The Heart of Life is Good

Snow!

2012-01-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

We drove high up into the mountains and looked to the shady side that had not yet melted and found a little snow to play in. The kids thought it was great. Even though it was old, icy, crunchy snow. Poor deprived Arizona children. I really wanted them to have to fluffy flakes falling from the sky experience, but it did not happen. They had a ton of fun playing in the snow and sledding. And on the plus side, the weather was pretty warm.

Thanks so much to Nina who found and bought snow clothes for the boys and to Annalee for letting us borrow Avery's old gear!

Christmas in Utah

2012-01-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

Dano's parents invited us all to their home in Utah for Christmas this year. We were very excited to be able to travel home and be with them since we have not been together for Christmas since we moved to Arizona.
We arrived on Friday just in time to celebrate Bryce's 3rd birthday. It was a cute little party for all the cousins. Saturday was Christmas Eve, and we had a big party with all of the extended family. We ate an amazing Cuban dinner and enjoyed spending time with family.

The kids put on a Christmas pageant. Kayla was an angel and Noah and Isaak played 2 of the Wisemen.

With Sam- the 3 Wisemen

Later that evening we all opened Christmas PJ's from Daniel and Nina.

Isaak with his cousins, Sam and Bryce

Christmas morning: I was the first to wake up. I set my alarm for 6:30 so I could put my breakfast casserole in the oven, but I woke up at 6 anyway. I waited patiently for the kids, and when one of ours made a little noise at 6:45 I woke them all up! It was a lot of fun to have our cousins there, and we made them all line up at the top of the stairs before going into the living room.

Everyone started opening at once! It was all about the kids this year, since Dano and I didn't want to pack gifts to each other up to Utah.

Noah

Kayla

Isaak

We all went to church at 11 am, then had another family party that night. We were hoping for a white Christmas while in Utah, but they have had a record breaking LACK of snow this year. There wasn't a trace of snow in the valley, and our kids were pretty bummed about it. We did have a wonderful time with the Dayton family!

It's beginning to look a lot...

2012-01-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

like CHRISTMAS! I found some more pics from Dano's phone of things we did before Christmas:

This was our first official visit with Santa! In the past the boys have had no desire (they basically refused) to sit on Santa's lap. Dana Park, where our Mesa store is, was having a fun Christmas event, so we took the kids. Kayla would only get close enough to give Santa a high-five, but there was no lap-sitting!

They had live music and an outdoor boutique.

The Monday before Christmas we went to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights with my parents and Aubrey. I love looking at the lights in the warm Arizona weather :)

Right as we got there, Isaak ran a fever and wasn't feeling well, so we pushed him around in Kayla's stroller. We got some funny looks, but it worked for him! Noah and Kayla kept trying to push him around.

Since we were traveling to Utah, the kids got to open their gifts from my parents early. Kayla got an apron and play food for her new kitchen. She loves them! My mom made this cute little apron for her.

December

2012-01-09T11:55:00.000-08:00

So, like many of you, I was too busy enjoying the Holidays to blog, so I have some catching up to do. Before I dive into Christmas and Noah's birthday here is a collection of December:

Kayla loves the princess dress-ups she got from her neighbor friends.

She is the cutest little mix of princess and tomboy.

We enjoyed the awesome winter weather and spent lots of time at the park.

Kayla used my phone to take a picture of her new sparkly shoes.

My little girl eats so much food in the morning. She is having waffles, cereal and a banana!

Taking Joseph and Mary for a train ride, perhaps to Bethlehem?

Isaak had a fun Christmas party at school. They decorated Gingerbread houses.

We went to the library for Christmas music and cookie decorating.

Happy Holidays!

Kayla's Birthday

2011-11-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

Friday was Kayla's 2nd birthday. In the morning we all went to see "the Muppets" movie. It was super cute and the kids were already fond of the Muppets from their 3D show at Disneyland. In the evening we ate Thanksgiving leftovers and cake and gave Kayla her birthday presents. It was the perfect little family celebration with all of the things that are important and memorable for a 2 year old.

My birthday princess!

Princess dress ups from NaNa and Pots

Opening her play kitchen from mom & dad

Princess Tiana doll and matching dress from Aunt Aubrey. Tiana now goes everywhere Kayla goes.

Birthday cake

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

This year, our Thanksgiving celebration was small, but memorable. We cooked the traditional foods, and enjoyed a relaxing day without much stress of entertaining. This year was my first time trying a turkey brine and it was totally worth the extra work. I have so much to be thankful for, most of all, my beautiful healthy children, a wonderful home to raise them in, a hard working and loving husband, and the knowledge that God lives and loves me. Everything else is just gravy, and I have been blessed with a lot of gravy.

Cuteness

2011-11-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

I love having a daughter! She is the perfect addition to our family and her 2 older brothers adore her. It is a whole new experience raising girls. Yesterday she got into my nailpolish bag, brought me a bottle (pink of course) and said, "paint fingernails!" I was in the middle of something and tried to put her off, but she followed me around the house, "fingernails! fingernails!" So I sat her on the counter and painted her nails. She loved it. Soon it was naptime and she noticed that mommy did not have any nailpolish on her nails and didn't want to take her nap until I painted mine. She didn't win that one ;) I love my Kayla Baby!

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

We had the best time trick-or-treating this year! All of the kids were totally into it, and not afraid of going door-to-door anymore. Our awesome neighbor Carie planned a driveway dinner before we all went around the neighborhood. We have the best neighbors, and it is so fun to have 3 families all with kids the same ages, and all with 2 boys and a baby girl!

Here are my little trick-or-treaters!

Kayla with her bestie, Caylee

My lady bug princess! Kayla calls any kind of headband a 'princess.'

The neighborhood crew! These boys are the best of friends.

Candy time!

The night before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. The kids drew their faces on with marker, and we carved them. Dano did an angry bird face, and mine is Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.

Granola

2011-11-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

I recently started making my own granola. It is super filling, healthy and delicious. Best of all, my picky eater loves it and wants it 3 meals a day. I got the recipe from a cooking club at a neighbors house. She invited her friend who has a cooking blog to teach us how to make granola. It turns out awesome! And it is very flexible. You can swap out whatever nuts or fruit you want to add, or even add things like coconut or chocolate chips.
Here is her recipe:
8 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cups oat bran
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cups raisins or craisins

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
Combine oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread evenly on the baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 min. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or craisins before storing in an airtight container.

Wedding

2011-10-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 15th, my little sister Liz married Ben Campbell! We were very excited to travel to Utah to meet Ben for the first time, spend time with our family who is spread out across the country, and most of all, see Liz and Ben get married! We had a wonderful weekend and the wedding was beautiful. Ben and Liz had a short engagement and wanted a simple, and fun wedding. They had their closest friends, yummy food, and good music. We were happy to be a part of it.

Ben & Liz

Yummy Wedding Breakfast at the Park Cafe.

Dano, Scott & I.

My brother Scott lives in NYC and this was the first time I had seen him in almost 2 years!

Paul & I

Their wedding cake: Dia de los Meurtos themed.

Scott was the MC and DJ and he was awesome! I would totally hire him.

We are very happy for Liz & Ben!!

California Adventure and Newport Beach

2011-10-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Our 3rd day at Disneyland was spend at California Adventure. This was my first time at that park, and I was blown away. It is awesome! The first ride we went on was Soarin' and it quickly replaced Buzz Lightyear as Noah's favorite ride. We went on it 3 times, then walked out to Paradise Pier. One thing we learned about doing Disney parks with small kids, is you have to do what is close to you, and try to keep the walking to a minimum. Even Isaak had a hard time with all the walking. We did lots of rides that morning, then after lunch saw some great shows, Disney Junior, Muppets 3D, and Aladdin. We spent the evening in Bug Land, then went back to the pier to watch World of Color. We had some time, so we thought we would ride Toy Story Mania again, but the line was 90 min long. Dano won some cute stuffed Dumbos for the kids at the boardwalk and then we watched the show. We didn't get to do half of the things there, but we had a great time! 3 full days of the parks was perfect for our family.

Dano and the boys on Mickey's Fun Wheel

Can't wait for Cars Land to open next summer!

We met Sully outside the Monsters Inc. ride

The kids were so tired after the show, Noah and Kayla slept on eachother the whole walk back to the hotel.

On Saturday morning we checked out of our hotel and drove to Newport Beach. It was the perfect day at the beach. There were no crowds and plenty of warm sunshine. The boys were instantly captivated by the waves and spent the entire day running and playing in them non-stop. We had lunch at Ruby's diner on the pier. Then they wanted to play more in the water, so we ended up staying until about 5pm (later than we had planned). This made for a late drive home, with some pretty tired kids who did not want to sleep in their carseats. But it was all worth it. We love the beach!!!

Disneyland! (Part 1)

2011-10-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

We had been wanting to take the kids to Disneyland for about a year. Now that our Goodyear restaurant was open and Kayla was almost 2, the time was right! The kids were so excited, they made a countdown chain about a month before we left. When it was finally the morning to leave for California, they were SO happy :)

Road Trippin'

We arrived in Cali just in time to eat some dinner, check into our hotel, and go to bed early.

We knew it was supposed to rain our first day there, but in Arizona it usually only rains for a very short time, then it clears up. We were not so lucky. It was a total downpour all day long. We splurged on some overpriced Disney ponchos, but by 1pm, the kids were soaked to the bone and Noah was in a total meltdown, so we went back to our hotel to dry out for a bit.

Kayla loved It's a Small World, and the boys liked it more than they expected to.

At our hotel we ate lunch, put on dry clothes and tried to take naps, but that just resulted in 3 kids jumping on the bed. So around 4 we went back to Disneyland. It stopped raining around 5 and we had the best time going on tons of rides since the lines were super short.
Waiting for the monorail.

This was the first time I had seen the Nightmare Before Christmas version of the Haunted Mansion. It is awesome!!

The next day we had a magic morning pass and the sun was shining! We got there early and stayed late. We really wore the kids out, but it was so much fun.
We loved Mickey's Soundsational Parade!

We waited for 30 minutes to meet Mickey, and this was the best picture they could take? seriously.

Our longest line of the trip was 40 minutes for Roger Rabbit in the middle of the day. They kids were hungry and grouchy. It was great to see this smile when we finally made it on the ride.

Noah's all-time favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear. We rode it 8 times in 2 days.

We stayed late to watch Fantasmic. All 3 kids fell asleep while we waited for the show to start. Isaak and Noah woke up to watch it and thought it was pretty cool. Miss Kayla slept through it.

Even with the rainy day, Disneyland was more fun than we imagined. Noah was just barely 40 inches and rode most of the big rides. Isaak rode them all. They loved the new Star Wars and even Splash Mountain was a favorite. I can see why DL is always crowded, because it really is the happiest place on Earth :)

Kayla Baby

2011-08-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

That is what Noah calls his baby sister. It is so sweet, and so is she!

We love our Kayla Baby to peices!

At Last

2011-08-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

Noah gets to go to school, just like his big brother. He is enjoying it immensely!

Noah's 1st day of Preschool

Check out this sunset! This may not impress my Utah friends, but we don't get them like this in Arizona very often.

Firstie!

2011-07-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

This week, Isaak started 1st grade! We love the year round schedule in Chandler School District. No need for a long summer when it's too hot to step foot outside! Isaak loves school, and was excited to go back. He has already made lots of new friends and loves his 1st grade teacher. School is so much fun, his brother and sister wanted to go too!

I can't believe how much taller Isaak is than Noah in this pic....

As I was walking away from his classroom, I started to tear up! What is wrong with me, we did this last year! As a mom, it is hard to let go, even when you are excited for them. Noah starts preschool on Tuesday, and I think I may cry tears of joy. He is so ready.

Better than TV

2011-07-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

Watching cement trucks from your bedroom window.

Swim Lessons

2011-07-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

The boys were super excited to start swimming lessons this year. They love the water, and good thing, because it is just about the only thing to do here in the summer. Last year, Isaak was just about water safe, but lost a lot of his confidence over the winter. On the day of our first lesson, he was nervous. By the end of the first lesson, he was jumping in and swimming to the edge with ease. It was a proud moment as a mom, and definitely takes some of the stress away, to have at least one of my 3 kids be water safe. We took lessons through Gilbert City, and they were great!

Haboob

2011-07-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

We have all been buzzing about the Haboob this past week, it was even a trending word on twitter. Apparantly it is an Arabic word for a huge dust storm, and we had one of the biggest in history. Having lived in Arizona the past 4 years, I have experienced a few bad ones, but nothing like this! We were driving home from swim lessons, and I saw a huge wall of dust completely covering the San Tan Mountains. As I kept driving, I realized the storm was moving fast, and right in our direction. I stepped on the gas and pulled into our garage just as it hit. The sky went completely black and the dust was flying! Dano took a video from an upstairs window, while the boys and I watched in the garage.

The storm lasted a couple of hours, and in the end, everything in sight was covered in dust. But we were all safe in our home, and I was so grateful we weren't caught wet at the pool when the haboob hit!

Dano shot a longer and much cooler video, but I couldn't get it to load! If you are friends with him on facebook, he posted it on there. Now bring on the monsoon rain!!

We love Costa Vida!

2011-07-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

No we're not sick of it yet ;) Also, the kids love playing by the fountain in Dana Park.

Isaak's 6th Birthday

2011-07-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Isaak was so excited that Car's 2 was coming out the same weekend as his birthday! Instead of having a big party this year, he thought it would be fun to invite a few friends to see the movie with him. He invited his cousin Sophia, the 2 boys on our street his age, and his best friend from Kindergarten. We had the best time, and it was the easiest party for me! It was so cute to see all of the kids so excited to go to the movies together.

Noah, Isaak & Sophia

Kayla is ready to par-tay:)

After the movie, we had pizza, cake & icecream then Isaak opened his presents.

Isaak thinks it is pretty great to be 6!

Getaway

2011-07-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Every mom needs a good break every now and then. When we got an offer from the Wynn in Las Vegas to stay for 3 nights free, including $200 a day in food credit, we jumped at the chance for a little couples getaway. My wonderful mom offered to watch the kiddos and we were off to Sin City! We do go to Vegas often, mostly because of the location, and cheap accommodations, but we don't drink or gamble, so Vegas can get old after a few days. This was SO not the case this trip. I nearly forgot where we were, because we were so spoiled! When we got the to Wynn, the told us the room we were offered was actually a 1200 sq. ft suite in the exclusive Tower Suites. They have a private lobby, valet, even their own pool. The room was amazing.

We spent 3 days lounging by the pool and eating at all the fabulous restaurants. We only left the hotel once to go get massages (paid for on Groupon, of course!) We didn't shop, see shows, are even walk the strip. We just enjoyed all the free perks, and amazing service offered at the Wynn.

Our first night we ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Okada. Yes, we are people who take pictures of food. Don't judge, it was dang good!

We also ate at Lakeside, really good fish!

and Stratta- the restaurant of Alex Stratta from Top Chef Masters. Alex was standing a few feet away from us, but I didn't want to bug him. We are huge fans of the show.

We also ate at the Wynn buffet & Tableau. All of the food was amazing, and we had the best time relaxing. Best of all, it was all free! Thanks Mr. Wynn!!

Backyard Swimming

2011-06-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

As soon as school got out, the weather was really heating up. The kids wanted to have a water party day. We filled up our wading pool, set up the slip'n'slide, and even got out the water table. They had a blast playing for hours in the cool water.

Kindergarten Graduation

2011-06-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

June 1st was Isaak's last day of Kindergarten. They invited the parents to come for a program. Isaak was very excited for me to see what he had been practicing so much. As I sat in the audience with hundreds of parents, I was hit with an unexpected wave of emotion. I held back tears of pride, but also realizing how fast he is growing up. Isaak was very excited to graduate Kindergarten and really can't wait to be a 1st grader!

Isaak on his last day of Kindergarten

and looking back at Isaak on his first day of Kindergarten.

Isaak loved his teacher, Mrs. Hall. She made his first year of Elementary School a really great experience.

Isaak's best friend from his class, Cole D.

Some more friends from his class.

Memorial Day

2011-06-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

We went swimming at the Perry Pool then had a scrumptious dinner at Joe's Farm Grill. It was a happy sunny day making memories with our sweet kids.

Fathers & Sons

2011-06-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Dano took the boys on their first official camping trip. Our ward had a Fathers and Sons campout back in May and Dano invited my dad to come along too. The boys had a great weekend, running around and getting dirty with the other kids in the ward. They had to drive a couple of hours out of Phoenix to get mountains that have actual pine trees. The boys absolutely loved it!

Tumbling

2011-06-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

This spring, Noah took a tumbling class through Gilbert City P&R. It was a fun little class for 3 year olds, where they got a good introduction to gymnastics. He loved his teacher and had fun learning new things. His favorites were the magic tunnel and somersaults. On the last day of class, they put on a performance for the parents.

Dessert

2011-06-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

I love to cook, but I am not the best baker. I decided to try something new for dessert on Sunday. I saw it on the show 'Mexican Made Easy' on Food Network. It's called Dulce de Leche Banana Cream Pie. Dano loves Dulce de Leche (mexican caramel sauce) and I love banana flavored desserts. It was a match made in heaven!

Here is the recipe Dulce de Leche Banana Cream Pie

Easter

2011-05-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great time celebrating Easter this year. On Saturday morning our neighborhood had an Egg Hunt. The boys loved it, and got a ton of eggs. Kayla was coaxed into picking up 3 eggs, and was totally over it. Here are the kids with our neighbor friends, Carson and Cole Perham.

I love Easter Sunday. It has the spirit of celebrating and remembering Jesus Christ like Christmas, but without all of the chaos and stress. I also love to get the kids dressed up in new Easter outfits. This year, Dano surprised me and picked out new suits for the boys, how sweet!

This smile is worth a million! Love you baby girl!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

I believe in Christ.

Splashpad

2011-04-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

We have the best splashpad in our neighborhood, and we have the best neighbors to play with!
We recently had our hottest day of the year -99 degrees- so just about everyone with little kids went to cool off and play at the splashpad. This was Kayla's first time getting in the water and walking around on her own, so it was my first time to sit and chat with my mom friends without a baby on my hip. Kayla loved it, and didn't want to leave!

Off to School

2011-04-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Kayla is ready for school- How did she grow up so fast??

2011-03-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

These boys have muscles, and they're not afraid to use them! (or show them off, apparently)

They were running through the sprinklers- hence the nakedness :)

I like stripes

2011-03-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

I was looking for inspiration for Noah's room- something to make it a little more...something! When I saw this and this, I was in love with horizontal stripes and knew it was perfect! We bought our house new in 2009 and have been painting over the chalky builder white room by room. We painted Noah's room a subtle tan color a few months ago, and this weekend, I painted the stripes on.

Here is Noah's room before:

I followed the steps on the Young House Love blogpost, sort-of. I was feeling lazy, and didn't want to have to paint the edge against the ceiling or baseboards again. So I figured out if I did 15 inch stripes, then I would only have to paint 3 lighter stripes in the middle of the room. The stripes also dodged all of my light switches and power outlets- How lucky!

1. I marked lines every 15 inches going down the wall. I actually cut a piece of cardboard to 15 inches, because it was much faster to line up and move around the wall than a measuring tape.
2. I taped along the lines, being sure to put it on the outside of the stripes I wanted to paint. Then I marked the stripes I wasn't painting with tape, just as a friendly reminder.
3. I took the advice of the Home Depot paint guy and used clear paint to seal the edges of my tape. I think it was worth it, since I had NO noticeable leaks through the tape. However, with the subtle color scheme, they wouldn't be very obvious.
4. I mixed in 2 quarts of white paint with about a half gallon of my leftover base color to get the lighter paint. You could just buy a premixed lighter shade, but we had leftovers from a 5 gallon bucket.
5. I painted the lighter stripes with a roller and brush for the corners.
6. I removed the tape quickly, about every 2 stripes, so it would come off without sticking.

And here is the result:

I can't take credit for the idea, but I love how it turned out. The key to this look is subtle, monochromatic colors. I think if you did bold stripes it would hurt your eyes.
This room is still in need of some love: furniture, wall decor, etc.- but we're getting there.

Dano's Birthday

2011-02-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

It's true.
I married a younger man :)

Today Dano turns 30! After 4 long months we are the same age again :)
Dano feels great about being 30 years old. He is proud of all that he accomplished in his 20's and he is excited about the future. He is a man who makes plans and puts them into action. He is my hero.

Happy Birthday my love! You are my best friend, and you really bring out the best in me! You are an amazing father and partner in life, and I thank God every day that we met, fell in love, and created this beautiful family together. I love you!!

Dentist

2011-02-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

The boys totally rocked their dental appointments!
They both had 0 cavities, which makes me proud, since I have been cavity free for 30 years :)
Kayla had her first check-up and it was not fun for her, therefore, no pictures of her at the dentist.
But like I said, they boys were awesome.
They held still, they smiled, they opened and closed upon request.
What can I say, they are the best!

Marathon

2011-02-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

On January 16th, Dano ran his first marathon! He did the PF Chang's Rock 'n Roll Marathon here in Phoenix. He has been interested in doing triathlons and has a goal to do an Ironman. He thought this would be a good start. Dano is very competitive and a natural athlete. He set the goal to qualify for Boston on his first race (pretty much a crazy idea). He trained with dedication for months, and even with a 10 day cruise a week before the race, he was ready. A Boston qualifying time is under 3:10. My family and I went to the finish line to watch him come in. We arrived about a half hour before his goal time and hoped and prayed for the best. Your first marathon can have a lot of challenges and unexpected obstacles, so I was hopeful, but anxious for him. As we were driving towards the race, we just happened to drive along side Josh Cox at about mile 24. Josh is a worldclass runnner, and placed 1st in the marathon with a time of 2:17:32! He was running a 50k that day and was attempting to beat the world record that was made back in the1980's. He missed it by 7 seconds! Poor guy, but he is amazing! Dano really enjoyed meeting him at the expo.

He is in a white shirt, running behind the 2 guys on bikes (not the best picture).

My parents just happened to come into town that weekend, and it was great to have them with us at the race. My sister Aubrey also came to support Dano.

We found a good spot along the finish line and kept a close watch on the race clock. There is a sharp turn before the final stretch and we kept waiting for Dano to come around the corner. Finally with only minutes until his goal time, we saw him. He made it!! I was so proud of him! We were screaming and cheering for him! As he got closer to us, I could tell he was in bad shape. His form was all messed up, and he was not acknowledging us in the crowd at all.

Right at the finish line he stopped, took a step to the side then finally made it across, where he started to collapse. 2 other runners grabbed him on both sides and dragged him (unconscious) to the medical tent. I immediately started to panic and ran through the crowd to try and find him.

After the finish line is a secure recovery area. I was standing behind a barricade looking at him in this tent, having no idea what condition he was in. After a very long time, one of the medics called my cell phone to tell me they were taking him to the hospital by ambulance. I waved her over to where I was standing and she said I could ride with him. I was so grateful to have my parents and Aubrey there to take our 3 kids home, so I could go to the hospital with Dano.

I finally got to see him when they brought him out on a stretcher. He asked mumbled to me, "tell them to cut off my legs." I thought he was talking about his running tights or something, but he was in so much pain, he really just wanted them to cut off his legs! The ambulance took him to Scottsdale Medical Center. They gave him 3 bags of fluid and did an EKG and bloodwork. His bloodwork showed kidney damage, which is expected after all he did. After a few hours, he was feeling a lot better and they released him. This was a very emotional day. I am SO proud of Dano for achieving his goal! He finished his first marathon in 3:09:43!!! He placed 199th out of 5,117 finishers. Also, it was very hard to see Dano so broken down. I realized out of all the times he has taken care of me while I'm sick, or having babies, I have never been on the other side of the coin. The guy has never stayed in bed sick in the 8 years we have been together. I was happy to hear him say it was one of the best experiences of his life, and completely worth all of the pain and sacrifice, and even the trip to the hospital. Now when I am working out, and in pain- wanting to quit, I think of Dano, and his determination to run his first marathon in 3:10, and how he pushed himself to the edge.

Puerto Rico and Grand Turk

2011-02-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

On Thursday our ship stopped in Puerto Rico. We thought it would be fun to rent scooters so we could explore the island. The scooter place didn't open until 9, so we waited on the beach for about an hour. It was a beautiful sunny morning. It was fun to ride around and see some of the 'interesting' parts of town, more than just what is by the port.

Our sweet rides!

Jesse & Elona

We made our way to the tip of P.R. where there is this old Spanish fort. It was very cool!

Us on the street in old town P.R.

Taken from our scooter driving down the cobblestone streets.

Catholic Cathedral: We were there on 3 Kings day, and there were guys dressed as the 3 Kings handing out candy on the church steps.

Dano inside the cathedral.

Ponce de Leon is laid to rest inside this church. He died in Florida, but they brought his body back to P.R. There was an awesome guide there who gave us they highlights of P.R.'s history.

This is Fort San Felipe del Morro, at the tip of the San Juan peninsula. Because it was a holiday (3 kings day), there were a lot of locals out shopping, flying kites, and picnicking.

Cemetery near the fort.

This is a view of the fort as we are sailing away.

Puerto Rico was a ton of fun! It is by far the largest island we stopped on, so we saw only a tiny portion of it. It was so different than a stopping on a tiny island that is mostly catered to tourists. The people there were SUPER friendly and generous, and they had great shopping! It was a surprise how much we enjoyed this port.

The next morning we arrived in Grand Turk, part of Turks & Caicos. It was a complete change from Puerto Rico. This island is tiny, only about 5 miles by 2 miles. The cruise ship port has only been open for a few years. The port is very modernized, but once you leave it, you feel like you are on a deserted island.We didn't see a grocery store, restaurant or even hotel in sight. Just a bunch of homes, most of which were half built. We rented a car, and set out to find a beach known for snorkeling. It was VERY windy that day and they had canceled all water excursions.We got lost trying to find the beach and ended up on some crazy dirt roads. It took us 45 min. to find a beach only a few miles away because there are no street signs and the map we had was a bad sribbled on photo copy. We did find the beach and meet up with the rest of our friends. It was extremely windy, and the world famous snorkeling was ruined by choppy waves. We decided to try the other side of the island and see if it was less windy. We were driving in a caravan with our group of 14, when most of them stopped to watch a guy chop up a sea turtle on the side of the road. That is what most people eat there. He said he catches 1 a day and they eat every part of it, including the shell. It was very bloody, and not something I wanted to see, so we drove on. We went down some other dirt roads without a soul in sight, and at the end of one was a rocky hill leading down to a beach. This beach was serene and completely empty. There was absolutely no wind, and because of a huge reef about 100 yards out, the water was as still as a swimming pool. It was almost surreal, not what I expected at Grand Turk at all. We spent the rest of the day laying on the beach and swimming.

That night was another formal night- (I could not get my computer to fix our alien eyes!)

Watching a comedy show before dinner.

Our last day was a day at sea. It was good to have a day to recover, sleep as much as possible, and eat- There was way too much eating on this trip, but it was fun!

It was an amazing trip. Thank you to Jesse & Elona for inviting us, and being such great friends to vacation with! Can't wait for the next one!

St. Thomas, USVI

2011-02-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was a day at sea. I don't think I took any pictures, but it was a day of relaxation, mostly. The ship did feel a little crowded, and it was hard to find a good deck chair to lay out on. We were super excited about arriving in St. Thomas the next day. We got off the boat at 10am and walked to a rental place. We got a jeep for the 4 of us, and set out to explore the island.

Driving through rolling hills, with scenic ocean views!

Our first stop was Coki beach. It is famous for snorkeling. We snorkeled for a while there, and it was amazing! The beach was very crowded. We found out there were 6 cruise ships at the port that day!

After a few hours, we decided to check out some more beaches. One of the locals recommended Meghan's Bay, one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches by National Geographic. When we got there, they were charging $4 a person entrance fee. Since we only had a couple of hours, we decided to pass and drive to Sapphire beach instead. This beach was absolutely beautiful, and not as crowded. The snorkeling was good, but not as good as Coki beach. The water was warm and it was the perfect day!

Bahamas

2011-01-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

Our first stop was Nassau Bahamas! We arrived early- at 7am. So we hurried and grabbed some breakfast from the buffet and got off the boat just as the sun was coming out. We took a taxi straight to Paradise Beach. We only had until 1pm to get back on the boat, so we spent the entire morning laying out on the beach and snorkeling. There wasn't a lot to see in the water, but we did find some cool shells, sea slugs, and starfish. The weather was so perfect and the water was amazing! It was so relaxing, I kept falling asleep laying out in the sun. Wish I could click my heels and go back there, right now.....

Standing in front of our ship at the port.

See why they call it Paradise Beach!?

Dano found this shell snorkeling and this weird sea creature came crawling out, so we hurried and threw it back in the ocean!

Huge starfish that Jesse caught.

That night was a formal dinner. Once again, amazing food, and fun to dress up with friends.

Miami

2011-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

We left early in the morning of New Year's Eve for an amazing 10 day vacation. Dano's friend Jesse & his wife Elona invited us on a cruise with them and a group of 10 other friends. We knew Zach & Andrea from our Lake Powell trip and everyone else was super friendly. We didn't get on the ship until Jan 2nd, so we had 2 fun days to spend in Miami. On New Year's Eve we drove around to see the town, and walked around South Beach a bit. Then we went to dinner at a Dayton family favorite, La Carretta. They have wonderful Cuban food. It was fun to be there on New Year's. All the locals were dressed up and ready to celebrate. The food was delish!

After dinner we drove to Bayfront Park to see the fireworks and ring in the New Year. There was a huge crowd and it was a little cold and windy (for an Arizona girl), but the fireworks over the bay were spectacular. Being on the beach in Miami, watching fireworks over the water was an amazing way to start 2011!

Miami city lights.

New Year's Day we slept in a bit, then went to South Beach. Dano had 8 miles to run, so he & Jesse went running on the boardwalk while Elona & I went shopping. Elona is pregnant with her 2nd baby, and 1st girl. We had lots of fun finding baby girl things. Then we met the guys for lunch at Nexxt Cafe at Lincoln Rd. Mall. There was a long wait, with the holiday, and we were starving! So happy with all the yummy food, and then time to go to the beach!

It got a little cloudy in the afternoon, but it was super relaxing to sit on the beach for a while and take it all in.

We decided to walk around a little more and find some dessert. We were too stuffed from lunch to think about dinner. We found a little pastry shop and got some goodies. The next morning we packed up, and headed to the port to get on the cruise ship. We sailed on the Carnival Glory. Some of their other friends picked the ship, dates, and destinations, and they did a great job! It was a nice ship and we loved all the port stops.

So long, Miami!

The first of many, many meals: Lunch at the buffet.

First sit-down dinner. They didn't have all of our group sitting together, so it was just the 4 of us the first night. After that, we moved some people around, and got all 14 to sit together.

Off to a great start- more vacation posts to be continued.........

Noah's 3rd Birthday

2011-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

On January 3rd my little buster turned 3. Noah is a very unique kid. He is always making us laugh, pushing our buttons, and surprising us with his sweetness. He is truly a character, one of a kind.Even though Dano and I were leaving for a 10 day vacation in the morning, we were so excited to celebrate this special kid! We had a birthday party the night of the 30th (since we would be out of town on the 3rd) and were so happy to have so many friends and family there to celebrate.

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning the kids woke us up around 7am. I can't express how fun it is to see your childrens excitement and anticipation on Christmas morning. This year, we let the kids open all of their gifts first- since they lost interest when we took turns last year. They had so much fun helping each other unwrap and showing what they received. Isaak was super excited about a gift that he made for me at school, and made sure it was the first one that I opened.

Kayla found a mini Snickers, and that was her favorite present of the morning! (With 4 people with cameras, somehow I had no pictures of the boys unwrapping! Oops!)

Every year we make the same breakfast casserolle, sticky buns, orange slices and hot chocolate.

I LOVED having the whole day to eat, play games, play with our new toys, watch movies and eat! (yes I said eat twice).

For Christmas night we tried something different: Chinese finger foods! We had beef skewers, egg rolls, snap peas, cream-cheese won-tons and chicken lettuce wraps. It was fun to make, and tasty!

Later that night we piled in the car to drive around and look at Christmas lights with Christmas music on the radio. We had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

We spent this Christmas at our home. My parents and siblings came to stay with us, except for my brother Scott, who lives in Brooklyn, NY. It was a very happy reunion!

We started the day with a yummy lunch at Costa Vida. Dano was working until 12, so he ate with us, and then we left to go see Tron in 3D. Grandma took the little kids home, and Isaak come to the movie with the adults. He loved it!

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games. Then we had a yummy Christmas Eve dinner and red velvet cake for dessert.

The kids were beyond excited for Christmas. We each opened one gift that night, and Dano read the kids the story of the birth of Jesus.

Soon everyone was tucked into bed and the house was quiet, as we waited for Santa to come!

Family

2010-12-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we attended the baby blessing of our newest nephew, Blake- son of Brad & Cynthia. Blake is adorable, a very sweet baby, and has the best hair ever.

Cynthia, Bryce, Sophia, Blake & Brad

the Dayton men (minus Adam)

Cousins: It was hilarious to get them all to pose for a picture. Kayla was crawling up the stairs, Noah was pulling crazy faces. Somehow we got a decent shot.

It's so fun to have a girl to dress up!

We were taking pictures of ourselves on my iPhone. She loved seeing her own face on the screen.

the Squish!

2010-12-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

Squish is one of Dano's nicknames for Kayla. Her cheeks really are so squishy :)

Check out the plumpness!

Giving Thanks!

2010-12-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

I am a little behind on my blogging. Right after Dano & I got our iPhones, our digital camera died. Luckily, the iPhones take amazing pictures and video, but I was a little slow at getting all the photos from his phone.
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. It was a Dayton year for Thanksgiving, so we were grateful to have many of the Daytons travel to AZ. Adam & Katie and their sons couldn't make it because Adam is in his first year of law school at BYU. Olivia and Joseph also had to stay for work. We missed them! I was busy cooking, but managed to take a couple of pictures before our meal began. Just imagine our family's smiling faces sitting at the table!

My Martha Stewart recipe turkey!

Birthday Girl!!!

This is a blanket my mom crocheted for Kayla. She loves all the bright colors.

After Thanksgiving dinner, we gave Kayla her birthday cake. She was a little slow, diving in, but ate a good amount of Nina's yummy chocolate cake! I just love all of her faces.

Kayla's 1st Birthday

2010-12-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

On November 25th my beautiful baby girl turned 1 year old! This year her birthday fell on Thanksgiving, so we had a party for her the night before. Lots of family had just arrived from Utah, and we were excited to celebrate the life of this amazing girl.

Since her bedtime is around 6:30, we started the party just after 5. Once all the guests arrived, she was already starting to act tired, so we decided to open gifts first. She loved her first baby doll, that laughs when you squeeze her. She also received a cute leap frog dog that talks and sings to her, a stroller/walker, and some super cute clothes. She was excited about all of her gifts and so cute, I just wanted to squish her!

Next we sang Happy Birthday, and mom helped her blow out the candle. Then the birthday girl was off to bed! The rest of us ate pizza, cake and icecream. She didn't have any cake that night, so we saved her a big slice for the next day, which was her real birthday anyway.

Pantry

2010-12-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

I have a cleaning list. Not a list of urgent things, like cleaning the bathroom or mopping the floor. A list of annoying projects like cleaning the blinds. Organizing my pantry had been on that list for about a year. I really hadn't done anything with it since we moved in, except for dump things randomly on the shelves and floor. When my sister in law Katie blogged about her newly organized pantry, I was officially motivated!

Here is my pantry before my project began:

And here is my pantry after:

So the obvious improvement is some good old-fashioned organizing and dejunking. Here's how I did it:
I decided my chalky, builder's white paint on the shelves wasn't going to cut it. They were already dirty and scuffed up after only a year of use. So I turned to trusty contact paper. It ended up looking better than I thought it would!

Some of the blogs I was inspired by used really cute wicker baskets or other fancy storage containers. I didn't have the budget for containers that started around $15 each, so I found these great clear plastic tubs for only $3 a piece. They are not fancy, but I like the functionality more. Since they are clear, I can see exactly what is inside. Under all the clutter, I even found a 5-pack of smaller clear containers that I had bought for $1 on clearance a few months back, score! I used them to store cookie cutters, other baking accessories, spice packets and more random small items.

I repurposed my 2 red canvas baskets to hold the boys socks and Kayla's diapers and wipes. I keep them on my bottom shelf where the kids can reach.

I decided to ditch my shoe basket and replace it with an over the door shoe organizer. I was sick of digging through a basket of shoes to find a matching pair, and cleaning up shoes that the kids had emptied out 5 times a day. So far the new system is working wonderfully! The kids can reach their shoes on the bottom 2 rows, and the pairs are always next to each other. I am still usually the person who puts them away, but at least the kids aren't dumping a whole basket out along the way.

Thanks to all of you organized bloggers for giving me the push to get this project done. Now instead of cringing whenever I walk into my pantry and closing the door whenever guests come to my house, I walk in and smile, and quickly find whatever I came in for :)

Family Pictures

2010-11-30T18:52:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Susan Carr's holiday special, we got some beautiful family portraits done for an amazing price. We just may do this every year, if she keeps the offer going! I was surprised how many great shots she got in just 15 minutes! Thank you Susan! We love them-

Bounce Jungle

2010-11-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

Isaak's friend & neighbor Tyler had his birthday party at Bounce Jungle. The boys LOVED every second of it! They even had a little area for babies to play in, so we will be going back for open bounce soon!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

It's tradition! Wouldn't be Halloween without it. The kids are much too young for knives or pumpkin saws, so that meant extra fun for mom and dad (and Aunt Aubrey). The boys didn't want to touch the pumpkin guts either. Isaak drew his face and I cut it out. We were using dry-erase markers, so Noah drew on his pumpkin repeatedly and tried wiping it off each time. Eventually he ended up with a scribbled on pumpkin and did not want us to carve a face in it. Kayla got a baby pumpkin- but we left it whole and pure.

Isaak wanted a happy pumpkin.

Kayla's messy ravioli face. She is big on table food now.

pumpkin guts!

Halloween Costumes

2010-11-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so much fun this year! The boys both wanted to be superheroes and had fun picking out their costumes early in the month. They played in them daily, until Isaak ripped part of his sleeve, and I decided we better save them for the big day. We went to a couple of really fun parties and our ward had a Trunk-or-treat on Saturday that was a total success- too bad I was too busy to take any pictures! The boys got a ton of candy, so with Halloween being on Sunday, we decided to skip traditional trick-or-treating this year and stay home to pass out candy and watch a Halloween movie. The kids loved answering the door and giving other kids candy. So many good times this year- I was sad to see it end. Now we are looking forward to THANKSGIVING and our family coming to visit! Also Kayla will turn 1 on Thanksgiving this year. Her bday will fall on the holiday about every 7 years.

Here are my adorable kids in their costumes:

30

2010-10-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week, so I guess I should be ok with saying it outloud. I am 30. I am not really ok with it, but it's just a number- that's what they say! I had a wonderful birthday, where I didn't think about the number at all. Dano surprised me with a weekend getaway to Las Vegas. 2 days without kids was just what I needed. We spent most of our time relaxing, and avoided most of the strip/crowds/casinos. Dano found us a great room at the Signatures at MGM Grand. They are all suites, and the property is no smoking and no casinos. They have moving sidewalks that take you into the MGM Grand, so it is still close to the strip. I would definitely recommend it! Sunday night we ate some yummy Mexican food at Yolo's.- Delish!

Then we met up with my friend Tom Bay, who was in town for a conference. Tom & I went to high school together and have stayed close friends. We don't get to see him much since our move to AZ, so this was a very happy reunion. I love this guy!

We checked out a new hotel called the Aria, located in the new City Center complex. It had this awesome water feature- pics don't do it justice.

On Monday, I really just wanted a low-key day of relaxation. It was supposed to be rainy, but I got a nice B-Day surprise and we had sunshine and 80 degrees. We laid out at the pool for a while, then got lunch at Tom Collichio's 'WichCraft (sandwich shop). Dano asked what I wanted to do next and I said- bubble bath and nap. It was the greatest, laziest afternoon.

This is the new City Center. Two of the buildings are extremely slanted. I was in awe. They look crazy in person.

That night we had dinner at Tao. I love Asian food, and it did not disappoint. Everything was super yummy. I could eat there every day.

P.S.- the lighting was orange, not me :)

After dinner we went to see Penn & Teller. We have seen a lot of other shows in Vegas, so it was fun to try something new. It was pretty funny, and some amazing magic. On Tuesday we slept lake, had a yummy breakfast and went to the outlets. My parents drove the kids to us from St. George and we made our way back to Phoenix. Thanks to all the friends and family who called and sent thoughtful birthday wishes, and thanks for the wonderful weekend my love!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

This year we thought it would be fun to get all the AZ cousins together and go to a pumpkin patch. The kids had never been to one, and were excited about all the activities and of course, picking out a pumpkin. They had a lot of cute things for little kids. They had a little barn full of baby ducks- Kayla was fascinated with them. They had pink pigs, and other farm animals. They had some little games to play and a hay maze. I think their favorite thing was riding on the barrel train that toured the farm. All the kids had a great time

Isaak, Noah, Bryce & Sophia

Kayla

the Dayton girl cousins: Sophia & Kayla

Barrel train

I rode with Kayla. She really enjoyed the ride!

family see-saw

The boys wanted the biggest pumpkins they could find!

Isaak

2010-10-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Noah is my free-spirit (sometimes wild-child), but Isaak is my sensitive, level-headed perfectionist.

He is also incredibly handsome ;)

Buster

2010-10-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

He's gonna bust you up!

Wet 'N Wild

2010-10-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of living in Arizona is the warm weather. We love playing in the water almost year round. Our neighborhood has an awesome splashpad, and the kids are the perfect age to enjoy it. Dano's parents are in town and we got the cousins together for some fun in the water. They played and snacked for a solid 3 hours. We all got our boost of Vitamin D, along with a healthy tan. It was a great afternoon!

Noah, Sophia, Isaak & Bryce

At just 3 weeks old, Baby Blake even made his first splashpad appearance.

Spider-web Banners

2010-10-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

I am not a super crafty person, but I saw a tutorial for a Halloween craft, and thought, "I could do that." Plus I had the perfect place to hang them. It was super easy, just some cutting and glueing. I saw the tutorial HERE.

P.S.- Batman stopped by the house and said they looked "really spooky!"

Pseuzyn's Stuff

2010-10-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you my super talented cousin in-laws Etsy shop. Susan Carr is a wonderful photographer who has taken lots of great family photos for us. I just ordered her latest creation, a personalized family name made from LDS temple photos. I am also eyeing her distressed temple prints. I love finding great LDS artwork for my home and thought maybe some of you would too!

You can find Susan's Etsy shop here: http://www.pseuzyn.etsy.com/

She also has a great photography blog found here as well as on my blog roll:

http://susancarrphotographyblog.blogspot.com/

Here is an example of a personalized family name (Monson).

This is one of her distressed temple prints (Mesa, AZ Temple)

September Stuff

2010-09-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here's some stuff we've been up to:

Soccer

Isaak started a new soccer season and loves playing every week. The best part was when we showed up for the first time, he saw his best friend from school, Cole is on his team!

Silly

Noah is still giving us our daily dose of laughter

Safety

We installed some much needed safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. We had to special order them online, since our stairs are very wide and the banister is angled from the wall. They are great and Kayla has more freedom!

Smart

Noah just amazes me. He told me he drew some N's. I looked at his paper and there was a row of N's. I swear I did not teach him this- I don't know where he gets it!

Sleep

Our new bed is heaven-heaven! We are slowly redecorating our master bedroom. We started with the bed, paint and some new curtains.

Samosas

I made this recipe for the first time last night. I saw it on Aarti Party on food network. They are filled with chicken, mango, potatoes & cilantro. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/baked-samosas-with-mint-chutney-recipe/index.html

Skechers

The boys really wanted some light-up Skechers. They had a great deal on Shop it to Me, so I was able to get them for 40% off. They have been stomping around the house and playing in closets, loving the lights!

Sweet

I always love to end a post with sweet pictures of my kids!

Hall of Flame

2010-09-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Our Labor Day was somewhat low-key. My parents came to visit, but Dano had to work and Noah was sick with a fever. We had planned to all go to lunch at Costa Vida, but a few minutes before leaving, Noah fell asleep. So my mom offered to stay with him and Kayla, while my dad, Aubrey, Isaak and I went to lunch. The food was AMAZING. I never get sick of it. I love getting the fish tacos when I actually eat AT the restaurant, because they are so good freshly made (as opposed to 20 minutes later when Dano brings food home for me.) We thought it would be fun to get out of the house in the afternoon. My dad found this fire engine museum in Tempe that was cheap and had good reviews. Noah was too sick to go, so we invited Isaak's cousin, Sophia along so he would have a friend. My awesome mom stayed with Noah and Kayla again. It was a very interesting museum with a HUGE display of fire trucks and other related items. They had one big truck from the 50's that you could climb and play on and another section for kids to play in and learn about fire safety. It was the kind of place you only need to see once, but definitely worth the trip.

Isaak and I riding on the truck from Miami-1950's

Isaak dressed up:

Sophia driving the truck:

Grandpa liked dressing up too!

This girl could save your life:

Laying Low

2010-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

We have been laying low the past few weeks. First Noah and Kayla were sick, then I was sick for about a week and a half, then poor Noah got sick again. We are starting to come back to life. It seems like everything just gets put on hold when you are not feeling well. It was hard for me to just feel awful for about 9 days, and only do the basics: feed kids, keep kids alive, try to sleep as much as possible. Many thanks to a wonderful husband who filled in all the gaps of a sick mommy. And SO happy my wonderful kids are feeling better too. Also it was a great blessing that Isaak dodged all the germs in the house and stayed healthy and going to school. We really haven't left the house much, but here's a couple of cute pictures:

Kayla is getting a little more hair. I try putting clips in it, but she doesn't have enough on the sides to keep them in. I tried a little spout, and it stayed in just long enough to take a picture. Oh, and she HATED me putting the rubber band in- So, not worth it. She is getting better at leaving her head bands and bows on though.

Noah is the comic relief around here. He is just crazy and funny and so random. Sometimes he likes to be babied. He really loves Kayla's puff cereal snacks and wanted to sit in her high-chair and eat some.

Homework

2010-08-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Isaak was sitting at the counter working on some homework. Noah said he wanted to do his homework too, so I told him to get out a piece of paper. After working a while, he said, "Look Dad- I drew a six!"

Can you see his six? This kid is 2 years old! I think it's amazing he picked this up on his own. He's my little smarty!

Bath Time

2010-08-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

Kayla had her first 'real' bath- outside of the baby tub. She LOVES splashing in the water! (what baby doesn't?) I had to keep one hand on her at all times because she wanted to roll and crawl all over the place, and drink the water too! I couldn't keep her from sucking on the washcloth- Silly girl! I love when she crinkles up her nose in excitement!

I just love that sweet baby smell after they come out of the bath. She is all clean and ready for church:

Beautiful Girl

2010-08-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

My baby is growing up fast- too fast! I have 3 friends with newborn baby girls, and my arms ache for that newborn sweetness. My 8 month old is chubby, rolly-polly, and the most beautiful precious baby in the world. It is a blessing that newborns grow. She is sleeping through the night. She is eating solids. She is laughing and crawling and showing us her personality. One day we will shop together, lunch together, and get pedicures while the boys wrestle and play in the dirt. She is the perfect addition to our family. I love my baby Kayla!

First Day of School

2010-07-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Isaak's first day of Kindergarten! After just 6 short weeks of summer our year-round school schedule was starting again! Isaak did preschool at the same elementary, so he was familiar with the school and very excited to be going back. They only offer an all-day Kindergarten program (I was the ONLY mom to request half-day!) So it is a real change at our house to have Isaak gone from 8 to 3 every day.

Noah wants to be big like Isaak and has been begging to go to school as well. I signed him up for a Tiny Tots program, but it doesn't start until September. It is a little class for 45 minutes, just one day a week. Hopefully that will satisfy his appetite for school for now! He was a little jealous with all the preparations that were being made for Isaak, but once Isaak was gone, we had lots of one on one time to play and do special things for him.

Isaak was very comfortable going right into his classroom. He said his first day was great and went by fast because he LOVED everything that they did. The first thing he told me about was going to P.E. (what a boy!) He also loved his homemade lunch and making friends.

Family Reunion

2010-07-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our Bi-Annual Dayton Family Reunion. This year Dano's parents rented an amazing cabin in Sundance, UT. It was a really fun place to stay with plenty of space for 12 adults and 7 kids. The weather was gorgeous and we did so many things. It is so fun to be in Utah to celebrate the 4th of July, especially when it is a 3 day weekend event! The kids loved playing with their cousins all day long. It was so much fun, we were sad to see it end.

Super Mario Brothers Party

2010-07-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

The theme of Isaak's 5th birthday party was a hot topic for weeks at our house. Isaak finally made the decision to have a SUPER MARIO BROTHERS themed party. It was really fun to plan the decorations, games and cake. It was so fun and colorful. This was the first "friend" party I had planned for one of my kids and I was almost as excited as Isaak was for his big day. He had 6 friends, most of their parents and many family members at the party.

The first game we played was pin the mustache on Mario. The kids are the perfect age for this game. Isaak went first and got it right under his nose. (He may or may not have been able to peek?)

Next we had a Yoshi egg race. It was hilarious to watch the kids try to balance a plastic egg on a spoon. They were a little too young for this to be successful, but we had a blast watching them try. Noah was the most determined and walked super slow and steady making sure his egg didn't fall.

We played musical chairs to Super Mario Brothers music and the kids really got into it- so much that each one went off crying to their mom when they got eliminated (even mine). I feel for them- losing is hard when you are little. We also had a game where we followed clues around the house to rescue Princess Peach. At the end of the game was a prize box with their party favors in it. We had a Super Mario Brothers Piñata. It was the kind where you pull a string and the lucky string releases all the candy. It was perfect for kids 5 and under.

After all the games were finished we had cake and icecream. None of the local bakeries offered Mario themed cakes so I found an icing cake topper online and made my own cake to put it on. I love how it turned out.

Isaak had a great time opening his mountain of presents. He was one lucky 5 year old!

Noah even got a little present of his own from mom & dad- a headlamp just like one that Isaak got, so they can play camping in their walk-in closets together.

Isaak is such an amazing kid. He is so thoughtful and loving. He really sets the tone in our family as the oldest child. Here is the birthday boy with his grandparents, Naña & Pots

Happy June

2010-06-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

June has been a fun and busy month for our family. The kids are growing like weeds and keep us very entertained. Isaak and Noah play the summer days away, and Kayla loves taking it all in.

They love Super Heroes! Isaak decided Kayla could join their Super Hero team:

Dano had a rare weekday off of work, so we made it a fun family day. We had family over to watch the first World Cup game at 7am. We made scones and scrambled eggs. We have been watching most of the World Cup games and were proud of USA for making it so far!

Then we took the kids to the Phoenix Children's Museum. The boys loved each and every exhibit and played for hours. We met up with Brad & Cynthia and their kids as well.

Riding bikes through the car wash:

Isaak & Sophia made us pizza's in the kitchen:

The newest exhibit was a 3 story climber wrapped in wire fencing. It was a maze with only one way in or out. I got a little claustrophobic climbing through these kid sized tunnels 3 stories up. The kids thought it was awesome!

That evening we went to a Diamond Backs game with Brad & Cynthia. I think it was the first time we've been out with them without our kids! I didn't get any pictures but it was a lot of fun.

Sunday dinners and icecream- always a good time :)

Father's Day: We were so glad to have most of the Dayton family in town to celebrate. We had lots of good food and desserts. We are so grateful for the father's in our lives and love the opportunity to celebrate them!

Last but not least, a precious sleeping baby:

Earrings

2010-06-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

We wanted to get Kayla's ears pierced before she got old enough to pull on them. We had a free hour after Dano got home from work and went to get it done. She was pretty sad about it, especially since I had to hold her arms down while Dano held her head still. But like all kids do, she bounced back quickly. I think they look so beautiful on her- just one the many steps to being a girly-girl!

Before: "Life is good- Just chillin' in this store, chewing on my thumb."

After: "What did my mom and dad just do to me? OUCH!"

"Look at this shiny cute girly jewelry on my ear!"

The next day: "I don't remember what happened yesterday, but I sure look beautiful today!"

LaKe PoWeLl!

2010-06-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Dano's friend Jesse White invited us on a Lake Powell houseboat vacation. This is one of Dano's all-time favorite vacation destinations. We sent our kids to St. George with their grandparents and jumped at the chance to spend a week on the lake with awesome friends!

Elona, Jesse, Dano, Amy, Nick, Shara, Andrea, Zach, Marcie, Clark, & Randy

We were all so happy that our houseboat rental was super nice. They had just remodeled the whole thing. We loved sleeping up on the roof, except for the last night we went indoors to enjoy the A/C.

We spent tons of time out on the boats, wake boarding, surfing, and tubing. I hadn't wake boarded in years and it was so fun to get back into it. Although, it hurts a lot more to fall now that I'm an old lady.

One of the best parts of the trip was that one of Jesse's friends had dropped out so we got to invite our good friends Nick and Shara Park. We hadn't seen them in 2 years, so a week of hanging out was awesome!

The SuperWave: 2 boats, 2 surfers, 1 wave- completely awesome!

This trip was amazing, so many great memories and fun times!

The Graduate

2010-06-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Isaak is an official Preschool Graduate! This past year he attended preschool at Haley Elementary. His teacher was Mrs. Nonnemacher. He had the best experience and made some really great friends. He was a little sad to see it come to an end, but is ready for Kindergarten! On the last day of class they had a water party out on the lawn and a pizza party in the classroom.

Isaak with Mrs. Nonnemacher and the aide, Mrs. C

Almost every time we would drop Isaak off for school Noah would say, "I go to Isaak's school when I get bigger mom, K?"

6 Months

2010-05-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

My beautiful girl is 6 months old! She is growing so fast and is such a sweetie. She loves hugs and kisses and being held, even by her brothers. She has been wearing 6-9 month clothes since she was about 4 months old, and when we went to her 6 month check-up we found out why:
Height: 27 1/2 Inches : 97%!
Weight: 16 lb 14 oz. : 60%
Head: 17 1/2 inches : 85 %
The doctor encouraged me to get her sleeping through the night. She has been waking twice (at 1am and 4am) since she was about 2 months old. Last night she woke at 10:30pm for a bottle then slept until 6:30 am. We only heard a couple of squeaks from her, but no crying. It was so great. Hope it lasts! Here are some recent photos of Kayla & our family:

Buggin'

2010-05-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Things that must go:

1. Parents who take their sick kids to the child care at the gym or church. I am very aware of making sure I do not take my kids out when they are sick. It is no fun to have sick kids. I think it is a selfish decision to continue doing what you want instead of keeping your kids at home where they won't share their germs.

2. The final 3. (This is petty.) I was watching American Idol and one of the contestants said it was his goal to make it to the final 3. I thought the finale had only 2 contestants? It's not the "final" if it's not the last show. Same thing on biggest loser. "I want to make it to the final 5?" Actually the winner is picked out of 3, not 5. I don't get it!

3. Cars that drive 45 mph when they see a photoradar set-up. The speed limit is still 65. You do not need to go 20 mph less than the speed limit to avoid a ticket. You are a hazard to the people around you.

4. Waiting an hour for the doctor. I understand that doctors are busy. But when I have to wait at least an hour every single time I go the the doctor, it means you are over-scheduling. This is inconsiderate to your patients.

5. Bad Craigslist ettiquite. It bugs me when people post horrible pictures of dirty and cluttered furniture,
write aggressive things on their post, like, "If this post is on here, the item is still available. DO NOT CALL ME AND ASK IF IT"S STILL AVAILABLE!", or simply don't leave any contact info at all. Any smart person would skip right over these kinds of posts. Trust me, you don't want to buy their stuff.

6. Bad Costco ettiquite. I love Costco, but the crowds and oversized carts have caused some very annoying situations. I have found the drivers in the parking lot and people pushing carts are far more aggressive and inconsiderate than at other stores. Also, please stop crowding around the sample stations. It is so annoying to try to maneuver around 15 carts and people waiting in line for a bite sized cracker or hotdog or whatever they are sampling. Free food is not that exciting people.

7. People who walk insanely slow across intersections and parking lots, in a direction that is not even attempting to get out of the way for oncoming vehicles. I think cross-walk safety is important, and I will always be on the look-out for pedestrians, but when I am a pedestrian, I try to be considerate of the cars and cross the road in a reasonable way.

Thank you!

7 Happy Years

2010-04-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. We have done some amazing things in the past to celebrate. This year was more simple, with a new baby at home. It was actually so great and perfect to just go to dinner alone. I wasn't looking for love when I found Dano. I thank God everyday that he came in to my life. He is my best friend and my better half in so many ways. The years we have been together have been the best years of my life....so far! I'm looking forward to many happy years to come :)

***Please accept these flowers as my apology for making you look at pictures of my child's pee :)

Paper trained?

2010-04-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

No, I don't have a puppy. I have a mischevious 2 year old who left me this awesome surprise:

After cleaning up the mess, which had seeped under my file cabinet and onto my printer cables, I went to the gym to work out my frustration. LOVE my new gym, btw. We looked at ALL the gyms in the area, and picked the one with the best child care (Mountainside Fitness). I feel better now :)

Brothers

2010-04-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

These boys are such good friends. They are each others greatest joy and greatest sorrow. They laugh and play and fight and kick. Yesterday Dano took Isaak to see a movie, so I had some Noah time. He is more mellow without Isaak around. They get each other all rowdy. When I was pregnant with Isaak I knew I wanted a boy. When I found out there was a baby #2, I was fine with a boy or girl. Now I am so thankful that God sent Isaak a brother and a best friend.

Easter!

2010-04-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

was a few weeks ago, but I'm a little slow. On Friday, we were invited to a fun Easter egg hunt with Brad & Cynthia's ward (which is also Joseph & Olivia's ward). Our ward didn't have one this year, maybe because of conference? It was such a beautiful day, perfect weather! They had a yummy breakfast and lots and lots of eggs to find. The cousins get along so great, they just love doing things together.

Isaak

Noah

Joseph & Olivia- They are always so great to help out with the kids

Show me what you got!

Cute cousins!

On Easter Sunday, we had the family over for dinner at our home. I was a good Mormon wife and made ham, funeral potatoes and Rhode's rolls. We had another egg hunt in the backyard. The kids are at the age where they really enjoy this. Once they collected all the eggs, they decided it was so fun, they wanted to do it again! So we re-hid them all.

Brad & Joseph were feeling left out, so we let them hunt for eggs too ;)

We got the boys easter baskets with a few toys and some candy, but man, nothing like the other kids I see on blogs. Some of you get as much for Easter as I do on Christmas for my kids! I got them these cute chocolate bunnies. First I picked out the dove chocolate ones that were about $4. Then I saw these cute cartoon looking ones for $1, and thought, "they're kids, they'll love it!" Oh, they were nasty. Isaak took a couple bites and said, "Mom, this is gross. It tastes like bananas." The #1 ingredient was oil, and it tasted like oil. Next year, the kids are getting the good stuff! They did get a TON of good candy from their egg hunts.

BiG BoY BeD!

2010-04-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

He is so proud!

2010-03-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

Being a stay at home mom is harder than I thought it would be. Now that I have 3 small kids, I feel like I'm a distant resemblance of the person I used to be. I drive a mini-van. I carry a diaper bag. My kid throws a tantrum in Chick-Filet. I remember being a newlywed and thinking how fun it would be to have a baby. I'd still be me, see my friends, and my sweet little babe would just follow me around. Now I have a family- and they have taken over. The good news is, I love it. I don't care if you think I'm a dorky mom driving a van. I don't care if you judge me as I drag my 2 year old screaming out of the restaurant. Being a mom brings me happiness. Yes, it takes patience, and there are days that I wish my life were my own again. But then I look at these little faces and realize I could never live without them. Not even for one day.

T-Ball

2010-03-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Isaak just finished his first season playing T-Ball. Before we started he could actually hit a pitched ball better than off the T, but that is what they offer for 4 year olds. He LOVED it! We had a great team, and one of the dad's was an awesome coach. Dano was one of the assistant coaches for practices, but since he has to work Saturdays, wasn't able to make it to any of the games. It was so fun to watch these little kids play. It is all for fun at this age- No outs, no keeping score. Everyone hits and runs all the bases. Good times!

Birthday Weekend

2010-03-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

This post is a couple weeks late- I don't know how my life got so busy. Maybe it was that baby #3......
Anyway! Dano's parents came to town just in time for Dano's 29th birthday and we had a super fun weekend! Dano's mom made a super yummy and healthy snickers cheesecake and her famous chocolate cake that is everybody's favorite. Olivia brought funfetti cupcakes. So it was a cake-fest, which is perfect because Dano LOVES cake!

We also had Lobster-fest for all the seafood lovers, and pizza for all the others.

The kids were very excited to give their dad his present on Sunday morning.

Kayla was the little princess in purple.

We had a big family dinner on Sunday. Then on Tuesday, Dano and I had a date night for his BDay. It was a while before Kayla was born since we have been on a date. We ate yummy food at Pita Jungle, came home to feed the baby, then went to see Avatar. Nina was super-grandma and kept Kayla happy for the 4 hours we were gone. The movie was incredible!

Kayla's Baby Blessing

2010-03-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

March 7th: Kayla's blessing was a special day for our family. We were so glad to have both sets of grandparents and many aunts and uncles present for the big occasion. My mom made her blessing dress, and she looked perfectly beautiful! Her dad gave a beautiful blessing with many special things for her to remember and look forward to. She was such an angel. She fell asleep on the car ride to church. Just before they called her name, she peacefully opened her eyes. She was all smiles, looking up at her dad as he gave her the blessing. She sat happily on his lap for the rest of church. I think she knew it was her special day and wanted to enjoy it.

We had a lunch after church with our families. Since both of our parents and many siblings live in Utah, it is always wonderful to spend time with them.

I really can't express how much I love my little girl. Before I had Isaak, I really wanted boys. I was a little afraid to be a mother of a girl. I feel such a strong bond to my baby Kayla. She has the most calming presence and brings me so much peace. We are best friends :)

Happy Birthday Dano

2010-02-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

It is my wonderfully awesome husband's birthday today. We are enjoying this rainy day with Dano's parents and other family members in AZ. There will be lots of food, including fondu and 2 kinds of cake. It is wonderful to spend the day together- I love Sundays! And

I LOVE DANO!!!

Potty attempt #1

2010-02-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

not successful.

I am not really ready to potty-train Noah, but he has had other ideas. He asked to go poop on the potty. I was in the middle of something and sent him bare-bummed into the bathroom. Next time I'll stop what I'm doing, and maybe we'll get it in the pot!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T15:47:00.000-08:00

May your day be filled with:

Pancakes

Flowers
Cookies

and a special someone to love!

I Scream for Icecream

2010-02-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

I have been trying for 3 days to upload the most hilarious video of Noah asking for icecream. I guess it is too long, because it just won't work! This kid loves sweets. He just kept yelling, "Icecream" over and over again for at least a minute. Don't worry, he got his icecream and a brownie too.

Name

2010-02-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

Isaak has been learning to write his name at school. He found my notepad that I write my grocery list on and made it his own:
Now each time I write my list I get to see his cute name at the top of each page.

True story: when I learned to write my name, I penciled, "Amy S." all along the baseboards in my room. Maybe it's a genetic thing.

Cowboy

2010-02-03T14:27:00.001-08:00

Isaak got to dress up for western day at preschool. Yee-Haw!

Kayla's baby photos

2010-01-25T15:43:00.001-08:00

Thanks to my good friend Julyssa for taking these beautiful photos of Kayla when she was just 7 days old. To see more of Julyssa's photography check out her blog: www.julyssaschenk.typepad.com/photography/

Hospital Stay

2010-01-22T09:25:00.000-08:00

It all started with Noah catching a cold- after about a week he shared it with Kayla. The first day or so wasn't too bad, but by Saturday night, poor Kayla was really struggling. Sunday morning she seemed to be improving, but was actually much worse. Because she hadn't been eating much, and her breathing was so labored, she basically slept all day and was limp and pale. I took her to urgent care, since it was Sunday. The doctor there was very concerned for her and insisted we call an ambulance. We went to Mercy Gilbert Hosptial, very close to our home. The doctor there started her on breathing treatments and antibiotics, but wanted us transferred to a children's hospital. So after 6 hours or so in the ER, we took another ambulance ride to Cardon Children's Hospital. This was around 1am Sunday night. They diagnosed her with brionchiolitis. Her oxygen saturation was very low and her respirations were very high. They wouldn't let me feed her for the first 5 or 6 hours because her breathing was too rapid.

She had a respiratory therapist come in every 2 hours and do breathing treatments which included a steroid mist, CPT (which was pounding her chest and back to loosen the mucus) and deep suction of her lungs and nasal passages. She really hated the suctioning. She was too sick to cry much the first couple days. As she got better, she could express how much it bothered her.
The hospital room was nice, it had everything she needed. The hospital just opened in November, so it had a great design and technology. Not fun to be in the hospital, but grateful for the high quality of care we received.
All the tape and gauze on her arm is just to keep her IV in place. Her arm is just so little it takes up her whole forearm.
She mostly slept for the first couple of days. It was so wonderful to see her open her eyes and be social again.
Dano was able to stay at home with the boys, and with the help of Aubrey and Olivia, come to the hospital to visit each day.
I missed my little boys! They weren't allowed past the lobby, but it was so fun to see them for a few minutes. This is me with no shower or make-up and wearing the same clothes for 2 days.
Daddy got the first smile out of this little girl. I think this was taken on Tuesday night.
This was my 'bed' at the hospital. I really can't complain. The rooms had their own bathroom with a little shower, and they brought me 3 meals a day, since I was breastfeeding. So I didn't even have to leave to room to go eat. It was a blessing to be by my baby's side and give her all my attention.
This was her heart rate and oxygen saturation monitor. It would beep really loud if the levels got too low. It kept me awake a lot the first night.
This is Kayla Thursday morning, right before the doctor came in to say we could go home. She was almost back to her normal happy self. They brought in a little swing for her to sit in. So great to see her without the oxygen and IV tubes. The only wire was the monitor on her foot.

Going Home

2010-01-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

After 4 long days, Kayla is being released from the hospital. It has been a blessing to watch her get better so quickly, and we are so grateful for the wonderful care she received at Cardon Children's Hospital. She is back to her normal smiling self, just has a lingering cough and runny nose, along with antibiotics. We really didn't realize how sick she got so quickly, so it was a little scary for a while. She is a strong little girl, and as beautiful as ever! i'll share some pics of our hospital stay after we get home.

Kayla Update

2010-01-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon we took Kayla to Urgent Care because her viral infection was getting progressively worse- Long story short- after 5 hours at the ER and 2 ambulance rides, here we are at Cardon Childrens Hospital. They are mostly concerned with her labored breathing and oxygen saturation. They have been giving her steroid breathing treatments and suctioning the secretions out of her lungs and sinuses. She seems to be progressing well. She is eating well again and looking a lot better. She is still working hard to breathe. It is just so hard on them at this young age. I am hoping she will be released tomorrow, but they haven't really let us know yet. We'll keep you posted!

You have to laugh

2010-01-15T14:36:00.000-08:00

Or else you might cry. Things have been hectic. Noah has been sick for over a week. Not sick enough to sleep all day, just sick enough to whine and cry about nothing. A couple of days ago, Kayla and I finally caught his cold. But it's really not that different than our normal sickness-free lives. I suppose that is life with 3 kids 4 and under.

One of the challenges I faced after Kayla was born was taking & picking Isaak up from school. It seems simple enough-
Park in front of school
Walk a few yards in the door
Sign him in & out on a clipboard

But add a 2 year old and an infant in a carseat into the mix and it gets a bit challenging- I like to think of it as part of my daily exercise.
Then add the hundreds of other parents and kids going in and out, along with a crosswalk and not so cautious vehicles.
Did I mention the autistic kid who is ALWAYS standing in front of the door and likes to grab my baby's carseat and try attacking her face.
Then there are the times when my 2 year old decides to make a run for it- right into the road of course. (Chasing a 2 year old while carrying my newborn, piece of cake).
Meanwhile my 4 year old is getting frustrated and has asked me the same question at least 5 times.
On the other hand, I am so grateful for my van with automatic doors.

Mom of 3 small kids-No worries, I totally got this.

*****other young moms out there- what are the challenges of your day? It's not just me, right?

Sunday Best

2010-01-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

3 hours of church with 3 small kids is a whole NEW experience.

Happy Birthday Noah!

2010-01-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

When your kids are young, every birthday is a little bitter-sweet. It is hard to see your children lose their infancy, but with each new year, you get to know their personalities better and your interactions become more meaningful. It has been a complete joy to get to know my little Noah. He is the most unique little boy- He can be so stubborn, so sweet, so funny, just SO Noah. He turned 2 on January 3rd. We had a small- but fun- family party for him that night.

More Presents?? Didn't we just do this? Poor kid, having is BDay just after Christmas. It was a real challenge to find him the right gifts. As I walked to toy aisles of Target and WalMart and realized we own over 2/3rds of the toys currently on the shelves. I didn't want to get stuff just to get stuff. His favorite gift was a new magna-doodle to replace the one that was recently broken. He LOVES it, and loves drawing shapes, and asking us to draw things for him. He also got more mega-blocks, a toy he plays with everyday. I love the toys that use their creativity.

The Dayton Grandparents got the boys wiggle cars for Christmas. They have been a total blast! Their awesome mom even lets them ride them in the house! Uncle Brad and cousin Sophia had fun riding in circles around the kitchen.

I love to cook, but I am no baker. I made Noah's cake this year, and my awesome husband took on the task of stacking and frosting the cake- I am so afraid to do it! It turned out perfect- and tasted great too- Thank you Betty Crocker!

Isaak

I can't wait to spend another year with this amazing kid!

Hershey Kisses

2010-01-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Noah ate them all.

In one sitting.

I was upstairs feeding the baby and found the evidence.

He did not eat lunch that day.

Because he was full of cHoCoLaTe!

Happy Christmas Day

2010-01-01T15:13:00.001-08:00

Santa didn't disappoint this year. He even found a way to bring two little boys new bikes all the way to St. George. What a nice Santa.
Presents! It is great when your kids master the art of unwrapping. Bit of bad luck with the gifts though- Isaak's remote control car didn't work and Noah was deathly afraid of the Cookie Monster doll.

Aubrey-Jed-Scott

Jenny-Kent-Nedra-Liz-Paul

"More cars?" you ask- Oh, don't worry- they are the most played with Christmas gift.

Grandma's love: I saw my mom slave away on this quilt for quite a while (via blog, of course). To my surprise it was a gift for our children! Along with the book, "The Little Red Hen" which my mom used to read us as kids.

The MOST delicious Christmas breakfast- sticky buns, breakfast cassarole, orange slices and hot chocolate. Most of our celebrating revolved around food- YUM!

Christmas baby- Kayla is 1 month old today!

Paul, Mercy and Aubrey working on the puzzle- a Christmas tradition.

Dano and Kayla- he really is the BEST dad. I'm so lucky to have him.Isaak- got just what he wanted! (he said that a lot)

Noah- loves playing games with his Daddy.

Papa- played with the boys tirelessly, and even took them both in the hot tub without any other adult help. He is awesome.

The day after Christmas, everyone but Kayla and I went on a hike to see some petroglyphs. St. George is so beautiful.

Scott with his girlfriend Jenny- she is awesome.

Elizabeth- She just graduated from the U!- I miss her.

Daddy and Noah

Verry Merry Christmas Eve

2009-12-31T12:42:00.001-08:00

Christmas in St. George was awesome! We went to my parents house and got totally spoiled with 'mom food', playing games, and watching movies. The best part was the whole family being together. Even my brother Scott came from Brooklyn with his girlfriend Jenny. It had been almost 2 years since I had seen him- I miss him so much. Christmas Eve was wonderful- yummy dinner, too many treats, and LOTS of fun with really excited kids.
Earlier in the day Isaak went for a hike with his Papa. He was walking with his hands in his pockets and fell down...on his face- ouch! He hit a rock and a spiky bush. He had some stickers around his eye- luckily his eyeball was spared! We iced it pretty good to get the swelling to go down, and he wasn't too upset about it.

Grandma and Kayla in matching PJ's

The kids were great about going to bed, and SO excited for Santa to come.

Christmas Stockings!

2009-12-17T10:54:00.001-08:00

For the last 6 years we have been married I have been wanting to get personalized Christmas stockings for our family. I decided this was the year, but was waiting for Kayla to be born, since we weren't sure what her name would be. I was glad I waited because I found exactly what I was looking for on clearance at JCPenny.com. They were marked down from $39.99 to $9.99! The stockings arrived in about a week. It may be too late for you to get yours for this Christmas, but with a sale like this, I would get them for next year.

Here's the website I bought them from:

http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=57088&CatID=71140&GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=16e3acc&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=EXTERNAL|63610&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=6&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=external|63610|71140