Vacations!

We have had a great couple weeks of vacationing.  While it was fun to get away and be with family, it is sure nice to be home.  It has been a crazy few weeks and what fun we had.

Washington
First we flew up to Washington to stay with my family for 9 days.  They live in Woodinville.  So beautiful there and we went the best week because it was only cloudy one day.  The rest of the week was perfect and sunny.  It was cheaper to fly than drive with these high gas prices and it was definitely nicer to cut traveling time down.  I don't think we would have lasted 14 hours of driving with two little ones one way.  Flying was long enough.  We finally had an uneventful flight and we got to my parent's house and crashed for the day.  We had to get up at 4:30am Friday morning to get to the airport on time so we were all tired.

Saturday my sister Alicia arrived with her boyfriend Fausto.  So we had my parents, my brother Chris, Danny, Me, Memphis, Kayzee, Alicia, and Fausto.  My sister Annalyn and her fiance Curtis could not make it this year.  Sunday we went to church.  Then the fun began.

Monday was the 4th of July and my Dad's side of the family does a big celebration with food and fireworks.  First all the men went and bought fireworks.  I heard they bought about $900 worth and that's with a huge discount!  They had so many they had to start setting them off about 5pm.  What a great night.  Memphis LOVED the fireworks.  The last two years he has slept through them so I was glad he was awake this year.  He wanted to go out and set them all off himself.  Just like his Daddy!  He was actually a great listener (big surprise;) and stayed on the driveway.  He loved the confetti poppers and sparklers.  Kayzee had fun being held by grandma and auntie and she did sleep through the main show.  It was fun to see all my cousins too.  Lots of pictures to follow.  My camera died so I got all these pictures from my sister.  Thanks Sheesha!

 Kayzee and Auntie Sheesha

 My brother and Dad

 Fausto and our haul of fireworks

 Memphis learning about fireworks

Memphis getting his bangs cut by my cousin.

 Memphis and Mommy

 Memphis and Grandpa Thorpe

 My cute Kayzee Lynn

 Love the tongue

 All smiles

 Kayzee and Grandma Thorpe

Sparklers!

Tuesday some of the family went to Levenworth (sp?).  It is a little town set up to look like a European town.  Just lots of shopping and sites.  My brother and Danny bought me some fairies to add to my collection.  Danny of course got some more knives to add to his collection.  

Wednesday we went on an Argosy Cruise to Tillicum Village.  It was a ferry ride to an island where they have sites, hikes, food, and a Native American show.  It was beautiful, weather was perfect, food was amazing, and we had a great time!  The kids went to a sitter so we could enjoy the trip without the hassle of watching our kids.  

 Kayzee and Uncle Chris in my parent's driveway.  LOVE all the trees:)

 Me and Danny

 Alicia and Fausto

 My mom and dad, space needle in the background

 Tillicum Village

 Fresh roasting Salmon, YUM!

View of Seattle from the boat.

Thursday we went into Seattle to show Fausto around.  I have done it many times but it was still fun to see the sites.

 The troll under the bridge

 My big little brother

Space Needle

Friday my dad, Chris, and Danny went on a 7 mile hike up a mountain (they are crazy).  My mom and I went shopping, and I also got to meet my old roommates Karen and Kjaersti at the mall.  Saturday we flew home.  I fly a lot and I have never been on such a bad flight.  Seattle was beautiful and sunny but as we flew closer to Utah the weather was HORRIBLE.  Windy, rainy, lightning, it made the turbulence so bad it was scary.  Everyone clapped when we finally landed because it took the pilots a couple tries.  Memphis also threw up near the end of the flight.  We didn't know until Memphis said UH OH!  We looked over at him and he was covered in it.  GROSS!  We didn't really have enough wipes to clean it all up and the flight attendant couldn't help us because the pilot told her to stay in her seatbelt and Kayzee cried a lot.  It was great to get home and both kids slept 12 hours that night without waking up.

   At ten months, Kayzee still does not have any teeth so she still eats messy food!

I hurried and did all our laundry and then packed for a few days at Bear Lake.  My sister Alicia flew home to California with her boyfriend and then hopped on a train to Utah to stay a week with me.  I really wanted to go to Bear Lake but knew I couldn't take both my kids by myself so she came to help me because Danny had to go back to work.  She also watched my kids while I went to a two day conference for work.  Thanks Sheesha!

We had a lot of fun at our time share condo at Bear Lake.  The lake was so much more full this year it was a lot closer which also meant it was a lot muddier so we didn't go swimming in it.  We spend a lot of time at the pool.  Memphis was so scared if we let go of him but after a couple of times he didn't want us to touch him.  He loved his arm floaties and the twirly water slide.  He swam all over the pool all by himself:)  Kayzee hated the baby float that Memphis used to love and she just hated the big pool so we took her over to the baby pool.  She loved that and it was a lot warmer because it was shallower than the big pool.  Memphis loved it too because of the warmth.  The weather wasn't all that great the whole time we were there and the hot tub was too hot and crowded so the baby pool was the place for us.  My sister's camera died when we got there so we only got one picture at Bear Lake.  Bummer because we had a lot of fun and I wish I could have gotten a picture of Memphis swimming.  Here is a picture of Kayzee in her cute swimming suit.

We got back from Bear Lake Wednesday night and then Thursday and Friday I had my Professional Development Days.  Saturday Alicia and I went to see Harry Potter in 3D (loved it!) and then we went out to lunch and she left that night.  It was fun to hang out with my sister and I loved that my kids got to get to know her.  

GREAT VACATIONING!!!

Danny's Week

There is one week a year when we celebrate Danny.  It happened to be last week.  It was Father's Day, our anniversary, and his birthday.  It was a great week except for the no sleeping part.  YES, Kayzee has gone back to her no sleeping.  I didn't change any of her routines that helped her sleep through the night so it is very frustrating because we try EVERYTHING!  She eats every 2-4 hours through the night and she is wide awake and wants to play from 10-midnight or later.  Her naps are the same and she goes to bed at 8, she just doesn't stay asleep.  Don't know if it is a growth spurt or teething but I hope she grows out of it SOON!  But she is so darn cute:)  Look at those eyelashes and that smile!  The dress is from her Royer grandparents when they went to the family condo down in Mexico.

Now back to our fun week:

FATHER'S DAY
Danny was in Price that morning but once he got home, we gave him a gift, had lunch, and then we went to Kaysville to celebrate a birthday.  It was Danny's nephew's 3rd birthday party.  They are in Utah this summer so it was fun to see them all.  And Memphis had fun running around with his cousin Owen. This is an old picture but it was the only one I had of Danny and our kids.

OUR ANNIVERSARY
It was our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 21st.  We actually got to celebrate and have a date night all to ourselves.  It was really nice and much needed.  Thanks to Cam Jarvis (I use to babysit him!) who watched our kids, I got to go watch Danny play softball with his team.  I never get to go watch because of crazy Memphis so it was a nice break for me.  Then Danny and I went to Ruby River.  We tried going there when we got engaged but because of it being Valentine's Day it was a two hour wait so it was nice to finally go there even if it was expensive.  They helped us celebrate our anniversary and gave us free dessert:)  Here are some pictures of Danny playing softball. Sorry they are far away.  The zoom on our camera broke:(

 He plays centerfield-he is standing out under the sign-he makes some really crazy catches

 Up to bat-he is really good at hitting at least 1 home run per game:)

DANNY'S BIRTHDAY

Danny turned 24 this year!  SO YOUNG:)  He woke up and decided he wanted to mow our backyard weeds.  It took him almost 4 hours!  Time to invest in a riding lawn mower.  I made him a pancake breakfast and then I let him relax.  His best friend and another friend came up from Price.  We went to Chili's-his favorite restaurant and then he went fishing with his friends.  I was going to buy him a BBQ grill for his birthday but we ended getting a FREE one from some friends who were getting rid of their old one.  NICE!  We also bought our 5th car (yes we have 5 cars at our house right now!).  It was really cheap and it is the same car as the one Danny has been trying to fix up and sell so now it's the parts car.  We are going to make a huge profit on them both hopefully!

COUPONING
So I have decided to try out the world of couponing.  We are trying to get rid of our debt faster and start saving more money so what better way:)  Danny told me I could try it but I had to save more money than our subscription of multiple copies of the newspaper with coupons.  SOOOO...my very first trip to the store (on a Tuesday because Wal mart doubles coupons that day) I got $34 worth of food and groceries for $14!!!  I even got 5 boxes of bandaids for FREE.  So I saved $20 on my first week of grocery shopping and the subscription only costs $14 a month.  I AM HOOKED!

THIS WEEK
I am busy packing for our big upcoming vacation to Washington to visit my family.  I AM EXCITED!

9 months Uh oh!

Kayzee is 9 months old!  Still can't believe that she is growing up so fast.  She is officially crawling and can now pull herself up holding onto things and start waddling along.  Oh dear!  I don't think she will be walking in the next couple of days like her brother already was but that is ok.  She loves watching her brother and loves crawling after him and watching him run away.  Memphis was so funny when he first realized she could move across the room.  Every time she starts crawling to get to him he runs away and climbs up on the couch.  She can reach toys and is so determined to get into everything.

 Time to lower the crib mattress 

 She is so proud of herself

Time to put everything higher out of her reach

She also has finally discovered food and she LOVES it!  She figured out that there is more to life than just a bottle of formula.  The doctor gave me the go ahead to start alternating whole milk and formula every other bottle and she can gum anything (no teeth yet).  So far she has LOVED everything I have given her.  She especially loves cheese and bananas.  Whenever any of us are eating, she has to be eating too.

She had her nine-month well-baby check-up and all is well:)  She is way above average (80th percentile) in her stats so she is growing like crazy.  I still can't believe she is wearing 18 month clothes.  She weighs 20 lbs and is 28 inches long.  Memphis at nine months weighed the same but he was 2 inches taller!  I LOVE my kids.  We have been having fun everyday playing together and we have lots of fun plans for the summer.

Memphis has a time-out rug and he tries so hard to get out of it sooner by his big puppy-dog eyes and holding his arms out for a hug.  HA nice try son:)  He is not in it that often and he has actually been the most behaved I have ever seen since I have not been working anymore.  Maybe it's the fact that I am home with him all day now.  Whatever it is I am loving it.  He does everything we ask and since I have been home he has added about 20 words to his vocabulary.  He can talk and communicate really well now.  It does make a difference when mommy is home to teach him and play with him:)

It's just Crazy

It really has been crazy.  Since my last post where I mentioned I got food poisoning, well, let's just say it got worse and I was miserable!  That was also the first time in my life I have thrown-up on the side of the road.  I was really sick that Saturday night not keeping anything down but Sunday I was able to munch on some toast.  The only thing bothering me was a really bad headache.  I just thought it was because of being really sick the night before.  Well, it got worse!

I got a sub for Monday, took my kids to Day Care and went home and tried to sleep it off.  It was turning into a serious migraine.  I felt better after getting more sleep so I tried going a half day to school on Tuesday.  That just made the migraine come back so I scheduled a sub for the rest of the week.  Wednesday I kept the kids home because they had a stomach bug and trying to take care of them with a migraine was the most painful, heartbreaking day ever.  I couldn't even pick up Kayzee without blacking out and feeling like I was going to pass out.  The more I tried to take care of my kids the worse I felt both physically and emotionally.  Not resting made me feel sicker and not being able to care for my own kids hurt my mommyness side.  Plus, this was my last week with my students and I was missing their last day of PE to have fun and say goodbye, especially to the 6th graders who I will not have next year.

So with my migraine which was all in my neck and the back of my head spreading up and down into my shoulder blades---I couldn't even pick up my baby, watch TV, be in any light, move my head, or eat. It made me so nauseous the thought of eating made me sick.  I had already lost 7 lbs in 4 days. And I was popping ibuprofen like it was candy, making my stomach hurt.  I knew it was time to see a dr.

Thursday, I took the kids to Day Care and went to see my favorite Doctor.  He is so kind, takes the time to listen, and really does care about getting his patients better.  He was concerned that the strain of food poisoning bacteria I got spread into my head, causing my migraine. WEIRD!  I had driven myself so he couldn't give me the strongest drugs to drive home on so he just gave me a shot of ? (basically he told me it was tylenol on steroids).  He also gave me painkillers, anti-nausea medicine (which knocked me out for a couple of hours) and some stomach acid neutralizers.  He told me if the pain came back Friday morning I needed to go back in and get blood work done to see if they could pinpoint a cause and fix it that way.  Luckily I felt fine:)

Friday, Danny's grandparents came and picked me and the kids up and we drove to Price to pick up Danny (who had been there registering his cars the day before).  Then we headed the rest of the way to Blanding to stay with Danny's family for the 3 day weekend because his brother Benny is leaving to go on a mission today!  Memphis got car sick on the way down (first time experiencing that) but we made it in good timing and the kids were actually really good considering the long ride being in a different car and not in our SUV with the DVD player.  We had a wonderful weekend playing ping pong, hand and foot, going to the temple, golfing, basketball, watching movies, napping (I got to snuggle with my Memphis while he took a 2 hour nap-I LOVED IT), trying not to be blown over by the crazy wind, listening to Benny's farewell talk, and just enjoying being together.  I did feel my migraine coming back with the nausea but I got a blessing and have felt fine since:)

I still cannot believe I didn't take a single picture.  OH WELL.

Now we are back and I am finishing my last week of school (no students just cleaning up my room, dance festival, field day, awards, etc.)  Kayzee was so spoiled this weekend being held by everyone so it has been a rough couple of days of lots of crying whenever we set her down.  She is army crawling forward faster now, she can definitely get where she wants to go, and she is up on her hands and knees moving a few inches that way too.  I could not deny it anymore and try to squeeze her in 12 month clothes so I finally pulled out all her 18 month clothes and she is not even 9 months old until Saturday.  She is a chunk but a cute one at that!  I take her for her 9 month check-up on Monday so I will let you know how that goes.  Hopefully we can move on to whole milk instead of expensive formula.  Kayzee and Memphis now wear the same size diaper (size 4) which is nice but it just shows how skinny Memphis is at 2 years old and how chunky Kayzee is at almost 9 months old.

 I LOVE my kids and can't wait to spend the summer with them:)