Camping

My Baby turned ELEVEN!!

(Don't tell Kaiden that I called him my baby, he hates it.) Yesterday was his 11th birthday!! I can't believe that it has been that long since my 3lb 13 oz baby boy was born, 7 weeks early. It's still crazy to think about all that he went through when was born. Not only was he early and under 4 lbs but then to almost die, have surgery and be in the hospital for over a month. I knew that he was a fighter and there was a big reason that he was suppose to stay on this earth. If it was only to help me, that was a big enough reason. He has helped me become a better person, to want to be a good example and to be strong for him. I love being his mom, it's one of the biggest blessings in my life. I don't know what I would do without my little Kaiden....

He had a party with a bunch of his friends at Nickelcade and then all of them came back to our house for pizza, cake and ice cream..

This Old Man....

Okay, Paul really isn't that old. Especially since he is the same age as I am now. (Which is 29 ;o) His birthday was on the 27th (I know, I am almost a month late. I was going to do this great post for him but I have been slacking off on my postings lately.)

I think it was a pretty good birthday for him. ....On Friday night we went to dinner with my family at Outback (I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pics) On Saturday Paul and I woke up REALLY early (for me and a Saturday morning) because Paul had to go to AF hospital and have an MRI. Not the funnest thing to look forward to on your birthday but he has been having some weird neck and chest problems. With the tumor he had on his lung, we don't want to take any chances, so we do what the Dr. says.

It didn't take us that long at the hospital and we were back home around eight. I was SOOO tired that I hopped back in bed. Paul kept teasing me to get up but he ended up sitting on the bed by me and watching tv. I asked him if he wanted me to make him a birthday breakfast. He said , "No that's okay." and then, "Well, I guess you could, what do we have?" I started rattling off "bacon, eggs, pancakes....." and the next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was TEN O"CLOCK!!!! (that's even late for a Saturday) I felt so bad that I had fallen asleep and Paul hadn't gotten anything for breakfast. I asked him if he wanted me to make him something but he had told my dad he would come over and help him with some stuff. He just got a bowl of cereal and went over to my dad's. I felt really bad. I know, I am losing wife points but I did make it up t0 him later in the day....

While Paul was at my dad's I cleaned the house and then my mom and I went to the Holy Cow. I called Paul around noon and he met my mom and I at Kneader's and we had lunch there. Paul REALLY wanted to go golfing. I was not so excited about playing golf. Actually, I haven't played "real" golf before. Since I had bombed on the birthday breakfast I knew I needed to make it up to him some how and so I went along to the golf course....

Anniversary Part 2

I guess I should write a little about what we did for our anniversary.... Paul made arrangements with my dad to take ALL the boys on the Saturday before. (My dad was SO brave to do that for us) We headed up to ParkCity to stay at the Mountainside Marriott. We stayed there on our honeymoon so it was fun to go back there again.

On our way there, we went up South Fork canyon where Paul's class was having their 15th year reunion. Paul wasn't so sure about going because he had only found out about it two days before and didn't think any of his friends were going. I told him that it wouldn't hurt to stop for a few minutes since it was on our way. He teased me, saying that he knew I really wanted to go, because I LOVE chit-chatting with people and stuff like. (I guess I've been good at fooling him so far because I hate going places where I don't really know anyone.) There were only about 20 or so people there but both of us found a few people we knew and talked to them for awhile. When we left Paul said "See I told you that you love that kind of stuff, you talked to more people than I did and it was my reunion." (I'm still doing a good job at fooling him)

We stopped at Claim Jumper in Heber and had yummy steak and Salmon. For as long as it has been there, that was the first time I had ever eaten there. The crazy thing was, I think the salad was my most favorite part of the dinner. It was all really good but there was something about that salad!!

We got situated in our room at the Marriott and couldn't decide if we should head down to the outdoor hot tubs because the weather was a little over cast. They have 4 or five of most amazing hot tubs ever. I know it sounds stupid but they are so neat. All of them are shaped like rocks and have different waterfalls dropping into them or off of them into another one of the hot tubs. Some of them are out in the open and some are tucked back in, like they are in their own little cave. Anyway, we decided to head out there and hoped that the weather would hold out for us. We got lucky because the weather made it even better. The sky was over cast and we could see lightening off in the distance so it was even a little romantic LOL (There were a lot of people outside with us, so it wasn't THAT romantic) Every once in a while we would get a few sprinkles here and there but it was so toasty in the hot tub that the light rain felt really good. Our luck only held out for an hour or so and the clouds started getting darker and the lightening was getting closer so we decided to go back inside.

Before going back home the next day, we did a little shopping at the outlets and then decided we better make sure that my dad had survived with all the boys. He said that they only had a few incidences but nothing too bad. It was so great to get away with my Hottie husband and even better to go back to one of the places we went on our honeymoon.

Happy 1ST Anniversary to the BEST Husband!!!

WOW I can't believe it's already been a year since Paul and I were married. I know that seems funny, especially since a lot of my friends are celebrating 5, 10, 12 and even 15 years of marriage. One year is a big deal though, especially since I was single for SOOOO long. I think that most of my fam, friends and even myself, had lost faith (in me) that I would ever get married again.

Deep down, I knew that ONE day I would find THAT great guy but for some reason he just wasn't coming along when I wanted him to. I knew that the guy I was going to marry had to be different than all the rest. The thought of getting married again, scared me and I had this HUGE list of the kind of guy I was looking for (some things kind of stupid but others very important) I remember telling my sis "I need a lightning bolt" so that I really knew the guy I was suppose to marry. She thought I was crazy..... I just meant that I really needed to know from God, that this was HIM. So, I put my Faith in God and waited and waited and waited....... Then I met Paul....

Things just fell into place. After our first date, at the end of June, we were together EVERY day. Any other time, I would have FREAKED out but I felt more peace with Paul than I had ever felt. After dating for only 2 weeks, I felt like I had known him forever. He felt the same way but didn't say anything because he knew how scared I was about getting remarried. As soon as I told him how I felt, we knew that we wanted to marry each other. 2 WEEKS IS CRAZY I KNOW!!! but when you know in your heart that it's right you just know.

This year went by SO fast. We have had a little bit of a crazy year...... blending four boys, dealing with exes, getting used to each other's way of doing things and all the stuff that comes with remarriage has had its challenges but every day gets a little easier. I wouldn't want to go through any of this with anyone besides Paul. I am so thankful for him, for being my best friend, for his example to me as a parent, for his testimony and love for the Gospel, for loving me as much as he does, for being patient with me and for all that he does for all of us. I love you!!! (I'm looking forward to the next 50 years) This is going to be our year babe.....

Labor Day Holiday! Only a few weeks late

We had a fun Labor Day holiday (How could we not, the boys got a day off from school and Paul and I got a day off of work) It was Mckay's 7th birthday and Kaiden, Akoy and Kove were invited to go to Boondocks to celebrate. Paul and I went too, to take all of our boys and to help Mandi a little (sorry Mandi, if I got a little bossy with all those boys and the little hostess. She just wasn't moving things along fast enought to keep everyone's attention) Mandi bought herself, Maci, Kove and either Paul or I passes for the bumper boats, while the bigger boys did their thing. Well, both Kove AND Maci wanted to ride with Paul-neither of them wanted to go with Mandi or I at all. They knew they would have more fun with Paul. He is the jokester and "the fun one" all the kids love him. SO, Mandi went on the boat by herself and Paul took Kove and Maci. I stood outside the gates taking pictures but ended up as wet as everyone else because the kids wanted Paul to soak me. Paul's nephew was getting baptised at 5 so we had to leave a little early but everyone had tons of fun. Thanks Mandi and Mckay!!!

Happy 29th Birthday To Me!!!

Okay I'm not really 29 (but I'm not going to remind anyone how old I really am) I wouldn't be writing anything about my own birthday but I had to thank everyone for making it a great day. I woke up to cute Kove and my hotty husband whispering "Happy Birthday," to me at 6:30 in the morning, as they snuck off to the babysitters and work, before I fell back to sleep. My cute little Kaiden woke me up at 7:03 with a tray of cereal and toast for my Birthday Breakfast. The night before, he was being all sneaky and said, "Mom do you eat breakfast before you go to work?"
When I told him I ate at work he said, "Well, if you WERE going to eat at home what time would that be and what would you want? I can make anything but pancakes-IF I was going to make something."
When I said "Wow you can even make french toast?" he replied "Yeah, I could. Well, maybe not"
I told him that I actually LOVED cereal and toast for breakfast, IF someone was going to make something for me. A little while later he said, "Mom do you think you could get me up at seven for something?"
I told him that I might sleep in for my birthday, just joking but I heard him ask Brayden if he could get him up. So at 7:03 Kaiden came sneaking into my room. Luckily I hear him and didnt make any fast moves because he tried setting the tray on my back as I slept. He said, "Happy Birthday! It only took me three minutes to make all this, I'm going back to bed," and he did. What great boys I have!
When I got to work Mindy and Letecia had decorated my office with a banner, balloons, presents and sparkly confetti. They had made me a cake (mmmm, thanks Letecia, it was sooo delicious) and made me wear a birthday tiara, sash and "kiss me, it's my birthday" button all day long. Sarah and Brooke brought me more presents and I got calls from my brothers and mom. Before noon, a dozen pinkish/red roses, a balloon and "boom boom" the monkey were delivered from Paul. My grandma even stopped by to wish my a happy birthday!

Later that night we went to Market Street Grill was my dad, sis, brother-in law and cute nieces and nephew. It was soooo good. On Saturday my mom, Mandi and I went up to Gardners Viallage and spent the day shopping. Oh I LOVE to shop it was a lot of fun. Thanks mom and Mandi!!

It turned out to be a really great birthday even though I was so dreading turning a year older. Thanks everyone for making it so great!!

SUMMER IS OVER!?

I can't believe that it is already another school year. I swear that it was just a few weeks ago that Kaiden was counting down the last days of school. Then just that fast, he was counting down to the first day of school. He has been soooo excited for 5th grade to start. Crazy, I know but I think I was that way too, when I was younger. I hope he keeps liking school even when it gets harder. This year he is Mr. Dickson's 5th/6th grade split. That means he is a little smarty-pants (He SO takes after me. Well, I guess not JUST me.) He was a little worried about missing recess with his friends in 5th grade so I thought he might want to switch to a different teacher. We made a deal that he would see how the first week of shool went and then make a decision. I was so relieved when he came home from school on Monday and was so excited about his first day of school and didn't want to change classes.

The Wheels on the bus go round and round

I have been slacking lately... Actually, I spent almost a week on a bus with my mom, grandma and sister. We went from Independence, Missouri to Nauvoo, Carthage, Iowa, Winter Quarters, Nebraska and everywhere in between. We went on this great church tour and it has taken me a little while to get back to "real life." I think all of us had a really neat experience, had lots of funny things happen to us and learned so much more about what the early Saints had to go through. My friends are bugging me to do a post on my trip so here it is.......Really, I am just going to add pics for now then I will do the rest later. I know, I am such a procrastinator but life is a little busy right now.

This is in front of the Nauvoo temple and yes, our heads are cut off. Mandi and I did a session in the temple and when were done we thought we would have time to see the baptismal font before the bus came, so we ran down and saw it. Well, when we got outside to get on the bus, there was no bus. There wasn't anyone else in our group around, except Mandi and I and this older couple. We knew we had been left.... All of us thought that the bus would come back for us so we wandered around and took a few pitures while we were waiting. The older man that was waiting with us took this pic. When he took it he said, "I couldn't see very well, I'm not sure if I got everything. Take a look." I looked at the picture and oops, we had no heads but I said, "Oh it looks great!" I think that I was nervous because time kept going by and our bus had not shown up yet. I just wanted to hurry up and figure out what we needed to do. So we have this great picture without our heads....
AND NO, the bus never came back to get us!!! After 25 minutes all of us decided to start walking. We knew that we were suppose to be eating at the same park that we had eaten lunch but we really had no idea where it was. We headed down hill because we thought that seemed familiar. As we walked in the 104 degree, muggy heat, I kept thinking, they have to come back for us, didn't anyone notice that we were missing? Why hadn't my mom made them go back? They really can't expect us to find our way around in some town none of us had ever been to, can they? Still, no bus came. I tried calling my mom's cell phone about 50 times but she didnt answer. We even tried knocking on someone's door and joked that they probably knew we were LDS and didn't want to let us in. It was at the same time that Mandi was knocking, that my mom called me back. We were so relieved and thought it was pretty funny when we found out that we were just across the street from the park.

Red, White and Blue

This is a picture especially for Sunny. I promised her I would post a pic of Miley.

Wow We look really spent. (I'll blame it on the real windy night we had)

We had a really fun Fourth of July Holiday!! On Thursday night Paul, Brayden, Kaiden and I went to a BBQ/Waterfight in Paul's old neighborhood. I think over a thousand water balloons were filled, gallons of water was thrown from buckets and watercoolers and squirted from hoses and waterguns. There were over fifty drenched kids (and adults) running all over the place. We had a great BBQ with a lot of delicious food and ended the night with their traditional "Cul-de-sac of Fire" with the biggest "legal" foreworks show I had ever seen. All of us had tons of fun!!

Friday we started the morning off with one of Kaiden's most favorite things to do, PULL WEEDS!!! I'm sure it can't just be my son but Kaiden absolutely hates weeding! I have told him a billion times that if he just got in and did it as fast as he could then it would be done before he even had time to complain. He is getting a lot better but we still have to stay on him so he doesn't take ten drink breaks, or check out the neighbors house too many times and to remind him to snap out of his daydreaming. We were only out there for about an hour (even though to Kaiden, it probably seemed like 6 hours) Our front yard looks great now!! Thanks for all your help Paul and Kaiden!!

We weren't planning on going to the Stadium of Fire but I was lucky enough to get tickets from my boss (I LOVE my job!!!) Kaiden, my mom and I have been going for eight years straight and Kaiden was so excited that all of us (including my mom) were going to be able to go again. He and Brayden weren't so excited that Miley Cyrus was there though. The whole night, Paul kept teasing them about having a crush on her and having a hard time controlling their excitement for Miley to come out. Both of them were getting so mad... I was actually really disappointed in her performance. The sound was so awful and you could barely hear what she was singing. The rest of the night was great though, so I won't complain. I am so grateful to be an American, to have all the freedoms that I do and for all of the men and women who are fighting in other countries.

The rest of the weekend we visited with family, relaxed at home and went out to eat a FEW times (Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a hard time spending money on eating out so this was big for us) Last year at this time, Paul and I had been dating about 2 weeks. We already had our Stadium of Fire tickets so we spent the holiday apart. This was a great "first" Fourth of July for us. I can't wait for many more to come.....
I have a lot of great pictures of the holiday but my home computer is DEAD so I will post them soon...