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Too Lazy I guess

Oaky so It is too cold and snowy to deliver flyers, so I am not going to be including everyone in my great idea of Toys for Tots instead of neighbor gifts after all. I will save the flyer for next year and be more proactive EARLIER! So, if you don't get a neighbor gift from us just know that we love all y'all!!

Santa Baby

Tis the season oh yes it is! I am sure that everyone has their trees up and decorated but we are still in the process around here. It is taking a long time because everything I get out I have to show Charlie and then I end up taking pictures etc. Here is my favorite picture...at least from today. OOOOHHHH TOO CUTE!

Merry Christmas to everyone! We love, love, love all our wonderful friends amd neighbors. We are truly blessed that our neighbors ARE our friends. Speaking of Neighbors and friends...for anyone who reads this, and I know that there are so many ;), we are trying to get our neighors to participate in a Toys for Tots drive INSTEAD of doing neighbor gifts. More info to come...we are making flyers etc. We thought it would be nice to focus our energy on something to show our kids a little bit more CHRISTmas spirit. Next FHE we are going to shop for a toy and then we will collect toys for everyone to donate. Not necessarily on Monday but by the 19th or so. I know that there are some very crafty neighbors who do such fun neighbor gifts (myself included of course...j/k,) and people may already have plans or have purchased things and that is great. Love all y'all who are prepared! But for anyone that wants to participate, please do!! We will bring a flyer around most likely tomorrow (Saturday). I wanted to have them out by the 1st but...I hurt my back and haven't done much of anything this week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

You've come a long way baby!

Today my little Charlie is 6 months old! Where has the time gone? We' have definitely come a long way in 6 months! Charlie is the best part of all of our days around here. We all seem to live to make him smile and laugh. I don't know what we did for entertainment before he came along. Look at this cute smile! He has two teeth already, but I can't seem to get a picture of them darnit.

leetle bit more on Sun Valley

So a little bit more about our trip to Sun Valley... It was sooo much fun! We filled all our time with lots of activities and had such a great time. We want to make it a tradition to go on Labor Day because they have so many fun things going on. My favorite thing was the ice show. It was amazing. I had a perma-grin the whole time. Ethan's favorite part was a really fancy Sunday brunch. He likes all things ritzy. Here are just a few pics of some of the things we did.
Here is Clark with a Viper, I think...Ha ha I am such a girl! They had a car auction that was really fun to watch! Next year we are going to bring $10,000 and see what we can pick up...ya right! Ethan was shopping for the car he wants to pick his prom date up in. He kept asking if he looked good next to every car. It was funny.

We all went horseback riding, all of us except for Charlie that is. Clark and I took turns taking the boys. It was really fun but a killer to the knees! It was the boys first time riding and they acted like old pros. This is Nicholas on Truman. They teased Nicholas that his horse's nickname was the "widow-maker"...ya, I don't think so. He was sleeping when Nicholas climbed up on him!

Here's Ethan and Clark coming in from their ride. I am not posting the picture of me on a horse because you might mistake it for a picture of a cow riding a horse! Seriously Clark took THE most unflattering picture of me from behind twisting in a weird way...anyway, nobody wants to see that!

Here are all of our cute boys in the Lodge lobby...This was right after the boys got in a tug a war with Charlie as the rope! They were fighting over who got to hold him. Luckily this was the end result.

And here is our one family picture outside the Lodge. Fun times!

Leaving Sun Valley

Wrapping up with breakfast at Gretchen's… Be home in abt 5 hrs! Bummer… We had a great time with swimming, horseback rides, more swimming, & some tasty food. I'll let Jana tell y'all more, but back in a bit!


-- Posted from my iPhone

Ethan's going horseback riding for his first time

Ethan's getting to know Gus, his trusty steed…


-- Posted from my iPhone

Sun Valley

Little kids at the ice skating show at Sun Valley. It's hilarious!



-- Posted from my iPhone

Our new car

Here's Nicholas standing in front of our new car and a pic of the dash… I wish!!





-- Posted from my iPhone

Random stuff

This is just way cute!

This is just way gross...

And this is just way cute too!

K- there are some pictures. I don't update my blog very often because it just takes too long to type with one hand while holding a baby with the other. I have tried a number of times and gave up. The said baby is sleeping for the next couple seconds so I will try to actually post this time.

• Random thoughts that are coming to me are...I just read a really good book for book club. Jill Rudman's pick and I have to say it was really good. I am pretty sure that I am going to make it required reading for both my older boys. It is called: Little Britches- My Father and I were Ranchers. (I think that is the name). Can't wait to discuss tomorrow night!

• I really like year round school for the fact that I am school shopping for them at totally different times then the rest of the world is school shopping. We don't have to deal with massive crowds when traditional school starts. Seriously, have you been to the mall lately?! The shoes stores alone are crazy crowded. I also like that I really don't feel the need to do a major wardrobe update before school starts because they are really always going school, so we don't have to worry about a big haul of new stuff all at once.

• I really love my neighbors! I love that we can ask for help and know that we are not putting any one out...too bad. And vice versa I hope.

• I also like that everyone keeps giving me their $5.00 off coupons for Similac and also their samples that they get in the mail! Awesome and SO nice!

Alright my seconds are up...he's awake!

Shark Bait or Boo?

I can't decide if this is "Shark Bait Ooh Haha" or Boo from Monsters, Inc...

School starts

School started this week! Nicholas and Ethan are in the 4th and 5th grade? What's that you say? My kids are how old?? I AM HOW OLD?! That's right we are all aging very rapidly around here. I am consoled by the fact that every one else is aging too... Anyway, they had a great first week! Who wouldn't when you get 2 early out days and a three day weekend? I only wish that the excitement would last the entire year. There is nothing more exciting then starting fresh! Also, here are some more pictures of Charlie. 12 days post-op and he is looking amazing.

4 days after surgery

Here is Mr. Cutey Patutey four days after surgery! Looking good and happy! Darn those stupid arm restraints! Every kid that sees Charlie asks, "what happened to his arms?" I say, "Nothing happened to his arms, why?" Nothing did happen to his arms they just look like they are broken and in casts is all...

More on the surgery

I never posted about our experience in the hospital for Charlie's surgery. It was quite the crappy day as Clark stated...Charlie was so happy when he woke up and was so unbelieveably good before surgery. He had to fast, so I was really worried that he would be screaming wanting to eat but, miraculously, he was calm and content. I know that we were blessed! The surgery went great and the hardest thing about it was seeing him in the recovery room. There is nothing anyone can say that can prepare you for that moment. It is the most heartbreaking moment of my life and I felt completely helpless. I couldn't comfort him, he was soo upset and I could hardly speak because I was so overcome with emotion. I calmed down and when Clark got to see him he felt the same way. I looked over at him and he had tears streaming down his cheeks. I have got to say that I have only seen Clark cry 2 or 3 times since I have known him. When I saw him I lost it for the next hour. But then things calmed down and Charlie ate like nothing was wrong and we did really well. I hope that I never have to see one of my kids in the hospital again! We are soooo glad that it is over with!! Here are some pictures of before and right after.

Post-Op Charlie

Wow... What a crappy day! The poor boy woke up so stinkin' happy this morning, had no idea what was in store! He (and we!) are doing much better now and should be home tomorrow morning. The surgery actually went extremely well and we are grateful for Dr. Morales' skill. He's dealing with the pain & discomfort super well and just being a trooper. He tries to smile & it's cute & sad at the same time :)






-- Post From My iPhone

At the hospital...

Well, here we are at the hospital! Everything so far has been fairly non-eventful. Charlie slept right up until the docs came to take him back. His surgery was scheduled for 10:15 a.m. but didn't go back until a half hour later. Jana did better than I thought she would handing Charlie over to the doctor! We're in the waiting room now, but here are some pics pre-surgery...









-- Post From My iPhone

Ashlee?!? Ashlee Johnson!?!

Just wanted to post a pic or two of crazy Ashlee Johnson at Texas Roadhouse on Friday night. We got her off the saddle before it got too out of control ;) Happy Birthday on Tuesday, Ashlee!!






-- Post From My iPhone

Charlie's blessing

Charlie Stephen was blessed yesterday and it was really a great day! We had a lot of family and friends come. In fact, I think they took up more than half of the congregation. There weren't a lot of our ward there, due to the holiday I guess. It was really nice. We are so blessed to have so many people come and support our family. We had a yummy brunch afterwards with really yummy fattening food! Just what I need I tell ya!
Here are some pictures with the uncles and Grandpa Charlie and Grandpa Stephen. I love this picture, it is everyone that stood in the circle when he was blessed. The other picture is taken with my sweet mother and then there is an exhausted baby Charlie. It's hard work being the center of attention!

Pretty BRIDE-al shower

For the 4th celebration I helped give a bridal shower for my adorable neice Cassie! It was a family shower and it was super fun! Here are some pictures from the shower. We especially had a great time making veils. I also had to take a picture of this towel cake that I made...isn't is the cutest thing?? But not as cute as the Bride!