The Richards Family

A little braggin'

2012-01-09T11:17:00.001-08:00

I just had to show off some of the things that Keith has been building lately. We were blessed with a bunch of orders before Christmas including 10 doll houses. Needless to say Keith was pretty busy over Christmas Break. But I am so grateful that he is such a talented and hard worker!

This is actually a shelf that he built for our boys. My parents went to Kentucky and brought back Louisville bats for Sam and Trig so Keith just wipped them up a shelf to display their bats on.

Hattie

2012-01-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

This little girl is a whirlwind like I have never seen before! She makes me giggle (because she is so dang cute) and pull my hair out all at the same time. She is always on the go getting into or climbing on anything she can get to. If we don't push the chairs to the kitchen table in she will immediatly be on top of it. She has even climbed on top of the piano sitting on it with her tiny feet on the keys. And that was when she was only 11 months old. She has the funnest personality. Little Miss Spunky! Don't try taking something away from her that she wants because she will let you have it with her baby screams all the while clenching her fists and wrinkling up her cute little nose. Don't get me wrong she is a sweetie too. Always giving kisses and patting you on the back. And she has turned into a little daddy's girl lately she loovvves her daddy! If he is home she would be content to sit in his arms all day. Oh, how we love this little girl but I think she is definitely going to give us a run for our money.

This bottom picture is not very clear but I just had to show her cute little teeth and beautiful blue grey eyes.

Going Private

2011-12-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I know that if there were any readers to begin with you have probably given up on me but i have decided to make my blog private. So, if you would like to be invited then leave me your email address. I am hoping to keep up on my blog better this year so that I can make it in to a book so...here's to goals.

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Christmas Day! The kids slept in until 6:00 and I was surprised that they didn't wake up at all through the night. They all slept together in Trig's room. After we opened presents we went to church and then had breakfast with Keith's Mom and Step Dad. We had corn beef hash and cinnamon rolls. I had never tasted corn beef hash but it was really delicious! After we ate breakfast the kids opened their gifts from Keith parents. Then we went home and my parents came over with more presents...needless to say the kids were SPOILED!!

Here are a few of their favorites.

If you asked Trig what he wanted for Christmas he would say "A Giant". We think that he got this from Mickey Mouse because he has a giant friend named Willie and Trig loves Mickey Mouse. He also asked for a giant for his birthday but obviously he didn't get one. Anyway, a few weeks before Christmas he decided that he would rather have a "Big Buzz." We were glad since we didn't think that Santa had any Giants to deliver.

Sophie is obsessed with Dolphin Tale and Winter and Clear Water Aquarium and really anything Dolphin related so she was soooooo excited to get a few Dolphin things for Christmas.

Sam is our little baseball player and all he has wanted is a Texas Ranger Jersey and a hat. This was actually from my parents. He LOVES it!

Hattie loved sitting in her new big girl car seat. I hate that she is old enough to be in a big seat!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T03:49:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve day we always get up and get the house all spic and span and then the kids are able to open the presents that they got for each other.

This year instead of drawing names they decided that boys should give to boys and girls to girls. Sophie gave Hattie a leap frog cell phone, Hattie gave Sophie Scrabble Trig gave Sam a bay-blade (no idea on the spelling) and Sam gave Trig a transformer.

At 3:00 we went to my parents house and had delicious appetizers. My Aunt Lesa and Uncle David were there with their kids Kaitlyn and Parker and my Aunt Carol from Michigan was also there. Every year we go to the Cemetery in Spanish Fork and Salem. We decided to go to Spanish Fork while it was still light. I didn't get any pictures but I can't believe how warm it was. I just had on a sweater and the kids were complaining that I made them wear their coats. We didn't stay for too long but it is always nice to go there and remember those that have passed on. My mom's parents and grandparents are burried there as well as my cousin.

When we came back from the cemetery we had dinner and then the kids opened their Christmas Eve gift from Grandpa and Grandma... aka P.J's. They loved them. Sam and Trig's had the Elf on the Shelf on them. Sam's were skin tight and Keith couldn't stop laughing but I thought that they looked so cute!!

This year about a week before Christmas, my Dad gave us each 2 envelopes. One of them had our name on it and the other one was blank. He told us, how many years ago when my mom and dad were really struggling financially my Aunt Lesa came up to my mom and gave her a hug and put a $100 bill in her pocket. It had a big impact on my parents so they wanted to pay it forward. Inside each envelope that my Dad gave us was a $100 bill ($50 for Sophie and Sam and $25 for Trig). He told us that he wanted us to keep the one with our name on it and then find someone to give the other one to. It was so fun trying to figure out who we should give our money to. Everywhere we went we were on the look out to see if we could find someone that really needed it. We decided on giving it to two people in our ward. Sophie and Sam both have friends thats Dad has been out of work so they gave it to them and with Trig's money he bought his 2 best friends each a gift and took it to them. He told us that he wanted to go up to the door all by himself and that he was going to tell them Merry Christmas. We listened from the car and sure enough when they opened the door he said "Merry Christmas" and then took off towards the van.

This Christmas has been a very memorable one. I think mostly because we were able to think of others so much...with the help of my Dad. But we were also able to donate things that we have been collecting throughout the year to Primary Children's. And a tradition that we have kept going every year since Keith and I were married is doing the Twelve Days of Christmas to someone that needs a little cheering up.

Ginger Bread Houses- A yearly tradition

2011-12-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

Every year we get together with Keith's family and make ginger bread houses. It is always something that the kids look forward to doing. They were pretty creative this year making a car, a wreath for the front door a sled on top of the roof and even a fishing hole out back.

Tree time

2011-11-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

Talk about Griswalds!! This is the car that we bought last year with our tax returns for $900.00 It is a gem!! We lovingly call it the Junk Bucket but it has saved us from Keith having to drive his truck to work everyday.

Always the Big Helper!

This is the "I'm up here to hurry and get this work done so stop taking pictures of me and hand me the things that you want up here" look.:)

This is the star that has been put on the top of our tree every year since Keith and I were married. The star is cut out of a waffle box and covered with tinfoil. I guess we didn't have enough money to buy a real tree topper but this one sure has become sentimental!

We decided that we are going to start giving the kids a snow globe every year after we get the tree up and the house all decorated. They were actually a lot more excited than I thought that they would be about this.

Hattie got her ears pierced

2011-11-23T10:06:00.000-08:00

We were at the mall and Sophie wanted to go to Claire's (her new fave store:) While we were in there I decided to get Hattie's ears pierced. We were going to get them done for her birthday and never did so I decided that while we were there we might as well do it. She screamed HARD and LOUD!! I felt like such a bad mom. I really thought that she was going to pass out. She is a breath holder and I finally had to blow in her face to get her to breathe. But I am glad that I did it. They look really cute and at least I won't have to bribe her when she is older like I did with Sophie.

I'm a big boy now!!

2011-11-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

Trig wanted nothing to do with being potty trained!! He was perfectly content wearing diapers...however I was not perfectly content having 2 kids in diapers. So I knew that I needed to figure something out but I didn't really know where to begin. Sophie and Sam were both potty trained by 2 1/2 and they basically potty trained themselves.

I took Trig to his 3 year check up and his Dr. asked me how he was doing with potty training and I told him he wasn't doing very well at all so his Dr. asked me if he could talk to Trig. The Dr. said to him "Trig your a big boy now and you don't need to wear diapers any more. Diapers are for your baby sister. I want you to start using the bathroom on the toilet and your mom can call me and tell me what a big boy you are when you don't need diapers anymore". Well, this is basically the same thing that Keith and I had been telling him for months but for some reason it worked. We came home from the Dr's office and he put on his underwear...he had several accidents that day but by the next day he had it down and hasn't had any accidents since. YIPPEE!!

Halloween

2011-11-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

Every year with Keith's famiy we go to the Red Barn and go on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. It is something that the kids really look forward to doing. As you can see with Keith wearing shorts it was still great weather!

Pumpkin carvings!

I just had to post a picture of my darling preschool class, minus 1!

Every year we go to Keith's Mom's work to trick or treat. I think we get a picture of all of the kids in this sam spot every year. The kids love doing this because they always get tons of candy.

The past few years my mom has hosted a Halloween party in her barn. It is always fun to see my cousins and their kids. We usually eat sloppy joes and then everyone brings a side dish, it is always yummy! We plan a few simple games for the kids and they have fun just running around.

Birthday Weekend

2011-10-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Trig and Hattie's Birthdays are just a day apart. I am sure other years we will celebrate their birthdays on the same day but with it being Hattie's 1st birthday we decided to celebrate on Friday

and Saturday.

Trig's 3rd Birthday

Trig was so happy with his new bike! I can't believe how big he is getting!

This face cracks me up!! It reminds me of the little boy on the movie Sandlot, after he kisses the girl

at the swimming pool. Trig really wanted a pirate cake for his birthday. I got online and found this on Betty Crocker and it was sooo easy.

Hattie's First Birthday

We gave Hattie these little lacey pants. I think that they are so darling! I am planning on getting her birthday pictures taken in them....with a shirt of course.

With all of our kids for their first birthday's we make them two cakes. Sophie and I made the castle and Keith and the boys made the hamburger. Keith said it represents that Hattie LOVES food and will eat just about anything!
Just for fun and for a record of the cakes that we have made for the other kids....
Sophie- Pumpkin and Teddy Bear
Sam-Rubber ducky bathtub and tractor pulling a trailer
Trig- Farm with cupcake animals and tank

I was so excited to watch Hattie dive right into her cake because she loves food so much. But she just sat there and poked at it for a little bit. Then she started to eat a little and with a little help from Sam (it looks like he is putting it in her eye but he really isn't) she started to dig in and at least got a messy face if she didn't eat much. Mmmmmm Yummy!!

Sophie's 10th Birthday!

2011-09-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe that our Soph is 10 years old!! I hate how fast time flies. She will be getting her drivers license before we know it.

Sophie decided that she wanted to start taking dance this year so she got all the things that she needed for dancing. She also got a Payson Cheer hoodie, curlers for her hair and some head bands.

Sophie LOVES stuffed animals and she La La Loves Build a Bear. So Grandma Joan decided to take her there this year. Secretly I think Grandma Joan loves it just about as much as Sophie:)

Sophie is such a sweet girl. This year she decided that she wanted to have a party with her friends but instead of them bringing presents for her she wanted them to bring things that we could donate to Primary Children's. She got lots of coloring books and crayons, stuffed animals, baby socks and onesies and toys for kids.

After they opened presents we had an icecream sandwich bar.

This is the turtle cake that we had for Sophies party with our families. Happy Birthday Sophie. We love you!!

Sam's 7th Birthday

2011-04-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Sam decided that he wanted to have a birthday party with all of his neighborhood friends and cousins. We planned a few games and a treasure hunt but mostly they just ran around like boys do...crazy!

Sophie thought that it would be funny to give Sam a Barbie for his birthday to see how he would react. He wasn't too thrilled. I think that he was pretty embarassed. I thought that it was funny that Sophie wanted to give that to him because she is not much of a prankster but she got a kick out of it.

Happy Birthday Sammy. We love you!!

What a Helper!

2011-03-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

We are finishing two bedrooms downstairs for Sophie and Sam. I definitely shouldn't say "we" because it is Keith that is doing all the work. But at least he has his little Right Hand Man to help him out with the hard stuff... like holding the hammer and handing up the boards. Trig loves to help Dad..don't you love his outfit!

Hattie's Ears

2011-03-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hattie's ears make us all laugh! They are so paper thin that when she is laying on them, while I nurse her, they fold right in half and stick there until I peel it back. What a silly girl!!

Hattie

2011-03-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

This baby girl brings so much joy to our family. She is truly the sweetest little thing ever. Her first three weeks were really hard and she cried a lot and never slept but I took her to the Dr. and they gave her some medicine for colic and she has been so amazing! That is saying a lot because all of our babies have been really good but she really never cries....ever. She has slept through the night since she was 2 months old and even before that she would only wake up once to eat and then go right back to bed and the only reason I even knew that she was hungry is because I could hear her sucking her thumb like crazy! She is such a sweetie and we are so happy to have her in our family.

Jumpin Jacks

2011-01-29T05:51:00.000-08:00

Grandma Joan took us to Jumpin Jacks. The kids had a lot of fun running around and acting crazy! It was nice to visit with Keith and my Mom while the kids were being entertained.

My sweaty little boys

Grandma had fun munching on Hattie Girl.

Sophie's School Community

2011-01-28T05:33:00.000-08:00

At school Sophie's class learned all about Communities by making a town of their own. Her class decided to name their town Rock Falls. Each student got to build a part of Rock Falls. Sophie decided to build a Pet Store..complete with opening doors, a no smoking sign, a door mat and a chimney. She did a great job on it. The parents were invited to come and take a look.

Sophie's friend Amy was voted in as the Mayor of the city and Sophie and Karsen were city council members.

Matching Christmas Outfits

2011-01-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

Grandma Joan gave the kids matching Christmas outfits. I was planning on taking them to get their pictures but it never happened so I decided to do a "photo shoot" at home (I use the words "photo shoot" VERY losely!) I am a horrible photographer but at least you can see their cute matching outfits.

We've got a thumb sucker on our hands!

2010-12-31T20:13:00.000-08:00

Hattie is such an amazing baby and I think that it is partly because she sucks her thumb. When she was a newborn the Dr. told me to get her to take a binki or she would start sucking her thumb so I think I spent about $20 on different shapes of binkis but she wanted nothing to do with them....she loves that thumb!! And I think that it is about the cutest thing in the world to see a baby sucking her thumb. Hopefully she just won't still be sucking it when she starts school!

Sophie FINALLY got her ears pierced

2010-12-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

So I admit it, I bribed her! Not a very good thing to do as a Mom but...I really knew that she would love her ears pierced after she had it done, it was just a matter of talking her into it. She would not be persuaded with anything at all not even $100.00 but for Christmas Keith made her a jewelry box and I got her a BIG pack of earrings and told her that I would take her to lunch and buy her and movie....she should have taken the $100.00.

We had planned on getting Hattie's pierced at the same time but I didn't realize that I needed to have her immunization record with me so Sophie braved it all on her own.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2010-12-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

Sophie helped Hattie open her gifts. I think that Hattie loved them:)

Sam got a new Bow. He was pretty excited about it!

Trig's New Train Set

On Christmas Eve after we get the house all spic and span the the kids get to exchange their gifts with each other. This is one of their favorite things about Christmas Eve.

Keith made this box for Sam. It is to keep all of his favorite treasures in. I think it turned out pretty cool!

Sophie got a new bedroom set from Grandpa and Grandma Lunceford. Can you tell that she is excited about it?

Keith also made Sophie a box for her treasures and jewelry. I knew that Keith was making the boxes for the kids but he actually surprised me with one that looks just like Sophie's. I love it!!

The kids in their new Christmas PJ's from Grandma

Christmas Festivities

2010-12-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Every year for Christmas, my parents treat us to a night over in a hotel somewhere. We were all able to make it this year and we had a great time. We usually go to Salt Lake and stay over and go see the lights at Temple Square but this year we went to Heber instead. We rode the train to Soldier Hollow to sled. The train ride was a little longer than we thought it would be so by the time we got to Soldier Hollow we were only able to sled twice down the hill which was a big bummer but it was still tons of fun!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!

We were even surprised by Santa bording the train. Trig wasn't too sure about him.

We spent some time with each of our grandparents this year. (I didn't get a picture with Grandma Peggy) What a blessing they each are in our lives! The top picture is at the Christmas Party that my Granpa Dode has every year. He always gets the kids such cute gifts. I think he really enjoys being able to pick things out for each one of them. The bottom picture is Keith's Grandpa Wiesmore and also Grandma Houser (Keith's mom) Grandpa Wiesmore is in an assisted living home right now. We try to visit him every Sunday. Notice Hattie wouldn't stop looking at him.

This is a tree that Keith's mom made to hang on the wall in Grandpas room. Each family made decorations to hang on it. I think that Grandpa really loved it.

My HANDSOME Husband!!

IT'S A SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!! December 22nd

I couldn't believe how much it had snowed! It had been snowing for two days straight. That morning I heard on the radio that the buses were not going to be picking up the kids and there was no way that I was going to venture out in the snow. I hate driving in an inch of snow let alone 2 feet!! SO I told Sophie and Sam that they could stay home and help me with Preschool. We were having a Christmas Party and making ginger bread houses so they were excited. Well, a while later I heard on the radio that school had been canceled all together. The kids and I ran around th ehouse yelling "It's a snow day, It's a snow day"! The kids were going to stay home anyway but having an official snow day meant that Keith got to come home too. Yipee!!

Keith helped Sam and his friend Preston make a snow fort.

Since I already had the gingerbread houses put together we thought it would be fun to invite some neighbor kids over to help decorate them. It was a fun snow day and I was so glad that we got an extra day for Christmas Break.

This is my Grandpa Swenson. He has alzheimers. He has played the guitar at our family Christmas Party ever since I can remember. It was fun to have him still be able to play. This year and last he played "You are my Sunshine." I think that it is the only song that he can remember. He is such a cute man! Always telling everyone that they are a jewel. For some reason he loves to rhyme words, the other day he was over at my Mom and Dad's for dinner and he said to my mom "Your such a Jewel in the Pool." He is always making us laugh.

This is a picture of my mom (in the green sweater) and her sisters and brother and of course Grandpa front and center.

This is a picture of all of most of my cousins ( I have several that have moved out of state). It has been a long time since we have gotten a picture all together. I missed out on the picture because I was feeding Hattie, but I am sure glad that it was taken.

Some of the kids reinacted the Nativity. Sophie was Mary and Hattie was baby Jesus.

Sophie and Sam and Hattie did a little skit to the song "Little Drummer Boy" by Josh Groban. It is one of my very favorite Christmas Songs.

Trig loves to Read to Hattie

2010-12-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Who knew that 2 year olds and newborns love to read Mary Kate and Ashley (upside down and sideways). I just hope she doesn't end up with a paper cut on her nose:)

Hattie's Blessing Day and random pictures

2010-12-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Hattie's blessing day.

On Saturday I actually had the flu so I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to bless her. Keith's sister was here for Thanksgiving and so we really wanted to bless her while she was here. Sunday morning Sam woke up feeling yicky too. We almost canceled it last minute but we said a prayer that everyone would start feeling better and we were able to go ahead with the blessing. We also had a luncheon afterward at our house.

I wanted to show her little ruffely bum. Too stinkin' cute!!

These are the little shoes that Sophie was blessed in. They are so tiny but look so huge on her tiny little feet.

Our four (can't believe it!!) beautiful kids!

This of course was not on Hatties blessing day but I wanted to add it in. Sophie and Sam were being so funny and sneeky. Next thing I know Sam was dressed up like a girl...make-up and all. Quite the make-up job don't you think.

I am so glad that Sam and Sophie are such good friends. Now don't get me wrong they argue and bother each other with the best of them but the next second they are playing together for hours! Love it!!

Samantha and her Brother!

This is actually a picture from the weekend that Hattie was blessed. Keith's sisters family came into town for Thanksgiving and this is their little red headed girl Audrey. I think that Hattie looks so much like her. I love this picture of the two little red heads!!

Sweet Hattie is one month old!

2010-11-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that my sweet Hattie Girl is one month old. Time goes by toooo fast!! Especially when I know that she is our last baby. I really wish that time would slow down! Hattie has us all wrapped around her little finger. She is a little Angel Baby!!

Halloween and Hattie Pictures

2010-11-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

I am working on a post of Hattie's Birthday but I don't quite have it done, so I at least wanted to quickly post some pictures of Halloween and Hattie's first two weeks.

I might be a little partial, but is she the cutest thing...I could just eat her up!!

Trig loves to hold "Baby......Hattie."

Every year for Halloween Keith and all of his sisters meet at his Mom's work to Trick or Treat. The kids love it! They always make out with way too much candy!

We had a party at my Mom and Dad's house on Halloween. It was so fun to see all of my cousins and their kids that I don't get to see near enough.

The kids had fun decorating pumpkins with foam stickers.

Of course you have to have a piece of candy in hand at all times on Halloween. Is anyone else sick of their kids begging for just one more piece of candy. I am glad that the pumpkin buckets are almost empty.....with a little too much help from me!

On Halloween night Keith kept putting these chocolate eyes in his eyes. Trig would look at him and say "Scare Me!" with his cute little voice. Sam and Sophie had fun Trick or Treating with Grandma Joan. When they got home I think they had just as much fun answering the door for the Trick or Treaters because Keith and I were Party Poopers and didn't want to take them out again around our neighborhood.

I think that this is the only picture we were able to get of Scooby Doo with his hat on and still be able to see his face.

This picture is at my parents house. Trig spent most of his time around the bubble/ fog machine.

Both of Keith's Grandparents are in the same rest home. (His Dad's Mom and his Mom's Dad)

It was fun to go see them on Halloween and I think they really enjoyed seeing the kids dressed up and being able to give them some candy.

Sad but true, this is the only close up picture that I got of Hattie in her Bee costume. This is the costume that I got for Trig to wear but he was never able to wear it so I am glad that Hattie came in time to be able to use it....Sweet little bee!

Carving pumpkins! I love the look on Sam's face...he looks a little grossed out!

Trig's Birthday, Hattie's Birthday, and then the deer hunt.

2010-10-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Sam and I never made it on the deer hunt and now with 2 birthdays this time of year I had better pick up golfing.

These Pics will have to do, Jamie will update us better in a few days.

We were all very excited that it was a girl except Sophie and Grandpa Wiesmore.

Hattie's 1st Family picture. Boy is she ever in for a bundle of fun and the joy of taking family pics in the future.

Trig's Birthday party. We were still in the middle of celebrating Trig's Birthday when along came Hattie. We were headed up to Thanksgiving Point on Friday for Trig's birthday with Grandma Joan and Grandpa Sam when Hattie decided she was ready to enter the world.

Trig's favorite thing to talk about and play with, at least for the moment is Buzz Lightyear and so here dawns the cake. He had fun with all of his cousin's. We can't believe that he is already 2.

SHE'S Here!!!

2010-10-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hattie Kate Richards 5lbs. 14 oz. Pictures are coming.

Sophie's 9th Birthday!

2010-10-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my sweet little girl is now nine! It seems like she just barley had her 8th birthday. The years just fly on by that is for sure!!

Sophie has always loved to go to Color Me Mine so this year she decided that is where she wanted to go for her birthday. I told her that she could invite one friend and of course her brother to come along. She decided to bring her friend Devyn. They have been friends their whole lives. Devyn was born on September 13th and Sophie was born on September 17th. They are such great little freinds.

Sophie wanted to eat at Cracker Barrel so we met my Mom and Trig there. It was very yummy! Devyn spent the night and the girls didn't go to sleep until 1:00. They sure had fun though!!!

My camera was acting crazy, so these pictures are not the best.

Little Artists at work!

Sophie and Devyn both painted mugs and Sam decided to paint a T-Rex. I was very impressed with all of them. They turned out so cute!

We celebrated Sophie's birthday with Keith's family at the park by our house. Sophie and Sam are always watching Betty Crocker and how to make different cakes. Sophie has really been into Sea Life lately so when she saw this mermaid cake it had to be the one. She was so excitd to help make it. It turned out pretty well except for the frosting being too soft and basically dripping off the sides. Oh well, she still loved it!

Sophie always gets spoiled by her Aunts and Grandparents!!

Sophie has been wanting roller blades for a while now (She wants to be a hockey player). She was so excited that she got a pair from Grandma Joan and Grandpa Sam. I was a little nervous about her learning how to skate but she is amazing!! It only took her a couple of times holding onto me to get it down. Maybe she really will be Hockey Player some day.

Just don't look at the fat pregnant lady!!

I couldn't resist adding this picture of Trig! What a cutie!

A sad attempt at catching up!

2010-09-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I am a total blog slacker lately!! I thought about listing lots of excuses as to why I haven't blogged for so long but I think it just comes down to the fact that Life is Crazy!! Hopefully I will be better from here on out but I'm not making any promises.

In August Sophie decided that she wanted to do a service project for her Faith in God Award. She made blankets for Primary Children's. I was so proud of her because she did everything on her own from calling around to Grandmas and Aunts and asking for donations to planning a day when her Grandmas could come and help tie knots. It really did not take long at all. We had most of the strips cut on the blankets before the grandmas got there and then we all just visited while we tied knots. She was able to make 9 blankets.

What a darling and thoughtful girl my Sophie is!!

Sam even got in on the knot tying.

Utah County Fair

Thanks to my Dad, Sophie and Sam were able to show lambs in the county fair. They were both a little nervous about the whole thing but they did a great job!

This is the judge talking to Sophie and Sam.

Trig loved watching Sophie and Sam with their eeep!! I could just eat this little guy up!

First Day of School 2010

I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up! Sophie is in 3rd grade this year and Sam is in 1st. They are both liking their teachers and Sam of course loves that he gets to eat lunch at school. Sam did say the other day that he wishes that school wasn't quite so long because he doesn't get to see his Mom and Dad as much. What a cutie! This made me feel good!

Leftover Inventory from a show I did over the Weekend

2010-06-12T18:43:00.001-07:00

This is 48" long and $75.00
This is about 34" long and is $65.00

$48" long, is a chalkboard/magnet/ mail shelf and is $65.00

This one is the same size as the one above and $65.00

Keith and I put a booth over in Springville and had some things left over. If you are interested in a new shelf or two check out his blog @ www.shelvesandstuff.blogspot.com

Tagg...this is for you!

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

Catching Up!

2010-04-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sophie had her second piano recital in February. She did a great job. This is her with her teacher Lisa Rowley.

Keith and his Grandpa share a Birthday. We got together and celebrated!

I love this picture of the two of them!

Sophie and Sam both decided to make Leprechaun Traps this year. Keith helped Sam with his and Sophie did hers on her own. They were both pretty creative! (I have no idea what is going on with Sophie's hair:)

In March we went down to St. George for the Sunshine Tournament. I didn't get any pictures of baseball games but we did have fun going to them.

We had wanted to take the kids to the Narrows last year when we went but we ran out of time so we made sure we went this year. Sophie was so nervous about getting stuck in the Narrows. She tried to think up every excuse she could to not have to go. After we had been there for about 2 minutes though she decided that it was pretty fun. Sam loved running from rock to rock and Sophie was his little mother telling him to be careful and to not get too close to the edge.

Can you see someone hiding in the rocks?

Trig thought that the swimming pool was pure torture....

But Sam and Sophie LOVED it!!

Sam's 6th Birthday

I can't believe my Little Sam is 6 years old!! We took the cousins that are his age to Pirate Island. Grandma and Grandpa Houser and Grandpa Sam and Grandma Joan also joined us.

Cute Little Pirate!

Sophie has been growing her hair our for about a year and a half. She decided that she wanted to cut it off and donate it to Locks of Love. After I made the appointment she was so excited she could hardly wait. I think it look sooo cute and it is sooooo much easier to do! Thanks Sara for the pictures!

We wanted to share some news!

2010-04-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been sooooo long since I posted. It is not that I don't have TONS of pictures to post I think it is just that I haven't been in the mood to blog. I will have to get on it soon! But in the mean time we did want to share some news. We are going to be having another baby. Ahhhhhh. I can't really believe it. I am really excited but REALLY overwhelmed too! I am starting a preschool in the fall and the baby is due November 10th so it will take some tricky planning to make it all work.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

The kids made me a candy bar card. It was so cute! It said....Mom, "York" the best mom in the world. You "skor" big with us. You're a "lifesaver" when you help us with our homework to help us get "smart." It is "extra" fun when you tell us some "whoppers" of a story. Your "3 muskateers" love you and it is "werthers" every minute we spend time with you.

The day after Valentine's Day we were able to go to Paul Cardall's Celebrate Life Concert. Paul is a 36 year old survivor of CHD. He received a new heart on 9/9/09. He held this concert to "Celebrate Life" and to also give back to the community and to help other families that have been affected by CHD. His foundation provided a scholarship to Salt Lake Community College, to someone that has been affected by CHD. The foundation also provided a small financial gift to a family that lost a child from CHD.

It was an AMAZING concert. I couldn't help but cry as Paul came out onto the stage and everyone stood and applauded this man that has been through so much but is so willing to help others!

I didn't get any pictures of the concert but I loved these pictures that we took before the concert. We were actually early...that is probably a first. So we decided to walk through Temple Square. The kids loved walking up to the Christus. As we walked up to the Christus Sam said to me "Mom, I feel like Heavenly Father is talking to my heart." It was the sweetest thing I think I have ever heard him say.

It was a Beautiful night!!

Fun Smith's Shopping Trip!!

2010-01-31T08:40:00.000-08:00

A few years ago when I delivered the newspaper I was able to get as many coupons as I wanted, so I started doing Savvy Shopper a little bit. With coupons I was able to get fruit snacks and granola bars for 25 cents a box. I would get other things here and there for good deals but it really was mostly Quaker products and fruit snacks. I remember having 40 boxes of fruit snacks in my pantry at one time. Well, I decided to try it again. I get 5 newspapers every Sunday (I can't believe that I didn't take advantage of as many coupons as I wanted, when I was delivering the newspaper....but I would never do that job again, even for all the coupons that I could get!) and I clip all the coupons out of them. It is time consuming but it definitely paid off on my last trip to Smith's...here is the run down

8 boxes of Nabisco Crackers

7 bags Mission tortillas

6 bags goldfish

3 tubs butter

2 tombstone pizzas

4 boxes capri suns

2 cans planters cashews

2 keebler cookies

2bags Armour meatballs

2 gallons milk

2 boxes Krusteaz muffin mix

1 bag tortilla chips

1 bag cheetos

4 Sobe

4 cans tomatoes

4 quaker Quakes

2 Hershey's candy bars
1 bag rolls

Cost -144.78

Spent- 51.13

(plus I have a 10.00 mail in rebate so it is actually 41.00)

Saved- 93.65 WooHoo!!

Smith's was out of a lot of the "real" food that I wanted ( I'll be making another trip back tomorrow) so this looks like a lot of junk food. But hey who can pass up Keebler cookies for.19 cents??

Our Little Busy Body!

2010-01-09T15:43:00.001-08:00

Trig is one busy little guy. He is always on the go and thinks that he can do whatever his brother and sister are doing. What a fun little guy to have around.

You can see in a few of the pictures that Trig has a goose egg on his forhead and a bruise on his cheek. Trig thinks that he needs to run wherever he goes and it seems like a lot of the time his face or head are the brakes.

Maybe he'll be the next Mozart.

The other night I was cooking dinner and the next thing I know Trig is on the table. He had climbed up on the chair and then up onto the table......
But He didn't stop there he even thought it would be fun to play with the light while he was up there.

Hmmm I wonder if there is anything yummy up here.

Trig likes to play the Wii too. I love this little guys smile!!

Christmas Morning

2010-01-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

We have always stayed at my Dad and Mom's house on Christmas Eve and Santa always found us there Christmas morning. This year we decided that we would stay at our house and see if Santa could find us.....he did. I was sure that Sophie and Sam would be up all night but they surprised us and didn't wake up until 6:15 (Sophie's usual time to wake up). Sophie called Grandma Joan and the whole crew came over. We had a fun time exchanging gifts and then had breakfast.

Grandpa Sam and Grandma Joan gave Sophie and Sam a Wii. The kids were so excited! They have wanted one since last year when all of their other cousins got one.

All Sam wanted for Christmas was a microscope.
Trig in his new car. He thinks he is pretty big in it.

Keith and the kids surprised me with a family calendar I love it!!

The kids and I surprised Keith with a Richards Family 2009 book.

Me and Sophie playing Sing It.

My brother Matt and his wife Barbie. We were glad that they were able to come over in the morning...they usually like to sleep in.;)

My brother Tagg, home from SUU.

Grandma and Grandpa Houser came over with more gifts for the kids.

Grandma Houser made Sophie the cutest Sea horse purse full of fun little treasures!

Sam got a bow and arrow that Grandma and Grandpa got for him at a rendezvous.

They made Trig a cute turtle stool. Now he thinks he can climb up to everything.

Christmas Eve!

2010-01-01T08:28:00.000-08:00

We have a tradition to open our sibling exchanges on Christmas Eve, once all of our jobs are done. It is weird how fast the kids get their jobs done on this day. We were in SLC a couple weeks ago in the Clark Planetarium and both of the kids picked, independently, a crystal growing kit to give each other. They were pretty exited to get one for themselves after the exchange.

Elf hats that Grandma Joan equipped the kids with on Christmas Eve.

Trig just happy to be getting the attention that he is ALWAYS after.

Christmas Eve we go thru the festival of Lights in Spanish Fork and then go to the Salem/Spanish Fork/ and Santaquin Cemeteries.

Grandma Joan gives the kids PJ's every Christmas Eve and here they are. The kids have been getting them long enough that now instead of "opening presents" they "open pajamas". The kids love it.

Snowy Apple Trees

2009-12-22T08:08:00.001-08:00

These trees are in an orchard by my house. I thought that they looked so pretty with the snow and apples on them.

Christmas Traditions

2009-12-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

Light Parade

Trig was ready to be done with shopping so Grandma Joan kept him entertained on the escalator.

I didn't get very many pictures, but every year my family goes up to SLC to stay over night. We wanted to go to Temple Square but it was just too cold! We had dinner at Applebees, shopped a little and then went back to the hotel to let the kids swim. The next day we went to Clark Planetarium and watched a Christmas movie. We had a fun time. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Making gingerbread houses at Grandma and Grandpa Housers. Every year Keith's mom makes gingerbread houses for all the grandkids and then we all get together to decorate them. Sophie and Sam always look forward to decorating their Gingerbread house. It is one of their favorite things at Christmas time.

Festival of Trees. This is only the second year that we have been to the Festival of Trees. It was really neat seeing the trees and to hear some of the stories about who the trees were for, but I have to say it was CROWDED!! Which is good since all the money goes to Primary's but it was a little too crowded for me. We didn't stay all that long. We went through a few rows of trees and then looked at the gingerbread houses. I really could have spent hours there if it wasn't for pushing a stroller through the crowds. Next year we will have to figure out a new plan.

Every year the kdis love to make reindeer out of candy canes. I think this is actually a tradition Keith did when he was little. Keith and Sophie and Sam got pretty creative this year. They made elk, big horn sheep, antelope and even unicorns. I was the eyes and nose gluer (is gluer a word?).

Decorating the tree...once again not great pictures.

My mom has this quilt with pockets in it for everyday of the month. She fills the pockets with little surprises and goodies for Sophie, Sam, Trig and my brother Tagg. This is another one of my kids favorite things at Christmas Time.

Family Pictures

2009-12-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

Last week my friend Sara took our family pictures. I think that they turned out really cute. It was pretty cold but the kids were troopers! In a couple of the pcitures you can see that Trig has a huge bruise in the middle of his forehead, this poor kid is always falling straight onto his forehead without catching himself. It is so sad! In the bottom picture of Trig, Sara was able to remove the bruise.

Trig's First Haircut

2009-11-14T13:24:00.000-08:00

I really did not want to get Trig's haircut. Keith has been telling me for a few months that it needs to be done so people will stop thinking that he is a girl. I really don't think it was that bad but I just didn't want to get it cut I loved his cute curls and the color too. But when Keith told me that he would shave it if I didn't get it done I finally gave in. My good friend Sara cut it and it actually looks very cute probably even better than it did.

Before

Cute Curls!

After

One reason that I hate first haircuts is because it always makes them look so much older!

I just loved this picture so I decided to add it.

Halloween

2009-11-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

I thought that it would be fun to plan a Halloween Party this year. It was complete with all the games that I played as a kid. I hope that the kids had fun!

Ring Toss

Cake Walk - the kids wanted to play this over and over again.
.

Pumpkin decorating

Fish Pond

and cookie decorating.

After the party we went to see Grandma Peggy. She had baked 4 dozen cupcakes for all of us.

My family had a party Halloween Night. Keith and I were party poopers and didn't dress up.

My kids can never fish too many times. It is their favorite!!

The cutest Skeleton, Kitty and Monkey around!

I have to admit my kids dressed up at least 5 times this year. I kept saying "Oh, I will get some cute pictures the next time they dress up." Well, it never happened. I wanted to get one of each of them seperatly. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.

Deer Hunt

2009-11-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

We hadn't gone camping all summer so we decided to borrow my Dad's trailer and go camping for the deer hunt. I was a little worried about how it would be camping in the cold with a 1 year old but it was actually pretty fun. The weather was nice during the day so we carved pumpkins, played in the river and went on a hike. Sophie, Trig and I only stayed over one night, so we weren't there for the actual hunting bit...fine by me and Sophie!!

Sophie holding her pumpkin guts.

I forgot to bring shoes for Trig so I decided to put his play pen up and let him play in it. It worked for a little while as you can see he thought it was great at first but then he wanted to get out and run around.

We also forgot to bring the hiking backpack for Trig so Keith improvised and put Trig in his hunting backpack. It actually worked better thatn I thought it would.

I think this picture is so funny. Sophie is posing right in front of Sam.

Is this fun or what???

Grandpa Richards shot a deer. Sam and Timmy were so excited!

The mighty hunters!!

Trig's 1st Birthday

2009-10-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

I know that I always say this about my kids' milestones, but I really can't believe that Trig just turned one! I remember the day that he was born like it was yesterday. In fact when I even think of the day that he was born it brings me to tears instantly...like right now tears rolling down my cheeks. I wasn't really expecting Trig's birthday to be such an emotional day but it definitely was! We are so happy that he is doing so well and is part of our family. He brings us so much joy!! None of us can get enough of him!

Happy 1st Birthday Little Piggy, We Love you!!

(One day when Trig was still in the hospital Sam said "Can we go see Triggy Piggy?" Well, it stuck and so we call him our Little Piggy.)

Keith's sister Veronica was here a few weeks ago and had Trig open his present. He is so funny! Lately he has been in to putting things on his head and throwing things behind his shouders.

Keith and I have a tradition with our kids' first birthdays to each make them a cake. It was so fun this year to be able to make the cakes with Sam and Sophie. Sophie and I made a barn with cute little cupcake farm animals and Keith and Sam made a big green tank (how boy is that?). A few weeks before Trig's birthday we got on the internet to see what kind of cakes we wanted to make. Sophie even watched the tutorial several times about how to make our cake, so when it came time to make it I just asked her and she was able to tell me step by step...what a cutie!

Sam and Sophie helping Trig blow out the candles. He had a candle on each cake.

YUMMY!!

Helping make the cakes! What fun!!

One year ago today, October 27 Trig had his Arterial Switch Surgery to repair his heart. He was six days old. While we were at the hospital one of the Dr.'s told us that just 15 years ago babies that were born with Transposition of the Great Arteries were some of the sickest babies being treated for a heart defect. I am so grateful for how far technology has come and for Dr. Kaza and all of the wonderful Dr.'s and nurses at Primary's that made it possible for Trig to be where he is today!
We love you Triggy Piggy!

The day Trig got to PCMC

This is the day of Trig's surgery. We got to the hopsital really early so that we could hold him before they took him back for surgery.

Sophie's Baptism

2009-10-11T12:47:00.001-07:00

We had a very busy but very fun day on Sophie's baptism day. That morning we went to breakfast with my Mom, Dad and Tagg (Matt and Barbie couldn't make it). After breakfast we went up to the Provo temple to walk around. It was beautiful!

That afternoon we met Keith's family at the Pumpkin Patch. Keith's sister Veronica is here with her husband Aaron and their boys Hunter and Dylan. They haven't ever been able to come to the pumpkin patch with us because they live in California so we decided that we better fit it in while they were here. The kids love it. It is always a lot of fun and it is tradition to dress the kids up in their Halloween costumes.

After the pumpkin patch we raced home to get ready for the baptism. Sophie has been sooooo excited for her baptism. The program went well. Sophie asked me to give the talk on baptism which I wasn't all that thrilled about. I hate speaking in front of people! But it went fine other than I forgot my scriptures and had to borrow them from a member of the bishopric right in the middle of my talk. Sophie asked my Mom to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. She had made Sophie a book about her life and how she was a Child of God. She read the book and then talked about the Holy Ghost. She did a great job! It was fun helping Sophie get dressed in her "jumpsuit" She said that she wished that she could keep the jumpsuit because she thought that it was cute....crazy girl! Keith baptized and confirmed her. He did a great job! We had a dinner at our house afterward. It was fun to have everyone over. Sophie got lots of great gifts from her Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents. It was a very fun day that I hope Sophie always remembers!

Cute little Spooks and Goblins! We even had a porcupine.

Going in to get on her jumpsuit.

I made Sophie a quilt. She has been wanting a quilt for years. Well, I finally got around to making her one and I think I might be addicted. It has been so fun. Just a little time consuming. After the dinner at our house Sophie said "Wow, that was a crazy party" There were a lot of people at our house and she has never been one for crowds. I just thought it was funny because it was mostly just Keith's family and a few of Sophie's friends.

Sophie's 8th Birthday

2009-10-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little girl is 8 years old!! I also can't believe that it has taken me this long to post about it. We had a fun couple of days of celebrating.

Sophie was so excited to have a sleepover with her friends. They made mini pizzas for dinner, made a craft, opened presents and watched Barbie and the Three Musketeers.

Spare Time

2009-09-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well since Keith has more spare time, or we thought, he is going to pursue his hobby more and sell some things he has made. If you have anything you want let us know and he can build it. He really likes to make new things so if you have a picture of something you like, send it and he can build it. He set up a blog for this @ shelvesandstuff.blogspot.com. Here are a few things he has made.

IHH Heart Walk

2009-09-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had the chance to be involved in the Intermountain Healing Hearts Walk. It was a walk to help spread awareness of CHD's (congenital heart defects) and also raise money for Intermountain Healing Hearts which is a support group for those with CHD's. Even though Trig is healthy and doing great it has been so neat to be able to meet some amazing families that are going through so much!! At the end of the walk they had a ceremony to honor all the children that have lost their battles with CHD's. Each family released a butterfly in honor of their child. It was so emotional!

And the race begins! We were so busy taking pictures throughout the walk that I think we were about the second to last people to finish.

Sam loves his shirt he wore it all day Saturday and Sunday (except for church)!

Trig enjoyed his walk in the stroller. He was acting so silly!

There were over 500 people that attended the walk. It doubled from last year. Thanks Mom for coming with us. My Mom didn't make it in any of the pictures because she was always the picture taker. I wish that I would have gotten one with her and the kids!

This is a picture of the butterfly release.

Toads, teepees and parades!

2009-09-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't been the greatest at keeping up on my blog lately. Here are lots of random pictures from the past month.

We love going to the Labor Day parade. It is always cool and we have a perfect place to sit. Keith's sister lives right on the parade route so we can leave our house right before the parade starts and still have great seats! The kids love hanging out with their cousins and they always get way too much candy...which they love!

Every year after the parade we go down to the park and the kids get their faces painted. For some reason it is the highlight of Labor Day!

When Keith was young his Mom made a teepee for him. It is so cute, his Mom is definitely much more talented than I am. Keith decided to bring it home for the kids to play in and they have loved it. They even decided to sleep in it one night.

This is Sam's science experiment that he did with Keith. They found 6 dirty pennies and put them each into a muffin tin and covered them with ranch, syrup, sprite, soap and water, vinegar and baking soda and salt water. Which item do you think cleaned the pennies the best....we were surprised!

We went to Cabelas last Saturday. The kids had fun looking at all the animals and feeding the fish.

Sam and Keith have been doing a lot of hunting together. Keith loves having a little hunting partner!

A few weeks ago Sam and his friends "saved" four toads that were in the gutter. Sam said that there was so much garbage in the gutter that they would die. We decided to keep them in our window well. I thought that they would be fun to watch and a pretty easy pet to have. After they had been there a few days Sam got down in the window well to check on them. He touched one and said that it was crispy....sad! We didn't realize that they needed to be in water so Keith made some little ponds for them. It has been fun watching them. We go to the pet store every week and buy crickets for them to eat.

Trig thinks he is so big!! I think that he will be walking soon.

Trig's favorite spot...he loves to watch the kids playing outside. He always screams and pounds on the window.

Trig's new favorite treat. I guess he takes after his brother. If you ask Sam what he wants for breaksfast, lunch or dinner the answer most likely will be watermelon.

Two new little tricks....by Trig

2009-08-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

2009-08-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sam's First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

Sam has been soooo excited to start Kindergarten. Weeks ago he picked out what he wanted to wear on the first day of school. It has been sitting in a corner on the floor in his room ever since, folded up all neat (He takes after his Dad). Last night he said to Keith, "Dad I feel like it is Christmas tomorrow." What a cutie!! I wanted to take him to school on the first day but he insisted that he was riding the bus. Sophie is such a great sister! She was so excited to help him get to his class. I think that she was just as excited as Sam was that he was riding the bus. I sure am going to miss my little buddy while he is away at school. But it will be nice to have a little bit of time with Trig and if I am lucky maybe he will take a nice little nap while Sam and Sophie are at school.

Waiting for the bus.

Getting on the bus.

Good bye my two little cuties!! Sniff, Sniff!

Sophie's first Day of 2nd Grade

2009-08-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

When we moved and Sophie found out that she would be going to a new school she was not excited. She was nervous about making new friends. I was her same age when I moved to a new school and I remember feeling the same way. But it just so happens that there are a lot of girls her same age on our street, so it has made things a lot easier. Two of the girls that live across the street from us come and pick Sophie up everyday to walk down to the bus stop. I am so glad that she has been able to make friends so quickly.

Sophie met her teacher the day before school started and was so excited. Her teachers name is Miss Camper. When she came home from school the first day I asked her how it went and she said she loved it. I asked her how she likes her teacher and she said she LOVES her. I think that the year will go pretty well.

Sophie and Sam both picked out high top Converse for school. I remember my first pair of Converse and I loved them. I love Sophie's bubble gum pink pair....too cute!! Sam chose black, we will be posting a picture of them on Sam's first day of school.

Of course there has to be "the pose."

2009-08-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I feel like life is flying by much too quickly!! My baby is now 9 months old. Sophie will be getting baptized next month and Sam will be going into kindergarten!! Ahhhh! I wish that I could just stop the clock right now and have them at these ages forever...for some reason I don't think that will happen.

9 Months Old

28 inches tall

18 lbs. 10 oz.

What do you think of Trig's hair? Personally, I LOVE it!! I love the color and I love that it is curly!! Keith on the other hand thinks that he needs a buzz.

Silly Kids!!

Warning! Long Post!!!

2009-08-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

We have done a lot of fun things this summer. The most important one being finally finding a house. We moved in about two weeks ago and it has been great!! We are pretty much settled other than the basement that is full of boxes that I still need to got through, but those will be gone through a little at a time. We live in a cul-de-sac and there are lots of kids! Sophie was pretty nervous about moving, mostly because she will be changing schools but there are two little girls across the street that are just her age. There is also a little boy Sam's age so it works out great! They have been having a lot of fun playing together.

We went to the Children's Museum with Grandma Joan and my cousin Lesley and her kids. The kids had a great time

I thought that this was a good pictue to take with Trig.

One night for FHE we decided to hike the Gerato (no idea on spelling). It is a small water fall up the canyon. It was great spending time together.

Keith's cousin Kenny and his son Spencer came and stayed with us last weekend. The kids had a lot of fun playing with Spencer and still ask when he is going to come back. Keith and Kenny took the kids shooting and bowling.

Bean Museum with the Wilson cousins.

For Orchard Days this year the kids wanted to be in the childrens parade. They decorated their bikes all by themselves.

Sophie won an award for the "Most Outrageous."

2009-07-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

We got word this week that we will most likely (of course nothing is ever for sure) be in our house next week. Yipee! We can't wait!! I can't wait to get back to a schedule. I just feel like this whole summer has been nothing but play...which is good, to a certain degree but I am ready to feel like I have actually acomplished something. Actually, as I think about it what could be more important than spending lots of time with my kids. We have gone on a field trip every Monday with Grandma Joan this summer. It has been lots of fun!! I have a million pictures to post so hopefully I will be able to get some of them posted soon.

CRAZY!!

2009-06-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been over a month since my last post. Things have been a little crazy around here. We sold our house and are now living with my parents. We have been living here for almost 2 weeks. We are still looking for a house to buy...nothing seems to be working out so we feel a bit lost. The other 2 houses that we bought just happened so smoothly so we don't really know what to think. Anyway.... Keith did get a job at the Jr. High that he did his student teaching at so that is a relief. He got the job not too long after he graduated so we are homeless right now but at least we are not jobless. He will be starting the middle of August. For now he is still working for my Dad until he starts teaching.

I have tons of pictures to post but will have to wait until we are in our own house because our computer is in storage...I'm sure that it will at least be a month before I will be able to post pictures. For some reason I didn't even think about my blog when we packed up the computer. Oh well, life will go on without posting pictures. I will just have to do one enormous post when we get into a house. The kids seem to be adjusting to living at Grandma and Grandpa's. I think it is Keith and I that are having a hard time. We all get along great but I think just living in someone elses house is hard. But we are very grateful that my parents are letting us stay here.

Trig's 2 bottom teeth finally came through. He still wants nothing to do with food unless he is holding it and can put it in his mouth himself. Mr. Independent already! I think that one reason why he won't eat is because when he was first born he was on a few different meds he still takes aspirin everyday and then the past few months he has had several ear infections and so he has been on antibiotics. He just doesn't want anything put in his mouth that he is not in control of....I guess I can't blame the poor little guy.

Sophie and Sam are starting swimming lessons next week and are so excited. They are both also playing baseball...Sam in T-ball and Sophie in Coach Pitch. They both really enjoy it. Especially Sam he would play baseball all night with his Dad if he could. I think it makes Keith pretty proud.

Keith's Graduation (YIPPEEEE!!)

2009-05-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Keith graduated from UVU. It was definitely a day to celebrate!! Keith has been going to school for 4 1/2 years. Sophie was 3 when he started and Sam was 6 months so the kids don't know anything different than Keith being in school. For more than half the time that Keith was going to school he went to school full time and also worked full time so we didn't see him as much as we wanted. The last few semesters he wasn't able to work full time because of his school schedule so he was home more which was nice but A LOT of that time was spent at his desk doing homework. Keith is such a hard worker! He is one of those people that once he starts something he can't stop until it is finished and perfect. We like to call it OCD, but it is actually a great quality to have especially while being in school :)

I have to say that we are looking forward to the next phase in our lives together. When Keith started school we sold our house so that we could afford for Keith to not work as much. I did odd little jobs like paper routes, cherries (we live in an orchard town), tend kids, and sell Avon. We bought a twin home with a smaller payment and everything has just worked out perfectly. We actually just sold our twin home and are looking for a house to buy. I am so proud of Keith for just getting in and getting done with school. I know he will be a FANTASTIC teacher!! Congratulations Honey!! I love You!!!

Look at that smile, I think it says it all!!

Keith, Steve and Heidi. These are two of Keith classmates. I am sure on most days they saw him a lot more than the kids and I did.

Keith and his Mom.

San Francisco

2009-05-05T07:52:00.002-07:00

For Christmas, Keith surprised me with a trip to San Francisco. Well, we went about a week ago. We had a great time just being able to spend time together. We haven't been on a "real" vacation, just us two since our Honey Moon. I guess unless over night in SLC counts but I don't really think it does. We went to celebrate Keith's Graduation and it is also our 10 year anniversary this year so we had a good reason to take off for a few days!!

I was a little nervous about leaving the kids, but thanks to wonderful friends and family they were well taken care of.

While we were there we went on a City Tour that took us all around the city and to Golden Gate Bridge, went on a tour of Alcatraz, watched a San Francisco Giants game, ate lots of yummy food, and relaxed. It was a great little get away!!

Riding the Cable Car.

Eating luch at Fisherman's Warf. Our table looked right over Pier 39 which is where all of the sea lions hang out.

Fisherman's Warf

6 months

2009-05-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

I am always late at posting Trig's milestones but he turned 6 months on the 21st of April

15 lbs 13oz

27 inches tall

** Trig has started to sit up on his own. He is still a little wobbly but I am sure he will have it down in the next week or so.

** Trig grabs for anything and everything he can get his hands on. Especially at dinner time. He loves to grab at my food when I am holding him but wants nothing to do with it when I try to give him a taste.

** The other day he rolled from his belly to his back. He has been rolling from his back to his belly for quite a while but once he is there he wants to be on his back again.

** Trig loves Sophie and Sam. They can always seem to make him laugh.

** Trig is always smiling. I love it because it shows off his cute dimples.

** Trig thinks our dog Rosie is so funny. When he is sitting in his saucer and she walks up to him he always laughs and watches her like a hawk.

** Trig loves to be naked. Kinda funny, but if he is fussy and I change his diaper and leave it off he is happy as can be!

** Trig loves the tub.

** Trig wants nothing to do with baby cereal or any kind of food unless it is his bottle.

** Trig is spoiled and likes to be held a lot. Hmmm I wonder how that happened.

You sure had a rough start but we are so grateful that you are doing so well now!!

October 21, 2008

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

Silly Triggy!!

2009-04-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

We have not had a lot going on lately so I don't have much to post but I took this video of Trig a few weeks ago and thought that I would post it. Trig is such a good baby! We all enjoy him so much! He brings so much happiness into our home. We love you Triggy!! Don't you just love his little Alfalfa hair-do.

Easter Fun!!

2009-04-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun Easter this year. Keith's sister Veronica and her husband Aaron were here with their boys, Hunter and Dylan. They came for Keith's other sisters baby blessing and it just happened to be Easter Weekend so it worked out really great. Sophie LOVES aunt Veronica and every time Veronica is here all Sophie wants to do is hang out with her. It is pretty cute!!

I am not very impressed with the pictures that I took for Easter. They all seem really BLAH! So anyway I am not going to post many. We had fun coloring eggs with Keith sisters. I know that the kids could have colored at least a dozen each. It is funny to me how much they enjoy it. It was fun to be able to color eggs with some of the cousins. We also had MANY Easter egg hunts which by the end Sophie offered to hide the eggs because she was sick of finding them. She liked being able to help Hunter find his eggs.

Easter Morning

Easter Egg Hunt at our house. The Easter Bunny sure hid a lot of Easter Eggs for Sophie and Sam to find.

Sam Hunter and Timmy at the City Easter Egg Hunt.

Soccer and Sam's First Shiner!

2009-04-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I have had a really bad attitude about soccer. That is why I haven't posted any pictures and it has been going for 3 weeks. Soccer started really early so the kids have been playing in freeeeezing cold weather. The kids have had fun but standing out in the cold watching them has been a little tricky with Trig. I think this is probably why he has bronchiolitis and 2 ear infections. Grrrr! Trig is actually doing a lot better now but I was pretty worried at first.

Anyway, last week Keith took Sam to his game and in the middle of the game Sophie (aka Mini Mom) called me and told me that Sam had gotten hurt. She didn't know a lot of the details just that he was crying and he had hit his eye. I found out later that a couple of the kids had tripped and Sam had gotten a head to the eye.

That night when I asked Sam what happened he told me that he had tripped and hit his eye really hard he said " When I stood up I thought, should I keep playing? But it hurts really bad! Then I saw Dad and I ran to him and started to cry!" Too cute. He got some hugs from Dad and then went back out to play. I was proud that he went back out even though he had gotten hurt. Keith was proud because this was Sam's first black eye. Dad's are funny like that. I would be fine with my kids never ever getting hurt and Keith thinks that it makes them tough....not to say the Keith doesn't worry because hi is the biggest worry wart that I know but things like this make him proud! Does that make sense??? Anyway, here are some pictures of the first black eye. It ended up turning all sorts of funky colors and was really swollen but it looks pretty good now. Just a little black and green and no swelling.

Sam's 5th Birthday

2009-04-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

I truly can't believe that my Little Sammy is 5 years old!! I guess time flys when your having fun:) He will be going to kindergarten this fall and it just blows my mind. I remember thinking a few months ago that Sam would be going to Kindergarten this year and he just didn't seem old enough. Well, in the past few months it seems like he has just grown up so much. He is definitely ready and can't wait to start Kindergarten. He is such a sweet and smart boy!! We are so happy that he is part of our family!!

We had a fun time celebrating his birthday. Keith started a tradition a few years ago of breakfast in bed so Sophie decided that she would be in charge of making the menu for Sam. She did a great job! We had a few of Sam's cousins and friends over for a little party. We had an Easter egg hunt, colored eggs, played pin the spider on the web (I know it is quite the contrast of themes... Easter and Spider Man, but this is what Sam wanted to do) and had a fish pond.

We asked Sam what he wanted to do the night of his birthday and he said that he wanted to order Chinese food and watch a movie. (A few months ago we had a chinese themed night where we watched Kung Fu Panda and ate Chinese so I guess this is where he got the idea from) I really think that the kids like to try to eat with the chopsticks more than actually liking the food. We had a GREAT DAY!!

Birthday Morning opening his presents.

Here is the Birthday Breakfast Menu. Sam's favorite thing in the whole world to eat is watermelon!!! If I ask the kids during the day what they want for dinner, 99.9% of the time Sam will say Watermelon.

Filling out his order for breakfast.

BIRTHDAY BOY!!

This is Sam and his cousin Katlyn. Katlyn's birthday is April 7th, she just turned 5 too. Actually 5 of the grandkids birthdays are in April. It is a crazy month full of lots of Birthday Parties.

Eating our Chinese Food and we watched the movie Bolt.

April Fool's Day

2009-04-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

For April Fool's Day I didn't really have anything planned until my friend Sara made me feel like a bad Mom :) telling me all of the fun things that she had done with her kids. I had a Family Fun magazine that had some fun ideas in it so I decided to try them out. For Dinner I mad "fish sticks" out of waffer cookies with peanut butter smeared on them and then rolled them in corn flakes, the "peas" were rolled up little balls of Laffy Taffy and the "ketchup" was strawberry jam. For "dessert" we had meat loaf cupcakes with colored mashed potatoes on top. And to drink we had "juice" but it was really a cup of jello with a straw in it to make it look like a drink.

I had Keith take the kids on a little drive while I got everything on the table. When the kids came in they just kept looking at the food like they knew it looked a little wierd but couldn't quite figure out what was different about it. Sam said "Mom, what kind of frosting is that, it is really fluffy." We all sat down to eat and Sam ate a "pea" first. He started to spit it out but then realized that it was candy and decided to eat them all. The "fish sticks" weren't very tasty and I don't think that any of us actually got full but it was still a lot of fun!

Check-up at PCMC

2009-04-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Trig had a check up appointment today at Primary's with Dr. Saarel. Before we saw Dr. Saarel, one of the PA's, Charles King, came in just to listen to Trig's heart and to get to know us a little better. Also with him was a student. They were both so cute with Trig. Trig of course brought out the charm and was so smiley and happy.. but he usually is. They just kept going on and on about how cute he is, they loved his dimples and his red hair. (In all actuality the Dr.'s at Primary's probably act this way with all babies) I just thought that it was so cute of them to be so goo-goo over him. I even heard them out in the hall saying what a cute baby he is. I would have to agree!!

Well, Trig's appointment went very well! Dr. Saarel said that his rhythm sounds normal. I was a little confused by the word normal because I listen to Trig's heart about every night after he is asleep and I can still hear either beats that are doubled up or beats that skip so I asked her if the rhythm is normal like mine is normal or if it is normal for Trig. She said that it is normal for Trig and that he still does have irregular rhythms but that they are not worried about them. I just love the Dr.'s at Primary's they are so caring and make me feel like any questions that I have are worth asking. Dr. Saarel sent Trig home with a holter monitor that he has to wear for 24 hours and then I will send it back. If everything is still looking good after they get the results of the holter back then we won't have to go back to Primary's for a YEAR!!! I can't believe it. It is a little scary for me to think that he won't be seen for that long because I still worry a lot about him. Dr. Saarel said that most of the TGA babies do very well and never have more problems. She said that there are some that have issues with the arteries becoming too narrow or becoming enlarged but for the most part things go very well. I just need to not worry! At his next appointment they will do an ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) to make sure that things are still looking the way they should.

I really wanted to get a picture of Trig with Dr. Saarel and I actually remembered my camera this time only to find out that when I turned it on it was out of batteries. Arrggh! I was very bugged. I guess I will probably have to wait a year to get one of them together...but I guess that is good news!

While I was a Primary's today I was able to meet a wonderful little "Heart Family"; Kyle, Alli, and their baby Grant. He is 13 days old. He has already had his first heart surgery and is scheduled for another surgery next week to repair some problems that he has with his intestines. They are so positive and upbeat. They are actually in the same room that Trig was in when he was discharged so I had a lot of emotions come over me when I walked into their room. I was gratful for the opportunity that I had to talk with them for a little while before I took Trig to his appointment.

Baseball, Sunshine, and Swimming!!

2009-03-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

We headed down to St. George to watch my brother Tagg play in the Sunshine Tournament. Taggart's first game was at 10:00 on Friday morning so we hit the road at 4:00 just to make sure we made it in time. Well, when we got there we had 2 hours to spare and we had even stopped and eaten breakfast. It was probably a good thing that we were there so early because on the ride down I figured out that I left the bag with the kids clothes for the day, there only pair of shoes, all of my stuff to get ready for the day and even the sunscreen, at home (I will definitely admit that I don't have a brain at regular hours in the day but especially not at 4:00 in the morning). So we headed to Target for a little shopping spree.

We had a great time watching Taggart play. The whole team played awesome! They won every game and 10 runned most of the teams. In the end they ended up winning the tournament for the 5th year in a row. Go Dons!!! Keith and I have always wanted to go down for Sunshine but have never been able to. We figured with this being Taggart's last year that there was no way we were going to miss it! It was definitely a needed and fun little get away!

At one of the games we went to, Sam looked out into the field at the other team and said "This team looks like Wimps."

Here is Grandma Joan (most people think that she is my older sister, not my mom) holding Trig. I think that this picture of Trig is so funny, he doesn't look like he has a neck.

Here we all are after the Championship Game.( my other Brother Matt and his Wife Barbie were also supposed to come down but ended up not being able to make it. We missed them and wished that they would have been able to come!)

Tagg has played with these boys since he was about eight. They have become a really awesome team and great friends. After the game Sophie said "Mom, I feel really proud of the Dons!" Such a cute girl!!

Can you tell that Sophie and Trig loved watching the ball games? I guess we tuckered them right out by waking up so early the day before.

The kids definitely didn't enjoy the games as much as Keith and I did, but they still had a lot of fun.

All the kids wanted to do was go swimming. Keith really wanted to take the kids up to the Narrows, he thought that they would think it was really cool. So the second morning that we were there we told the kids that after the first game we were going to go up to the mountains and do a little bit of hiking. Of course at this point there was complaining because all they wanted to do was swim. Well, Sophie and Sam ended up riding to the game with my parents and this was the conversation that they had:

Grandma: Well, so what do you guys want to do today after the game?

Sophie and Sam: We want to go swimming.

Sophie: But we can't because Mom is going to drag us up to the Rocky Mountains.

Needless to say by the time the game was over, the kids were ornery, hot and tired (so was Mom)....so they got their wish....after they took a nap.

My handsome Boys!!

Silly Baby!!

2009-03-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

Trig has been laughing so much lately. It is funny to me the things that make babies laugh. I really don't think that what I was doing was very funny, but it sure was to Trig.

Getting too big, way too fast!

2009-03-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

4 months

14 lbs. 0 oz.

25 1/2 inches

I can't believe how big Trig is getting. He is such a good baby! He is always smiling and talking to us. He has just started to roll over and he hates it. Well, I guess he loves to roll over but hates being on his stomach. He will lay on his stomach for a minute or two and then he lets us know that he needs someone to rescue him. As long as someone is paying attention to him him will just grin and grin. His dimples just melt my heart! I really think that I could just eat him right up. I have been trying to give him cereal but he thinks that it is the grossest thing ever. He pulls the funniest faces and gags and then out it comes. I guess that it will take a little getting used to. He is finally starting to sleep through the night. He usually wakes up around 1:00 because he needs his binkie. Then he wakes up at around 5:00 because he just might starve to death and then he usually goes back to sleep until about 7:00.

Sophie's Piano Recital

2009-03-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Sophie had her first piano Recital this past weekend. She did such a great job! We love you Soph!! Sophie's teacher is Lisa Rowley, Sophie really loves her.

Keith's "Early" Birthday

2009-03-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sophie and Sam were so excited for Keith's birthday that they decided to celebrate a bit early. Keith had the Saturday before his birthday off and the kids thought that it would be the perfect day to celebrate. They told me that they were making something for Dad and for us to not come into Sophie's room. Well they were so cute sneaking around finding different things for their surprise. When they were finally ready to show off what they had been doing, they took everything downstairs. They had Keith close his eyes until he was sitting in the chair. I LOVE how excited they get, even for the little things. Anyway, they had him open his presents and they had also made him a big Birthday card. What thoughtful kids.

Here is Sam leading Keith to his chair.

Still has his eyes closed. He had to wait until they had everything set up perfectly!

Here are the surprises for Keith that they had all wrapped up.

The BIG Birthday Card

This picture was taken the morning of Keith's birthday before he went to school.

The Kid

2009-03-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

I took this picture quite a while ago but wanted to add it because I thought it was so cute. While we were up at the cabin a few weeks ago we watched The Kid. Well, apparently Trig was paying attention while we were watching it because this is exactly how "the kid" sleeps. Little Cutie!

Trig's Blessing

2009-03-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

We were able to bless Trig last Sunday March 1st. We were waiting for a bit warmer weather and for all the sickness that comes with winter to go away. At the last minute we were going to postpone it to April because I had heard that there was still a lot of RSV going on but we decided to just do it. I am still a little paranoid about having him around a lot of people so instead of having a get together after his blessing we decided that we will have one at the park when the weather gets warmer. Keith did such a wonderful job on the blessing. He is such a great Dad!! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for the Priestood that Keith holds. It was a very nice day and I am so glad that we were all able to go to church together. Sophie and Sam loved having Trig at Church with them.... I did too!!

Trig holds his hands together like this a lot. I think it is so cute! Babies hands and feet are my favorite!! So tiny and perfect.

What cute kids!! You can tell they were pretty excited.

My Mom has given each of our kids something on their blessing days. Trig got a little prayer boy, to remind him as he gets older to always remember to pray to Our Heavenly Father.

2009-03-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we decided that we were sick of staying home and watching movies. We haven't been much of anywhere still with Trig. We thought that it would be fun to go bowling. We went over to BYU. Keith and I were pretty nervous at first with Trig being with us. I didn't want to have to get Trig out of his carseat. For some reason it feels safer with him in the carseat with a blanket over it... I'm sure germs can sneak in somehow. But Trig decided that he wanted to come out and join the fun. I don't blame him. The only places that he has been in his little life are our house and Grandparents houses. We had a great time. We were all glad that Trig was able to come with us.

I think Sam was pretty close to putting a hole in the floor. We finally talked him into using the thing that they can roll the ball down. (I don't know what it is called.)

Yay Sophie!!

Trig and I were the cheerleaders

Sophie shooting some hoops and Sam and Dad playing pin ball.

Sophie's Turn For FHE

2009-03-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Sophie planned a great little lesson for Family Home Evening a couple of weeks ago. At Primary they did a demonstration of the Wise Man and the Foolish Man. She decided that she wanted to show us. She made two houses out of paper. She filled one container with brown sugar which was the sand and she filled the other container with blocks which represented the rock. She put the houses on top of the brown sugar and the blocks and poured water over them to see which one stood strong. We talked about what it really means to "Build your House upon the Rock". The kids took it quite literally...to actually build a house on sand or on rocks. So it was a good little teaching moment. Love those! Great Job Sophie!!

This is the kids singing the Wise Man and the Foolish Man.

Primary Children's KSL Radiothon

2009-02-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to call in and donate to Primary Children's. What an AMAZING place it is!! I am so grateful for such a wonderful hospital that is so close to us! The phone number is 801-575-5437

Never Enough Time

2009-02-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

I found this on my Sister-in-Laws blog. I thought that it was pretty funny. I'm sure people without kids do wonder what stay at home moms do all day. But this explains it pretty well.

Prayers for Gracie

2009-02-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

GRACIE is one of the heart babies that I have been following for a couple of months now. She is such a fighter and she and her family have been through so much in the past 11 months. She was listed for a heart just 5 days ago and after just a few days of waiting, a heart became available for her. Her family was so excited that they didn't have to wait weeks or months for a heart. Well, she had her heart transplant yesterday and things did not go well. The Dr. said that she got a bad heart. Please remember this sweet baby and her wonderful family in your prayers.

Going to the Cabin

2009-02-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

We were able to go up to the cabin this weekend. We had a lot of fun! We went sledding, played games, watched movies, and drank lots of hot chocolate. I think Sophie drank at least 6 cups, that girl could live on hot chocolate. It was fun just being able to relax and spend time together!

Trig's first sip of Hot Chocolate...he is actually sipping out of the spoon. I don't think that he was able to taste a whole lot. :)

Cute little kiddies

Family Home Evening

2009-02-16T14:49:00.000-08:00

Sophie and Sam decided that they wanted to start teaching FHE so they each get a turn once a month. It was Sam's turn last week and he decided that he wanted to make newspaper hats for everyone. They were so cute! He taught us a lesson about Missionary Work. He did a great job!!

CHD Awareness Week

2009-02-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

February 7-14, 2009 is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. I thought that these statistics were so interesting and a bit shocking.

A Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) means a child is born with an abnormally structured heart and/or large vessels. Such hearts may have incomplete or missing parts, may be put together the wrong way, may have holes between chamber partitions or may have narrow or leaky valves or narrow vessels. There are approximately 35 different types of congenital heart defects.

CHDs are the #1 birth defect in America, affecting approximately one in one hundred or 40,000 newborns every year.Each day 10,830 babies are born in the U.S.; 411 of them have a birth defect -- of those, 87 will be born with a congenital heart defect -- that's more than cerebral palsy (27), sickle cell disease (27), Down Syndrome (12), and oral/facial clefts (11) combined (total of 77). (According to the March of Dimes)

CHDs are responsible for one third of all birth defect-related deaths, and sadly 20 percent of children who make it through birth will not survive past their first birthday.
In the United States, twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD.

For many children a new heart is the only option, but only about 30% of the children who need a heart transplant receive one in time. In 2007 there were 327 pediatric heart transplants performed in the United States. The average heart transplant only lasts around 10 years.

What can we do?
RAISE AWARENESS
DONATE BLOOD
REGISTER TO BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR!

When Trig had his surgery they had to pump so much blood into him that it was amazing to me. I am so grateful for the people that donated blood. I have donated blood in the past but now it has a new meaning to me. It is my goal to donate as often as I can!

3 months

2009-01-25T08:17:00.000-08:00

Trig just turned 3 months on the 21st. I truly can't believe how fast time has gone by. He is so much fun! He is such a happy baby always smiling and trying to talk to us. I took him up to PCMC last week for a check up. The Dr. said that he is doing great. They sent him home with a Holter just to see if he was still having the arrhythmias. He had to wear it for 24 hours and then I sent it back to them. They called me after they got it back and said that he hadn't had any SVT which is what they were most worried about. Yay!! He even got taken off of the medicine that he was on. He weighs 12lbs. 6 oz. So he is growing well and getting some cute chubby thighs that I want to gish! Other than that we haven't had a lot of things going on the past few weeks.

This is a picture of the Holter Monitor. The Dr. wants to do one more in a month and then if everything is still looking good Trig won't have another check-up for 3 months.

This little video is so cute of Trig. He is trying so hard to talk. Just don't listen to his dorky mother and her baby talk!! It is really only about the first 10 seconds that he talks so just stop it after that.

Trig got this Bumbo seat for Christmas. He loves to sit in it.

He always has his hands up by his face like this. It is so cute. Sometimes it looks like he is praying.

Such a smiley baby!

Keith started his student teaching a couple of weeks ago. Doesn't he look handsome:) I am so proud of him! He has worked so hard!! I can't believe that he will be completely done with school in March and then he will graduate in April. YIPEE!!!

Sammy and I made brownies the other night for FHE. Licking the beaters is definitely the best part!

Our poor dog Rosie. Sam loves her so much but I think that she doesn't feel quite the same way. He loves her to sleep with him and holds on to her as tight as he can so she can't get away. When Sam falls asleep she is finally able to escape. A little explanation about the mattress Sam is sleeping on. He does have his own room but ever since we moved (and that has been over 2 years) he sleeps on Sophies floor. For some reason they both sleep better when they are together. We thought about getting them bunk beds and have them share a room but decided that it is nice for them to have their own rooms to play in.

Sam was taking pictures the other day. When he got done I looked at the camera and he had taken 55 pictures of Rosie. Needless to say I erased most of them.

Sophie sleeps all wrapped up in her blanket, most of the time she even wraps it around her head. When we go in to check on her she is usually sweating her little bum off. It seems so uncomfortable but that is how she likes to do things. Crazy girl!

New Years Eve and Day

2009-01-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

For New Years Eve since we couldn't really go anywhere we just decided to get a movie and hang out at our house. We set the clock 2 hours ahead so the kids thought that they stayed up until midnight but it was really only 10...thank goodness! At "midnight" the kids got out their pots and pans and banged on them until I had had enough. Keith and the kids slept downstairs, their most favorite thing to do.

I thought this was the cutest picture! Trig is taking right after his brother and sister....they love to watch movies.

On New Years Day we went up to my Grandpa's and pulled the kids around on the snowmobile. Keith was bored after 5 minutes but the kids had a lot of fun!

Christmas Day

2009-01-07T20:47:00.001-08:00

We get this same picture every year of the kids sitting at the top of the stairs waiting to go down to see what Santa has left them. The only difference this year is that there is one more cute little boy added to the picture. We are so glad that he is here and doing so well!

We had such a great Christmas! My brother Matt and his wife Barbie were supposed to be here with us but Barbie actually had to have her appendix out on Christmas Eve. Poor thing! We missed them but we are glad that she is doing better!

High School Musical!!

CANDY!!!

Here are some of the kids favorite things. A "real" gun for Sam and a camera and Tinker Bell movie for Sophie.

This is pretty much what Trig did the whole time we opened presents. What a cutie!

This is the present that Sam made for us at school. He was so excited for us to open it. Sophie made one in her class too but it was an ornament that you hang on the tree so we opened it early.

The kids got me some shoes

The kids got Keith a Brunton burner and some pans to go in his backpack for hunting.

I didn't actually get a box of notebooks. Keith surprised me with a trip to San Francisco. I was so shocked and excited. We have always talked about going somewhere when Keith gets done with school (and he will be done in March Yippee!!!)but after we had Trig I thought that we would probably wait until he is older but we are going in April and I can't wait.

Mom with her cookie jar that has the grandkids names on it.

We got Dad a Dutch Oven

Tagg got an Ipod Touch. It is so awesome....maybe someday!

Christmas Eve

2009-01-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

The kids drew names for eah other this year. They were able to open their gifts from each other on Chriatmas Eve after we got the house all cleaned up. The kids worked hard to get their jobs done as fast as they could. I wish there was always a motivator like presents to open when it is time to clean the house. After the house was clean the kids exchanged presents. Sophie gave Trig an outfit. Sam gave Sophie a Hannah Montana "Writing Kit" which is all Sophie really wanted for Christmas and Trig gave Sam moon sand. After the kids opened their gifts Keith took them sledding. They had a lot of fun and even wrote mom a little note ine the snow. We always spend Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's we didn't know if we wanted to this year with Trig, but decided that, at least for the kids it just wouldn't be Christmas without sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's.

The kids get Pj's every year from my mom and dad. They were so cute!

2008-12-19T12:04:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been an interesting month. I cannot believe that we have been home from Primary Children's for a month. And I can't believe even more that Trig will be two months in 2 days! Time has gone by sooo fast! I guess that means that I am getting old. Trig is doing awesome. I took him to his appointment at Primary's and they did an EKG. When the Dr. walked in with the results she said "This is a normal EKG." I was like what, I couldn't believe it. The EKG only monitors his heart for a couple of minutes so he still does have irregular beats but he just didn't have them while they were doing the EKG. But this is a huge improvement because before this appointment he was constantly having irregular beats so we are so excited that he is improving so much. He is gaining weight like crazy and starting to smile so much. He is also off of the oxygen so that has been great not being hooked to anything. Sophie and Sam have been such huge helpers! Sophie is like Trig's second mom. The other day we got home from a Dr's appointment and before I knew it she had him out of his carseat and was holding him on the couch. They both love him so much...except for the crying. Sam plugs his ears most the time when Trig starts to cry. It has been fun watching them with him... they are always talking to him and trying to get him to smile.

We haven't taken Trig out much except for Dr.'s appointments and we still aren't having him around any kids so it has been kind of hard with all of the Holiday festivities going on. Keith and I have been taking turns going to parties. It's not as much fun without all of our family together but we figure it is best for Trig to stay home so that he doesn't get sick. Which is actually pretty ironic because since we have been home from the hospital Sophie and Sam have both had bad colds and coughs, the flu twice and Keith had Strep Throat. Luckily Trig hasn't gotten any of it.

Normally for Christmas Countdown we make a paper chain. The kids usually lose interest in it after a day or two and then Keith and I have to figure out how many chains the kids need to take off. So this year we decided to make them using candy....as if they don't get enough this time of year but we thought that maybe they would keep better track and remember to take one off everyday.

Here are the kids (except Trig, I really wanted a picture of all three of my kids sitting on Santas lap but I guess I will have to wait until next year.) sitting on Santa's lap at our Ward Christmas Party. Sam asked for Moon Sand and Sophie asked for a Writing Kit. It was funny, in the car on the way home from the party Sophie said "Mom, was that the real Santa, because it seemed like he had a pillow in his belly to make him look fat." I laughed and told her that there were lots of people that wanted Santa at their Christmas Parties and that he can't be everywhere at once so he has helpers that help him with all of the Christmas Parties. I guess you have to get creative with the explanations at Christmas time.

Everyone is pulling silly faces. Keith probably won't be too thrilled with this picture but I swear he gets more excited for Christmas than the kids do!!

When Keith was young his family always made reindeer out of candy canes so this is a tradition that we have done with our family. Keith and Sam stopped at the craft store and got googly eyes and pom poms and pipe cleaners to make the reindeer. The kids had fun making them for their teachers and bus driver.

I love this picture of Trig

Aren't his dimples cute!

Keith's sister made this blanket and matching pj's for Trig, I love them!

2008-12-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

I know that it has been quite a while since I have posted. I guess I had a lot more free time when Trig was in the hospital than I do now. Trig has been home for two weeks now and he is doing great! I had to take him back to Primary Children's a week ago. Trig's Dr. did an EKG and also sent Trig home with a holter monitor to monitor his heart. He still has the arrhythmias but he is still on medicine to keep them under control. As long as they don't get worse his Dr. is not too worried about them. I am taking him back up to Primary Children's this week and they will do another EKG and the holter monitor so we will see how things go. His Dr. is also thinking that he will be able to be taken off the oxygen this week too which will be wonderful. It has not been that fun to be strapped to a big tank while holding him so it will be great to be able to move around freely.

This picture was while Trig was still in the hospital. They put him in a swing and he loved it but he sure did look like a little peanut in it.

This picture of Trig's leg is actually his name tag while he was in the hospital. I was just barely able to get it to come off so he has been labeled at home also.

This was the day that we came home. We put him in a little duck outfit that Grandma Joan got for him. It was really strange dressing him since he had not been in any clothes for 26 days.

Proud Sister!!

This is right before we left to come home.

Trig in his car seat for the first time.

Here we are in the elevator that we had ridden in so many times without Trig but now he was finally with us!

Finally Home!!

This was Trig's first bath. Now, I don't mean his first bath at home, I mean this was his first bath of his life. Trig was 26 days old before he had his first bath and let me tell you..... he was stinky!He had had an IV in his arm for so long with tape around it that when they took it off it was so dang stinky. So when we got home we got him bathed and all lotioned up! Grandma Joan said that he had a lot more importatnt things to take care of while he was in the hospital. I guess she was right.

Pictures at home. Look at those long fingers...he definitely takes after the rest of his family.

This was taken last Sunday at my Mom and Dad's house. You are probably wondering what is with the guns. Well it has a story to go with it. My brother Matt that is in the picture holding Trig was also Life Flighted to Primary Children's when he was born. While Matt was in the hospital my parents stayed with my Dad's sister. Her husband gave Matt a gun that he said he could use when he got old enough to go hunting with my Dad. Well, on Sunday my Dad came walking in with a gun and said " It is tradition in our family to give a baby that has been Life Flighted to Primary Children's a gun so......(sorry Sammy) this gun is for Trig. Sammy kept saying it is not really Trig's is it? I'm sure he can use it until Trig is old enough to.

Great Grandpa Swenson and Trig. Trig almost looks like he is smiling at Grandpa.

This is Trig without his oxygen tubes. We were changing his stickers so I just had to get a picture. Cutie!!

We're Home!!

2008-11-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we finally made it home. We came home yesterday. It is so good to feel normal again. This month has been a blurr! I can't even describe it but time seemed to be completely warped almost like it stood still but flew by at the same time. Trig had to come home on oxygen but we were able to get rid of the feeding tube...which I am so thankful for. I was not looking forward to putting his feeding tube in without the nurses here to make sure that I was doing it right. Even though it wasn't hard to do but still doing things like sticking a tube down your babies nose is not something very pleasant! Trig had a pretty good night last night. He woke up 3 times but was pretty good to eat and then go back to sleep. The worst part was when Sam woke up at 2 in the morning throwing up and had diahrea. How could we be so lucky:) I just hope that Trig doesn't get it! We have been washing hands and using hand sanitizer and spraying lysol everywhere so hopefully it will just go away quickly without anyone else getting it.
Keith and I wanted to once again thank everyone for all the love and support! We have been overwhelmed with the generosity of so many people!! This has been a trying experience but one that I would not trade and one that I will never forget. That probably sounds crazy but I have learned so much these past 4 weeks, I have had my faith strengthened, I don't think that I have ever prayed so much in my life which has also strengthened me. We have met so many wonderful people and met people that were going through much harder things than we were and yet they were so strong! Not to mention the amazing Dr.'s and nurses, it was so neat being able to get to know them after spending so much time with them. I really will miss them! It is amazing what can happen when you are put into a situation like this. I feel stronger for having gone through it but yet am so happy and relieved that it is over and that Trig is home with us and will continue to get stronger and healthier!

Trig without tubes

2008-11-13T07:28:00.001-08:00

The other day at the hospital I had to learn how to put in Trig's yellow feeding tube....it was an experience let me tell you. But before I put the new one in, I took his oxygen off and took a few pictures without any tubes. It was like seeing someone that has always had a mustache after they have shaved it off. He looked so cute!!

I love the back of babies necks! Oooo, I just want to munch it. His hair is so thick and cute in the back!

2008-11-11T12:12:00.001-08:00

It looks like we won't be coming home today after all. They are actually moving Trig back to the PICU today. Through the night his heart rate was very high and then this morning and into the afternoon it has been very low. When I first got here today his coloring and blod pressure were still really good but as the day has progressed his coloring has gotten a little pale and his blood pressure is low. The Dr.'s are uping one of his medicines and they are hoping that this will solve the problem. The biggest reason for moving him back to the PICU is so that he can be more closely monitored. On the floor the nurses have 2-3 patients to look after and in the PICU they have only 1, so I think that it will be good for him to be monitored more closely until they can get it under control. I am very glad that we didn't come home yesterday because I don't know if I would have known that something was wrong...so that is a blessing!!

Coming Home????

2008-11-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

This is the first time that Sam and Sophie were able to hold Trig. They were both very excited!

Trig's first bottle. He actually did very well. I remember with Sophie and Sam they both choked and gagged on their bottles but Trig thought it was delicious! He still is not able to drink the whole thing and since the Dr.'s want him to gain weight we have to give the rest of it to him through the yellow feeding tube.

Keith actually put these pictures on. I will have to add a few more, but this is of Sophie and Sam at the Children's Museum. They thought the fish were pretty cool. They went grocery shopping for them. We had a good time.

This is Dr. Kaza. (He actually likes to be called A.K. instead of Dr. Kaza) He was Trig's surgeon. He is such a wonderful guy!! Always asking how we are doing and what he can do for us...I'm like well, you saved my sons life so I think you have done enough!!!

Well, we got word yesterday that we are probably coming home tomorrow. Yeah!! Things could always change and I won't actually believe that we are going home until we are in the car but that is the word that the Dr. gave us again today. I can't believe how quickly Trig has improved. I know it is from all the prayers for him. Thanks to everyone!! I am actually updating this today which is Monday...the day we were supposed to come home. Well, we are not coming home today but they said we will tomorrow. Like I said before I will believe it when we are in the car driving home. I can't wait to be home!!! In the past 3 weeks I have been there a total of 2 hours. It will be so nice to be able to start taking care of things again. Especially Sophie and Sam!! Thanks to everyone that has helped so much with them...you are all lifesavers!! Here are some new pics also.

Quick update

2008-11-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

Trig got moved out of the PICU today!! Yeah!! I also got to change his diaper and feed him a bottle. Who knew that changing a babies poopy bum could make someone so happy. We are so thankful that he is moving right along!!

Great Day!

2008-11-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday started out not being a very good day. Trig was throwing up, his heartbeat was irregular and they had to put the tube back in to drain some fluid off. I have been up here without Keith since Monday and it just seemed like a lot to deal with by myself. But by the end of the night everything had kind of worked itself out and they were able to take his oxygen tube out. I woke up this morning to lots of snow in Park City, so I was stuck there until the afternoon when it cleared up a bit. I called Trig's nurse to tell her that I wouldn't be there until the afternoon and she told me that they had taken him off all of his medicines and that I would be able to hold him when I got there. I was so excited to be able to hold him and I couldn't believe that I was stuck in Park City. I decided to go to the outlets while I waited....I think it helped me pass time more quickly and not go crazy. Anyway I am writing from the hospital and have been able to hold Trig a lot today. It is so wonderful to finally have him in my arms. He still has a feeding tube and a few tubes to drain fluid so it is still a little awkward to hold him, so I can't wait to be able to munch on his little neck when he gets rid of the rest of the tubes. He is just too stinkin cute!!