Here they are..

So my glasses came in today. Wow, they will take a lot of getting use to!

I finally got my Drivers License again so I am no longer illegal. Hooray for that!!

My picture however is so awful. They made me wear my glasses. Doesn't that

seem a little odd? I should go get a new picture taken.

It's amazing how clear everything is.. Wooaaa! Sorry eyes for straining you for so long!

The Saga continues

I had my eye appt. yesterday to get glasses or contacts so that I can get my drivers license and what do you know.. the problem is far worse than I could have imagined.

I have a condition called "Keratoconus" It's a disease of the eye that causes the cornea to become thin and protrude. They say that when vision is no longer satisfactory with glasses or contact lenses (the hard rigid gas ones) surgery, usually a corneal transplant is recommended. Yikes!

I can't wear the soft contact lenses because the Dr. said that is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole, it just doesn't work. So right now I will just try glasses and then be tested every year to see how fast it progresses. My first question was "can I go blind?" He said not blind as in "darkness" but blind as in "you can't see anything in front of you" Yes!

It kind of took me off guard and when I got to my car I couldn't hold back the tears. I cried for a few minutes then toughened up and called Sean. He knew exactly what it was because SelectHealth just decided to cover corneal transplants for that condition.

Isn't that crazy? Here I thought I just needed glasses to drive. Nope!

Sunny Newport Beach

This is the beach that we played at. It was so much fun. The water was FREEZING, but the girls still braved it.

Sean helped them make a sea turtle. It was so cute.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday and I have been thinking a lot about him today.

I really am so grateful to feel him around me all the time. He is the best guardian angel out there!

Love and miss you Dad!

Sea World & Disneyland

We did have a great time and the weather was so nice. Friday we didn't get there until 8:30 or so after picking up the rental car and driving to the condo, but I called my awesome friend Rachel (who was just a mile away from us) and borrowed her pack n' play. Thank you so much my friend! It was great to give you a hug and see your cute kids! You were a life-saver!

Saturday we went to Sea World and loved every minute of it.

It actually was chilly that day and sprinkled a little bit, but felt good. Tayler loved the ride they had there until she got soaked! Rylee loved the Shamu show. She stood there captivated!

The walrus there was HUGE!! I can't believe I didn't even get a picture of it.

Tayler's favorite part was feeding the dolphins because you could touch them. It was neat to see her feed them the little fishy food.

The next 2 days were spent at Disneyland. I do like that place but by the end of 2 days I don't want to return for a VERY long time.

Tayler was able to ride all of the big rides since she was finally tall enough. She loved it!! I'm not sure what our amo will be anymore to get her to eat all her dinner :)

We had fun taking her on Space Mountain. Rylee rode the Matterhorn and loved that as well. She kept telling us that she wanted to ride on the "mountain ride" again & again. It's so fun when they can ride the bigger rides.

Monday morning we had breakfast with the Princesses. My girls dressed up (Tay as Cinderella and Rylee as Tinkerbell) and we headed to Ariels Gratto. They loved every minute of that. We saw Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Belle up close and personal. It was definitely worth it.By the end of the 2 days Rylee felt just the same as me!

Tayler could have kept going forever!

Jayson was SUCH a good boy too. We hardly ever heard from him. All in all it was a good time! Tomorrow I will post pictures of the beach.

The start of the trip.. in a nutshell

So we wake the kids up at 5:45 a.m. because our flight was at 8:35 a.m. I have never seen Tayler so excited and so awake that early in the morning. She jumped out of bed, got dressed, and was ready to go. We got ready, finished all the last minute things that needed to be done and were out the door by 6:15.


We made it to the airport with no problem and decided to Sky Cap all of our luggage and then have Sean go and park the car in long term parking.

Well this is where it all begins!!?!


The gentleman at the Sky Cap says to Sean "oh your Drivers License has expired. Do you have any other government form of ID?" I thought I was going to cry! I never thought to check that and they had just bearly expired on our birthday's just weeks ago. Great timing!! So Sean heads inside to talk to someone and get us on another flight. The only flight they could get us on was at 9:00 P.M.! This time I was really close to tears, and Tayler was in tears! It broke my heart.

Since it was so early and we couldn't go to the DMV we decided to head home. I didn't want to go home. It was such a let down. I didn't want to spend the whole day doing nothing and then head out again.


We stopped for breakfast at McDonald's and then called the DMV and found out that they were open to renew our drivers licenses. We arrived right when they opened. I thought it would be pretty slick until they make me look in the little box and tell me to read line 5. (I was a little nervous because last time I did it I really couldn't see the numbers very well, but made my way through it).. this time-- NOT SO LUCKY!!

I couldn't make out a thing on line 5 so they wouldn't give me a Drivers License. I kept adjusting the box and saying "I don't know what is going on." By this point, I think I did have tears! A whole new problem to deal with! They gave me an ID card until I get my eyes checked and get glasses or contacts, so currently I can not drive!


After that nightmare, we came home and I decided to call Delta to see if we could possibly get on any other flight before 9:00. After searching, the representative said that there was a flight with a stop in Oakland at 11:33 (it was 9:35) but I thought "we can make it" so she re-booked us on that flight.

We grabbed the kids and hurried out the door and back to the airport. We stopped again to Sky Cap only to hear "mam, whoever you spoke with isn't allowed to do that." Seriously, what did you say???

It turns out that that flight was flying express jet from Oakland to LAX so Delta would lose money by putting us on it. OH MY *&%$ are you kidding me. I tried to remain calm. The Sky Cap lady said that she would go inside and see what she could do. Well I thought that we would for sure miss this flight too since time was ticking by. When the lady came back out she said the best they could do was put us on a flight at 4:30 into Long Beach. That would have been fine except that we had a rental car reserved at LAX. We called Hertz and since it was a pre-paid deal we couldn't switch it. Of course not!


It was ridiculous so Sean decided to go inside and talk with the same lady that was there the 1st time. She straightened it all out and ended up giving us confirmations for the 11:33 flight (but told Sean not to miss this flight!). Perfect, except that Sean still had to park the car in long term parking.

The kids and I hurried in and saw the line for security. It was seriously the longest line I have ever seen at the SL airport. We got in line and made it to the front but there was no sign of Sean. I kept thinking "there is no way we are going to make it" since we only had 10 minutes left. I stayed in the front of the line and kept letting people go ahead of me and then saw Sean. I was so happy! We rushed through the line and ran to the gate.


The rest of the flight was uneventful (thank heavens!). The layover in Oakland was long, but we had fun. When we finally made it to LAX we picked up our luggage and discovered that 1 piece was missing. Yep the perfect ending to our day. Luckily, it was just a bag with beach towels and some shoes and other misc. things, but not too big of a deal.

Isn't that a fun way to start a vacation??

I will post pictures tomorrow! The rest of the trip was great!

Peace out!

The countdown is on...

Only 3 more days until we are here!!!!!

Rylee is so excited to ride on an airplane and Tayler is excited

to eat with the Princesses.

It will just be fun to be on vacation. I love to see my kids

happy and excited too.

Fun Night

Saturday my friend let us borrow her Cotton Candy machine. We had so much fun and ate so much sugar. It was fun!!!! Here are some picts from the night.

Then, it also started hailing so hard.

Tonight we are going to try and carve our pumpkins we picked last Monday night at the Pumpkin Patch. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Gratitude

Today I have just been thinking about how grateful I am to have a family whom I love and care about so much.

Yesterday, the cute Primary President in our ward had to bury her younger sister, who has 3 little girls- ages 5, 3 and 3 weeks old. Can you even imagine that? The sister contracted bacterial meningitis from the Epidural she received while giving birth to her baby girl. How hard that must be on that poor little family!

Ever since I heard the news, I have been much more grateful for my time here on earth and want to make the best of it. There are so many things I need to work on, but each day I try to have just a little bit more patience, or play just a little bit longer with my kids, or tell them a few more times how great they are and how much I love them. I try so hard to be the best mom I can, but know that I fall short so many times and let the trivial things in life take over instead of focusing on the big picture!

It really makes you think that you never know when your time is up and when you may be called home.

I am grateful for my blessings because indeed I have many!

Day Farms

For FHE tonight we went to Day Farms right by our house. It was such a blast!

Tayler found just the right pumpkin for her!

We went on a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and all picked

our own. We even found a little one for Jayson.

I LOVE fall & I LOVE my little family!

The kids had a great time! Even Jayson smiled the whole ride out.

Tayler started school again. It was nice to have a break, but she was excited to go back again.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Loves!

Catch up

Well we had a fabulous conference weekend. Saturday, we made a yummy breakfast for Sean's b-day, let him open his fun presents, and then Grandma Shayla came up to tend the kids so that Sean and I could spend some time alone for his birthday (since conference was Tivo'ed).

Grandma being a fun horse. The girls loved it!

We went out to lunch and wanted to see a movie, but nothing good was out that we haven't seen yet, so we just drove around and talked. It was nice to spend some more 1 on 1 time with him. He is such a great person, and I love being with him.

Sunday we just chilled and watched conference, made a big lunch, took naps, and played together that night. I love being with my little family more than anything.

The kids were so good and played in the living room while we watched conference. They made a fun fort and we could hear both girls giggling. Such cuties!

Tayler had some money and gift cards to Target from her birthday so Thursday night she got to go and pick out what she wanted. This is what she chose. She loved paying for it herself too.

She is loving Barbie as the Island princess these days. I think it's a pretty cute movie too.

Here are some other cute pictures of my little chubbers. He seriously is such an angel. He is already sleeping 10 hours at night and NEVER cries or fusses unless he is hungry or has a bubble. There were a few days that I ate something he didn't like that made him cry the whole day, but if I'm good (and don't eat garlic bread) then he is a perfect baby.

Yesterday I did LOTs and LOTs of chores so today we are going to the park. Happy Wednesday y'all!

Happy Birthday Babe!

I love this man!















He is so good to me and is the best daddy in the world.

He loves his kids so much and always knows how to make them feel safe, loved and special.

He has such a great sense of humor, and doesn't allow himself to become overwhelmed or stressed.

He is very knowledgeable in so many areas.

He loves the gospel and lives his life accordingly.

He is always there to help and encourage in any situation.

He is such a hard worker. It doesn't matter what he has going on, he will always stop to help out someone else first if he needs too.

He always stays calm and helps me realize that things aren't that big of a deal.

He loves his family more than anything.

We all love him SO much!!

My little Picasso's.

They both love to paint.. with MOMMY'S paints!

We break out the paint shirts and cover the whole kitchen with newspaper and let them create.

Doesn't that look fun?

I have decided to not be so adverse to cleaning up messes and

just have fun. Each day that passes is

one more day closer to them being gone. Right now

I want to love them as much as possible.

I have sure enjoyed them these past few days. We have so much

fun laughing, reading lots of books, having popcorn and watching

fun movies, making treats, playing games, etc.

Funny side note:

Tayler loves to have me read her the jokes from Laffy Taffy candies. The funny thing is she ALWAYS tries to answer it (no matter what the joke is). Well the other day she totally got it right.

Joke : What is one bow that you cannot tie?

Tay: A rainbow

Correct! What a cutie!

Weekend

Friday Brent and Jen came into town for the funeral. Brent had flown down from Seattle to Boise and then drove with Jen the rest of the way. They arrived at my house around 3:00. It was so great to see them.

Tayler had a practice at the church for the Primary Program. After she was home we got ready and headed down to the viewing. It was nice to see everyone. Ryan, Marcela and Reyes were already there so we were able to see them and visit for a little while.

My grandpa looked so great. He looked so peaceful. It was sad to say good-bye, but what a great life he truly did live.

After the viewing we went to eat and then came home to relax and go to bed.

Saturday we woke up to cold and rain (which eventually turned to snow).We made it down to Bountiful a little before 10:30 to visit and then have the family prayer. We were able to get a picture of most of the cousins. Pretty amazing posterity I think!

The funeral was very nice and a wonderful tribute to my Grandpa's. The graveside service was FREEZING!! It was snowing so hard.

My family

All of my Mom's brothers & sisters

Afterwards the ward provided a luncheon which was so yummy. My mom had a family meeting with all her brothers and sisters afterwards, so all of my brothers and sisters came up to my house to chill. We played The Price is Right and then Sean made us pizza's. It was so nice to be together with all of them. It has been a long time since we have all been together.

Cute Jared with Tay & Rylee

I loved every minute of it, I love them all so much.

I am grateful for such a wonderful family.

The day was long and somewhat exhausting, but wonderful as well.

Yesterday Tayler was in the Primary program. She did such a great job on her part. I was so proud of her. It was fun to see her.

Jen and Brent left around 2:30 to go home. I was sad to see them go. I wish that we all lived a little closer, but I am grateful for the times we have together.

I am a very blessed person. Thanks everyone for everything.

Birthday Day

I am officially old!!

My husband was so sweet and took the day off to be with me on my birthday. I told him that I didn't want any gifts, just some of his time

(since it is so hard to get theses days with everything he has going on).

He woke up early and went to the store and Einstein Bagels to make

me breakfast in bed. They brought it upstairs and it was so yummy!

After that I got ready and he dropped me off to get a massage! I loved

it!

He took all the kids to lunch and to the park while I enjoyed myself and

relaxed.

That night, my wonderful friend offered to watch all of our kids and so we

went to dinner and to a movie. We finally saw the new Bourne show. It

was awesome and so much fun to spend time with just him even without

the baby! I loved every minute of my day!

When we came home that night there were several presents all over my porch.

It made me feel so good! I have such wonderful friends! Thank you everyone!

It was a wonderful day!