Inspiration

Last Sept our friend Levi was diagnosed with Colon cancer about a month after their first baby was born. The news was shocking and devastating-Levi is so young and takes such good care of himself. Levi, Kelsie, and Brecken baby (as Ry calls her) live in Colorado and pete and I had been talking about going out to see them. I told Kelsie about how we wanted to come visit and she thought it would be fun for us to come and surprise Levi. So that is exactly what we did. Levi's mom picked us up from the airport and when we pulled up to their house Levi heard car doors shut and looked out the window to see who was at their house and saw us getting out of the car. He was shocked, confused, and surprised that Kelsie didn't seem phased at all by the fact we were standing outside their house. We had a great weekend and it was fun to spend so much time with them-It made me wish that they lived back in Utah again. But the thing Pete and I were so impressed by was Levi's attitude. He NEVER complained-even over his weird chemo side effects-he really only talked about it when we asked questions and always seemed so positive. Both he and Kelsie are amazing.




The first night they took us to a Mexican restaurant equipped with a pirate variety and diving show, arcade, caricature drawing, haunted maze and the list went on and on-it was ghetto fabulous and we were laughing the whole night at everything this one restaurant had to offer. Ry, of course, had a blast and I fell in love with skee-ball all over again.





We went to the stock show and Mexican Rodeo. We realized that night they seemed to be taking us to do things with a hispanic theme and joked that we needed to continue the theme throughout the rest of our trip.





Playing "Uno" and hanging out with some of their fun friends





Ry loving Brecken baby a little too much

Today was one of those days...

...that I never should have gotten out of bed- I somehow was given a large dose of bad luck sometime during the night. I managed to spill contaminated blood all over myself and a machine at work, experienced my first complete code (the pt stopped breathing and had no pulse) and watched someone perform CPR while I got to deal with the paramedics-it was much more traumatic than it sounds esp because the pt didn't make it. Then I stuck myself with a dirty needle and got to spend the next two hours at WorkMed waiting to get my blood drawn. Afterwards, I had to go back to work to attend a meeting and finish up a lot of charting. To top it all off I never got a lunch break. I was very grateful when I finally got in my car to drive home an hour and a half after my shift actually ended:)

3rd Annual S4S/Ugly Sweater/White Elephant Christmas Party

I know you are wondering where in the world Pete found the beautiful poncho/sweater i am wearing-why ebay is the answer and he was so excited about it. Everyone was secretly jealous of it:) We gave away a BYU snuggie blanket for our WE gift and it was the most fought over item of the night-needless to say I was very surprised. Thanks everyone for all your generosity in S4S and for another fun party.






I was grateful when the party was over because Pete no longer had an excuse to keep his mustache.

Meet Tiger...

Yes, I know I am a month late, but I had to post this-to get rid of the last post and also to show what he ended up dressing up as. I think I have been so slow to post because Halloween was such a bust and Pete and I had been so excited to celebrate the holiday. Ry woke up from his nap extremely grumpy and after about 2 houses he had taken off all the parts of his costume that let you know he was supposed to be a Tiger Woods. I got tired of explaining that my child was not just dressed in a red polo shirt and black pants. Oh well, maybe next year...


Meet the other tiger in our lives, oh wait she is actually a "toyger" kitten-some special, exotic breed pete had been begging me to let him get for months. I did not grow up with animals and don't share the LOVE that Ry and Pete have for every animal on the planet. (Pete keeps a list of animals we will have some day including: sharks, dolphins, monkeys, dogs, etc.-yes we will be opening up our own Zoo.) And did I mention I am HIGHLY allergic to cats. Somehow that did not deter my husbands in his efforts, he claimed this was supposed to be a "hypoallergenic" breed. (Even though he claimed that to me with the last kitty we got and had to give up after three days because I was so allergic.) But, I knew how much it meant to both my boys so I told him I would try again-true love right there:) I am still allergic, but I am trying to make this one work. She really is darling and acts more like a dog than a cat so I really can't complain. Hopefully the allergies will just magically go away.

Boys...

A few days ago Ryan said to me:
"Mommy for Halloween I want to be poopy and diarrhea"

Really?!!!
I didn't know how to respond because I was so surprised.
All I could think about was how interesting a costume like that would be...
Then he preceded to tell me he wanted to be "A french fry and a chicken nuggie"

Okay Ry, I think we will just stick with you being Tiger Woods instead;)












Just a couple of my favorite pics of my funny boy from summer-they were both taken on Pete's iPhone so that is why the quality isn't the best.

...Lucky Girl...

My incredible sister Rebecca and her amazing friend Dena (Who had literally JUST moved here from London) were so wonderful to take time out of their extremely busy summer schedules to take pictures for us. I was so spoiled to have not just one, but two talented photographers and we couldn't have been happier with the results. Thank you so much for the pictures-I can't wait for my order to arrive so I can hang them in our house.

"Noctober Tweff" finally arrives

"Noctober Tweff" (as Ry has been calling it) has been the most talked about/anticipated day of the month around our house-Ry turned 3 today! I couldn't imagine life without this crazy, full-of-life, active, energetic, enthusiastic kid. He has been practicing showing how old he is and gets so proud of himself when he can get all 3 fingers up.


This is what I got when I asked for another smile




Having lunch with his friend Joey at Noodles-Ry's favorite Restaurant




We went to Pirate's Island with Pete's family to finish off the day of celebration





Happy Birthday Ryan! We love you and are so HAPPY to have you in our family.

This poor guy...

...has been to the hospital 3 times in the past three and a half weeks-one time being while we were down at Lake Powell. 2 of the times because the kidney stone he got in Switzerland decided to let him know it had never really passed and the 3rd time for multiple blood clots in both of his lungs. Unfortunately, he was admitted for the last of the visits and since they have no idea what caused the blood clots Pete won a life-long ticket on blood thinners. We really are VERY lucky to still have him with us since many people are killed when blood clots travel to the lungs. We wanted to thank everyone for all the love, support, and concern we were shown over the past week-we really appreciate it.

...One of the Big Boys...

I had to work both Friday and Saturday so Pete and Ry decided to go camping with a bunch of friends since I wouldn't be around. Ryan was SO excited about going and talked about it for days. Some of the boys decided to make it "white-trash" camping and Pete had Ry join in on the fun and bought him this awesome outfit. Ry called me on his way up there and told me he was a "cowboy". They hung out, fished and it sounds like Ry had a great time being with the big boys.