavenly Father who though His plan for us isn't always the same as my plan, he is watching out for us and helping us to face the obstacles in our paths.
8. I have many other things to be grateful for, and during hard times, those are the things I need to remember most.

Halloween 2009

Levi and Jace were Cowboys for Halloween. Who knew that it would take >30 min to get 2 little boys in jeans, shirts, chaps, vest and shoes?

And that 2 little boys who normally LOVE the camera, would be SO uncooperative? (The best picture that I could get of the 2 of them.

All in all, we had a busy, fun time. The festivities started on Thursday with a party at my work for the employees and their families. Always nice to get paid to go eat food (there was a short meeting).

Friday was Trunk-or-Treat along with chili/soup and good friends to visit with.

Saturday we headed to Rick's sister Cathy's home for the night. They always have a big pot of chili and a pot of cheesy potato soup that are SO yummy, there's usually some tasty bread as well. This year we brought homemade cream soda and rootbeer. Mmmmm. Rick's mom always brings Marie Calendar pies. We always eat good and go away stuffed. We've been going to Cathy's for Halloween pretty much since we got married, it's a fun tradition.

Following dinner (or what we could get the kids to eat) we headed out trick-or-treating. Levi really understood the whole concept and got into it this year. It is fun for the cousins to get to play together and they are all within about a year in age.

The kids lasted about 1 1/2 hours and had a great time running from house to house. Jace hung out in the stroller and was a good sport. At one house Levi was running away and the owner's puppy (a black lab) got loose and chased Levi and knocked him over, Candy went everywhere! Levi was no worse for the wear and it was pretty funny to watch.

Levi and Evie "cheese-ing" for the camera.

Jace loves to find everyone's lazy susan and sit in it. He likes sitting in cupboards in general. His favorite is to carry around 2 cans of tuna that I usually have in there.

Pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns

A couple weeks ago my sister-in-law Cathy invited us to go to a pumpkin patch in Farmington. Levi had a ton of fun running around with his cousin Logan and seeing his Grandma Cook and aunts, uncles and cousins.

We got to wheel carts around and pick out our favorite pumpkins. Then at the place to weigh and pay, there was a spooky farmer sitting on a hay bale with pumpkins around him. Over in the corner behind the kids backs there was a guy with a microphone who would talk to the kids and say their names. They thought that was pretty cool and would talk back to him.

The boys weren't very cooperative at my picture taking efforts.

Last week for family night we set to the task of carving the pumpkins. I'd forgotten how messy pumpkin carving is. Levi tried to help a little but ended up supervising us more than anything.

All in all, I think that they turned out pretty good. I'm looking forward to roasting pumpkin seeds tomorrow for family home evening.

Old Friends and Information Overload

The past couple weeks have been busy for us. I finished my canning for the year!!! Last week I was able to add 16 pints of chicken and 17 quarts of grape juice to our food storage. I have yet to go down and get it all organized... but I'm excited that we have been able to accumulate some things to have during the next year. I've cleaned the equipment, and now just have to get it all put away. That is, unless I decide to do apple juice, hmmmmm.
The boys also keep me busy. Rick's newest theory as to why kids have so much energy is that they suck all the energy out of you to use.
This last weekend I went to the APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) conference for the state of UT. It was good to see old colleges, meet new ones and get a whole lot of good information. The orthopedic presenter was Todd Ellenbecker a physical therapy in AZ who specializes in shoulders. I learned a lot from him over the 2 day span and got some new ideas for treating shoulder patients. There were about 7 classmates of my graduating class there so it was fun to catch up with them too. It was a good two days but mentally fatiguing.

Three!!!

Wednesday was Levi's birthday. But in all actuality, he's basically had a party all week long. It started with his friend party on Tuesday night, a last minute change in the date due to the storm that was to blow in on Wed. It rained and dropped 40 degrees so I was glad we had made the switch. We had his friends from the neighborhood come over for a "terrrrr"ific time to play, eat cupcakes, do a pinata and then have icecream. I made T-rex masks for each of them and cupcakes that had a little dinosaur on each of them.

As I said before they played and then had cupcakes. When it was time for the pinata all the kids ran over, except Levi. He was over at the picnic table hoarding all the little dinosaurs from the cupcakes that the kids had left on the table. Once I convinced him that he could have them later (ha,ha) he had fun taking a whack at the dinosaur pinata.

I also made a dinosaur cake, it ended up looking more like a alligator, oh well, I tried. I should have gone with my first instinct to cover the cake with coconut to look like grass and stick plastic dinosaurs on it. That would have been a lot easier (and not looked like an alligator).

Wednesday we had the grandparents over for dinner and dessert. They brought fun toys for him and he has been playing with them ever since. Jace likes to play with them too, Levi doesn't like that so much but he also confiscated Jace's b-day toys, turn-a-bout is fair play.

This is how dinosaurs eat cake. Levi was pretty mad that we wouldn't let him eat the whole cake this way.

He continues to thrill us, infuriate us, make us laugh and make our hearts melt.

The Fruits of my Spoils/Labor

Above is just a little picture of the Fruits of my Labor (or however that goes). So far this year I've canned 21 quarts of peaches, 14 quarts of apricots, 10 pints spaghetti sauce, 10 pints tomatoes, 14 pints of salsa (chipotle lime, regular, some with cilantro), 12 jars of jalapeno jam, and 16 jars of blackberry jam. I've also frozen 2 gallon bags of apricot puree, 1 bag of peach puree, 1 bag of peach halves, and 5 1/2 quart bags of blackberries. But hey, who's counting...
I am planning to do some more salsa and spaghetti sauce (or at least help my friend do hers), do apples and applesauce, and I may even get to do grapes. I met a gal last week (my sister-in-law's friend) who has grapes and wants to do apples. So I think we may get to do a trade. Also chicken is on sale so I'm debating doing some of that.
For all of my friends out there who knew me way back when, did you ever think that I would be so domesticated?!? I'm quite the little Betty homemaker if I do say so myself. Realistically, this doesn't happen that often...

The Birthday Boy

This past week has been a busy one. I canned 42 quarts of peaches with my friend Erin (we each went home with 21). We had zoo day, picked berries, and most important of all... celebrated Jace's 1st birthday!!!

We no longer have a baby in the house, he's officially a toddler now. We haven't been to the doctor for his 12 mo. checkup but that will be this next week. I know he's at least 24 lbs and is on the go all the time.

To start the day we went walking and then invited our friends Angie, Addison and Jake to go to the zoo with us. After the zoo it was nap time for the boys while I finished preparations for Jace's party. We had aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents over for pizza and dessert. We did a basketball themed desserts with a cake for Jace, ice cream sundaes, basketball rice crispy treats and cake balls for the rest of us.

Jace was a little tentative at first to dig into his cake but soon got the hang of it and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Happy birthday little boy!

The rest of the week was just as busy, Saturday morning the boys and I headed up to my Aunt Linda's house after we got back from walking. Aunt Linda had a little gift for the boys for their birthdays and had invited us to come pick a flat of blackberries. Jace napped while I picked and Levi went and saw the chickens. While we were there my cousin Ashlee and her family came to pick also. It was good to see them and get a chance to catch up. Levi and Caleb had a great time exploring the property and playing with each other. It took about an hour to get my flat picked, the berries are huge (about the size of a quarter). They are now waiting for me to do something with them. I've frozen a bunch and have enough set aside to make jam tomorrow. I just ran out of time on Saturday to get everything done.

I also prepared a batch of fresh salsa using a recipe that I've been wanting to try before I make a bunch to can. It was yummy, I'll definitely be using it to can our salsa (if we ever get enough tomatoes). Saturday night I joined my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for a girls night out. We went to Costa Vida and then to see Julie&Julia. I always enjoy Costa Vida and was glad to get to spend some time with the girls.

Walking

Jace has started walking!!! He doesnt' like to perform for the camera though, so I've only caught a few steps on video. I still can't get video to work on blogger so you just get a cute pic.

He actually started last Tuesday, August 18th. He took 6 steps. Now I can't remember if "walking" is defined as 5 or 10 steps. If it's 10 then he officially walked today! He also has finally figured out how to go down the stairs.

Ribbon Frames

Last night (before Jace woke up) I spent working on baby shower and Christmas gifts (I know, kinda early). I made a ribbon frame for my cousin who is having a girl. I got this idea from "Good Things Utah". I'm addicted to the show, mostly for the great ideas I get.

The idea can be used to either make a hair bow holder or to weave pictures in it. All you do is take a picture frame, remove the backing and glass, put tacky tape on 2 of the inside lips (on opposite sides), put your strips of ribbon in and pull them tight, replace glass then backing ( I put a piece of white paper behind to hide the brown of the backing, but you could paint it or use scrapbook paper). It turned out really cute, the hair clips aren't hard to make either.

I'm sending it down to St. George with my mom next week to take to my cousin, I doubt that I'll be able to go down any time soon.

A "Craptastic" Day at the Aviary

My sister-in-law described her day as "craptastic", sometimes that's how I feel too. So I thought I'd plaguerize her saying to describe our trip to the Tracy Aviary (at least part of it).
I seriously don't understand how it can take 20 minutes (or more) to leave the house when everything was ready an hour prior to departure. The diaper bag packed, lunch bag ready. We were just waiting for Jace to wake up from his morning nap so we could leave. Yet it still took much longer than expected to leave.

Not that we were in a hurry, it just took forever.

On the way down we were in the commuter lane, cruise control set at 71 mph, a good distance behind a motorcyclist. All of a sudden he starts looking back at us, slams on his brakes and flips us off. Then he speeds up, slams on his brakes again and moves over into the left shoulder of the freeway, we had to swerve to get around him.

A few minutes later we are being pulled over by the highway patrol because a car in the far right lane (behind us) thought that we were trying to pass the motorcycle while in the HOV lane. Luckily the officer believed us and talked the motorcycle guy out of giving us a citation.

Lesson to be learned: Stay AWAY from motorcycles!!!

We had a pretty good time at the Aviary until at the end of the bird show Levi started to be naughty. He has recently started spitting, I don't know where he picked that up, but he spit and almost hit a guy in the back. He was of course disciplined but it just makes me so frustrated!


Finally we headed home and the boys went down for naps.

The rest of the day was uneventful until Jace woke up at 10:30 p.m. and just wanted to be held all night. Guess how much sleep I got?

Davis County Fair

Last Saturday, Aug 15th, we took the boys to the Davis County Fair after naptimes. We thought that it would be a fun way to spend time with the boys after being gone all week. It was a great deal too. Entrance to the fair was free and parking was only $1 if you brought 2 cans of food. (of course the rides, toys and fair food add up quickly).

They had a petting area where you could feed the animals, pet them, and Levi even got to milk a cow (with help of course).

Jace had a good time seeing all the animals.

Rick and I enjoyed the funnel cakes (Levi thought it was pretty good too, but who doesn't like fried breading mixture with sugar, chocolate, caramel, etc all over it?). Levi was pretty excited to get a little toy horse.

There is nothing like seeing unabashed joy on the face of your child as he is spinning around in a circle or jumping in a bounce house.

The best part of the day is when you look at your boys, know that they are happy and that they are friends.

Vegas, baby, Vegas

As I said in my last post, Rick and I were going to Las Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera Spectacular! It was AWESOME!!!

Let me just say my hubby did real good (I know, fantastic english). He surprised me back in June for my birthday with these tickets as a combo gift for my birthday and our anniversary (tomorrow will be 8 years!). He did all the planning and I just had to pack and find somewhere for the kids to stay. Our good friends the Blass' offered to take them for 4 days, 3 nights. We owe them...

We stayed at the Stratosphere, I would highly recommend it. It was really nice there because there was a lot to do without having to go through the casino much. Also it is at the north end of the strip and so it wasn't as busy, as well as convenient access to the freeway.

We got there Tuesday night and got checked in, walked around to check out the place and had some dinner. Wednesday we slept in!!! Then we bought an all-day buffet (one price, go whenever you want) so we ate there for the day. Following breakfast (at 11 a.m., gotta love sleeping in) we went up to the top of the Stratosphere to ride the rides. We got an all day pass there also. They have 3 rides, the Big Shot, the X-Scream, and the Insanity. NEVER, EVER go on those rides in the heat of the day after eating (let alone a buffet).

Our first mistake was to ever go on the Insanity. It has 5 arms that hold 2 people each and then starts to spin as in moves you over the edge of the tower so that you are looking down about 1000 feet to the ground. Not for acrophobics, but also not for anyone who wants to keep their lunch.

After the Insanity (aptly named) we had to go in where there was some air and get our equilibrium back, as well as let our stomachs settle.

Next we went on the X-Scream, much more fun. It is like a little rocket that shoots you off the side and then after a pause over the edge... it drops a few more feet so that you are looking down about 900 feet to the ground. The front seat is fantastic!

Our favorite ride by far was the Big Shot. You start at about 1000 feet up and then the thing rockets you up another 180 feet before free-falling up and down a few times. It's similar to the one at Lagoon, only a million times scarier. The following pics give you an idea of how it was.

We went on X-Scream and Big Shot several times (once was too many for Insanity). Then we took a nap, oh the luxury. That afternoon we went to the IMAX and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The first 20 minutes were 3-D which was pretty cool. Following dinner and another nap we headed back up to the rides. They were super cool at night. We must have rode the Big Shot 7 or 8 times.

Thursday we went to the pool and then shopping to the Outlet Mall. It was more a mall than an outlet. But after Rick had been there 1 1/2 hours I decided that he'd probably had enough shopping (he made it 88 minutes more than he usually does). After yet another nap we went to the Roxy Diner (at the Stratosphere), it was a 50's type diner and had fantastic burgers and fries. The strawberry milkshakes were yummy too. They had some live entertainment, one of the waitresses sang to a couple that had just gotten married 2 hrs before and she was great.

Then we headed to the Venetian for the main event...

The Phantom of the Opera Spectacular

Before the show started we walked around the Venetian and saw the living statues, the Grand Canal (with gondola rides), and watched one of their shows while eating gellati. It wasn't exactly the same as it was in Venice but it was close.

The Phantom was AMAZING...I can't even begin to describe how good the show was so I won't try. We had a great time.

Following the show we walked around for a bit and then headed back to the hotel. Friday morning we headed home and though we were anxious to get back to the boys, we certainly are going to miss our naps, staying up late and sleeping in.

Rick, Thank you for such a great surprise and a much needed vacation.

Summer Update

Wow, I can't believe what a slacker I have been. My last post was May 30th, oops. I check out other people's blogs but don't update my own. So here goes...Summer has been busy for us. We have been enjoying our Tracy Aviary pass. We have gone to the zoo a few times and been able to invite TeeMarie in June, Cecily and the kids in July, and my friend Erin and her kids just a couple days ago. We have had amazing weather every time we've gone and it has not been too hot thankfully. Jace's favorite past-time is pulling all the bibs and kitchen towels out of the drawer...at least it's quieter than pots and pans!

Over Father's Day weekend we drove up to Bear Lake for Fri and Sat for the boys to play in a Father's Day golf tournament. The boys took 5th or 6th place and my dad won a shirt for closest ball to the hole. I hear that the shot he made hit a golf path and took a couple hops toward the pin. It was nice to relax and let the boys play with their cousins.

At the beginning of July we went to the Aviary for a member's only night and got a little tour. During the tour a bird trainer came up and showed us a horned owl that had imprinted (meaning it thinks it's human). The bird began begging making a sound that Levi immediately imitated (and sounded just like the bird). Usually owls make a hoo-hoo sound but when it was begging it made a aaa-ooo sound. Our group stood there and was entertained for several minutes by Levi and the owl. The next morning Levi wanted some of my breakfast and began making the owl begging sound, it took me a minute to figure out what he was doing. He's a sharp little guy.

Levi has been super funny lately. I've been trying to keep track of some of his sayings. Here are a few... At our nephew's wedding his Uncle David asked "Levi, what are you doing" Levi replied "I being good." A few days later Levi grabbed Rick by both cheeks and said "Look at me when I'm talking to you" On the 4th of July he was saying good-bye to Grandma Cook and said "you go home, sleep all night, you get money, yeah" (Yes, we bribe our child to sleep all night) Just tonight Levi brought an apple to Rick and asked him to take the wrapper off (the skin?!?). We get a kick out of both our boys. Just the last week Jace has been scrunching up his nose and breathing hard through it. It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. When I try to get it on video he won't perform.

On the 4th of July we helped TeeMarie move in to her new home in Woods Cross, just a few weeks prior Jared and Tera bought a house in Washington Terrace. Wow, we are all adults now. It's hard to believe that my baby brother is as big as he is, this Sept. they are having baby #2, another boy. My poor mother is granddaughter deprived. Jared's boy will make 7 boys and only 1 girl in the grandchildren department.

After helping Tee move the majority of the day we brought the boys home for naps and then met our friends Erin and Nate and kids for the fireworks at Fisher Park. Jace was amazed and totally captivated by the fireworks, Levi was scared and hid on various adult laps. He started to enjoy them the last few minutes.

Our next adventure was to Yellowstone National Park for the Cook family reunion. We stayed at my parents timeshare condo in West Yellowstone, MT. It was so nice!!! Levi got a little beat up every day scraping some body part or another. We didn't see any bears but did see a lot of bison and a few elk. It was crazy how close you could get to the bison. We stayed >100ft away at all times but some people were within 10 ft. We got there on Thursday, the reunion was Friday at a park and then spent Saturday with Rick's brothers David and Jon and their families at the geysers and hot springs near Old Faithful. I'd been there before but don't remember seeing all of the other geysers. Sunday we drove to see the Upper and Lower Falls before heading home.

On the 24th of July we had some friends over for dinner and then lit fireworks in the driveway. The kids had a good time.

That's an update on our recent activity. I'll try to update more often.

Rick and I are leaving Tues through Fri for Las Vegas...alone. I'm a little nervous to leave the boys that long (our first time ever to both be gone overnight). We are going to see Phantom of the Opera Spectacular!!! We're looking forward to sleeping in, laying by the pool and not having to plan our day around naptimes.

Life as usual

Not too much has happened over the past few weeks, thankfully. Everyone is healthy finally and the tonsillectomy recovery is pretty much over (Rick still isn't 100%).

My boys continue to shoot up like weeds. Jace has his 9 month appointment in a couple weeks and I'm sure he'll be at the top of the charts as usual.

On Memorial Day we took the boys to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. For Mother's Day I got a pass to the Tracy Aviary which includes access to the Zoo, Dinosaur Park, Thanksgiving Point and other places. It was only $40 for a year!!! There are some limitations but it will give us a bunch of things to do that we will all enjoy.

We had a great time at the Dinosaur Park. Levi liked the playground best of all, suprise, suprise. He kept talking about how the dinosaurs were going to eat him.

Quick update

Rick and Levi had their tonsils out yesterday. Everything went well and both are home recovering. Levi was bouncing off the walls yesterday (I thought pain meds were supposed to knock you out). Today he is a little more subdued, one minute he looks like he's about to pass out, then next he's running around.

Rick has had a rougher time, as we expected. But today his pain and nausea seems to be under control. Thanks to all our family and friends who've helped and called to help.