So about a week ago I decided that I wanted to take the boys and go on a little vacation. I decided we would go see Ana and Cristian in vernal and then from there go to Wyoming. we just left Tuesday night after two busy days and stayed at my parents in Heber. My parents just moved into a new house so the boys and I stayed downstairs in one of their rooms. The boys watched Frozen in one of the other rooms and enjoyed doing that while eating popcorn together. My parents and I and John watched 24 then chatted for a while. The boys didn't finish their movie but Vin came and crawled in my lap to fall asleep. The room had a queen bed but I laid some big pillows on the floor for Vin to sleep on. Everett went to bed when I did we got up Wednesday morning and drove 2 hours to Vernal. It was a short and painless trip.
We stayed two nights in Vernal and really enjoyed that. The first day we went to the splash pad and the boys loved that. We picked up some dollar water gun squirters and Cristofer brought a bucket too. It was great watching them play together while Ana, Cristian and I chatted. Ana and I got to discuss some love and logic parenting skills that work for her and that I have been trying to do with the boys. I realized that I was missing some of the pieces and I feel like I have been able to make some progress. Everett can throw quite the tantrum now. Our second day we took the kids to the park but it was pretty warm so we didn't stay too long. We played outside some here and there and the boys loved the playroom.
They had just recently bought their house and I loved it. They were renting a house before and didn't have any extra rooms in their last place. I forgot to ask about bed situations so we didn't bring an air mattress and ended up sleeping on the floor. The first night Everett slept in Cristofer's room on his cars couch/bed thing. At first he was a little scared because
it was different but then he fell right to sleep with me laying next to him. Cristofer wasn't used to it and ended up sleeping in his parents room. The second night he slept on the Cars things but slept in my room and Vin and I slept on the floor again over some blankets. We slept pretty good and the dogs slept with us for part of the night.
After two nights there we headed up to Casper, WY where all of my mom's side of the family lives and Mike was meeting us up there too. This was on a friday. Mike was Awesome and got us a room at the hotel he was staying at so that was nice. I noticed that Everett was coughing a little the day that we left Vernal. I think we went over to Grandma's first to pick her up but I can't quite remember now. I know we all went over to Uncle Chris' and met everyone there. We went and checked in at our hotel once we got together with Mike. The boy's were pretty happy to see him. It took several trips up to the room to get all of our stuff from the car.
Vin enjoyed riding on top of Mike's suitcase into the elevator. After we got settled then we all rode back over to Uncle Chris' and decided to go eat at a little Mexican restaraunt. The kids got some chicken strips I think (no surprise there!) and I got a quesadilla. I remember that for some reason my mouth had broken out with about 20 cankor sores during my vacation. I think it was the almonds. I thought a quesadilla was easier to eat then most things and I got a virgin Strawberry daiquri too because my Uncle Chris wanted to treat me to one. The boys were pretty good but got a little tired of being there because hey they are young crazy boys.
I believe we went back to Uncle Chris and Aunt Vicki's house for a while longer just to hang out and both boys fell asleep on the couch. Everett was coughing a little but nothing too serious. We eventually made it back to the hotel and I got the boys in bed. Everett wasn't sounding great and I already had a feeling it was going to be a long night. A couple hours later Everett woke up in a full blown croup coughing attack. I could get it to slow or get him to calm down so I hurried with him into the bathroom and closed the door. We got the shower going and spent about 10 mins. in there until his coughing slowed down and he was able to calm down a little. As if things weren't stressful enough, the fire alarm went off instantly when we came out of the bathroom because of the steam. I didn't know what to do so I ended up just waiting for it to stop. I also didn't know if it was just my room or the whole hotel so I was worried. We did end up waking up everyone around us.
I called Anthon in tears to let him know what was going on and to see what he thought I should do. We decided that if he woke up again from coughing then I would have to take him to the hospital. I had called down to the front desk to let them no the situation so they could apologize to the other guests if there was complaints. Well I predicted that Everett would wake up again and he did. The attack wasn't as bad as the first one but I didn't want to take any risks so I was able to call and wake Mike up and let him know what was going on. He came over to sleep with Vin and I took Everett to the hospital. We got in super quickly and they were able to get things calmed down. They gave him some medications and we got chest x-rays taken just to make sure nothing had entered his chest. We were monitered for over an hour and he was finally able to get some rest. I think we got back to the hotel room around 4 and we were able to get some sleep.
Obviously this post is a little outdated now since we took this vacation in June 2014. It was a really nice vacation and it was a little weird being back in Wyoming with all of my family but without my mom. I was able to go visit her grave and see her headstone for the first time in person. It turned out just how I hoped it would.
Papa Mike bought the boys some new shoes which they loved and we also went to get ice cream. We took a different route home which was faster and I hauled a small trailer behind me with some of my mom's things in it. I got a trunk, dresser and vanity from her and inside of some of those things were pictures and trinkets and memorable items that were hers.
It was a good trip but we were happy to get home too after not getting as much rest as we needed with Everett being sick. Will post pictures later.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Friday, September 12, 2014
The newest member of our family...
Here is my beloved SUV which I'm super excited about. We have had it sine May but I'm still playing catch up on my posts.
The boys and I spent a good amount of time before my wrist surgery looking for a second vehicle. They actually really enjoyed it and would get excited when I told them we were going to look at cars. The first lot we went to was kind of too snobby I guess you could say. I told the guy what my spending limit was and he only showed me cars that were no less than double what I said I could spend. Crazy huh? I also didn't feel comfortable letting the boys get in to look. Needless to say I didn't buy from there and we never returned.
I also did a great deal of looking on KSL and googled some other car lots to look at. I knew I wanted at SUV and not a mini van. Believe it or not the first car I normally drove after getting my license was a green mini van and that's okay but I have always wanted an SUV. I was most interested in a Tahoe, Yukon or Suburban. Those are what I first started looking at but then later started looking at Escalades and Expeditions as well.
After narrowing down what I wanted and felt that I needed, this is what I was looking for:
-3rd row seating (An absolute must)
-DVD player
-under 100,000 miles
-clean title
-good condition inside and out
-Automatic
-No smoker for previous owner
-Listed for under $15,000
-Year 2000 or newer
I test drove an Escalade but the price was a little higher than I wanted for as old as it was and I also test drove a couple suburban's but realized that for the most part they weren't in my price range unless they had too many miles.
I found a Ford Expedition on KSL that I was ready to look at and most likely purchase so I called about looking at it and had an appointment set up but the person called the other people that had just looked at it to let them know someone else was coming and they decided to buy it. I was pretty bummed.
I was running out of time before surgery and I'm not sure what I was out doing but I saw a dealership located off the highway and decided to go by it. That was the best decision I could have made. I loved the guy I was working with and I felt like he really wanted to sell me a vehicle in my price range for a great deal. I found a few things that would work for me but really liked a 2004 Ford Expedition. They also had a Suburban but I knew the price really wasn't going to be what I wanted to pay. I was also a little concerned about how long the vehicle would be.
I basically love everything about the expedition. The seats are leather. There is a DVD player, built in GPS system and heated seats. One thing I love about the 3rd row of seats is that they split so you can have just one seat up or two seats up at a time. It was only $100 more than my price range I had and it was under $100k miles
I will add pictures later
The boys and I spent a good amount of time before my wrist surgery looking for a second vehicle. They actually really enjoyed it and would get excited when I told them we were going to look at cars. The first lot we went to was kind of too snobby I guess you could say. I told the guy what my spending limit was and he only showed me cars that were no less than double what I said I could spend. Crazy huh? I also didn't feel comfortable letting the boys get in to look. Needless to say I didn't buy from there and we never returned.
I also did a great deal of looking on KSL and googled some other car lots to look at. I knew I wanted at SUV and not a mini van. Believe it or not the first car I normally drove after getting my license was a green mini van and that's okay but I have always wanted an SUV. I was most interested in a Tahoe, Yukon or Suburban. Those are what I first started looking at but then later started looking at Escalades and Expeditions as well.
After narrowing down what I wanted and felt that I needed, this is what I was looking for:
-3rd row seating (An absolute must)
-DVD player
-under 100,000 miles
-clean title
-good condition inside and out
-Automatic
-No smoker for previous owner
-Listed for under $15,000
-Year 2000 or newer
I test drove an Escalade but the price was a little higher than I wanted for as old as it was and I also test drove a couple suburban's but realized that for the most part they weren't in my price range unless they had too many miles.
I found a Ford Expedition on KSL that I was ready to look at and most likely purchase so I called about looking at it and had an appointment set up but the person called the other people that had just looked at it to let them know someone else was coming and they decided to buy it. I was pretty bummed.
I was running out of time before surgery and I'm not sure what I was out doing but I saw a dealership located off the highway and decided to go by it. That was the best decision I could have made. I loved the guy I was working with and I felt like he really wanted to sell me a vehicle in my price range for a great deal. I found a few things that would work for me but really liked a 2004 Ford Expedition. They also had a Suburban but I knew the price really wasn't going to be what I wanted to pay. I was also a little concerned about how long the vehicle would be.
I basically love everything about the expedition. The seats are leather. There is a DVD player, built in GPS system and heated seats. One thing I love about the 3rd row of seats is that they split so you can have just one seat up or two seats up at a time. It was only $100 more than my price range I had and it was under $100k miles
I will add pictures later
Buying a House
I thought it would be fun to share our experience as we found a house to buy and maybe give some tips for those looking to buy a house or sell their own.
So first off we know we wanted to live close to Anthon's work so his commute wouldn't be very far so we decided we didn't want to live in Orem or Provo because that was too far. We also knew that we didn't want to live any farther north than Lehi.
Anthon and I drove up to Utah the last weekend in January and we must have looked at a dozen houses while I was there for the weekend. We liked a few things but one specific. The only problem is that we needed to sell our house in AZ before we could buy a house in Utah. Our house wasn't quite ready to be listed yet so we wanted to lease until we could buy. The people we talked to about that had some pretty intense requests to make that possible on the house we wanted to buy so we turned their offer down. The house was in Lehi at about 500 W and Pioneer Crossing. We ended up finding a house for rent in the same neighborhood and were able to convince the landlord to rent to us if we paid a little extra rent and a pet deposit.
We loved the house we rented and it helped us decide what we really wanted in a house. We moved in over Valentine's Day weekend. As we looked at most houses we realized that most people were not interested in leasing before people buy.
We had the most amazing realtor named Jason Wolf. Our experience with buying a house couldn't have been made any easier for us. He helped us understand everything and fought for what we wanted. I truly felt like he knew us and what we wanted in a house.
We eventually found a house we liked in Lehi. We got under contract and I had my dad come look at it because I had some concern about the crawl space. We ended up finding too much moisture for my comfort in the crawl space and a little bit of standing water. The most awkward part about when I took my dad to look at the crawl space is that the home owner was there looking over our shoulder the whole time. We ended up breaking our contract and we continued looking. This is when we decided that Lehi was maybe not the place for us to live.
Then we started focusing more on Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. We originally thought this would be too far from Anthon's work but once we got to know the area it ended up being about the same distance as our rental house. We looked at a few house out in Eagle Mountain City Center but we realized there was really no stores or anything out there so we thought it was too far for us.
We decided that we were interested in having a basement (finished or unfinished) and that the house needed to be at least 2400 sq ft. Whatever house we built we wanted to make sure we could be in it long term. We wanted at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We prefered to have a decent sized fenced yard but not having it fenced wasn't a deal breaker. We also wanted to have a living room and family room and one thing kind of important to me as silly as it seems is I didn't want a white kitchen sink. I feel like white kitchen sinks never look clean no matter what I do.
We looked at so many houses over the time we were looking that its unbelievable. We learned that once we felt uncomfortable about something in a house then we might as well just move on. We also learned to rate our houses in an order so often our realtor would ask us, do you like this house better than your number one or something similar to us. The realtor would also print out the house sheet for us and after we looked or during we would take notes of the things we really liked and the things we didn't like. Then we put it in order of what we like most to what we liked least.
Let me share a few experiences of some houses we looked at. One house we looked at was a rental house. After knocking on the door it was answered and we were immediately greeted by the smell of weed. Apparently the landlord or tenant didn't remember we were coming and were a little busy. The house was pretty darkly painted with not too many lights on. I swear the smell was strong enough to get a contact high.
We also looked at a couple house that were incredible messy. Once again these were houses that were being rented. One couple was in the process of packing and moving so that's more understandable. We didn't really like the floor plan. The other really messy one was just terrible. I guess they didn't know we were coming but the house was in poor condition. It was pretty crazy.
I remember looking at a house owned by an oriental couple and it was really interesting to look at the décor that was in the house compared to what we are used to seeing.
We looked at a really creepy house once. They were smokers which of course I didn't like and then I don't think they spent much time cleaning up for us. The creepy thing was when we entered the basement though. There was a random bed in an area and it looked like some not great things were going on. It made me really uncomfortable and we pretty much left immediately after that. We stopped looking in that area after that.
We looked at several house located in the same neighborhood as our rental house that we really liked but none of them were quite big enough for us. Some of them had some great features though.
We also looked at a few properties/houses that were fixer uppers located on an acre of land. The first one we looked at needed about $40k of work and was in terrible shape as in not livable but the land was awesome and had animal rights. It was close to the highway though. The other one we looked at was close to that one but much bigger and it was amazing. We liked it a lot but we weren't sure it would pass the inspection and the owners didn't seem interested in fixing those things that were problems. We also learned that several of the neighbors were polygamists which wasn't the best for the kids to grow up around.
We worked with a great company to get a mortgage. The are called Guaranteed Rate. I can't even explain how easy they made the process and how well they communicated with us. Compared to the first time we bought a house, it was all a piece of cake.
I can't really think about what else to write and this is already a long post. I just know working with the right people makes things so much easier and less stressful. I've heard stories from several people about working with a bad realtor and etc. so we were really happy to find such great people to help us.
So first off we know we wanted to live close to Anthon's work so his commute wouldn't be very far so we decided we didn't want to live in Orem or Provo because that was too far. We also knew that we didn't want to live any farther north than Lehi.
Anthon and I drove up to Utah the last weekend in January and we must have looked at a dozen houses while I was there for the weekend. We liked a few things but one specific. The only problem is that we needed to sell our house in AZ before we could buy a house in Utah. Our house wasn't quite ready to be listed yet so we wanted to lease until we could buy. The people we talked to about that had some pretty intense requests to make that possible on the house we wanted to buy so we turned their offer down. The house was in Lehi at about 500 W and Pioneer Crossing. We ended up finding a house for rent in the same neighborhood and were able to convince the landlord to rent to us if we paid a little extra rent and a pet deposit.
We loved the house we rented and it helped us decide what we really wanted in a house. We moved in over Valentine's Day weekend. As we looked at most houses we realized that most people were not interested in leasing before people buy.
We had the most amazing realtor named Jason Wolf. Our experience with buying a house couldn't have been made any easier for us. He helped us understand everything and fought for what we wanted. I truly felt like he knew us and what we wanted in a house.
We eventually found a house we liked in Lehi. We got under contract and I had my dad come look at it because I had some concern about the crawl space. We ended up finding too much moisture for my comfort in the crawl space and a little bit of standing water. The most awkward part about when I took my dad to look at the crawl space is that the home owner was there looking over our shoulder the whole time. We ended up breaking our contract and we continued looking. This is when we decided that Lehi was maybe not the place for us to live.
Then we started focusing more on Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. We originally thought this would be too far from Anthon's work but once we got to know the area it ended up being about the same distance as our rental house. We looked at a few house out in Eagle Mountain City Center but we realized there was really no stores or anything out there so we thought it was too far for us.
We decided that we were interested in having a basement (finished or unfinished) and that the house needed to be at least 2400 sq ft. Whatever house we built we wanted to make sure we could be in it long term. We wanted at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We prefered to have a decent sized fenced yard but not having it fenced wasn't a deal breaker. We also wanted to have a living room and family room and one thing kind of important to me as silly as it seems is I didn't want a white kitchen sink. I feel like white kitchen sinks never look clean no matter what I do.
We looked at so many houses over the time we were looking that its unbelievable. We learned that once we felt uncomfortable about something in a house then we might as well just move on. We also learned to rate our houses in an order so often our realtor would ask us, do you like this house better than your number one or something similar to us. The realtor would also print out the house sheet for us and after we looked or during we would take notes of the things we really liked and the things we didn't like. Then we put it in order of what we like most to what we liked least.
Let me share a few experiences of some houses we looked at. One house we looked at was a rental house. After knocking on the door it was answered and we were immediately greeted by the smell of weed. Apparently the landlord or tenant didn't remember we were coming and were a little busy. The house was pretty darkly painted with not too many lights on. I swear the smell was strong enough to get a contact high.
We also looked at a couple house that were incredible messy. Once again these were houses that were being rented. One couple was in the process of packing and moving so that's more understandable. We didn't really like the floor plan. The other really messy one was just terrible. I guess they didn't know we were coming but the house was in poor condition. It was pretty crazy.
I remember looking at a house owned by an oriental couple and it was really interesting to look at the décor that was in the house compared to what we are used to seeing.
We looked at a really creepy house once. They were smokers which of course I didn't like and then I don't think they spent much time cleaning up for us. The creepy thing was when we entered the basement though. There was a random bed in an area and it looked like some not great things were going on. It made me really uncomfortable and we pretty much left immediately after that. We stopped looking in that area after that.
We looked at several house located in the same neighborhood as our rental house that we really liked but none of them were quite big enough for us. Some of them had some great features though.
We also looked at a few properties/houses that were fixer uppers located on an acre of land. The first one we looked at needed about $40k of work and was in terrible shape as in not livable but the land was awesome and had animal rights. It was close to the highway though. The other one we looked at was close to that one but much bigger and it was amazing. We liked it a lot but we weren't sure it would pass the inspection and the owners didn't seem interested in fixing those things that were problems. We also learned that several of the neighbors were polygamists which wasn't the best for the kids to grow up around.
We worked with a great company to get a mortgage. The are called Guaranteed Rate. I can't even explain how easy they made the process and how well they communicated with us. Compared to the first time we bought a house, it was all a piece of cake.
I can't really think about what else to write and this is already a long post. I just know working with the right people makes things so much easier and less stressful. I've heard stories from several people about working with a bad realtor and etc. so we were really happy to find such great people to help us.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Back to Life...
So as most people know I'm really into Fitness, Health and Sports. So of course breaking my wrist about 9 months ago was a big deal to me. I had surgery to repair my TFCC disc in my wrist around Mother's Day and was cleared a few weeks ago to start doing things as pain allowed. Before that I had a limitation of no more than 5lbs for 6 weeks. It was terrible.
So yesterday my friend Kendra and I started our first day of getting back to a Healthier lifestyle. I had no Dr. Pepper yesterday and stayed within my calorie limit. I completed my first workout since I think April. Our workout was 1 bicep curl, 1 tricep extension and 1 burpee but then climbing in number for each set (2,3,4,5 and etc. or each). It was a 25 min workout and I got to round 14. I only finished 11 burpees of my 14th round. I started with burpees instead of bicep curls since Kendra and I were doing it at the same time and sharing some weights. The hardest part of the exercise for me was the tricep extensions. I still can't put full weight on my wrist so the burpees were difficult and my hand is sore from going down on it funny.
Later last night I went for a 45 min walk which felt great and I went 2.75 miles. The plan is to workout with weights on MWF and do cardio everyday except Sunday. I plan to walk on MWF and run on TTRS.
I have been playing soccer twice a week for the last few weeks so that is good but not enough for me. I love to workout. I'm having a hard time getting a clean slate of health so I'm hoping to be feeling 100% soon. I had a bladder/kidney infection in June and went to the doctor yesterday and I have another bladder infection. It's super frustrating.
I'm hoping by practicing a healthier lifestyle then I will feel better overall too. Here is my before picture yesterday.
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So yesterday my friend Kendra and I started our first day of getting back to a Healthier lifestyle. I had no Dr. Pepper yesterday and stayed within my calorie limit. I completed my first workout since I think April. Our workout was 1 bicep curl, 1 tricep extension and 1 burpee but then climbing in number for each set (2,3,4,5 and etc. or each). It was a 25 min workout and I got to round 14. I only finished 11 burpees of my 14th round. I started with burpees instead of bicep curls since Kendra and I were doing it at the same time and sharing some weights. The hardest part of the exercise for me was the tricep extensions. I still can't put full weight on my wrist so the burpees were difficult and my hand is sore from going down on it funny.
Later last night I went for a 45 min walk which felt great and I went 2.75 miles. The plan is to workout with weights on MWF and do cardio everyday except Sunday. I plan to walk on MWF and run on TTRS.
I have been playing soccer twice a week for the last few weeks so that is good but not enough for me. I love to workout. I'm having a hard time getting a clean slate of health so I'm hoping to be feeling 100% soon. I had a bladder/kidney infection in June and went to the doctor yesterday and I have another bladder infection. It's super frustrating.
I'm hoping by practicing a healthier lifestyle then I will feel better overall too. Here is my before picture yesterday.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Christmas 2013
Obviously this is a catch up post since Christmas was over 5 months ago but I'm trying to keep a journal and record of things better. For the second year in a row we went to my parent's house in Utah. In 2012 they lived in Midway and 2013 they lived in Heber City. The towns are neighboring and beautiful areas in Utah. My parents always have good taste in houses and its been nice that most of my family has been able to make it. My brother Alex is serving his mission in San Antonio, Texas so he wasn't with us last year but we got to talk to him on the phone.
So last year when we went to my parent's house for Christmas I was feeling ill the day we left and basically continued to feel ill the whole trip. I found out I had kidney stones the day we left on our trip and started my period while we were gone. Everett started to feel ill on Christmas Eve and by the day after Christmas we had to go to a minute clinic where he was diagoosed with Croup. I had to hold him down on my lap while I tried to get as much of a breathing treatment in his mouth as I could. I was sweating by the end and it was no fun. He was grumpy and grouchy and not very pleasant to be around.
Now back to this last year. Anthon graduated on Wednesday, December 18th with his Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering. I went to the doctor the day before and had a stomach ache from the moment I woke up. By the time I got home around 1pm I couldn't keep myself from throwing up and continued to throw up the rest of the day and had to miss my work Christmas Party. I was barely able to pull mysef together for Anthon's graduation to leave at 11. I felt terrible the whole time but was happy to see him graduate on his special day and we had a nice party for him that evening.
We were supposed to leave on Thursday night or afternoon but Everett started throwing up the night before and threw up all night until about noon on Thursday. We weren't going to leave until Friday but decided to leave around 10pm on Thursday to leave anyways since he hadn't thrown up in a while. He didn't feel his best but didn't throw up after that and we made the trip safely. We hit some good snow for a couple hours after we went through St. George but arrived safely. The defrost was also working poorly so we had to constantly wipe the windows to keep them clear for driving. I felt like the car was starting funny the morning we started it to go to Utah from Vegas.
We got up to go to church on Sunday and Everett threw up again so I went ahead and took Vin to church with me but Everett and Anthon stayed home. I went to start my car one day and it wouldn't start because the battery was dead and wouldn't hold a charge. We had it checked out at Les Schwab but realized that I had a warranty and finally found a place to get it fixed that carried the same type of battery.
We got to talk to Alex on Christmas Day but the boys were being stinkers and I wasn't able to talk to him much but it sounds like he is doing well and working hard serving the Lord. Everett threw up one other day too but I can't remember what day it was right now. I had planned a surprise graduation party for Anthon on Friday night and of course he ended up throwing up all night Thursday. I had to ruin the surprise and tell him about the party to make sure he still wanted to have it. Only a couple people were able to make it but we enjoyed some good food and company.
One morning I got to hang out with my sister in law Nikki and her sister. We went and stood in line outside at H&M to get a free gift card. We all got a $25 gift card so it was a fun little adventure. We also did a good amount of shopping before Christmas for everyone. We were able to find some Awesome Cars Rain boots for Everett because he was having a hard time with the fact that his other boots didn't fit him. He loved them when he opened them. I got a new phone before Christmas time so we decided that was my main gift. I picked out a video game and wii remote for Anthon. We got Vin some new cars shoes that light up when you walk and a cute keyboard that he liked. I received some nice clothes and jewelry and make up. It was a nice Christmas despite people being sick and the most important part is that we got to spend time together as a family.
My parents were super nice and told us that they had a coupon to stay one night in a Motel in St. George. It had to be used before the end of the year so they let us have it and on our way home we stopped in St. George to stay at the Holiday Inn. The bathroom had a huge Jacuzzi tub so we gave the boys a bath in that and they loved it playing with their planes they got from the Bersons. After we got the boys to bed we ordered pizza and soda and enjoyed hanging out together. Unfortnately the night turned out not so great when Everett woke up with a super high fever. We couldn't find the thermometer or didn't bring it and I was trying to remember where the medicine was. He was miserable. He was up most of the night and it was terrible. Anthon was able to give him a blessing and we found the medicine and eventually we were able to get his fever down some.
I don't remember much from the drive home other than that Everett was getting so used to throwing up that he was able to recognize that it was coming. We had a "puke" bucket in the car from the time we started the trip and he basically held it in his lap most of the way home. Poor little guy. I remember when he threw up Vin said "icky." It was cute and comical. He is basically our superstar and tends to never catch anything that everyone else gets.
Overall I think it was a better trip than last year. It was great getting to see all of my family and family. Some of my friends are as close as my family to me. We got to see the Berson's. They stayed one night at my parent's with us and that was Awesome. They are some of the nicest people I know and they make me want to be a better person. They are always such a great example to me and are as close to perfect as I feel people could get.
Pictures will be added later.
So last year when we went to my parent's house for Christmas I was feeling ill the day we left and basically continued to feel ill the whole trip. I found out I had kidney stones the day we left on our trip and started my period while we were gone. Everett started to feel ill on Christmas Eve and by the day after Christmas we had to go to a minute clinic where he was diagoosed with Croup. I had to hold him down on my lap while I tried to get as much of a breathing treatment in his mouth as I could. I was sweating by the end and it was no fun. He was grumpy and grouchy and not very pleasant to be around.
Now back to this last year. Anthon graduated on Wednesday, December 18th with his Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering. I went to the doctor the day before and had a stomach ache from the moment I woke up. By the time I got home around 1pm I couldn't keep myself from throwing up and continued to throw up the rest of the day and had to miss my work Christmas Party. I was barely able to pull mysef together for Anthon's graduation to leave at 11. I felt terrible the whole time but was happy to see him graduate on his special day and we had a nice party for him that evening.
We were supposed to leave on Thursday night or afternoon but Everett started throwing up the night before and threw up all night until about noon on Thursday. We weren't going to leave until Friday but decided to leave around 10pm on Thursday to leave anyways since he hadn't thrown up in a while. He didn't feel his best but didn't throw up after that and we made the trip safely. We hit some good snow for a couple hours after we went through St. George but arrived safely. The defrost was also working poorly so we had to constantly wipe the windows to keep them clear for driving. I felt like the car was starting funny the morning we started it to go to Utah from Vegas.
We got up to go to church on Sunday and Everett threw up again so I went ahead and took Vin to church with me but Everett and Anthon stayed home. I went to start my car one day and it wouldn't start because the battery was dead and wouldn't hold a charge. We had it checked out at Les Schwab but realized that I had a warranty and finally found a place to get it fixed that carried the same type of battery.
We got to talk to Alex on Christmas Day but the boys were being stinkers and I wasn't able to talk to him much but it sounds like he is doing well and working hard serving the Lord. Everett threw up one other day too but I can't remember what day it was right now. I had planned a surprise graduation party for Anthon on Friday night and of course he ended up throwing up all night Thursday. I had to ruin the surprise and tell him about the party to make sure he still wanted to have it. Only a couple people were able to make it but we enjoyed some good food and company.
One morning I got to hang out with my sister in law Nikki and her sister. We went and stood in line outside at H&M to get a free gift card. We all got a $25 gift card so it was a fun little adventure. We also did a good amount of shopping before Christmas for everyone. We were able to find some Awesome Cars Rain boots for Everett because he was having a hard time with the fact that his other boots didn't fit him. He loved them when he opened them. I got a new phone before Christmas time so we decided that was my main gift. I picked out a video game and wii remote for Anthon. We got Vin some new cars shoes that light up when you walk and a cute keyboard that he liked. I received some nice clothes and jewelry and make up. It was a nice Christmas despite people being sick and the most important part is that we got to spend time together as a family.
My parents were super nice and told us that they had a coupon to stay one night in a Motel in St. George. It had to be used before the end of the year so they let us have it and on our way home we stopped in St. George to stay at the Holiday Inn. The bathroom had a huge Jacuzzi tub so we gave the boys a bath in that and they loved it playing with their planes they got from the Bersons. After we got the boys to bed we ordered pizza and soda and enjoyed hanging out together. Unfortnately the night turned out not so great when Everett woke up with a super high fever. We couldn't find the thermometer or didn't bring it and I was trying to remember where the medicine was. He was miserable. He was up most of the night and it was terrible. Anthon was able to give him a blessing and we found the medicine and eventually we were able to get his fever down some.
I don't remember much from the drive home other than that Everett was getting so used to throwing up that he was able to recognize that it was coming. We had a "puke" bucket in the car from the time we started the trip and he basically held it in his lap most of the way home. Poor little guy. I remember when he threw up Vin said "icky." It was cute and comical. He is basically our superstar and tends to never catch anything that everyone else gets.
Overall I think it was a better trip than last year. It was great getting to see all of my family and family. Some of my friends are as close as my family to me. We got to see the Berson's. They stayed one night at my parent's with us and that was Awesome. They are some of the nicest people I know and they make me want to be a better person. They are always such a great example to me and are as close to perfect as I feel people could get.
Pictures will be added later.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Oh the Places We'll Go...
Here are some of the places we have visited so far since we have been in Utah:
The boys and I took trip to Cabela's one day to check out the fish in the tanks and all of the fake animals too. Since it is free it was a pretty fun place to visit. You can ask for Tokens at the Customer Service desk as well to play the shooting game upstairs. We each got a chocolate sample at the bakery area and fed the fish as well. It was a fun place to spend a little time and I'm sure I will take the boys back for another visit.
The weekend before Anthon had finals the boys and I spent some time at Kangaroo Zoo on Friday night. We spent 3 hours there jumping on all of the inflatable slides and etc. We had a really good time but it would have been nice to take another kid to play with Everett. Vin did really well at climbing up the really big inflatables himself and going down the slides like a big boy. Once my wrist is ready to handle more weight we will definitely be returning to play again but maybe with some friends next time.
We wanted to go to the SLC Zoo or Tracy Aviary that Saturday Anthon needed time to study but it decided to down pour and neither one of those activities were the best for rain so we drove down to SLC and went to the Children's Discovery Museum instead and we had a great time there. The boys really loved it and I'm sure we will go back.
My Grandma came to visit for about 2 1/2 weeks to help me with the boys and house after getting surgery on my wrist so the Thursday before she went home her and I and the boys took a trip to the SLC Hogle Zoo. Since we have a Phoenix Zoo Membership we get half off at the zoo so that makes it more affordable to attend. I bought the boys a Phoenix Zoo membership for Christmas and that was before we knew that we might be moving. The animals seemed to be pretty attentive to their audience. Some of the most lively animals were the Lions, Seals/Sea Lions, Polar Bear and Leopard. We had a good time. The zoo is and always will be one of my favorite places to go. I'm not sure why I love it so much but I do and I never get tired of going. I feel happy when I am there.
The day before Grandma went home we were supposed to go the the new aquarium but I guess you have to buy tickets ahead of time and they were already sold out so instead we went to the Gardens/Splash Pad at Thanksgiving Point and that was fun. We also got to take a peek at the new Museum of Curiosity that opened. It looked impressive so since it cost 50 something to get into the Gardens, I went ahead and purchased a Thanksgiving Point membership for the year which gives us access to several areas and I'm really excited to take the boys to these places to explore and play.
The day my grandma left, my brother Chris and I went to the Tracy Aviary bird exhibit. The boys really like birds and it was a pretty Awesome place. This is another location that because of my Phoenix Zoo membership we get half off. It was only $11 for the 4 of us to get in. We saw some really neat birds. I think Everett's favorite were the owls and of course the peacocks. When we called Anthon's parents, he told them all about our visit to see the different birds and it was one of the cutest things ever.
The boys and I took trip to Cabela's one day to check out the fish in the tanks and all of the fake animals too. Since it is free it was a pretty fun place to visit. You can ask for Tokens at the Customer Service desk as well to play the shooting game upstairs. We each got a chocolate sample at the bakery area and fed the fish as well. It was a fun place to spend a little time and I'm sure I will take the boys back for another visit.
The weekend before Anthon had finals the boys and I spent some time at Kangaroo Zoo on Friday night. We spent 3 hours there jumping on all of the inflatable slides and etc. We had a really good time but it would have been nice to take another kid to play with Everett. Vin did really well at climbing up the really big inflatables himself and going down the slides like a big boy. Once my wrist is ready to handle more weight we will definitely be returning to play again but maybe with some friends next time.
We wanted to go to the SLC Zoo or Tracy Aviary that Saturday Anthon needed time to study but it decided to down pour and neither one of those activities were the best for rain so we drove down to SLC and went to the Children's Discovery Museum instead and we had a great time there. The boys really loved it and I'm sure we will go back.
The day before Grandma went home we were supposed to go the the new aquarium but I guess you have to buy tickets ahead of time and they were already sold out so instead we went to the Gardens/Splash Pad at Thanksgiving Point and that was fun. We also got to take a peek at the new Museum of Curiosity that opened. It looked impressive so since it cost 50 something to get into the Gardens, I went ahead and purchased a Thanksgiving Point membership for the year which gives us access to several areas and I'm really excited to take the boys to these places to explore and play.
The day my grandma left, my brother Chris and I went to the Tracy Aviary bird exhibit. The boys really like birds and it was a pretty Awesome place. This is another location that because of my Phoenix Zoo membership we get half off. It was only $11 for the 4 of us to get in. We saw some really neat birds. I think Everett's favorite were the owls and of course the peacocks. When we called Anthon's parents, he told them all about our visit to see the different birds and it was one of the cutest things ever.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
New Traditions
So about a month ago we had a combined RS/Priesthood meeting were we talked about preparation. That's a pretty broad topic but each person was given an index card sized paper and a pencil to write down any thoughts you had while listening (not just writing down what was said.)
Since I'm still pretty new to this being at home mom stuff, there is a lot of areas I've been wanting to improve on and also a lot of projects I want to do. So here is a few things I wrote on my paper and started the following day.
1. Read scriptures to the boys during breakfast- It seems like this is the only meal that they always sit still for and are pretty quiet since it is morning. This has been Awesome to say the least! I make whatever we have for breakfast then they sit down and we pray over the food/day and then I get the Book of Mormon (that's what we are starting with). Just last week Everett sat down and politely told me to fold my arms. He knew it was time to pray and that made me happy. Whenever I get the Book of Mormon out Vinson always shouts out "Read"! We typically read a chapter everyday and sometimes we read more or less and they are very quiet. It starts the day off great and allows me to get my scripture reading in everyday. I would not have this opportunity if I didn't get to stay home with the boys. Now we just need to work on making sure we read Saturday and Sunday mornings since I normally get to sleep in and it throws the routine off a little. 5 out of 7 days of reading though is great improvement.
2. We say family prayers before bed and do ring around the rosy twice then give the boys a ride on our back to their room- So the first time we prayed and held hands is when Everett told us about ring around the rosy. We had no idea that he knew about that. We don't hold hands while we kneel anymore but we make a circle. We used to pray second but now we tell the boys if they don't come and sit to pray then they may have to sit out of ring around the rosy. Vin is very reverent while we pray which I'm pretty impressed by and Everett is off and on. I wish that everyone else could see and hear Everett as he belts out the song while we go in a circle. Vinson hasn't figured out the falling down part yet but smiles and giggles while the rest of us fall down and always asks to do it again. After we do this we normally have the boys climb on our backs while we take them to their room crawling on all fours. They think that is fun and then we dump them off the side of us onto their bed.
3. De-junk- I have also started to try and De-junk and sell some time online: clothes, movies, and etc. I haven't really sold much which is disappointing but I haven't tried KSL yet. I try not to buy anything else from people unless I have sold the same amount of money.
4. Food storage- I have been working on this and made progress in a few areas. I love how my friend Aracely is always so encouraging and helpful when it comes to this. I hope to work up to having a year supply. So I purchased a 72 hour kit for 4 people on Groupon. I haven't opened it but all you have to add is water. It is suppose to last for 20 years. I also bought 5 gallon buckets for Flour and Sugar. I got some green chilis, evaporated milk and flour on a good sale at Smith's a couple weeks ago. I get excited when I start to meet some of these goals I've wanted to work on for so long. I try to use money I save on groceries to spend on this stuff. (Smith's always says on your receipt how much you saved) and then often I earn little gift cards here and there from Target for buying products. I will be working on this more once we actually move into the house we are buying.
Since I'm still pretty new to this being at home mom stuff, there is a lot of areas I've been wanting to improve on and also a lot of projects I want to do. So here is a few things I wrote on my paper and started the following day.
1. Read scriptures to the boys during breakfast- It seems like this is the only meal that they always sit still for and are pretty quiet since it is morning. This has been Awesome to say the least! I make whatever we have for breakfast then they sit down and we pray over the food/day and then I get the Book of Mormon (that's what we are starting with). Just last week Everett sat down and politely told me to fold my arms. He knew it was time to pray and that made me happy. Whenever I get the Book of Mormon out Vinson always shouts out "Read"! We typically read a chapter everyday and sometimes we read more or less and they are very quiet. It starts the day off great and allows me to get my scripture reading in everyday. I would not have this opportunity if I didn't get to stay home with the boys. Now we just need to work on making sure we read Saturday and Sunday mornings since I normally get to sleep in and it throws the routine off a little. 5 out of 7 days of reading though is great improvement.
2. We say family prayers before bed and do ring around the rosy twice then give the boys a ride on our back to their room- So the first time we prayed and held hands is when Everett told us about ring around the rosy. We had no idea that he knew about that. We don't hold hands while we kneel anymore but we make a circle. We used to pray second but now we tell the boys if they don't come and sit to pray then they may have to sit out of ring around the rosy. Vin is very reverent while we pray which I'm pretty impressed by and Everett is off and on. I wish that everyone else could see and hear Everett as he belts out the song while we go in a circle. Vinson hasn't figured out the falling down part yet but smiles and giggles while the rest of us fall down and always asks to do it again. After we do this we normally have the boys climb on our backs while we take them to their room crawling on all fours. They think that is fun and then we dump them off the side of us onto their bed.
3. De-junk- I have also started to try and De-junk and sell some time online: clothes, movies, and etc. I haven't really sold much which is disappointing but I haven't tried KSL yet. I try not to buy anything else from people unless I have sold the same amount of money.
4. Food storage- I have been working on this and made progress in a few areas. I love how my friend Aracely is always so encouraging and helpful when it comes to this. I hope to work up to having a year supply. So I purchased a 72 hour kit for 4 people on Groupon. I haven't opened it but all you have to add is water. It is suppose to last for 20 years. I also bought 5 gallon buckets for Flour and Sugar. I got some green chilis, evaporated milk and flour on a good sale at Smith's a couple weeks ago. I get excited when I start to meet some of these goals I've wanted to work on for so long. I try to use money I save on groceries to spend on this stuff. (Smith's always says on your receipt how much you saved) and then often I earn little gift cards here and there from Target for buying products. I will be working on this more once we actually move into the house we are buying.
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