Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

According to the calendar today is officially the first day of fall. Before we moved here I didn't enjoy fall so much. I think it was because I knew what was to follow. Cold, snowy wet weather. Since the winters here are so mild I have come to really enjoy fall. Although the calendar says its fall, our weather is still summer weather. I do have to say the evenings are getting much cooler though.

We didn't do anything grand this summer. Just spent time having fun together. I have posted some pictures of our summer. Warning: there are a lot of pictures.

I took Hazel and Savannah to go through the Brigham Young home. The grounds there are perfect for taking pictures.
I took Ashton and Keanna to see the Orson Pratt home. (I took them last year to the Brigham Young home and the Jacob Hamblin home.) Little did we know the home is part of a Bed and Breakfast. It is set among a bunch of old homes with old cars and things like that. We couldn't go in the house but they said we could walk around and take pictures. We didn't last long though because it was over 100 and just too hot to be outside.

Played in the rain. It doesn't rain to often here so when it does the kids love to go play in it.
Played in Camden's cute little frog pool.

Had surgery! Is that considered fun? (Sorry about the blurry picture. Didn't realize it was blurry till after the fact.)

Played at the park

Flew kites.
Played at the park more.

Played at the water park.

Graduated from High School. :)

Happy Birthday Ashton!!

Today was Ashton's 11th b-day. Given the fact that when I was pregnant with him the dr.'s told us he wouldn't be born alive, then I kept carrying him and they told us he would only live a few hours, his birthday's are real milestones. He had a very busy weekend, beginning on Friday. So here's how the story goes (I always have a story to tell).

On Friday his friend Tyler was celebrating his b-day with a swimming party at the rec center after school. Well, Tyler lives just around the corner from us, and he has a little brother who is three who also has heart defects. He has hypo-plastic left heart, and Ashton is hypo-plastic right heart. Anyway, they had been swimming for a while and Tyler saw Ashton alone and asked him if he was ok. Ashton was very blue because he was very cold and Tyler could tell something was wrong, so Tyler told Ashton to go talk to his mom. Darci, Tyler's mom, had a portable oximeter with her so she took his sats, cause like I said he was very blue. He was sating at 66. That is pretty low!! So she told him to go take as warm a shower as he could stand. Then they all loaded up and headed home. Ashton wanted to stay for pizza and cake so she checked his sats again and he was up to 73. It's nice to have him with someone who really knows what to look for and how to treat him. After the party he came home, with his friend Andy who was going to sleep over, and told Ray that he needed his oxygen on. So he got it on and relaxed for about an hour and then off they went to Iceburg. Ashton and Andy did the same thing last year on Ashton's b-day. They eat their dinner and then go up on the sidewalk by the road (it is on the Blvd.) and try to get cars to honk at them. Those silly boys. Then we got them home and in bed about 11:30 to prepare for the next big day.

On Saturday was Ashton's friend party. We took them to the water park. We just never seem to get tired of that place. Hey, it's a good place to get cooled down and heck, it's free. We had pizza and cupcakes.

Ashton and his friends playing in the water. The cupcakes we made. They are supposed to be little hamburgers and hot dogs on top. I got this idead from my sister-in-law Michelle years ago and the kids just always love them.


Keanna and her friend Brooke decided to have a cupcake fight with theirs. Those silly girls.

On Sunday closest to their b-day we have a family dinner and the birthday person gets to decide what we have for dinner and desert. Ashton wanted hawiian haystacks for dinner and I decided to surprise him and make him a Scooby Doo cake. (We have the cake pans at work and when I saw the Scooby pan I knew I had to try to do it for Ashton.) It turned out ok. I learned a lot and know what to do different next time. Keanna is already thinking about what kind of cake she wants. She keeps reminding us, her birthday is only 11 days away.

Ashton got movies and books for his birthday. That is what he wanted.

Congrats!

Congratulations to Ambrea. She earned her Young Women's medallion (a few weeks ago. I am just slow getting it blogged.:) ) We are proud of her and this accomplishment. She put in a lot of hours doing her many 10 hour projects and everything else that goes along with achieving this goal. Way to go Ambrea.

Labor Day

What a great weekend it was. On Friday I met Nate and picked up Hazel and Savannah so they could come and spend the weekend. Nate had to work, so he couldn't come. At least I got to see him. I miss them so dang much!

We didn't do anything spectacular. Just spent time together. And I did spend Labor Day weekend laboring (working). I had to work a long shift on Saturday and a regular shift on Monday. So I tried to spend my time with the girls when I wasn't working. Like I said, nothing spectacular, just quality time together.

I taught Hazel to crochet around baby blankets (And dang she picked up on it quick. She was doing a great job.), we set her up a blog, and she colored my hair. I was so excited about having my hair done. I was so worried how I was going to get it done since they moved, but Hazel assured me we will be seeing each other enough that we will be able to keep up on it. Whew!

Ray took them to meet Nate late afternoon on Monday. I was on my way to work so I gave them a quick good-bye. I couldn't do anymore than that because the tears were about to turn on and I knew if they started I wouldn't be able to get them shut off. And that wouldn't be very good at work.

Savannah had a lot of fun playing with the kids. Keanna and her were playing hid-and-seek here. That baby is growing. Hazel was 17 weeks when they visited. Her due date is February 14th.

Savannah is trying to understand that there is actually a baby growing in there. Of course, she wants it out, and now.

It was such a treat to have them visit. And how thankful I am that Hazel is comfortable enough to come and stay without Nate. We feel like she is a daughter to us, not a daughter-in-law. We are very blessed to have her a part of our family and to have such a great relationship with her.

HI!

How do you like my bright "HI"? I found the site from Melanie's cute blog. She has cute little hearts on hers, so I wanted to add this fun hi, but we couldn't get it small enough to fit on the side bar. It looks like it belongs on Keanna's blog. If you haven't checked out her blog you should. It is bright and cheery, just like her.

I'm Going Batty!!

It is now dark when I am driving home from work, and I go through a lot of fields at one point. You have to be careful and watch for deer and during the summer there are tons of bats flying around. The other night as I was almost out of the fields something hit my windshield and it got stuck under the wiper. I was on the phone with Ray and told him "I just hit something on the windshield and it is stuck under the wiper". I wondered if it was a bat, no way I thought, or was it just a big moth thing. It was dark so I couldn't tell. Ray told me not to pull into the garage when I got home in case it was a bat. I told him to meet me out there, eek, what if it was a bat. So he and Ashton were waiting in the drive way with a flashlight to check it out. I wasn't going to get too close. Ray shined the light on it and sure enough, it was a bat. So then we had to figure out if it was dead or not. Nope, it was alive. When Ray put the light up close you could see it's little face making funny faces. So he proceeded to put on some leather gloves and he got a small garden shovel. He lifted the wiper with the shovel and was going to get the bat with his other hand but instead the bat just took off flying. It hit Ray's arm when it took off. We couldn't find it anywhere so we assume it was ok and flew away to go try to find it's family again. (he he) But honestly, what are the chances of that happening? Crazy!

Happy...18th...B-day Ambrea!

Monday was Ambrea's 18th b-day. Our little girl is on her way to becoming an adult. I know I say it over and over, but where does the time go? I still remember the day she was born. And Ray wondered how he could ever love another child as much as he loved Nate. One look at her and she won him over. She still holds a special place in his heart.

She works at Power Sports (one of her jobs) and all the ladies she works with there took her to Chili's for lunch. Yum! Her friend Jordan gave her some beautiful flowers and her friend Cole decorated (or had Keanna and Ashton) her room with glow sticks. We gave her a certificate for a massage (for her "aching back").
Doesn't this cake look familiar? It's the same kind she chose for her graduation luncheon. Let me just remind you, it is a 7 lb. cake. And it is so rich you can only eat a very small slice.

Some of the glow sticks in her room. When I was taking the pictures it reminded me of the olympic rings.

Back to School...

Well, our rest and relaxation of the summer days are over. The kids went back to school today. It was a little strange to not have Ambrea go. Keanna is in 8th grade this year. She went to a new school so it will be a new adventure for her. Eight classes and the block schedule. And Ashton is in 5th grade. He was very nervous this morning but came home very happy. His good friend Andy is in his class again. The fifth graders are the oldest grade in the school, so they are the "big men on the campus" this year. And I am back to crossing-guard. The joke is I "work the corner". I actually work on a very busy corner so you have to be aware at all times of what is going on around you. Last year we witnessed I think four wrecks. Nothing to serious though, thank heavens. It's amazing what you learn while watching everyone drive by. A lot of people are eating their breakfast, or on the phone. And some people are very kind and obey all the laws, where others are down right rude and don't even stop when we are crossing kids through the cross walk. We are not in a neighborhood, it is a major intersection, so like I said, it is very busy and you have to watch the traffic all the time. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it when I started last year, but you really start to like the kids and look forward to helping them get to school safely.

Ashton in his new school clothes. I have to be to the corner by 8:00 so Ray helps Ashton get off to school. Thanks dear for taking his picture. Keanna looking cute in her new clothes also. Keanna likes bright things and things that make a statement. I have some pictures of her in some pretty crazy outfits that I will have to post later. We did her nails a bright blue and colored her hair. It's hard to tell in this picture but in the front she wanted stripes that match the dark underneath. They aren't stripes that go with the "grain" of her hair, they go across. She had a teacher that told her she absolutely loved it.

This is my crossing equipment. We are very bright with our yellow vests on. You shouldn't miss us, but some people still just do not want to stop.

Life, What a Roller Coaster!

Well, I feel like my life is such a roller coaster. If it's not one thing, it's another. Our most current coaster is that Nate and Hazel are moving back up north. Nate has been offered a job working for Smith's making more than he is here, and also health insurance for half the rate of what he was paying here. And it is family coverage (here he only had himself covered). Which will be very important for them at this time because...Hazel is pregnant. Yes the test was positive. We are so excited. She is due in February.

So as I said, I feel like my life is such a roller coaster. An emotional roller coaster. I understand why they are making this move and it really does seem like the right thing, it just messes with my emotions. And if anyone knows me very well at all, you know that I cry over anything, so ya, just trying to keep it together. And it's not like they are moving across the country, we will see them, and they are really good to visit. I just love having them close by, so not having them just a few minutes away is hard. I know I will come to terms with it with time.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Nate and Hazel! They have been married 3 years now. Wow that has gone fast. They were able to go out to dinner while g-pa watched Savannah (I was at work). Such a cute couple!