A Walk Down Sapp Avenue

Happy Valentines Day {02.14.2012}

2012-02-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

We didn't do much for Valentines, but we did make sure to deliver a few Valentines to some of the people we love around here (specifically the ones AimeeLynn knows the names of here, it was part of our FHE last night :).

Brad and I received a letter in the mail from our daughter this afternoon. Brad hasn't seen it yet, but when he does, I know that he's going to LOVE it! :) Aimee sure knows how to melt our hearts ... especially her daddy's!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Airports, Nana's House and Magic Shows {02.10-12.2012}

2012-02-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

THURSDAY afternoon Brad came home early from work and told me he had a surprise for me ... that he had to fly to Houston the very next day for the weekend. At first I thought he was just joking, but quickly realized that things like this just happens with a really good job. I was a little bummed. Kids were sick, I was sick and we had been planning to go to a birthday party that Saturday. But I stopped myself from complaining about it and just put a smile on my face. After all, he was only gonna be gone from us for a total of 48 hours.

FRIDAY morning Aimee went to school for a little bit to do some Valentine exchanges. She didn't stay very long because she wasn't feeling well and we still needed to get home and pack up. After school and a quick stop to the library, we got our clothes packed. We were all getting ready to head to Cody to drop Brad off at the airport, and from there the kids and I would head to Worland to spend the weekend with Brad's parents. Since the Cody airport is pretty small, the kids and I were actually able to watch Brad board the plane and take off. The kids really enjoyed that! Then it was time for our drive to Worland.

We arrived at Nana's house that afternoon. I could tell she was excited to have us there! Shortly after we arrived, Marsie, Onyx and Amanda arrived. The kids had fun playing with each other all afternoon and into the evening. It was fun catching up with my mother and sister-in-law. After we put the kids into bed, we permed Marsie's hair. I had never done it before and learned a lot of new things. I actually had A LOT of fun helping Mary Ann get Marsie's hair permed. And talking with them the 2 1/2 hours with no kids to interrupt was also very enjoyable. That night I didn't sleep very well ... my back was killing me the entire night. It seemed I was awake every hour, so I spent most of Saturday pretty tired.

SATURDAY morning the kids played out in the fresh new snow we received the previous day. Then Ramie's family soon joined us. She brought some yummy cinnamon rolls for Nana's birthday/valentine party. After our little party, Ramie, Marsie, Nana and all the kids headed out for about a half hour to Nana's school for some playtime. Apparently, the salamander they were looking at jumped at Aimee and scared her pretty good. She came back extremely tired, cold and terrified. By then it was 5 and time for us to head back home. Both kids slept the entire way home. I was glad that we spent part of the weekend with Brad's parents. Mary Ann ended up helping me out so much with the kids!! Thanks again for having us over this past weekend!! We sure love spending time with you guys! We love you!!

SUNDAY morning the kids and I showered and got ready to head into Cody to pick Brad up from the airport. We got to the airport just in time. We watched the plane land and the kids were able to see their daddy come off the plane. Hyrum was so cute about it! As soon as he saw his daddy, he started yelling, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!!" and waving his little hands around in the air. Then we stopped at Pizza on the Run to grab some pizza. As soon as we were done, it was time for us to head back into Powell and attend our 2 PM magic show with Auntie Anna. (One of the guys that works with Brad gave us some tickets to The Magic of Jay Owenhouse.)

Before the show started, the kids were asked to come sit up in the very front. They were literally just inches from the stage. Hyrum didn't go up. Although I'm sure he would've liked to, I just knew he wouldn't sit good or listen to the guys in charge. However, our teeny, tiny AimeeLynn gladly went to sit down in front with all the other kids ... all by herself. Brad and I were so proud of her! In one of the magic tricks Jay did, he turned milk into several different drinks. Aimee had squeezed her way to the front through the other kids and got herself one of the six drinks. She was able to see everything up so close ... especially when Jay brought out his two BIG babies, TIGERS!! A beautiful white one and an orange one. Hyrum also loved watching the big kitties. :) In another one of the tricks, Jay was lying down and above him were big steel needles. Aimee did come back up to the bleachers with us because she was scared for him. Brad asked her, "Do you think the pokies are going to fall down on him?" Aimee replied, "Yes, the pokies are going to fall down on him!" without hesitation. :) Kids and the things they say ... they're so funny!

After the magic show, it was time for us to head home and FINALLY start relaxing and slowing down from our crazy, busy weekend!

25 Weeks {02.08.2012}

2012-02-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

I'm now 25 weeks pregnant. Just a couple weeks away from entering the third and FINAL trimester of pregnancy. Since week 5 of pregnancy, I've been tracking my weight weekly, on Wednesdays. As of first thing this morning, my weight is now 123.0 lbs. Since week 5 I've gained about 20 lbs. My little guy has been moving a ton inside my belly. This week he stretched his little leg and got his heel to stick out. I could see the outline on my belly. I quickly and gently pushed it back in ... it was just too weird for me, it usually is. :) Brad and I are still trying to figure out a name for our little man. We have a couple in mind, but nothing we're set on yet. I hope it comes to us soon!

I've spent most of the week caring for sick kids. A nasty virus has been going around and we've been affected. It results in fevers and coughing and lasts about 5 days. I think I'm starting to get it now. I feel drained today and have a somewhat painful cough. Hopefully it doesn't get any worse and that Brad doesn't get affected.

Attached is a picture of me taken on Sunday {02.05.2012}. I may look small to some, but to me, I'm feeling pretty big already! Brad and I love this little one so much already. It always amazes me ... the amount of love a mother and father can have for their unborn child. :)

Last Weekend of January {01.28-29.2012}

2012-01-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

SATURDAY {01.28.2012}

Saturday morning (yesterday), Brad, the kids and I loaded up in the Acadia and headed to Billings for the day. Our niece, Lily, came to our house early that morning so that Nana and Grandpa could do a session at the temple before we got there. Aimee thought it was pretty neat when she woke up and saw Lily sitting on the couch in our living room. We met Brad's parents at the temple, where they would take the kids and care for them while Brad and I did a session inside the temple. It was a really fun and good experience! Thanks Mike and Mary Ann for watching our two little kiddos! :) Afterwards we all headed to Costco for some good eating and a little bit of shopping. Then it was time for cousin Lily, Nana and Grandpa to start heading home.

We then headed on over to Ross where Brad bought me a bunch of cute maternity tops, along with a few other things. Then we headed to Lowe's to pick up some things for our garden. Aimee and I had fun looking at all the pretty flowers in the garden center while Brad and Hyrum looked for other things. Then we ended our shopping at Wal-Mart since it was right next to Lowe's. On the way out of Billings we grabbed some dinner at McDonalds. I had been really craving some good ice cream for a while, so Brad got me a large Oreo McFlurry. By the end of the night, I certainly felt like I had been spoiled by my lovey. :)

SUNDAY {01.29.2012}

Today would have been like any other Sunday, but since we had some wind this evening, we thought it would be fun to get the kite out that we bought at Costco yesterday and do some flying. We had just gotten back from eating lunch with the Moore Family. Hyrum fell asleep so I put him down in his bedroom for a nap. Brad and Aimee got the kite out and tried to do some flying. The kite would get up, but within minutes it'd come crashing down. So we tied a ribbon on for a tail, two caribiners and a funnel for weight and got it flying really good. We flew the kite for a good 15 minutes and reeled it in once we realized it was starting to get dark. I'm sure it would have flown longer. I'm glad we were able to spend a Sunday evening together as a family flying a kite. :)

Dump Truck Miracle {01.26.2012}

2012-01-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

Photo taken November 2011

I'm not sure about everywhere else, but the unusual January weather here in Powell has been so nice lately. Usually its freezing cold...like below zero cold. But we've been experiencing some warm spring weather...like mid 30's to 40's warm. And it's been so sunny, without much wind. Except today, today is VERY windy.

Since its been "warm", we decided to order some river rock yesterday. The Big Horn Redi Mix truck pulled into our driveway and the guy knocked on our door. Aimee and I both greeted him with a hello. Then he asked, looking right at me, "Is your mom or dad home?" :) I don't know how he missed my pregnant belly, but I politely told him with a smile, "I'm actually the wife of the guy who called for the rock." Then he said, "Oh, I'm sorry. My wife gets that all the time too." I love knowing that I'll be 24 soon and some people still think I'm in high school. It used to bother me more, but now I really don't mind at all.

I told the guy where to dump the rock. As he was backing up the truck, Aimee and I headed out to watch him. It was so nice. I was able to sit on my front porch comfortably without a coat. If it hadn't had been breezy, Aimee and I would not have needed our coats. Hyrum was napping during all of this, otherwise he would have been in heaven watching the dump truck work its magic. :)

After the guy backed the truck up, he tried to get it to dump the rock. Nothing was happening. Aimee was anxiously waiting for something to happen. After a few minutes, the guy called him boss and proceeded to tell him that the truck wasn't working properly. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to teach Aimee about the power of prayer. I explained to her that the truck wasn't working and asked her if we should say a prayer to Heavenly Father so that He could make it work for us. She was more than willing to. Between our two kiddos, Hyrum is more about praying than Aimee is, so I was happy she was willing to say a prayer. We said a quick prayer together. Then she told me she wanted to say it on her own. I LOVED watching her say a silent little prayer to Heavenly Father, asking Him to make the truck work.

When I suggested the prayer idea to Aimee, I really had no idea whether it would work or not. But I thought surely Heavenly Father would answer a 3 year old's prayer, allowing me to teach her the power of prayer. After that thought, I just knew the truck would eventually start working. Sure enough, after a couple more minutes the dump truck finally decided to start working! I then quickly explained to Aimee that Heavenly Father helped to make the truck start working because He heard her prayer, and then I suggested that she say a little thank you prayer, which she did. I love taking the little moments in life like this to teach my children about the gospel. :)

Later we got together as a family and headed downstairs into our "new" and improved movie room. About a month ago, Brad ordered a new projector that's capable of doing Blu-Ray. He also got us some BIG speakers. It really is quite the movie experience and we enjoyed watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes together. THEN, after we got the kids into bed, at about 8:45, Brad and I headed outside together to start moving some river rock in front of our home. I love that Brad is always so willing to work. And I really do enjoy helping him out each time that I can. We were outside for about 50 minutes working before we headed back in. Even though it snowed a little and got breezy a couple of times, it never really got very cold. All we were outside in was our jackets, no gloves or anything...and we never once got cold. LOVE IT! I sure hope this means that spring is coming soon and that we are done with the freezing cold weather! :)

Taking a Minute... {01.25.2012}

2012-01-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

I need to take several minutes to catch up on our family blog. It is a new year and already so much has happened. I'm also going to try to take some time in the next week to catch up on the past couple of months and do some back blogging. So for those of you that follow, keep an eye on that.

We started off the New Year in Colorado with our friends. It was a quiet one this year and we even ended up going to bed before 10:30 PM. We're hoping for a more exciting one next year. The next morning, we had found that our car had been egged...in a new neighborhood. It reminded me of just how very thankful I am to live out in the country on our 5 acre lot. As much as I like having neighbors, its nice not having them only 10 feet away on either side.

While we were away, I got a new calling in our ward. I am now the ward website administrator. So far its been pretty easy but I hope I can find ways to magnify my calling and do a better job.

On the way back to Wyoming, we stopped at the Hot Springs in Thermopolis and swam the entire day. On the way back to Powell we ran out of gas just 7 miles before getting into Meeteetsee, so we had to wait while somebody came to save us. :) A couple days after being home from our trip, our family got sick with the tummy flu. It wasn't a fun week, but we got through it.

On the 15th, Brad headed to Houston for work. He was there the entire week. The kids and I surrounded ourselves with service projects and kept ourselves busy that way. I learned so much that week just by doing service, studying articles from the Ensign and reading from the book "Daughters in my Kingdom", given to all Relief Society sisters. Even though I didn't like having Brad gone at all, it was nice having the opportunity to surround myself with all of the good things Heavenly Father provides us with so that I could work on making myself a better person. And even though Brad is back, I haven't stopped reading and studying.

Brad continues to stay busy with work. He is always working so hard. I hope Weatherford knows just how lucky they are to have him there. He doesn't like travelling so much without us. We're planning on going with him the next time he goes, so hopefully it works out that way. The kids and I love having him home with us. I feel so lucky to have him in my life. I'm glad that he loves me enough to tell me when I need to work on things so that I can become a better person. Heavenly Father knew I would need him in my life. He truly is perfect for me. I can't wait until he comes home to us every night. :) Every night I give him some kind of a back/head rub/scratch and I know he always enjoys every minute of it.

AimeeLynn still loves going to school. She is not afraid of anybody there and loves to interact with others. Its amazing to me how much she actually learns just from going to school three days a week. I am so lucky to have a little girl that loves to help me make my bed in the mornings. She also loves to help me cook and bake. The week Brad was gone, I was having a hard time the first day. She heard and saw me weeping, came up to me and said "It's okay mom. Daddy will come back, he's just at work right now." I love her. I think she could tell how lonely I had been feeling that week because every day, several times a day, she would tell me that she was my best friend. Since Brad has been back, she's only told me that a couple of times. :)

Hyrum has recently started being screened by the CRC staff. So far it looks and sounds like he'll have the same problems as Aimee and will be starting speech therapy later this year. Despite having speech problems, he is very active, just like Aimee was. He is always reminding us to have prayers before each and every meal. The week Brad was gone, we went to Grandma Betty's house every night for dinner. And every night before eating, he would quietly fold his arms and look at each one of us to see if we would catch on. I think Grandma liked having a 20 month old reminding us all to say our prayers before we eat. :)

I recently learned how to knook. It is a mix of knitting and crocheting. I really like it and am currently working on a purple scarf for my little girl. (Her favorite color is purple. :) On the 27th of December, we received confirmation from the radiologist that we will definitely be having another LITTLE BOY added to our family this coming May. As each week goes by, I've been feeling him move more and more. Brad was finally able to feel his movements last week for the first time and was excited about it. Aimee felt his movements just yesterday for the first time and was SO excited. :) I loved watching her face light up with every kick her little brother gave her! In the past week I have also been experiencing some excruciating back pain. The pain is in the same exact spot that I had it with Hyrum as well. It gets so bad, it wakes me up from my sleep. It used to be that I could sleep on my right side and always find relief that way. Lately, no matter which side I lay on, I can get no relief. I went to the chiropractor Monday to try and get it adjusted. He said that even though the pain is in the same exact spot, I have more problems than I did before. My left hip bone, sacrum, pelvic bone, and the socket to the left hip bone are all misaligned. With each pregnancy its just pretty much going to get worse and worse. There's not much the chiropractor could do right now. He said that too much adjusting isn't good. I can feel that the pain is worse this pregnancy than with my previous ones. Brad and I talked about it Monday evening and decided that if it really doesn't get any better, my body might only be able to handle one more pregnancy, if we decide to on another one later. We don't feel its worth permanently ruining my back for. Anyway, besides the bad back pain and cold I have this week, everything seems to be going really well.

We had the missionaries over for a discussion last night, which we really enjoyed. And today, Brad told me, "You make for a very pretty pregnant lady." :) Oh how I love my Bradley!

P.S. I seem to have misplaced my camera battery charger, so until then I won't have very many pictures. I think one of my kids must've taken it out of my suitcase while we were in Washington for Thanksgiving break. I haven't seen it since then. I am currently in the process of getting another one ordered. :) So hopefully it won't be too much longer before I have pictures again.

Blessings {12.21.2011}

2011-12-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

I think most mothers, and fathers, would agree with me when I say that one of the greatest blessings you could ever receive is your children. Both Brad and I love our kids and couldn't imagine a life without them in it. Well, as most of you have already heard by now, we are going to be having another little blessing added to our family next year! Yup...that's right...another little Sapp baby!! DUE MAY 2012!!! (Yes, we planned for another May baby :) We are so excited and can't wait for the arrival of the newest Sapp member. This third little one has been the number one reason for my lack of posts lately. I really thought I was going to get away with not having any morning sickness at all. I was super and absolutely great...in fact, I was feeling so great I wondered at times if I even really was pregnant at all. But then, by about 7 1/2 weeks (the week after getting back from Salt Lake), the nausea slowly started creeping in. My energy disappeared and every little smell bothered me. By about 10-13 weeks I started to lose it. A couple nights a week I cried to Brad or my parents. I had never felt so much nausea with any of my pregnancies and couldn't handle the amount of pregnancy sickness I was experiencing. The amount of sleepless nights and nausea constantly on my mind made me wish I was in a coma for the first part of pregnancy. I know that there are plenty of other women out there who've had it way worse than I did. I didn't even throw up once, just always felt nauseous, 24/7. But, I also know that everybody handles things differently. And this was one thing I couldn't handle very well. I wanted my body back to normal.

Anyway, I made it through that part of pregnancy. I'm still not sure I ever want to go through that again, but we'll see. Now I'm feeling pretty good! Almost back to normal, but not quite. I'm in my 2nd trimester of pregnancy and even though the nausea is pretty much gone, other things have kicked into high gear. Like my allergies! I constantly have a runny/stuffed nose and sneeze I don't know how many times a day. Not to mention the headache I get each day. But, I'd much rather have allergy problems than nausea any time! Our poor dog has had to spend a lot of time outside lately since this pregnancy has caused me to be allergic to him as well. He's fine inside for short periods of time, but if he's in for too long I feel like I have a hairball in my throat and it starts feeling scratchy and itchy. No fun. Oh, and I also feel like I'm on Benadryl all the time. I am SO tired and have fallen asleep within seconds of laying down while my kids are in the living room doing who knows what. I don't mean to fall asleep, I just do. Haha, it's crazy and it actually sorta makes me laugh.

I had a pregnancy plan as soon as I found out I was expecting. I was gonna see a midwife through Brad's aunt and do a home birth. I was went in to see my OB about a cyst I had concerning the pregnancy. Everything was fine, but while I was there, she mentioned on how big I was measuring on suggested an ultrasound. I told my midwife about it and she too had the same thoughts. In fact, she wondered if maybe I might be having twins...which would have been AWESOME! So she also suggested I go see the ultrasound tech. Well, I went in for my first ultrasound at about 14.5 weeks. No twins, but the tech that checked my baby out (he's been there for about 35 years, so he's pretty much a pro), said that I have a complete placenta previa. Which means I can't deliver naturally because the placenta is covering the cervix and prevents the baby from coming out normally. It only meant one thing, a c-section. He checked around that area for about 45 minutes and even had me completely empty out my bladder just to be sure. P.S. During the hour and a half I was there for the ultrasound I went potty 4 TIMES! I was so embarrassed! But the lady that talked to me on the phone told me to drink 32 oz. of water an hour before coming in!! CRAZY! Anyway, I was pretty bummed about it. However, I'll be going in for another ultrasound in just 6 days to find out the gender of this baby AND to see if the placenta has moved much or not. I can't wait!

On a side note...what we've been up to the past couple of months:

Brad has been busy with his job, but loves it! He's only travelled once since our trip to Salt Lake. He went to Houston and enjoyed the short time while he was there. Lately, he's immersed himself with a TON of Christmas projects. He decided to completely remodel the kitchen table, build a picnic table for the kids, hang up chalkboards in the kids play area, tile the laundry room, and so much more!!! About a week ago, we went to Billings and bought a whole new living room furniture set, some nice bar stools, front loaders for the laundry room and a bunch of other little things. It's all really helping to put our house together finally. And he also still really enjoys his calling in the church as the Young Men's first counselor.

This year we are hosting the Christmas Eve party at our house. So lately, I've been busy with cleaning and trying to get some things organized. I also recently made a ruffled Christmas tree skirt for our tree. It's super cute! I will also be getting a new calling at church that I'm excited about, but since I haven't been released yet, I'll wait to post about it. And that's pretty much all I've been up to. Not much, but since my body is pretty much working overtime right now, I think that's as much as I can handle while taking care of two little busy bodies every day.

AimeeLynn continues to enjoy preschool. She has learned SO MUCH! Yesterday they had a little Christmas program and she did so well. One of the teachers was telling Brad and I that last week during class, she told one of the teachers, with her arms folded, which group of kids were on Santa's naughty list, because they actually were being naughty. Silly girl. She can also recognize her name and continues to practice writing it. She also participated in the fall gymnastics program and really enjoyed it. I'll have to save that and the pictures for another post. :)

Hyrum is also learning from his big sister. He's proper...always saying thank you and mindful of the way others feel. He's a good little sharer and has the cheesiest smile you'll ever see. Just ask him to smile and he can turn any frown upside down. :) He's still also all boy. Sometimes he'll quietly watch Aimee while she's playing with her little dolls and when she puts one down, he'll snatch it right up and run away with it, laughing. Another thing he's learned to do. When we're getting ready to eat he'll look up at Brad or I and fold his arms and wait for the prayer to be said. He's gonna be a great priesthood holder one day!

Brad and I also decided to try something new with the kids this year. A 12 days of Christmas. The past week the kids have gotten presents each day. They each get something to play with, sometimes it has to be shared, and they get to open a book as well. So far we really like it! It gives the kids a chance to play with whatever they got all day and then they're not so overwhelmed by everything else. So far they've gotten a mini indoor trampoline, chalkboards, and toys for church and for home. They've loved everything so far! And we can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see what they get Christmas morning!! :)

Sorry this post has been so long, but I have had and still have quite a bit of catching up to do. So, if I don't get back on before Christmas, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Our Christmas Tree Skirt {12.13.2011}

2011-12-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas, Brad and I decided to try something different. Instead of waiting until Christmas morning for the kids to open up all their presents, we thought it'd be fun to do a 12 days of Christmas. So starting on the 13th, up until Christmas day, each morning the kids got up there would be a present waiting for them under the tree. I wanted to be sure the tree was all ready to go come the morning of the 13th. The day before, I realized the tree looked sorta lonely without a tree skirt. So I decided to make one. It is a ruffled tree skirt and we all love it so much!! Even though it was super easy to make, it took about 12 hours. As soon as we got home from the craft store (about 11 AM), I got to work on it. And continued working on it until well after the kids were in bed (about 10:30 PM). Even though it took a while, I absolutely adore it. Its one of those things that I know we'll be using for years to come! :) Aimee calls it the tree's dress ... and wanted to take a picture with it. Originally she wanted it wrapped around her like a skirt, but it was too heavy for her to hold up around her waist. :D

AimeeLynn's Big Bump {12.03.2011}

2011-12-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

One day Aimee and her daddy were playing. Daddy hid in our dark bedroom and Aimee would slowly walk in and wait for him to jump out at her and scare her. Each time, Aimee ran into the kitchen. One time, she wasn't being careful and ran straight into the kitchen table. It resulted in a big bruise on her forehead and stayed there for a little over a week.

P.S. We told her to make a sad face for the camera. (She did a really good job.) The first couple of pictures she was actually smiling.

Thanksgiving in Washington {11.23-27.2011}

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to head on over to Washington and spend Thanksgiving with my family. The kids did so well on the 13-14 hour ride. We only stopped a couple of times. We made sure to use the potty each time we got gas and food. It was wonderful! We arrived at my grandmothers house late Wednesday evening and spent the night at her place. My cousin, Alex, hosted Thanksgiving at her home the next day. Here are some of the pictures from Thanksgiving day...

After Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to my parents home where we stayed for the remainder of our Thanksgiving break. Shortly after arriving at my parents home, Brad and my siblings went to Wal-Mart for some black friday shopping. I stayed behind with my dad and my tired little ones.

FRIDAY I did some shopping with my mom and some of my siblings while Brad, my dad, and my brother-in-law, Kyle, went to the tire shop to get some new tires for Kyle and Aja's car. When we got to the mall, I noticed that one of our car tires had gone completely flat. Thankfully we had our portable air pump in the vehicle with us, so I put some air in it before heading back, after we did our shopping at the mall. During our ride back to the house, I ended up having to stop 3 times to fill the tire with air. It would go flat so fast! I'm glad our car has an electric tire gauge reader. I was able to keep an eye on the air pressure in the tire while I was driving. (Shows up on the screen.) If this had been 10 years ago, I probably would've gotten in some kind of accident. By the time we got back to the house, it was completely dark. In the city, that's a scary thing. Just imagine, two pregnant women (my sister and I), my 13 year old brother, and my two kids.... we would have been easy victims. I am SO GLAD we arrived home safely. I spent the rest of the evening working on my sister's baby shower cake. It turned out so wonderfully!!

SATURDAY was my sister, Aja's, baby shower. It was fun seeing her with all of her friends, our relatives and seeing her get showered with all kinds of baby goodies. Oh how I love little baby clothing...they're so small! I remember being pregnant with my first ... everything is always so exciting! I was also able to see my best friend, Mahalia!! We've been friends since the 6th grade and love each other like sisters. I miss her and can't wait to see her again. :D During the baby shower, Brad, my dad, Uncle Jay, and Kyle went to the tire shop again to get a new set of tires ... this time for our car! Turns out we had several nails stuck in the tires. We needed the new tires anyway, so it really was all perfect timing. Glad we got those! And might I add...they still work great! Here are some pictures from the baby shower...

After the baby shower, we headed over to BJ's Restaurant to eat some yummy food. I got a little overly ambitious and ordered a pizza with mushrooms. I hate mushrooms...especially when I'm pregnant. Why I did that, I have no idea. :) After BJ's we went to Dairy Queen and got some yummy ice cream. Then it was time to finally head home and get packed up for our long drive back home the next day. (Here are a few more pictures from the evening...)

Aimee's Preschool Thanksgiving Program {11.22.2011}

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

The week of Thanksgiving, Aimee's preschool put on a little Thanksgiving program. We started the morning off with some cheese, rolls and juice. Then it was time for the little preschoolers to do their performances. Aimee was so excited and couldn't wait for her turn to go and get up in front of everyone. I really wish I had brought my camera. I honestly didn't know that they had put on a little program. On the calender, it just said it was a Thanksgiving party. But luckily I had my IPod with me and was able to get a little video of her performing with her classmates.

AimeeLynn's Fall Gymnastics Program {11.15.2011}

2011-12-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

In September I signed Aimee up to be in the fall gymnastics program again. She really enjoyed it during the summer, and I thought it would give her something fun to do during the week. Unlike the summer, it was held once a week, on Tuesdays, for a of couple months. She sure did enjoy her time in gymnastics again! The lighting in the gym during the gymnastics program was horrible, so the pictures I took didn't turn out very well. But Brad did manage to get some video of her performing for us.

Park City Olympic Park {10.03.2011}

2011-12-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

On our way back to Wyoming we decided to stop in Park City to break up the drive a bit and visit the Park City Olympic Park. Its a very pretty area but not as exciting as I expected it to be. The museum still had a lot of fun things for the kids to do and play with and fun things to see. I'm glad that we were able to stop by and visit.

Mt. Timpanogos Hike {10.02.2011}

2011-12-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

Never mind that its been nearly a month since my last post, and also that I'm now over two months behind on my posting. I have a very good reason for my lack of posts. Anyway, on to my post...

Shortly after picking up our new vehicle a couple months ago in Salt Lake, we thought we would head into the Timpanogos canyon while listening to the Sunday General Conference message. The day was beautiful, sunny and warm. Afterwards, while driving back down the mountain/canyon I noticed signs along the road for the Timpanogos cave. I suggested to Brad that I thought it'd be fun to see the cave, so we should stop and check it out. So that's what we did.

We walk into the visitor's center. Some of us dressed in our t-shirts or shorts. I asked the lady if this was something we could easily do with our kids and she said absolutely. As we were headed out towards the trail, I heard Brad ask the lady how long it was. Her response was an hour and a half each way. I just thought to myself, surely if it was really that long she would have told us it would be hard to do with the kids, especially since strollers weren't allowed. The one warning she did give us though was that we might need our coats, especially the kids. But we left it all at the hotel and since it was fairly hot outside, we didn't worry too much about it.

We start on the trail. It wasn't so bad at first. Then it slowly started getting steeper and steeper and our kids were soon tired of walking. So Brad and I were soon each holding a kid. Sometimes Brad had both of them. About 35 minutes later, we finally see the 1/2 way there sign. The whole trail up was switchbacks. I started feeling bad about even suggesting the hike and started wishing that we hadn't had gone. I felt bad for my kids and for Brad. But they were all such good sports about the whole thing and didn't complain once.

We finally make it to the cave. The kids thought that was fun! And even though the lady warned us about coats, we didn't even think about needing them once. I just wish she had warned us about the switchbacks and steep trails. Oh well. The kids enjoyed it and it didn't turn out so bad after all. :)

When you tell Hyrum to smile, this is what he'll give you... So silly!

The next 4 pictures make us laugh. You can tell how terrified Aimee was at first. She's never really been a fan of going into caves, but she did really well this time.

Our New Ride {10.01.2011}

2011-11-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

Last month, we invested in something bigger and ... better. I hesitate to write "better" because I still really love our Chrysler Sebring and don't think it's really any "better". But in due time, this newer vehicle will be better for our family. We got a ...

2010 GMC Acadia

The color is Diamond Tricoat. I don't know why they call it that...I usually just call it pearl, because that's what it looks like to me. Either way, I think it's really pretty. I also love the tinted windows. It has lots of storage space! We tested it the other day when we went to Costco and came out with TWO carts full of groceries. It all fit perfectly into our trunk and we still had some room. I also love that the trunk is electric powered. It helps out a ton when I have a little one in my arms. And it has a tow package. So now we can even tow our boat or four-wheelers around with it!

The interior is black leather seats. Which for out in Wyoming during the winter months can be a problem...but the seats are heated!! I love getting my tush and back all nice and warm while I'm on the road. The backseats also have the option of having the heater blowing on them, so that's always nice! People are always surprised when they see the inside of our vehicle because they always think it looks smaller from the outside...deceiving them into thinking there isn't much room. But when they take a peek inside, they are surprised to see that it actually has lots of space. It looks like a van set up to me. But thankfully it doesn't look like a van. (Sorry, not a fan of minivans!) Oh, and it can seat up to 7 passengers.

Other features that we love about our new vehicle is the built in DVD player, it came with a Boss surround sound system. It also has navigation and XM radio and is a touchscreen. While driving there is also a projection display (not sure what it's called). It basically takes your speed and temperature and projects it onto the wind shied so that you don't have to keep looking down at the speedometer. You get to have your eyes on the road the whole time! :) When it's really cold outside, a little message will pop up on my screen that says, "possible ice on road, drive careful". It seriously feels like a smart car. There is also a panoramic sunroof. The kids love it because they can look up from their seats and see the sky or the stars, depending on the time of day, and even get some direct warmth from the sun. It also has a lovely mesh cover for both sunroofs if we don't want to use it, but for now, while its cold, we always welcome the sun's warmth. Oh yeah...and it also has remote start!! Hyrum loves that feature because he knows which button starts the vehicle! He loves to play in the Acadia and especially loves when he's up front...he's definitely all boy! :)

Five Springs Hike {09.18.2011}

2011-10-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

One Sunday evening we decided to go on a hike to Five Springs. It was sunny, the weather was still warm so it just made for a perfect little family outing. Brad and Aimee led the way, while Hyrum and I would slowly catch up to them. It started to get a bit rocky, so we decided to stick Hyrum in the backpack. Brad was strong and carried both kids up the rocky mountainside.

They climbed up, and up, and up ... sometimes I was behind them and sometimes I was in front.

Once we got to the top, where the waterfall was, the kids and I sat down and threw some rocks into the water while Brad snapped some fun pictures. Aimee even spotted a rainbow beneath the waterfall...she thought it was so magical!

Then we went back down the mountainside and stopped beside a little creek where the kids could stick their feet in and play around for a while. Aimee even convinced her daddy to wade across the water with her to get to the big rock. Hyrum just decided to sit on a nearby rock and kick his feet in the cold water.

Before we headed home, Aimee wanted to sit beside her little brother for a couple minutes and just soak in the beauty of nature that surrounded us. And how could I also not include this super cute picture of my little man?... :D

Hyrum Learns to Swim in Loveland, CO {09.12-16.2011}

2011-10-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Since Brad started his new job, he's had to do quite a bit of travelling. Nearly every 2 weeks. So a lot of

the time, the kids and I will tag along for a little adventure. For this particular trip, we headed on over to Loveland, CO. Honestly, when I first heard we were headed there, I wasn't too thrilled. I thought it would just be some small little city with hardly anything to do. But shortly after arriving, I quickly fell in love with the little place. It has everything a girl like me could want or need! My first and foremost all time favorite shopping place, White House Black Market!!

I first found out about this little shop when Brad and I went to Vegas earlier in the year. It was there that I found out my true dress size, 00. And the dresses always flowed so beautifully on my little body. How could I not fall in love with this store? Our last night in Loveland, Brad took me shopping there and bought me this beautiful dress...I'll have to get a picture of me in it one of these days. And I can't wait until I go shopping there again! The hotel we stayed in was wonderful. Close to everything! Walmart, Outlet malls, Shopping Plaza, fancy restaurants, fast food, etc. I hope we get to go back again sometime soon. :)

One of the major things that happened while we were in Loveland was Hyrum learning to swim...with water wings! He can't swim on his own yet, but he's getting so close. He truly is like a fish in the water and prefers no help from anyone. I took the kids down to the pool everyday and spent time teaching Hyrum how to swim with his water wings. One day, we stopped at Toys R' Us and picked up a little toy fishing kit for the tub. Aimee brought the fish down with her each time and loved playing with them. She loved them so much she took a picture of them and even had her daddy take a picture with them.... silly girl! :)

Denver Trip . Part 3 . {09.02-04.2011}

2011-10-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

I never posted about the last part of our trip to Denver nearly a month ago, so I figured I'd better do that before the memory fades. For the last few days of our trip we spent it with our really, really good friends, the Jenson's!! We love the Jenson's and we love spending time with them. Sadly, I didn't get very many pictures. I really wanted to get one of Miriam and I, but never got around to it...maybe next time.

The first night, we went to Cory Jenson's wedding reception, where we got to meet his lovely wife, Gwen, and catch up with friends. It was a nice, relaxing evening.

The next day [Saturday], we went up to the mountains and the boys did some shooting while the girls talked and watched kids. [We always get the really fun jobs. ;) ] Just kidding. We like it, I think...

That evening something magical happened. We were able to find a babysitter while Brad and I went on a dinner date with the Jenson clan and the Salley's. Love them all! The evening was the perfect ending to the work week. We so enjoyed talking and laughing to the Jenson's and the Salley's. We sure do miss them and can't wait to see them again!!!

Then on Sunday, it was time for us to head home. :)

AimeeLynn's First Day of Preschool {09.06.2011}

2011-09-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of our little AimeeLynn on her first day of preschool. The picture to the right of this one was actually her second day of preschool. She looked so cute in both, I wasn't sure which one to post...so I put both up.

So far she is really loving school. She wakes up in the morning with school on her mind and can't wait to get out the door. She has fun picking out which of her three backpacks she'll wear that day...she usually ends up picking the Tinkerbell one...and she loves the idea of putting it on before we head out.

We are in Loveland, CO this week for Brad's training, so she missed out on school. I could tell she was a bit bummed, but I think swimming each evening helps make up for it.

Aimee's speech continues to improve each week. Its fun hearing people ask her what her name is. Hearing her answer "Aimee" so clearly now always brings a smile to my face. Her teacher, Ms. Tracy, says she's all about being independent, but that its a good thing for kids in school. She may be extremely tiny, but has the biggest personality and certainly knows how to stand up for herself. We sure do love her! :)

Bad Day @ McDonald's {09.15.2011}

2011-09-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today at lunch, in McDonald's, I had a meltdown. The McDonald's here has a huge play place. After Aimee had been playing a while, I told her it was time to go and that she could go down the slide one more time. (Something I totally regret now. At the time I thought I was being a nice mom.) The first time she came down, I told her to come back and put her shoes on. She ignored me and went back up. I thought I was being a good mom and being pretty patient by allowing her to go a second time. The second time she came down, I told her a little more firmly, "Okay Aimee, its time to go." Once again, she ignored me. I thought, alright, I'll wait until she comes down the slide and then I'll grab her. But this time, she stayed at the top of the play place for another 10 minutes. She looked down at me from the net at the top and I told her again that it was time to go. I slowly started heading for the door and she told me to wait. She came down the slide for the third time and as I approached her, with Hyrum in my other arm, she ran back up the play place. Did I mention that there were between 30-40 people eating inside this MacDonald's? I'm pretty sure I had every mom and dad staring at me by this point.

Aimee went down the slide a fourth time and just like before, ran back up the play place. I told her, "Aimee, we need to go now. If you don't come now, baby and I are going to go bye-bye and leave you." I walked a little closer to one of the slides, thinking I could catch her better that way, and as she was coming down for the fifth time, she saw me and quickly started climbing back up the slide. By this point I was extremely frustrated and embarrassed. I thought to myself, "What do I do? Everybody is watching me. Should I start yelling at her? Should I just leave?" I just wanted to do whatever made me look less of a bad mother.

I stepped back and looked up at the play place. There was Aimee, looking at me through the net. Giggling and saying "mommy" over and over. I wanted to tell her to come down again, but I felt tears forming behind my eyes. If I said anything at all, I knew the tears would all start coming down. Feeling every body's eyes on me, I walked out to the car and buckled Hyrum into his car seat. I knew that the only way I was gonna get Aimee was to climb into the stupid play place and get her myself.

STRIKE ONE: My daughter does not listen to me very well sometimes, especially when there are tons of people watching me. STRIKE TWO: I left my daughter alone in McDonald's for a couple minutes. STRIKE THREE: I just left my baby boy all alone in the car in the parking lot. By now, I'm pretty sure everyone has voted me as worst mother in the world.

I walked back into McDonald's and as I was figuring out how I was gonna fit into the play place, I saw Aimee come down the slide for the sixth time. Aimee saw me and proceeded to climb back up the slide, but thankfully another little girl was slowly coming down and blocked Aimee's way. I grabbed Aimee by the arm and told her it was time to go. As we were quickly walking out, I looked up and sure enough, everybody was watching me. And to make matters worse...STRIKE FOUR: As we were walking out, Aimee's face got whacked on the door pretty hard. I was walking too fast and didn't wait for the door to open far enough. After everything I had just gone through, it was hard for me to comfort her. By this point I was absolutely 100% positive that everybody now rated me as #1 worst mother ever. I certainly feel like worst mother ever. The thought of somebody calling the police or CPS on me came to my mind. Now I was worried and having a complete meltdown in the car. I was yelling at Aimee and trying to hold back tears of all kinds of emotions. I'm just glad that we're 500 miles away from home and I didn't know anybody inside that McDonald's. Come to think of it...maybe it would've been better if it was filled with people I knew? Then they would know just how crazy our little Ms. Independent AimeeLynn is and it wouldn't have been such a big deal.

I know that you live and you learn and that with parenting, everyday, there is always something new to learn. I still need to work on my patience and my temper too. (I can have a bit of a temper.) I have days where I feel like its so hard to love my 3 year old. I don't want to have days like that. I need to look back on the cute pictures of her and read past posts on all the accomplishments she's made this summer so that I can push all negative feelings about her out of my heart. Any advice? If anyone has advice for me, please share! I've only been a mother for 3 years...I'm only 23, so I know I've got LOTS to learn.

Meet Baylor

2011-09-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

We finally have a name for our dog!! Yay! It only took us like 3 months, but at least we finally got one. His name went from Bagel (Cody's animal shelter's choice), Brownie (Brad's choice [wasn't a big fan of it]), and now Baylor (also Brad's choice and I LOVE it). Thanks hun!!

We used to have Roxy, but we had to give her away. She was an extremely hyper dog and every time Aimee tried to play with her, she'd just get knocked down or trampled on. Our #1 reason for getting a dog in the first place was for the kids...so if the kids didn't want to play with her because they were scared of her, then she just wasn't the dog for us. We found out shortly after giving her away, that she was a Lab/Pyrenees mix...which would explain the constant barking at night.

Baylor is the newest addition to our family. He's a pure-bred Beagle (so we're told) and about 9 years old (the shelter wasn't sure). He's potty-trained and does super well with the kids. He was a stray and a bit overweight, so he was on a special diet. In June, we did a 2 week trial to see how he'd do with our family, specifically our children. He was indoors most of the time and did really well, so we chose to adopt him.

When we first got him, he was allowed only on the hardwood surfaces of the house. The only place he could walk on carpet was in our master suite. Then in August I did a thorough cleaning of the house for my family's arrival. My mom is allergic to dogs, so I had to make sure I got most of the hair off...and since they would be sleeping in our master suite where the dog slept, I spent a lot of time vacuuming in there. I quickly found out that its near impossible to get rid of the hair Baylor had shed. I was also finding out over time that if I don't clean the house often enough, I would also get a slight allergic reaction to the dog's hair as well. My throat would start to feel tingly and I'd start sneezing.

So, after my parents left, I decided that Baylor would only be allowed on the hardwood floor and nowhere else. Its a lot easier cleaning up the hairs on the hardwood than on the carpet. Besides, when we sell the house, we don't want it to be an issue. After all that, some people (myself included) started to feel like I was pushing Baylor out of our lives. For the longest time I thought it was just me, and I was starting to feel so guilty. I started asking myself why we even got him. But I'm now noticing that there are other moms out there that also feel the same way I do. Its normal. I didn't grow up with any pets, so adopting Baylor into the family was a huge decision. Unlike some other people, I don't see him as a member of the family, he is just a pet. And I love him as a pet. I believe God put them here on earth for people to enjoy, so we'll do just that. :)

The only bad thing about him is that when we'd put him outside, he loved to wander...sometimes 2 miles away from home! So we got a dog trolley cable put up in the backyard. He seems to like it really well. The other day he got himself tangled around the pole. I didn't know how long he had been stuck, but I'm sure it was a while. He didn't bark or whine once! Besides the wandering away habit he has, he's almost the perfect dog. :)

Like I mentioned earlier, the kids and Baylor get along really well! Aimee dresses him up from time to time and every once in a while, when I'm not looking, the kids will try to "ride" him. He never barks or growls at them, but just patiently waits for me to come save him. We sure do love him! And despite his age, we hope he'll be around for a little while longer.

Denver Trip . Part 2. {09.01.2011}

2011-09-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the kids and I spent the entire day with Brad's biological father, Dave Rudd. In the morning, we ran errands with him. Then we had lunch at KFC. We spent the early part of the afternoon at his house. The kids played with his puppies. After a while, he took us to the Children's Museum. Not as nice or clean as the one in Salt Lake, but still fun. The kids favorite part was the bubble room and they also enjoyed some painting with their grandpa Dave. Then we picked up his wife, Karen, and headed back to the hotel to meet up with Brad. We then walked down 16th Street Mall to a restaurant called Rock Bottom.

Then Karen left to go see her mom... I love Karen. She is so sweet and I get along with her really, really well! I can talk to her about absolutely anything and we always have so much fun together. :) Dave came with us to look at a couple of strollers we found on Craigslist...we didn't buy any of them. But it was still nice to chit chat with Dave along the way. I love that he's so talkative and is not afraid to talk to me about anything. He always makes sure that the kids and I are doing well and you can certainly tell that he loves his grand kids.

It wasn't until about a week after Hyrum's birth (May 2010) that we finally started having a relationship with Dave and Karen Rudd. We are so thankful to have them as a part of our lives and look forward to getting to know them more and also the many adventures we'll be having with them in the future. :) We sure do love them!

Denver Trip . Part 1 . {08.29-31.2011}

2011-09-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Yay! Kids are napping, so I can play catch-up on our family journal! :) ...

We arrived in downtown Denver after 6 PM. Traffic was horrendous and there were a lot of one way streets. It was hard getting into our hotel because of the one way street. So confusing! I decided that night that I wouldn't be doing any driving without Brad. I knew it would only be an accident waiting to happen...something I didn't want to have to deal with.

We pull up into our hotel, the Comfort Inn, and there was a kind gentleman standing there, waiting to valet park our car. His name was Ian and the kids loved him. Brad checked us in and we went up into our room. It was a fairly small room, but beautiful. You could definitely tell it was meant for business people.

The next morning, the kids and I walked up and down 16th street mall, just a city block away from our hotel. So much shopping! It was crowded and sorta crazy, but we all enjoyed ourselves. Later that afternoon, after naps, we headed on over to the CO Art Museum, where the kids got to see beautiful artwork and play with many of the activities they had going on that day. One mile each way to the musuem. Poor AimeeLynn ended up walking a total of 3 1/2 miles that day and didn't say anything until the last two blocks back from the art museum! (Until today, all I had was a single umbrella stroller.) She sure is a trooper. And she did really well by not touching things she wasn't supposed to touch at the museum. :)

Picture of Hyrum in between the stone chairs. Funny story: I first had Aimee stand in between the two chairs. She was fine with it. As I was getting ready to take the picture, she put her hand on the arm rest of the chair and realized she was touching the hand on the chair. It freaked her out and she ran away and refused to take a picture with the chairs. So then I put Hyrum there.

By the end of the day I was mentally and physically tired. Trying to keep my kids from getting kidnapped by the Denver crazies, run over by fast moving vehicles, and walking was tiring. So the very next day, Brad was able to get away from his meetings by lunch and hang out with us. That evening we ended up having dinner with one of our best college friends, the Salley's at a yummy burger joint called Crave.

Changes...

2011-09-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

So I have quite a bit of blogging to catch up on. All summer long Brad has been looking into applying for new jobs. In Utah, California, Virginia, and Louisiana. Then one day in July Brad received a call from his aunt Connie on an engineering position that opened up in Powell. Then our lives slowly started changing...

The past couple of weeks have been crazy as our lives took a turn in a promising direction. On the 27th of August, Brad received a call from another engineering company he applied and interviewed for. They asked him if he could quit his job that day and start work on Monday...in Denver. Brad got a hold of his boss from Western Engineering that weekend and told him the situation. Although, his boss wasn't thrilled at the idea, he agreed and Brad was able to leave on good terms.

So that following Monday, we packed up and headed for Denver. We spent an entire week in the heart of Denver. The kids and I did a lot of walking and Brad got a promotion the first day on the job. We went back to Powell for a week ... and left yesterday for Colorado again...this time in Ft. Collins. The company, Weatherford, pays for just about everything when we travel. Anybody that truly knows me, knows I love to travel...so I absolutely love it! We feel pretty spoiled. Weatherford treats us SO good! The hotels they reserve for us are pretty elaborate (the one we're at right now has a tennis court, basketball court, swimming pool and hot tub & our room has a kitchen it in). Its funny seeing the look on peoples faces as I walk in and out of the hotel with my two kids. I think they're surprised to see a mom with kids staying at their pricey hotels. They also pay for all our meals the entire week. For example, last night we ate at P.F. Changs. Fancy chinese restaurant...and yes, they're paying for that. And lastly, they also pay for mileage when we travel, which ends up being more than what we put in the car for gas both ways. (Brad has the option of flying, but loves having us with him when he travels...its like having home away from home. :)

We know that this job was totally worth the change. However, since Brad just started they're still trying to finish what's left of the paperwork. He's not on the payroll yet, so that's a little frustrating. Especially since the last job didn't pay very well. So right now we're pretty poor...but surviving. However, we received an email last Friday saying he was now officially a Weatherford employee...so maybe he is on the payroll? We're still not totally sure. I guess we'll find out this coming Thursday.

We are all so excited about Brad's new job at Weatherford! :) His pay has nearly tripled and there are so many good benefits that come with it! The people he works with are great and I never hear about "high school drama" when he comes home each night (his last job was really bad about that). The other nice thing is that Brad can pretty much take work off almost whenever he wants...so boating during the weekedays in the summer can still totally happen. :) I'm hoping that while we're in Ft. Collins for the week I can find some time to catch up on blogging while the kids are napping in the hotel room. Here's to hoping my kids nap this afternoon....

BBQ Championship & Bluegrass Festival 2011 {08.19.2011}

2011-08-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm in downtown Denver, sitting in the fanciest Comfort Inn hotel I've ever been. I think its fancy because the rooms/lobby are simple yet beautiful and there's valet parking...I've never had valet parking service before. :) Anyway, I'll save the details for another post. At the moment, my kids are napping (hubby included) and so I thought I'd better post about our trip down to Worland, WY a couple weeks ago before I forget.

One day Brad and I decided to take a trip down to Worland, WY and attend the annual BBQ Championship and Bluegrass Festival. We had wanted to go the previous year and had just missed it, so we made sure to put it on our calendars this year...and we're sure glad we did! We'll definitely be going back again next year! :)

We started the evening off with some time on the inflatable big toys...for the kids. Hyrum thought it was SO fun and Aimee never stood still long enough for me to get a good picture of her...the little stink. :)

Aimee tried cotton candy for the first time. For the first 15 minutes she wasn't really sure about the whole cotton candy idea. After a while she would take little pieces and squish it down together and then pop it into her mouth. Even then she still wasn't too sure about it.

Then we went around and tried all the different barbecued foods....YUM! After we decided on which stand was our favorite, we gave them our golden ticket for the BBQ Championship award.

While we ate, we sat and listened to some good bluegrass music. Up until this year, I tried convincing myself that WY wasn't really very country at all. I guess you can say I didn't really want to admit to myself that I lived out in the country...self denial. But, sitting there and listening to that beautiful music made me realize that I really do live out in the sticks and that its not really that bad after all. :)

Family Reunion {08.06-11.2011}

2011-08-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

*Warning: This post is picture heavy. I guess its a good thing I sorta know how to organize on the web.

**All of the pictures were taken by my lovely sister, Aja, and my wonderful father. They both had their big, fancy cameras with them, so I didn't ever really think to take mine out...I should have though. :) Love you!

***We were missing a few other family members: Jacob, Mianne, and Zakary Mobley. We love you guys!

Friday Evening (08.05.2011):

Pack up for Rexburg

Saturday (08.06.2011):

Leave @ 3:30 AM
Arrive in Rexburg @ 8:00 AM
Noon: Lunch at a chinese restaurant in Idaho Falls
Sand Dunes!
Barbeque dinner at the sand dunes

Sunday (08.07.2011):

Church
Family pictures at the Rexburg Temple (Thanks for the pics Aja....love you so much!)
Civil Defense Caves (my mom rocks!! She participated in the cave extravaganza!!)
Short stop at the sand dunes
Dinner @ Applebees
Head back to Wyoming @ 10:30 PM

Monday thru Tuesday (08.08-09.2011)

Getting ready for family to arrive
Family arrives Tuesday evening
Movie time in the movie room: "Season of the Witch"

Wednesday (08.10.2011)

Check out the Devil's Canyon Outlook
Boating on Yellowtail Reservoir the rest of the day
Movie time in the movie room: "Unknown"

Thursday (08.11.2011)

Family fun ends @ 5:20 AM when my family heads back home to Washington

Even though the family reunion went by fast and was kind-of all over the place, I am still really glad that it all happened. I'm thankful to have a large family and for each one of my siblings. They each have a unique personality and I love it! I'm thankful for my parents and the fact that they decided to have a large family. It's nice knowing that I have parents that love me and each one of my siblings equally, as well as their own grandchildren. :) Growing up, I really didn't like being a part of a big family. But now that I'm older, I absolutely love it!

Registration {08.17.2011}

2011-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

This little girl is growing up. Just yesterday Brad commented on how she's starting to look more like a little girl and not so much a toddler. Some things she does really well...

Learns new words everyday.
Folds and puts away clean clothes.
Sings karaoke on the iPod. She'll even sing songs to Hyrum when he's sad.
Draws really well and can trace her name now.
Helps clean up the house.

Just last week I registered her for preschool. I thought it was just going to be some place that I drop her off at three days a week. But it was the real deal! I had to fill out a bunch of forms...allergy information, field trips permission slip, emergency contact info., she even has a little school supply list! As I sat there filling out the forms I thought to myself, "Wow, my little girl really is growing up." (It was sorta a teary moment for me. :)

But I know its the right thing for her. She loves the idea of going to school and tells absolutely everybody about it! She is asking Brad to buy her a backpack...which we're going to do this weekend. She'll even tell people that she's going to bring her daddy to school. So cute!!

I love this girl! I'm excited for her and all of the new things she's going to learn this year. And I know she's going to do great and make lots of new friends. After all, she is an extreme social butterfly and loves having friends! :)

YesterMorning {08.16.2011}

2011-08-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

CUTE: Walking into the bedroom and finding Hyrum sitting up in the middle of his bed. He has the blankets wrapped around him and he's cuddling with his "blankie"... smiling and so happy! :)

NOT CUTE: Walking towards the bed to get him, and stepping in something warm and mushy. I look down and yes...poop all over the floor. Poop on my son's face. And poop all over the blankets. Wonderful. That's exactly how I wanted to start off my morning.

Oh boy. It's a good thing I love this boy!

Last Day of Swim Lessons {07.27.2011}

2011-08-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

The month of July was a busy month for us as Aimee started taking swimming lessons. Our neighbors have a pool and a daughter, Hannah, who teaches swim classes. It was nice being so close. Aimee's swim lessons began at 3 and went until 4. Squeezing in a nap was usually pretty difficult. I'd get the kids put down at 1, get them up at 2:45 and try to be out the door by 2:55 (normally both my kids nap from 1-4), Aimee was groggy each time I got her up. And each time we rode the bike over (that was fun!). By the time we reached the pool, Aimee was feeling better and ready to swim. Keeping Hyrum away from the pool was usually a challenge. That boy LOVES the water. I swear he's all fish. :)

At first Brad and I weren't too sure she'd really learn much from swim lessons, but Aimee certainly surprised us!! She did wonderfully and has learned so much. Her swim instructor, Hannah, said that she's at the same level as a 4/5 year old!! Each time we go out to the lake, she's ready to jump in the water and do some swimming, all by herself! She's so brave in the water now. A lot of the times she'll try to tell us that she can swim without a life vest on....maybe next year. ;) We are so proud of our little girl and how much she's grown this summer!!! Pretty soon she'll be starting pre-school (where did the time go?)...

Things Aimee has learned from swimming lessons:

Using her arms and legs to maneuver around in the water.
Swimming with a life vest on.
Blowing bubbles in the water.
Holding her breath when she goes under the water.
Using a kick board and balancing it in the water.
Swimming with only water wings on all by herself.
Swimming without any type of flotation device (with an adult present)

Here's a little video of Aimee's last day at swimming lessons. I put several clips together into one. You'll see a short clip of Hyrum wearing some swim goggles that he thought were pretty neat (I thought it was funny). A few clips of Aimee swimming, and a couple clips at the end of Brad, Aimee and Hyrum taking a swim. Hyrum finally got his wish and was SO HAPPY when we gave in and put him in the pool with his sister....

Four-Wheeling Extravaganza {07.30.2011}

2011-08-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Brad and one of his co-workers, Kent, planned a little somethin' in the McCullough Peaks of Powell, WY.

A FOUR-WHEELING EXTRAVAGANZA!!

The trail up the peaks was extremely rugged. I'm pretty sure nobody else has been where we gone at all this summer. A lot of the trails were washed out and there was a HUGE boulder blocking the trail about halfway through our ride. About 85% of the time, Kent was pretty sure we weren't allowed to be where we were at. He seriously thought he was going to go rolling off the mountain and die that very day. Well, no one died and no one got hurt, but he did say that we got his heart beating pretty fast several times...which then led him to think he was going to have a heart attack. Haha, funny guy. :) All in all, it was extremely fun!! Even Kent couldn't wait to get the pictures and show them off to his family and friends.

Boating Memories {07-08.2011}

2011-08-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Since about the middle of July, we've gone boating about once, maybe twice during the week. Since we bought the boat back in February, we've added some new things to it to make it more enjoyable:

Wake board tower (made by my hubby : cost-$50 :)
Wake board racks (also made by my hubby : cost-free :)
2 new props (believe it or not, each one really does make a difference) ((purchased off eBay and each one no more than $100)) *We really do like trying to save money*

We've gone boating by ourselves, with friends and with family ... its always better when there's more people :

First: with the Moore Family.
Second: Just us :) I tried wake boarding for the first time and got up ... stayed up for several minutes and had my first wipe out.
Third: with some of the youth from our ward.
Fourth: with the Carpenter Family.
Fifth: with some of my siblings.

Below are just a handful of pictures from our boating excursions from the summer of 2011 :

The next set of pictures are just from yesterday {08.10.2011}. Some of my family was in the area and spent the last couple of days of the family reunion at our place. **There were more pictures taken, but since they weren't of boating, I'm going to document them in another post.** P.S. Hyrum was not feeling well and was running a fever, which would explain why he looks the way he does in the pictures below.

Sunday Thoughts

2011-08-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

A couple Sundays ago, I was having a difficult time with my children at church. As usual, sacrament meeting was a challenge trying to keep my kids quiet and from running all over the place. Afterwards I went out into the hall with Hyrum and let him run around, hoping he would use up all his energy during sunday school hour. I don't even attempt to go to gospel doctrine with him.

**About 3 weeks ago I was released from my primary presidency calling. I had been in there for nearly two years, so Hyrum has never really had to sit through any classes. As you can imagine, going from being able to run the halls to having to sit down was and still is very difficult for him. **

When it was time to head to Relief Society, I was already pretty wore out and hoping I'd be able to get Hyrum to sleep through class (sometimes it happens). But no....that Sunday he was bound and determined to get his way. He was so wiggly and wanting to walk all over the place and scream and whine, I decided I needed to leave to keep from disturbing the class. I sat in the hall, watched him walk around and thought, "Why do I even attempt to come to church? This is pointless. Why do I have such naughty children? I'm pretty sure I wasn't like this at this age. I'm going to stay home every Sunday until he's nursery age from now on!" I'm sure plenty of moms have experienced this.

But I know its important to go to church and to teach our children about the teachings of Christ. When I have moments like this with my children, a picture will usually pop into my mind. The picture of Christ with the children gathered 'round Him. Oh how He loves the children! In my minds eye I see that picture and can feel of the love He has for the little ones and its absolutely incredible. This is what keeps me going on those rough days.

I love my kids and my husband. I know that there are more good days than there are bad. I know that I am supposed to teach our children about the gospel and this life here on earth, but I know they have taught me so much as well. I love my family and I love this picture of them! :)

Front Entry Lighting

2011-07-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

One day, about a month ago, Brad painted the outside of our house. He took down the front entry lights to prevent getting paint on them and set them on the front porch. I took one look at them and decided that I was going to save us about $180 that day. I took the lights with me into the garage, sat on the floor and started taking them apart. I cleaned them up with some windex and got the glass looking beautiful again. Then I took the metal pieces outside and spray painted them a pretty oil rubbed bronze color. They went from DRAB to totally FAB!!

I had so much fun doing this little project and was a little sad that I finished it all in one evening. I am so proud of how much money I saved us (I didn't spend a penny :) and I LOVE how they turned out! These babies are GORGEOUS ... and at the store they would run about $90 a piece. :)

I'm feeling pretty awesome right now ... :D

Aimee's 1st Swimming Lesson {07.11.2011}

2011-07-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

Our little princess started her first swimming lesson this afternoon. Our neighbor teaches swimming lessons at her parents house, so we decided to sign Aimee up...just yesterday actually. The young woman that teaches them is really sweet. She works with two kids at a time, that way they still get one on one time with her and make friends. The little girl that Aimee is partnered with is such a cutie! She's 3 years old just like Aimee and their birthdays are only 6 days apart!! :)

She had only been awake two mintues when we headed on over to the neighbors house. For about the first 5 or 10 minutes, she would not get in the water. She was absolutely distracted by everything. I thought that if I sat by the steps of the pool, she might feel more comfortable about getting in...and it worked! It wasn't too much longer when she started jumping in and wanting to swim all on her own. :) At one point her water wings were off, and she would still try jumping in....crazy girl!

Gymnastics {06.2011}

2011-07-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Most of June was spent in the Powell Middle School gym, where AimeeLynn learned how to do gymnastics! Her classes were Tuesdays and Thursdays and her session started at 10:15 and went to about 10:55.

Aimee loved going to gymnastics. She would get so excited when I told her that it was time to put her pretty pink leotard on and she always wanted me to do her hair all pretty before we left. I was a bit nervous when I signed Aimee up for gymnastics. Anyone that knows Aimee knows that she is extremely free spirited and when she gets in a group setting with other childern, its even harder to get her to listen. But she did so well!! I was impressed with how well she listened to her teachers and did as she was told...even with other children present. What made it even more fun, was that her cousin Owen was in the same session as she was. :)

I'm so glad that I signed her up for gymnastics and how well she did with it. I look forward to signing her up for more activites...maybe some dance classes? :) Here are a few videos from the day of AimeeLynn's gymnastics performance on June 30th. And another thing...the lady on the microphone...her name is Starla and she was also Brad's gymnastics instructor when he was about Aimee's age! (By the way, sorry the camera is a bit shaky. I was filming while I was holding Hyrum. :)

Sapp Birthday Party {05.28.2011}

2011-07-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

We started the day early. Baking, cooking and cleaning. I made two kinds of cupcakes: Rainbow cupcakes topped with nerds candy and Mint Chocolate Chip cupcakes. Both very yummy! Then I made dinner: Sweet Pork Tacos. Then I made two Hershey Fudge with Oreo ice cream pies. Even though those are just five items, it took a lot of time and preparation. By the end of the day, my legs and feet were pretty sore from standing. On the side, I helped Brad clean up. Oh...and how can I forget to mention that we also decided to paint our dining room wall the same day!!! Yup! :) Then we decorated.

Alas...it was a miracle that we did all those things BEFORE 5 PM. As soon as 5 came around, people started pouring into our front door. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in our house at one time. But I loved it and I loved everyone there!

First we ate dinner. Then we sang happy birthday and had some ice cream pie and cupcakes. Then we headed to the garage to have some fun with the pinata. Then we came back inside to open presents. And finally, everyone headed home. Then it was time to clean up. :)

I wish I would've taken more pictures of the actual party, but with all the hustle and bustle, I just never got the camera out. So these'll have to do. And here are a few videos from the pinata time as well. :)

Devils Tower . {June 15-16, 2011}

2011-07-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I just wanted to say WOOHOO...my computer is up and running again...thanks to my awesome hubby, Brad!! He was able to save all our pictures and fix the computer after the hard drive crashed... How's that for having the most awesom-est husband ever!? ;)

Anyway... One day we decided to go on a road trip. Destination: Devils Tower, Wyoming. At first the kids were very excited...then their excitement slowly wore off and turned into boredom...

Daddy and AimeeLynn climbed, Hyrum explored and I took lots of pictures...

Even though the trip was short, it was still a lot of fun! We were fortunate enough to be able to tag along with Brad on his business trip and have some fun on the side. Devils Tower was beautiful! Not at all like how I imagined it would be {dry desert}. The weather also turned out just wonderfully...not too hot and not too cold. :) I love road trips!

My June Update

2011-06-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe its been over a month since I last posted. A lot of things have happened since the last post, and I haven't been very good about taking pictures, so this is going to be a picture-less post.

The hard drive on our computer crashed...the one that has all my pictures on it. Brad has been able to recover most of it and is still working on the others. This is also the other reason why this is a picture-less post.

We had the kids birthday party on the 28th and it went wonderfully! We had LOTS of people come and Aimee and Hyrum loved all the attnetion and company. There was good food, a pinata, yummy homemade ice cream pies that I made, and presents. :) I actually do have a few pictures from that day, so maybe I'll post those once the computer starts working again.

On the 1st of June, the kids and I and a friend of mine, hit the road and we headed down to Denver. We did a lot of shopping and ate at lots of yummy places that Powell, WY (or probably any of Wyoming) doesn't have. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to more road trips with my friends in the future.

Brad went on the handcart trek with the youth in our church and had a lot of fun.

My grandfather is slowly dieing. He's got about 20-30 days left to live and I hope I get to see him before he passes. He's got cancer in the back of his left eye that is possibly spreading to his brain. He's going through a lot of pain because of a hairline fracture in his back somewhere caused from the cancer weaking his bones.

We got a hot tub! A guy from Billings gave it to us...for free! And yes, it still works and its awesome! We are currently working on the surround of the tub to make it prettier.

Aimee finished up with her speech therapy in May and will continue in September. We also got her all signed up for pre-school!

I got Aimee all signed up for gymnastics and she has been doing SO WELL! We are so proud of her. :)

Hyrum has been doing better about sleeping finally. He only wakes up once a night now and last night he slept the ENTIRE NIGHT!

All last month we celebrated birthday's non-stop. It all started with mine on the 10th, then two days laster on the 12th it was Hyrum's, then four days later on the 16th was Brad's and ending it six days later with Aimee's on the 22nd. Whew...what a busy month! :)

Our house is just about finished and ready to be put on the housing market soon and hopefully it'll sell this summer/early fall! We are ready for the next stage in our lives to begin and hopefully move somewhere with warmer weather...like the Colorado Springs area, or even better, St. George. There's even been talk of Louisiana, but I'm so hoping that doesn't happen. I'm rooting for St. George! :)

I hope that we can get our computer back up and running soon so that I can start posting regularly and updating everyone with pictures. Until the next time, I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer like we are!

Las Vegas ... 2011

2011-05-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Las Vegas was absolutely incredible! We loved every second we were there and we are planning on visiting again soon!!

P.S. : We did not loose any money at all. In fact, we made money! We would get paid anywhere from $10-75 each, just by sitting down in some comfy chairs, watching a TV show and doing a quick survey afterwards. We chose to do that when we wanted a break from walking. :) And we got to go see shows like V: The Ultimate Variety Show for only $10 each and get 4 free dinners to a 5 star Italian Resaurant...appetizer and entree...it was so delish!!

P.P.S. : I just want to thank the Edwards family and Mike and Mary Ann for watching our two little ones while we were away. THANK YOU!!! We sure love you guys!

While we were in Vegas, I took exactly 100 pictures. How I managed to do that ... I have no idea! So as you can imagine, going through all the pictures and choosing which ones I was going to share, was a little difficult. And its also the reason why I waited so long to post about this trip. :)

One of the first things I noticed about Vegas was all the palm trees! So as soon as we were out of the airport, I whipped out my camera and took a picture of my handsome hubby and the beautiful palm trees. Since it was nearly 7 and getting to be dark soon, we thought we'd head to our hotel and get settled in. We decided to stay at The Orleans for the first few nights. Its not on the strip, but it was close enough. We had a free shuttle that would go from the hotel to the strip every 30 minutes. And it was so nice!! I loved everything about The Orleans ... the rooms, the service, the bed, the rooms! The rooms were so cute and so different than any hotel room I'd ever been in. And our room was clear on the other end of this hallway, so it was always quite a walk, but it was also always so peaceful at night. :)

The architecture in Las Vegas absolutely amazes me! Everything was so beautiful! I loved how each hotel had its own little theme. And so of course, I had to stop and take lots of pictures. The first picture was taken while walking along the strip and the others were taken at the Flamingo Resort...where Donny and Marie Osmond perform every night...except Sundays and Mondays. :)

I was feeling pretty guilty about not posting this picture (to the left). So I think I'm gonna include it since it was taken on the day of our anniversary...and the whole point of the Vegas trip was for our anniversary. Anyway, it was taken at a yummy Italian Restaurant in Cody called Adriano's. And the other picture to the right was also taken along the strip in front of Treasure Island.

There are a TON of filipinos' in Las Vegas. I could not believe how many there were. The first couple times I'd tell Brad every time I saw a filipino. He didn't really believe me. Then I started asking the people, and sure enough, every single one I asked was filipino. By the time we left Vegas, Brad and I were both convinced that the filipinos' in Vegas was definitely the majority of the population there. :) While we were roaming around the Venetian (pictured to the left), we stopped at a dress store called Herve Leger!! It was awesome! The dress I'm wearing in this picture was...wait for it... $995! And that was one of the cheaper ones! The two women working there, filipinas, were telling us about all their encounters with different celebrities. How fun is that!?

One of our favorite things about Vegas was watching the fountains at The Bellagio. The water danced to the music and it was a different song every time! By the way, every single person we asked to take our picture DID NOT speak English. But luckily, they knew what we meant when we showed them the camera. :)

We stopped at the Paris Resort; New York, New York; and somehow a lot of my pictures ended up being inside or outside of the Venetian. What can I say?...I love the Italian lifestyle and scenery I guess! Here I am standing next to one of the "statues" inside the Venetian.

Just like the Bellagio has its fountains show, the Mirage has its volcanic eruptions. We stopped to watch that and to get a picture of the two of us as well. (This is probably the most amount of pictures you'll ever see of me in one post. ;) Oh yeah, I forgot to mention up above, that our gondola rides at the Venetian were also free!! We loved our gondola driver. His name is Dino and he talked with a beautiful Italian accent and serenaded love songs to us...it was so perfect!!! Also, our last night in Vegas we decided to stay somewhere on the strip...at the Stratosphere. It was nice, but Orleans is still my favorite! And the picture of the beautiful green scenerey of Vegas was taken at the top of the Stratosphere...over 1,000 feet tall!!

Here are more pictures of us and Vegas taken from the top of the Stratosphere. Besides overlooking all of Vegas from the top of the Stratosphere, there are also 3 rides. Big Shot: It goes up and down, pretty high...a lot funner than I make it sound. :) Insanity: Spins you in circles over the edge of the tower. Pretty scary if you're afraid of heights! And XScream: Probably the scariest ride on there! Its like a see-saw...tilts back and forth. On one end you're safe because you're still over the tower. When it tilts the other way, you're overlooking the streets of Vegas and the coaster pretty much sticks 1/3 of itself over the edge and scares you into thinking you're going to fall! We watched a couple guys ride it. One sat in the back and actually screamed! Too funny! The other sat in front and tried his hardest to not embarrass himself. :) And the other thing they have up there is bungee jumping. I thought about it. But when I saw that there's only one rope holding on to you from falling to your death, I decided that I better not risk leaving my kids without their momma. ;)

Our last evening in Vegas we decided to check out the Fremont Street Experience. It's pretty much the historic version of what Vegas used to be like. It wasn't nearly as exciting as the Strip, but it was still neat to "slow down" and walk around for a bit. While we were on Fremont Street we roamed around inside the Golden Nugget. A beautiful hotel. And just like every other hotel in Vegas, it also had its casino! One of the neat things about the Golden Nuggest is that its has two of the world's largest golden nuggets. I have no idea how they ended up with it, especially since they were found in Austrailia, but it was still neat to see! Wouldn't you like to be walking around your yard with a metal detector and find the world's largest gold nugget??? That's how that huge one was found...just 6 inches below the surface of the earth. :) We also stumbled upon the vehicle that was used in the movie "Back to the Future." Brad was really interested in it because it took Natural Gas for its fuel. And I thought I'd take one last picture of the two of us at a bus stop before we left Vegas. We sure love Vegas! Its full of life, entertainment and excitement... we are so looking forward to our next vacation together again. :)

Grandma's 81st Birthday AND Easter 2011

2011-04-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

The weekend before we left for Vegas, we celebrated Grandma Sapp's 81st birthday out at the ranch. It was a gorgeous day outside...perfect for birthday celebrating and easter egg hunting! I had spent most of that morning putting together Grandma's birthday cake. It was kinda hard since I had a sick little boy who wanted to be cuddled the entire time. Luckily for me, I have an amazing husband who was more than willing to help out in any way possible. :)

If you look closely at the pictures, you will see pink "snakes" around the cake. That was Aimee's idea and she was absolutely convinced that they needed to be on Grandma's birthday cake...and even though I wasn't a huge fan, I let her put it on there anyway. Turns out they were a HUGE hit with all the kids there!! All the kids were asking if they could have a "snake" with their cake. :) It was so cute!

We arrived at the ranch a little after noon, where we had some yummy lunch. Afterwards, the kids played for a while underneath the warm, sunny weather. The paddle boat on the pond was a huge hit for all the kids. Then, after a while, we had an easter egg hunt for all the kiddos!! There were so many eggs and Aimee absolutely loved going around and finding all the eggs. Her favorites were all the purple eggs! ;) Then we sang happy birthday to Grandma and had some of my beautiful, homemade fondant yummy-ness, birthday cake!

The weekend after we got back from Vegas, we had another little easter egg hunt at our house for Aimee. It was so much fun watching her find all the eggs. I made little bunny footprints for her to follow and use as hints to find eggs. Every time she found an egg she would scream, "I got it! I got it!", put it into her basket and proceed to find the next egg. And of course, every time she found a purple egg, she would hold it up with pride. I think its safe to say that purple is her favorite color. :)

Spending Time with Dad

2011-04-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

Shortly after Brad returned from his trip to Venezuela, it warmed up a bit and we spent a day at the park as a family. Actually, we went to several different parks that day. The kids absolutely adore their daddy and love when he joins in when playing at the park.

In the first couple weeks of April, we got really ambitious and decided to start growing some grass. Brad rode around the front yard on his Farm-All Tractor and had Hyrum riding along with him. Hyrum had so much fun! And ever since then, he thinks that when Daddy's on the tractor, he needs to be on it too! :)

P.S. I absolutely ADORE this girl ... and this boy!! They are both so smart and good looking. ;) I love them both SO much!!! (These pictures were taken as we were getting ready to head out the door to spend a day in Billings.)

4 Years of Marriage

2011-04-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

It has been 4 years since I married my eternal best friend.

48 months.

208 weeks.

1,460 days.

35,064 hours.

2,103,792 minutes....

...and happily still counting.

It's fun to think that four years ago we were up on a mountain snowmobiling in Cooke City, while our families prepared for our wedding. We played on the snow machines until about an hour before the ceremony began, and the only thing we probably did to help out was by being present for our special event. Our wedding was probably the most unstressful wedding anybody could ever experience. (I'm told by many that its the kind of wedding just about every guy dreams about.) My hair was done by my hubby's cousin and I did my nails all on my own. Our cake was teeny because it had to ride on the back of a snowmachine 7 miles to make it up to the cabin. There were probably between 20-30 people there that day. And we didn't have fancy photos taken. Would I go back and change any of it? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I loved that I didn't have to worry about anything. The only things that mattered to me on my wedding day was having my best friend there beside me and our families witnessing what meant so much to us. That was all I wanted and that was all I needed. That and our honeymoon trip to Cancun! :) Personally I think that the honeymoon should be made a bigger deal than the wedding day. After all, its stress free and just you and your loved one....pretty much The Perfect Setting.

We are going to re-live that Perfect Setting in just 12 days! We'll be heading on over to Las Vegas (first timers) to celebrate our years of love together! I love my best friend so much!! Brad takes such good care of me. He is always finding ways to make me happy....and not just what would make me happy now, but what would make me happy 5 or even 10 years from now. He knows me better than I know myself and is always helping me on working towards becoming a better person. I know he loves me and he knows I love him! We look forward to many more years of celebrating our love that we have for each other, together...forever! :)

March 18-25, 2011

2011-04-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

My mom and Lola arrived Friday morning, the 18th of March.

Brad left early the next day to head on over to Billings where he would board a plane to Salt Lake. Then from Salt Lake to Atlanta. And from Atlanta to Venezuela...it pretty much took the whole day.

That Saturday, I thought it'd be fun to take my mom and Lola to see Devil's Canyon and to show them where it is that we go boating pretty much every week during the summer. It was sunny in Powell, but I guess there were some thunderclouds/storms in the Lovell area. We got to the top of Devil's Canyon right before the storm hit and they were both able to see the beautiful scenery. Then it started hailing lightly so Lola headed to the car with the kids while my mom and I looked around a little more. I noticed while we were looking around, I would hear a weird staticy noise about every 10 seconds or so. It started hailing more. While I was getting ready to take a picture of my mom, I noticed the hairs on her head were standing up everywhere and the static noise was becoming more frequent. Right away I realized that lightning was looking for a place to strike somewhere and I started to panic. We were still about 100 ft from the car. I didn't want my mom to panic, so I just told her that we needed to get back to the car as quick as we could and that I would explain to her why once we were inside. I'm sure that if one of us had been struck by lightning, I wouldn't be smiling at this picture right now, but we both made it safely to the car...so I can smile and say that that is probably one of the coolest, most awesomest experiences ever! And if you ask my mom about it, I'm sure she'd say the same thing. :)

The rest of the week was not nearly as exciting as Devil's Canyon, but it was still so much fun having my mom and Lola here with me. We went out to eat a lot. We did some shopping in town, in Cody and in Billings. We watched a movie every night in our movie room downstairs. I didn't feel lonely the whole time Brad was gone. I loved every second they were here and am so thankful they were able to take time out of their lives to come stay with me and my children.

There's A First For Everything

2011-03-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

In less than a week, my husband will be boarding a plane and flying from Billings, MT to Caracas, Venezuela for work.

He will be gone six days, five nights.

This will be our first time apart since we've been married, which will be four years in less than a month.

First he will go here...

Then he will go here...

Pretty, isn't it? I wish I could go with him and he wishes I could accompany him as well, but with two little ones, it just isn't possible. So instead, my mom and my grandmother are coming here this Friday to keep me company while he is away! Yay! I'm so excited!! They'll be here for about a week. :)

Then, on the 18th of April, Brad and I will be boarding a plane and flying from Casper, WY to Las Vegas, NV for our 4 Year Wedding Anniversary. We'll be there Monday through Friday. Yay! It'll be our first time and it's supposed to be in the 80's the whole time we're there. Just Perfect! I can't wait!! :)

A New Calling and Canning

2011-03-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention in my previous post that Brad got a new calling in church this past Sunday. He is now in the Young Men's Presidency for our ward, the 1st counselor. :) He is so excited about his new calling and has already started brainstorming all kinds of activities for the young men to do this year. This June, the kids will be doing the "Mormon Trek". I hear that its pretty much gonna be the real deal, just like the pilgrims did. There will be river crossings, wagons, no showers, no portable potty...I even heard that they're not going to be allowed to bathe in the river. How crazy is that!? Anyway, I am so proud of my hubby and his willingness to serve in the church AND that he's super excited about it. :)

Yesterday afternoon I did something I had never done before. I canned!!! When Hyrum was just a few months old, I ordered some food storage from the church. It came and we put it in our "Harry Potter Closet". A couple weeks ago, I decided I needed to get some canning done, so I went through the food storage in the closet and found a HUGE mess. The mice had gone through a 25 lb bag of flour and a bag of oats. The flour was absolutely everywhere and so was their feces. Eew!! Even though I wanted to just close the door and never open it again, I knew it needed cleaned, so I started cleaning. I put all the food storage in the trunk of my car so I wouldn't make anymore excuses about not canning and just get it done. Did you know mice eat shoes? Yeah, I had a bag of my shoes in the closet as well and saw that they had eaten the insides of a couple of them. Ick! Well, that was quite an experience I never want to go through that again. But I learned from it, so its all good right? :)

So, back to yesterday afternoon. I canned! And it was a lot of fun. Sister Timmons was there to help me since it was my first time and she was SO SUPER nice! The first bag of flour she opened, there was a mice nest in it. I cannot believe I carried that bag with me from the "Harry Potter Closet", to the car, and then from the car to inside the cannery. I felt so violated and dirty....and still kinda do. But I'll get over it. Anyway, I had warned her that the mice had gone through the oats and one of the bags of flour, so she was prepared. When she saw it, she didn't even wince or anything. I love her...and I am so thankful that she introduced me into the world of canning! By the time we were done, I had 27 cans to bring home. I'm pretty sure I found myself a new hobby. :)

Perfect Weekends

2011-02-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I gave Aimee her FIRST hair cut. It was really long and looking kind-of scraggly, so I figured I'd better give her a cute little hair cut. I only took off a couple of inches and added some layers into her hair. I think it looks really cute!

This weekend was perfect. I love that Brad gives himself three day long weekends! Friday afternoon, after Aimee's nap, we headed to Cody to do some Wal*Mart shopping as a family.

Saturday morning, Brad and I did some morning "pillow talk". Then he went to help a lady in our ward move. As soon as he came back, I went to a presidency meeting at the church. By the time I got back it was 2 PM. We pretty much spent most of the day working on the house. But even then, it's also nice to be working along side my husband. I'll have to post some before/after pictures soon. The house is starting to REAL good! :)It's amazing what some caulk and paint will do.

Later that evening, Brad and I watched The Bachelor. Yes, my husband watches The Bachelor with me. It's awesome because we both get pretty into it. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the luckiest women on earth! Brad used to love watching football. He still does. But he DOES NOT get into the Super Bowl or care much for watching football on TV anymore. He always makes sure that what he puts on TV, is something that the both of us will enjoy watching. :) I definitely scored a "touchdown" when it comes to perfect eternal companions.

Sunday was a relaxing day for all of us. We had lunch at the Moore's home. They're always so wonderful to us and we love going there because we can always be ourselves and know that they won't care. Then while the kids were napping, we snuggled on the couch together and watched some good, uplifting shows.

Brad made dinner last night. It was yummy! Afterwards, I cleaned up the kitchen while he played with the kids in the living room. He put on some music and danced the night away with our children!! It was so cute. I only got one decent picture. It's not the best picture, but at least it's a picture of my three loves together....blissfully happy!

February 23, 2011

2011-02-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

This week got cold again. It snowed Sunday and its supposed to snow again later this week. So we've pretty much been stuck indoors. Brad, the kids and I are a summery type of family. We love spring and summer and the warm weather that comes with it. So being stuck inside hasn't been all that fun for us, especially since our week had a really rough start to it. I won't bore you with the details, but I'll just say that we learned something valuable. Family or friends, some relationships are worth building and emotionally putting effort into, while others, not so much. One relationship got stronger while the other went the opposite direction. And so because of that, we were kinda on a downer the beginning of the week. But we decided that we're not gonna let that get in the way. We won't take it personally (thanks Dad!). But instead we'll just keep moving forward with the things that really matter.

Since we've been stuck inside, we've been moving along nicely on the house. WooHoo! We're thinking that by the end of March we'll be completely finished with what we want done. Outside and inside. When we first bought this house, I knew there was going to be a lot of pain, sweat, tears, and work put into it. And after 14 long months, I am finally starting to see the silver lining. Once we sell this house, it will be a miracle for our family. This will be the house that pays off all of our debt, so that we can be DEBT FREE. (Dave Ramsey: "Debt is normal, be weird.") No more student loan payments, home depot, lowes, and no more boat loan payment. No, we don't have car loans, in case anyone is wondering. I know that may not seem like a lot, but between Brad and I we have three student loans. And quite possibly, no more house payments. Unless of course I want something huge and fancy built, then we'll probably have a small house payment. But its probably not worth it to me. But who knows, we'll see. :)

Throughout the day, I continue to spend my time with the trim...filling holes, wiping down, sanding and painting. Pretty much in that order. Brad and Cameron (a wonderful young man in our ward that we've hired) spend their time doing whatever needs done around the house. However, today, they helped me with the trim.

One evening during the week, we'll go down to our movie room and watch a movie together as a family. On Valentine's Day (evening), we did just that. Aimee had the camera and tried to get a picture of most of us (pictured above). After going through the pictures, I realize I need to get more photos of my sweet girl. Hyrum has been teething. Some days/nights he's really fussy and doesn't sleep very well, and others he does fine. He's in the process of getting his two top teeth. Its been almost two weeks now, and they still haven't cut through. OH, and might I add, he is now officially and fully walking!!!! Thankfully he'll still crawl every once in a while, giving me that sweet reminder that he is just still a baby. :) And he had his 9 month WCC last week. He's 19 lbs 7.5 oz and 28 3/4" long. Compared to most baby boys, he's on the smaller end, but in our family he's a "big boy". Just three more pounds and he'll be as heavy as his sister. :)

A Day Date with my Hubby

2011-02-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

February 12, 2011 - A day full of excitement and fun! About 7:15 that morning, Brad and I dropped the kids off at the Coplen's home. We are so very thankful to have Rhonda and her family in our lives. They love our children and our children love them. It all works out wonderfully. :)

As soon as we dropped them off and got the kids situated we hit the road for Billings. We had to be at the temple and ready for the next session by 9:20. It's always such a special treat to go to the temple, but that day happened to be extra special because Marsie and Leon Miller were receiving their own endowments, getting sealed together and then having their sweet baby boy, Onyx, sealed to them for all of time and eternity. Its always special getting sealed as husband and wife, but when a child is involved it completely changes the Spirit in the room. Its as if there are more angels present. The feeling is indescribable! As soon as they brought baby Onyx into the sealing room, tears welled up in each of the women's eyes. Onyx was so happy and smiley, and the Spirit he brought with him filled each one of us with so much love.

We were out of the temple a little after noon and headed to the Golden Corral with Brad's family for some yummy lunch. Then we headed on over to Home Depot to do some shopping for our house. Then the hubbs took me to Target for some "just because" shopping, where we also found more stuff for our home.

After our lunch and shopping we then went over to Garnet and Billy's place to meet the newest addition of their family, Edward James Blue Bradley. Edward was born February 10, 2011 @ 2:38 AM, weighing 6lbs 6oz. I'm one proud aunty of this little cutie!

We were back in Powell a bit after 6 and went straight to our house to unload everything we'd bought. Then we picked up our kiddos around 7:30. I was so thankful for the fun day Brad and I had together, but so ready for bed by the time we picked up our kids. Hyrum's been teething and so, as a result, he didn't sleep very good the night before. He was up every two hours and I was up by 6 AM getting ready to head to the temple, so I was one extremely tired mama.

Despite how tired I was, I still went to bed thinking about the day and my time at the temple. Each time I go I receive revelation for myself and like to ponder about it. I'm glad I have a husband who is able to help me understand revelations and when I receive revelations. I am so very thankful for the promises and blessings I receive each time I go to the temple and I'm thankful that eternal families are possible through the temple.

P.S. Have you ever been in the car, on the highway, and watched the middle yellow lines go by? Ever wondered how long they really were? Well, on the way back from Billings, Brad and I talked about those lines. He told me that they were as long as our car. I didn't believe him. I thought they were only 3 or 4 feet long. After a couple minutes I told him to pull over and lay next to one of them so that I could see for myself. Sure enough, they're about 12 feet or so long!!!

Our Exciting Utah Trip

2011-02-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

Early last Friday, we set our alarms for 5:50 AM. As soon as it went off, we got ourselves dressed, gathered up the last little bit of stuff we hadn't packed the night before, loaded the kids up and we were on the road headed to Salt Lake by 6:30 AM to pick up the newest member of our family, a boat. A 1998 20' Bayliner 2050 SS Capri.

During the week, Brad had worked with Executive Yacht and Boat to get all the paperwork done through emails and phone calls, so that when we got there, all we needed to do was winerize the boat and hook the trailer up to our truck.

We arrived at Executive Yacht about 2 PM. We checked out the boat, made sure it was what we wanted, winterized it and hooked it up. We were out by 4 and headed towards Trent and Christy Livingston's home in Layton. AimeeLynn and Hyrum were so happy to be out of the truck and even more happy to have some friends to play with. Jack will be 3 this month and Blake recently turned 1. So our kids are pretty close in age and became great friends from the start. :) Later that evening Josh, Mike and Aunt Kathy came to see us. It was so much fun visiting with them!

Saturday afternoon, before lunch, Brad, Trent, Aimee and Jack went outside to charge the battery on Christy's vehicle. Afterwards, Brad and Trent came in. I wondered where the two little ones were, so I went outside to check on them and found them in the front seats of the car. Silly kiddos. :) Jack was the driver and Aimee was riding shotgun.

After lunch, we headed to the Airplane Museum with Trent, Josh, Jack and Blake while Christy was working. I could tell Trent and Josh both enjoyed having Brad there, since he was pretty much like a tour guide for them. Brad pretty much knew everything about every plane there and how they worked, so the boys were fascinated by his "nerdiness". ;) Afterwards, we headed over to Aunt Kathy's to check out her new place and visit some more. Their home is turning out really nicely! Then we headed back to Trent's place and ended the evening with pizza and good company.

On Sunday morning, Superbowl Sunday, we packed up our stuff. Moments before heading out the door to make the drive home, I found Hyrum and Blake digging through my black bag. Hyrum got a hold of my toothbrush and Blake found a bottle. :) Boys...you gotta love 'em! We're so thankful to have Trent and Christy in our lives. We sure love their family and can't to see them again. :)

Sunday evening, about 2 minutes away from Brad's parent's home in Worland where we were going to have dinner, our trip got a little bit exciting. We were going through a bumpy road when the cotter pin for the trailer fell off. As a result, the trailer came undone from the truck. Luckily, the safety chain was on. But because the safety chain was on, the front of the boat ended up "munching" the tailgate of the truck. Its really not that bad, but its still a bummer that it happened. And we are so grateful that it happened so close to Brad's parent's home and while there was still daylight.

P.S. The day before we left, Hyrum took his first steps. That Thursday evening, he took a total of 4 steps! He's really cautious, so he's not fully walking yet, but since then the most steps he's taken is 6. :)

Swimming at the PAC

2011-02-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

A week ago yesterday, on Wednesday, I took the kids to the PAC (Powell Aquatic Center) for some swimming fun! AimeeLynn was so excited when we got there and COULD NOT wait to get in the pool and start going down the slide. In fact, the whole time we were there she would not hold still enough for me to get a close picture of her. The only time I could get her to slow down enough was when she would go down the slide.

It was so fun watching her trying to teach herself to swim. She figured out that with the life jacket on, she wouldn't drown and can float really well. So a lot of the times I would look over at her and hear her giggling and smiling so big as she did a back float in the water. Silly girl. :) A few times, with a kiddo on each arm, I would walk/wade on to the kids jacuzzi tub. Aimee loved it in there! She called it the "bubbo" area, because it made a lot of bubbles due to the jets. While we were in the "bubbo" area, Aimee found a noodle and created a little game with it. I would hold onto one end while she held onto the other and I would swish her through the water. She did not want to stop playing that game.

Hyrum did really well for his first time in the pool. At first he wasn't too sure and would just sit in the water, observing every movement around him. But after a while, he realized that it can be really fun! Pretty soon his serious face turned into a happy face and he started splashing and crawling around. :) We'll definitely be going back to the PAC for more fun!

Warm Wintry Days

2011-02-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we were able to enjoy the warm weather that winter brought us, even if it was just for a couple days. All we needed to go outside in was our coats. And even then, it was sometimes a bit too warm for that. Everyone but AimeeLynn wasn't even wearing gloves. Our little Aimee played in the snow, so of course, we had to put a pair of gloves on for her. :)

Both Friday and Saturday, the 28th and 29th of January, was absolutely beautiful. Sunny and warm. On Friday, the temperature outside was above 50 degrees. It felt like spring, so I did some deep cleaning in our home. A little after noon I sent Aimee to her room for her nap, when I realized that instead I should let her play outside for a couple hours to enjoy the warm weather. So Aimee, Hyrum and I got dressed and headed outside with Brad, where he was working on cleaning up the garage. We had so much fun playing outside! Aimee learned how to make snow angels all on her own and after a while she went on a four-wheel ride with her dad. We sure hope spring comes soon!

Sundays with Grandma & Anna

2011-02-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

About 2-3 times a month, Grandma and Anna will come visit us. Usually on a Sunday, but sometimes they surprise us during the week....and its always such a wonderful surprise! AimeeLynn absolutely loves being around Anna and plays with her the whole time she's here. Grandma is so sweet and Hyrum loves giving her smiles. Sometimes they bring us goodies and sometimes they bring us mail. Either one is always nice. But the best part about Grandma and Anna coming over is just their presence alone. :)

We're Going on a Diet

2011-02-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday we decided it was time we go on a diet. A weight gain diet. Brad did some research to find out some things that would help slow down our metabolism and also found out how many calories we should be consuming a day. We both chose a weight gain goal and should reach it by mid-June, if we can both consume between 2300-2500 calories per day, which actually isn't too hard. But its also not as easy as one might think. To be able to have a balanced metabolism, you also need to have a balanced diet. With each meal, we try to make sure that we have some kind of fruit or vegetable, a bunch of grains and some kind of protein. In between meals, if we feel like snacking, we munch on cookies or a pastry of some kind. Pretty much whatever I decide to make that's sweet. And about every other morning I get Zumba playing on our TV and follow along to some fun dancing/exercising. I totally love it!! The best part about having Zumba at home is that Aimee loves following along right beside me. I like having her there, because then she can learn some good exercising habits early in life. :) Anyway, my goal is 118 lbs. It'll be so nice to step on the scale and see those numbers one day soon.

These are the Moments I Want to Remember

2011-01-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

My children. Oh, how I love them!

I love that when Aimee first wakes up in the morning she comes into our bedroom, climbs up on the bed and comes and gives me cuddles and loves. She then proceeds to tell both Brad and I that she loves us. That's EVERY morning. :) The other morning she went up to Brad, rubbed his cheek and said, "Dad." Brad said, "Hey Aimee, Daddy's tummy hurts." She made a sad face and said, "Owie" while pointing to his tummy, then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

I love that when Hyrum stands up all his own he gets so excited and flails his arms all over the place. And I especially love that when he first gets up in the morning, I'm the first person he wants to see AND he lets me kiss his chubby little cheeks first thing for however long I want...all the while smiling.

I love that Aimee has friends at church who miss her dearly when she's not there, it just goes to show that she has friends and is a wonderful friend as well. And I hope that one day both she and Hyrum call me their best friend and tell me anything and everything without hesitation.

I love that even though Hyrum only has two teeth, he still somehow manages to eat apples, graham crackers, Kix cereal, bread, mashed potatoes and so much more other stuff that I think an 8 month old shouldn't be eating. But he demands to eat whatever I'm eating, so how can I resist giving food to someone who loves it?

I love that Heavenly Father has entrusted me with these two special little spirits. The past couple days I've been thinking a lot about them and how fast they're growing. I think about how much Hyrum has been standing on his own and how pretty soon he'll be walking. I think about how much Aimee's speech has improved and pretty soon she'll be talking our ears off. What happened to yesteryear? What happened to that time I layed in the hospital bed with Aimee/Hyrum in my arms, wishing that time would just stop so that I could hold her/him in my arms forever?

Just as quickly as it came, it went like that. Time. I think that we take it for granted too often. We're living in a fast paced world. Most of us aren't happy with our present or our past and I think that too often, we try and live in the future. I'm guilty of that. But I decided this week that I'm going to try my hardest to change that. I am going to enjoy my children the way they are now. I am going to stop wishing they'd grow up and stop acting crazy. Because every night when I go to sleep and wake up the next morning, I'll never get that time back. I'll never get yesterday when they were a day younger. I'll never get yesterweek when they were a week younger. I'll never get yestermonth when they were a month younger. And I'll never get yesteryear when they were a year younger. I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want to be wishing I could go back in time and change things. Instead, I want to be wishing that I could go back in time and re-live those days with my children because those were the days we had so much fun together as a family. :)

Our Stair Rails

2011-01-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

Being home with the kids, while Brad's away at work, can sometimes make for a really long day. During those moments when I'm not either:

Playing with the kids on their big toy downstairs their daddy built for them (which is pictured to the left and not yet completely finished)
Cooking
Cleaning
Changing diapers
Feeding
Shopping
Swimming at the PAC (Powell Aquatic Center)...

...You get the idea, I give myself little projects to do around the house. I used to go downstairs in my craft room and get carried away with all the fun little projects I always enjoy making. BUT, ever since the appraiser guy came to do the 2nd appraisal on our house for the bank, that has now changed.

About a year ago, on Superbowl Sunday to be exact, he came to our home to do the first appraisal and was actually really nice. He asked what kinds of things we were going to be working on for the next several months and about when we were planning on having it all finished. Our list went a little something like this:

Repair all the water damage including some new walls and plumbing
All new kitchen with cabinents, countertops, and appliances
All new flooring (carpet, tile, hardwood)
All new bathrooms including cabinents, tubs, sinks, etc.
All new doors, trim, light fixtures, etc.
Fix up the garage
New fireplace in master suite
Fix the roof where it was damaged
Re-paint the outside of our home

I don't remember everything we told him, but that was most of it. Anyway, he left that day pretty happy with what we had told him. (Picture on left is our newly painted stair rail)

THEN, he came back the beginning of December. Even though we didn't have everything done, we were pretty excited to hear that he was coming back and what he had to say. Especially since we remembered him being so nice the last time. Anyway, he must've been pretty grumpy that day because he was not very nice....at all! Maybe because it wasn't Super Bowl Sunday?? He didn't say ANYTHING at all about how our house had completely changed inside or comment on how it looked nice or anything. I specifically remember being downstairs in my craft room working on an apron I was making for Josie when he walked in and I could just feel this "bad air" around him. I got nervous. He took pictures around the rest of the house and met Brad and I upstairs where we were sitting on the couch waiting for what he had to say.

He lightly commented on how we hadn't done anything to the outside yet or hang sheet rock up in the garage. Understandable. That's our fault. But then he spent a long time explaining how bad it was that the pin holes in the trim hadn't been filled in yet, and how their were some dirty spots on some of the trim that hadn't been painted yet. I could go on and on about all the things he said about our trim, but I'm not going to. When he left, he had my poor husband feeling pretty depressed. We couldn't understand why he didn't even get after us for the bigger stuff like the fact that we didn't do a thing to the laundry room yet (it's not even sheet rocked).

I was feeling pretty bad for my hubby. So I decided that day that during my spare time I would only work on things that were going to improve our home. No more crafting. Even if it's just a little thing I get done, at least we're getting that much closer to having our home completely finished.

SO, last week I worked on our stair rails. When Brad painted the ceiling earlier last summer, he tried to get the stair rails painted at the same time. But he was using a sprayer and most of the paint would just slowly drip its way down the posts on the rail. So that didn't work out too well. I ended up having to sand some spots down and re-painted the whole thing with a paintbrush. It took me several days to finish, but I am so glad that it's finally done. YAY!

And also last week...we found out that the pipes for our master tub froze and burst. So...there was a couple inches of water pooled up in one corner of the room. So Brad had to take up some carpet (even though it was already stretched in), cut a hole in the wall and take down some tile. BOO! But we are not going to let it get in the way of our "familial happiness," so we just added it to the list of things to do on the house for the next couple weeks. :)

Good Lookin'...Watcha Got Cookin'?

2011-01-19T13:56:00.001-08:00

I ordered pictures today. And if any of you really know me, that's a pretty big deal! I promised my brother, Elder Mobley, that I'd send some to him. So I figured I'd better get on that. Anyway, I'm pretty excited for them to get here. :)

During Thanksgiving break, on our way to Denver, we stopped at a K-Mart in Casper. While shopping for some good snacking food, our sweet AimeeLynn saw these Gingerbread muffin cups and knew she had to get them. She picked them up, turned to her daddy and said, "Pwease!?" Brad's heart melts each time she says her pleases. Its really sweet watching the two of them together. :) So, Brad smiled, said "OK", and just like that they were in the cart. Isn't it funny that our 2 1/2 year old wanted muffin cups instead of candy? (At least that day she did. :)

A couple weeks ago, I opened the kitchen cupboard that was hiding the muffin cups. Aimee saw them and excitedly started saying, "Cook-een!!!" That means that she wants to cook. This girl LOVES to cook and bake. I kid you not. Whenever I'm in the kitchen preparing a meal, she scoots one of the chairs right over to where I'm at, and starts looking for something she can help out with. When I have pasta boiling on the stove, she's the one stirring it. (She even sneaks some pasta out to make sure its ready to eat.) Yes, she's touched the side of the pot before and lightly burned her hand a couple times, but each time when I offer to kiss her owie, she sternly tells me "No." Then I ask if she's okay and she's says "Okay," and continues on with helping me.

So I got out the muffin cups, a mixing bowl and a box of cake mix. She scooted one of the chairs over with her cute little apron on, and climbed up. While I was putting all the ingredients into the bowl, she put the paper muffin cups into the muffin tin, then she started mixing. Hyrum crawled on over to see what his big sister was up to.

While the muffins were baking, I took out a few cans of frosting and she tested each one out to see what was best. And like always, she chose the Rainbow Chip frosting. She sure did make some yummy muffins and was so proud to show her daddy when he came home for dinner. :)

Our Christmas at Home

2011-01-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

So I realize this is a little late, but since it's pretty much Hyrum's first Christmas (with just the four of us), so I thought I'd better document it. While we were in Washington, Brad went to Wal-Mart one day and came back home with a pre-lit tree. Somehow we were able to get all of our luggage, Christmas gifts and the tree in the car and back to Wyoming with us. In case you're wondering, the tree is 8 feet tall. In less than 24 hours after arriving home, we put our tree up and Aimee helped decorate it. (Before we left for Washington, Brad and I thought it'd be nice to just have the kids open one present and save the rest for when we got back...that way they could play with it for as long as they wanted.)

The following Friday morning, we celebrated Christmas together as a family. It was so much fun hearing Aimee go out to the living room and yell, "PRESENTS!" She ran into our bedroom and got us out of bed and then ran back into her bedroom to get Hyrum up. After I went and got Hyrum out of his crib, I saw Aimee waiting patiently in front of the tree for us to tell her to go ahead and start opening presents. She's such a funny girl sometimes!

AimeeLynn absolutely loved opening all the presents under the tree. Halfway through she decided to try out one of them, and became a pretty fairy. Hyrum would try and help his big sister open one every once in a while, but he just mostly liked eating the wrapping paper. :)

I'd have to say that the best part about this Christmas was of course, being together as a family, AND being able to celebrate it together inside our very own home. :)

Sad Sunday and My Babies

2011-01-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Sunday. And just like every other Sunday, we were at church. Before sacrament began and before we even sung the opening hymn, it was announced that the Harris' in our ward had gone to the hospital in Cody early that morning. Sister Harris had gone into labor. From what I understand, she was full term and it was time for her first child, her little baby boy, to make his appearance into this world. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, they found out that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck several times. So they ended up having to do an emergency c-section. In the end, their little baby boy did not end up making it.

I've been thinking about them so much the last couple of days. And each time I can feel the tears of sadness filling my eyes. It was just a couple weeks ago that I saw Sister Harris in the hallways at church, holding onto her pregnant belly, SO happy. Just like any other new set of parents, they couldn't wait for their little one to arrive, so they could hold him and cuddle him and shower him with love.

But now I can't even begin to imagine what it is that they're feeling. Their FIRST baby. I think of our AimeeLynn. The day I went into labor with her. The cord was also wrapped around her neck, but it was only wrapped around once and Dr. Spomer was able to take the cord and easily slip it around her head. Then I think, What if something had gone wrong? What if she didn't make it? I would've been so distraught. Weeks of sadness would have followed. And even though life goes on and we eventually learn to cope with things that happen in our lives, there will always be that little part in our heart that aches. Right now my heart aches for the Harris'. I've been praying that the Spirit will be able to tell me what it is that I can do that will bring even the smallest bit of comfort into their lives during this difficult time.

I love my little ones, my babies. I can't imagine life without them. Sure, maybe a day or even a week...to be alone with my hubby, while they're in the care of someone who loves them...but never a lifetime.

Goals and Family Plans for 2011

2011-01-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

2011. A new year. A new decade.

1. And moving towards becoming a better woman. I wouldn't necessarily say that I was not a good person in 2010, but I wasn't completely happy with who I was. So I decided I wanted to change myself...my personality, my attitude, my thoughts and my actions. I've done a lot of thinking on who it is that I want to become and I am so excited to be on that journey towards becoming that woman. So far, I'm off to a GREAT start! I've already seen and felt the changes I'm going through and Brad has too. So that makes me so happy. :) But I still have a lot of work to do.

2. Brad and I have also set some goals for the both of us.

Take a trip anywhere. Minimum: Once a year. AND we have to fly there...that's the only stipulation. We've already started looking into our vacation and planning it. :) YAY!

Go to the temple every other month. At least 6 times a year. We live about 90 miles away from the Billings Temple, so its quite a drive. And with two little ones, its sometimes hard finding a babysitter for that long...BUT we have this wonderful lady in our ward who absolutely LOVES our children and I completely trust her with our children. (Thank you so much Sister Coplen...you're the best!!)

Brad and I went last Friday and it was SO wonderful having a day date with my hubby and without the kids. :)

Decide where it is that we want to end up living after we sell our home in 2012. We know that we still have a lot of time before that happens, but it's a pretty big decision. We've already talked about some places and started praying about some of them. So I guess we'll see what happens in a couple years.

3. Brad and I have also done some family planning as well.

Family Home Evening. We're going to try our hardest to have it every week. We've found it hard holding FHE with a 2.5 yo who doesn't have a very long attention span. But we've decided that even if it's only 5 mintues long, we are still going to have it.

Family Trips/Activities. Some places we've thought of... Saint Anthony Sand Dunes, Disneyland and Moses Lake. AND we are also going to do LOTS of boating this summer! I get so excited just thinking about summer.

P.S. As a fun little way to start off the new year, I decided to add some color to my hair. Brad did it for me. We added some golden blonde/copper and some red. So I thought I would attach a picture of the new do. We sure like it!

Christmas and New Years 2010

2011-01-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year we were able to drive up to Washington and spend it with my family. When we go up to Washington, we usually drive all through the night, but this time we decided to do all our driving during the day. We left on a Wednesday afternoon and stopped in Coeur D'Alene, ID at a hotel to stay for the night.

As soon as we woke up Thursday morning and got cleaned up, we went the rest of the way to my parent's home. Poor Brad did ALL of the driving. Both he and AimeeLynn were sick with the tummy flu...the week (5-6 day) long tummy flu. :( We would have waited to leave until Brad and Aimee were feeling better, but I think Brad felt bad for me since I was stressed and down with how the month of December started (I started out with a cold, some REALLY bad indigestion one day, then Aimee got the cold and right after that she got the tummy flu, then Brad got it and I eventually ended up getting it, along with a sore throat/cough/cold)...our family was plagued with all kinds of sicknesses. So Brad just really wanted me to be able to be with my family, where my wonderful mother would take us under her wings and care for each one of us. And I am SO glad that we ended up going when we did. Thank you Hun! Anyway, on the way over, I took Hyrum out of his car seat of couple times to come sit up front with me where he could stretch his little legs and snack on some Cheerios. :)

As I mentioned earlier, our family was sick the entire Christmas break/vacation. I don't think there was one day during our stay in Washington that ALL of us was feeling well at the same time. So, as a result, we didn't get to go out much and do much of anything or take very many pictures. But thankfully I was still able to get a few. One day, on a B-E-A-UTIFUL, sunny day, we decided to go out for a family drive and check out all the church camps around the Puget Sound area. Our first stop was Zion's Camp. It was SO much fun being able to go back and reminisce about the days I camped there for Young Woman's one year when I was 12. I forgot how beautiful the country is there on that side of Washington. Brad and I dreamed and fantasized about building a home out there with the gorgeous mountains in our backyard. :)

Our last full day with my parents I decided I was well enough to go out and have a New Years Eve lunch with my family at El Toro's. I didn't eat much, but what I had was yummy. The next time we're there I plan on ordering a full plate of yummy-ness! I was just so happy to see Brad and Aimee healthy and eating lots of good food.

For New Years Eve we went to my cousin, Apple's, house for a couple hours, then we said our good-byes and decided it was time to head home and get some good rest before the long drive back home to Wyoming. We arrived home late last night and very tired, but safely and soundly. Now we're ready to bring on the New Year with some good goals and plans in mind. :) Here goes nothing 2011!!

Snow Days and Inside Play

2010-12-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

We got some pretty good snowfall earlier today, so AimeeLynn had to test it out and go out and play! This isn't our first snowfall, but it sure was a pretty good one. Since its gotten cold out, our free-spirited little girl has had to learn to play indoors. She comes up with some pretty interesting games and wears Hyrum out sometimes.

Even though its cold out, she still likes to have her ice cream. :) She also thinks its pretty fun to put her little brother in the laundry basket and pull him around. He likes it for the most part, but gets pretty nervous after a while....especially when it's about to tip over.

And Hyrum, silly boy, likes to take his big sister's hair pieces and stick them in his mouth...making it look like he has monster teeth. :)

Our tired little boy. :)

"Hey Baby..."

2010-12-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

"I think I wanna marry you!"

And so I did. :) I married my best friend...about 3.5 years ago! It was after our 3rd date together that I knew I was gonna marry this guy....and I wouldn't change a thing...even if I could. :)

P.S. I am totally in Love with this song! I was just gonna put it into our playlist, but I forgot the username and password so it just sounded too complicated trying to put it all together. So then I thought it'd be fun to put a little video together of pics of just me and my hubby. Most of these you probably haven't seen, so enjoy!

A little "Thank You"

2010-11-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Several days ago I made this little thank you card for some friends of ours and it turned out to be a lot of fun! As you can see in one of the pictures, I don't have a stapler (probably should get one some day), so I sewed the little baggy onto the card....I think it looks SO cute! And it was also so much fun being sneaky while I put this on their door handle and not have anyone notice!

My Primary Door Signs

2010-11-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

So, I made this a couple weeks ago and absolutely LOVED the way it turned out. I think they're perfect and I'm excited to use them for our primary children come 2011! And yes, I made one for every single class. :)

Garnet's Baby Shower

2010-11-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

Earlier this afternoon I went to my sister's, Garnet's, baby shower. The weather in Billings was absolutely snowy, so I didn't stay very long. But I am so glad I was able to get a picture with her. :) It was just me and the two kiddos, while Brad went to go get some house shopping done. I'm glad that Garnet invited me to come and it was so fun meeting all of her husband's side of the family. I look forward to meeting up with her more and getting to know her better each time. Oh...she's due to have her baby in February and it's going to be a little boy! We're so excited for her and can't wait to meet the little guy!!

Halfway to a Year

2010-11-19T11:02:00.001-08:00

A week ago today, our little man hit the big 6 month mark! Where did the time go? On Monday he had his 6 month well child check and his first set of immunizations, which he did really well with. He's such a big boy. He only cried for 10 SECONDS and as soon as I picked him up he was happy again! He weighed in at 17 lbs 8 oz, dropping down into the 45th percentile bracket when he used to be in the 70th. The reason is because he is such a little mover now...literally CRAWLING, on hands and knees, all over the place! And his length came in at 27 inches, he's still in the 70th percentile for that. :) Oh, and might I add, he also had his FIRST tooth cut through about the same day as his half birthday.

I absolutely love this little man of mine! He is totally a momma's boy and loves to cuddle with me. There are times while I'm holding him he'll nuzzle his little head right into my neck, beneath my chin. I LOVE IT when he does that! And when he looks at me, which he often does, he makes me feel like I'm his angel. It's as if he's looking right through me and into my very heart/soul. He makes me feel like I'm the most special person he's ever met in his life and I'm his absolute favorite. :)

I can tell that he has so much love for Brad and AimeeLynn as well. He absolutely adores his big sister and tries so hard to keep up with her. And lately, he's been giving his daddy the "look" too. I can always tell when it touches Brad's heart, because he'll always smile back at him and comment about how handsome and cute Hyrum is.

We are so thankful to have this little spirit in our lives!! WE love you HYRUM!!

Building Forts

2010-11-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

Do you remember building forts as a kid inside your home? Well...last Thursday we built a fort in our living room and it was so much fun! The kiddos loved it. :) AND while I was crawling through the tunnel of the fort, I felt like the BEST MOM EVER! I don't think very many moms do this with their kids.

Totally worth it... :)

Halloween 2010

2010-11-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is a bit late, but better late than never! Even though we spent Halloween weekend in Laramie, missed the ward trunk-or-treat and drove back to Powell from Casper Halloween day, we didn't let that stop us from letting our kids in on the Halloween fun.

Since AimeeLynn and Hyrum were born the same month, we thought that Hyrum could just use AimeeLynn's costume from two years ago...and it fit perfectly. What a way to save money. ;) And since AimeeLynn is small and petite like her parents, we just let her wear the same costume she had last year. It also fit her just perfectly!

The kids and I had so much fun knocking on doors and trying to say trick-or-treat to get some candy. Apparently, we were the ONLY ONES trick-or-treating in our neighborhood that night. So AimeeLynn got lots of treats and even some MONEY!

:-) New Skirts

2010-11-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

This past week, I decided to make myself a skirt. While making the skirt and trying it around my waist to see if I liked the fit, my sweet baby girl saw it and decided it was SO PRETTY! So, she wanted one too. And so, I told her I'd make her one. And made her one I did! Now we have matching skirts for church.

Absolutely LOVE it! :-)

The New Do

2010-11-13T14:24:00.001-08:00

Our little man, Hyrum, is now 6 months old. And I finally gave in and let Brad cut his hair. He looks so different now!

Before - After

Good Morning!

2010-11-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is what I get to wake up to EVERY morning...and I absolutely LOVE it!! We love our little Hyrum!

Smile

2010-11-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

Smiling is infectious,

You can catch it like the flu.

Someone smiled at me today,

And I started smiling too.

-Author Unknown

Look! It now comes complete with eyebrows and hair. :) No, we did not show her how to draw eyebrows or hair...she figured it all out on her own a couple weeks ago. We love our AimeeLynn!

Look Out World...

2010-11-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

There's a new little mover in town. Our little Hyrum is only 5.5 months old and he's already crawling! Yes, you read right, CRAWLING! He can get anywhere he wants to go now and each day he gets a little faster. I am a little sad that he's mobile now. Just another realization that he's growing. But we're glad that he's gonna be able to keep up with his big sister now, well kinda. :)

Days at the Park

2010-11-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

About the middle of October it was still pretty warm, so the kiddos and I spent some days at the park. I wouldn't mind if it stayed this warm all fall/winter long... :)

My Other Half

2010-10-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

I love everything about my other half! He is my best friend and the father of my children. I couldn't ask for a better man in my life. I love you hun!

Smiley Faces

2010-10-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

Look! We have our own ward, named after US! ;)

Okay, so we don't have our own ward. But one of Brad's uncles is running for City Councilman in Ward 3. I recently learned that our little town is divided up into 4 different wards. Never knew that.

AimeeLynn has recently learned how to draw SMILEY FACES! Yay! Two little circles for the eyes. A curved line for the mouth. And a big circle for the face. In one of her pictures she even drew a nose. I knew it was a nose, because she told me it was. :) These were the very first smiley faces she drew. So she's gotten better at drawing them.

We believe Hyrum has been going through the dreaded process of teething lately, which makes for a somewhat irritable baby. But even then, he still has his happy moments throughout the day.

So Long Sweet Summer...

2010-09-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

Its weird. A year ago, we were headed to Salt Lake for General Conference and it was freezing and snowing. But this week it has been SO warm!

October begins tomorrow. And just the other day it was 89 degrees here. Yes, 89! We absolutely loved the warm weather and took advantage of it. Brad took a vacation day off work and we headed to the lake with our boat.

Oh, and the week before we went to Shell Canyon. A beautiful place in the Big Horn mountain range between our home and Brad's parent's home.

So, here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks. A few from Shell Canyon. A lot from our beach at Yellowtail Lake and Brad wakeboarding. And a couple of the Sapp kiddos. (One is of Hyrum sleeping in his bumbo. Another is of AimeeLynn's artwork of potatoes and tomatoes and her dirt hill. And another photo is of Brad and AimeeLynn watching the mountain goats in the Yellowtail Canyon. Oh, and of course...one is of my little boy so happy to see mommy back from waterskiing.) :)

FYI: I took the photos of Brad wakeboarding WHILE I was driving the boat with two kiddos on board. Yes, I know....I'm talented. ;)

Fun on the Lake

2010-09-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

A while ago MaryAnn posted on my anniversary present, a boat. The boat has been somewhat a love - hate relationship, but mostly love. It was made in 1971, so once in a while it has some issues... well actually it always has issues, but sometimes they're fairly inconvenient (like the time the carb plugged up and we took turns walking along the shore dragging it back to the dock). But I'm guessing most boaters would have some similar stories.

It took us the first half of the season to get good at just getting it out on the lake. Maryann and I and the kids still liked going out just to be swimming and enjoying the sun. Next, we added an old pair of skis, which was fun for me. Next came the tube, which was fun for everyone else. Aimee even enjoys riding along some times.

In august we added a wakeboard, and we've had it out 4 times. Thanks to Nephi we got a few vids one time we were out. He can really tear it up. Me, not so much. Here I am, still a little wobbly:

Then I got Maryann talked into getting serious about trying out water skiing, so i got her a new pair of skis. After just a few tries she was ready to cross the wake for the first time. Nephi got this momentous moment on video too.

The season is now coming to the end, so we're a little bummed. It's been really fun having Nephi, and the Jemmets, and the Edwards, and all our other good friends and family along all summer. Thanks for the good times and great memories.

Our Hard Working Little Lady

2010-09-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

The other night, while working on a project, I left this mess on the floor thinking I'd clean it up the next morning....

But then I found my daughter cleaning up my mess for me...

One by one, she took these little squares and folded them in half...

...and then in half again until it was just how she wanted...

She then put them on the shelf in her room, neatly stacking the little squares on top of each other. We are so proud of our little girl! :)

Washington State Trip...August 6-14, 2010

2010-08-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

If you ever plan on visiting Washington State, go late July or anytime in August. There's bound to be some good weather if you're there for at least a week. Anyway, as most of you probably already know by now, our little family drove 13 hours to visit my side of the family, have fun in Seattle and of course do Hyrum's baby blessing.

Some things we did while we were there was go boating (twice), visit the Pacific Science Center, walk all over downtown Seattle and visit the famous Pike Place Market, go crabbing, have dinner with some friends and family, go wakeboard shopping, participate in SeaFair, shopping, and plenty of other things to keep us busy while we were there. So, here are several photos from our trip....

The next batch of pictures is just from our trip to the Pacific Science Center and the Pike Place Market. We were so lucky to have Brad's parents come all the way out to Seattle to be a part of Hyrum's blessing day! We had so much fun with them...

FREE Cable TV!

2010-08-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, I said it....FREE CABLE TV! Well, not really, but its pretty close. Nothing in this world is ever really free. There's always some kind of a catch.

THE CATCH: You need to have internet and a computer or monitor of some sort.

FOR FREE "CABLE TV": Go to http://www.hulu.com/! Have you ever checked this website out? If not, you've got to do it NOW!

We don't have cable TV in our home. Why? I hate writing bills and I just don't think I could watch enough of it to actually make it my moneys worth....which would result in me feeling guilty. But we do have internet. And we have Hulu Desktop on our laptop. Brad and I have been using Hulu now for about 2 years and I swear it just keeps getting better and better. They've got TV shows like: Desperate Housewives, LOST, 24, Ugly Betty, Wipeout, So You Think You Can Dance, movies like Pebble and the Penguin, Benji and the list goes ON and ON!

The bummer part is that you can't watch it the day that its aired. But honestly, who cares!? I don't anyway. The awesome part is that the commercials are only 30 seconds, sometimes 60 seconds at the most, long!! And there's only like 4 or 5 of those. And I love the fact that its FREE...and I hope it stays that way forever!

Here's one of the shows I've gotten into lately....LXD (The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers). Haven't heard of it? Check it out!

Love Hulu? Download Desktop Hulu onto your computer...you'll LOVE it even more!

Hyrum's Blessing Day...08/08/2010

2010-08-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am SO behind in my blogging that I pretty much don't ever feel like updating anymore because there's so much that's happened and it seem so overwhelming just thinking about it. BUT, I won't let that stop me, even if it means blogging little by little.

I'll start with the first thing that comes to my mind...Hyrum's baby blessing. I originally wanted Hyrum's blessing to be on the 4th of July. Wouldn't have that been neat?! But instead, I decided to wait until we were out in Washington State, visiting my family, to do his blessing there. None of my family was able to make it for AimeeLynn's, so I thought it'd be nice to have my family be a part of Hyrum's.

So, on August 8th (the day of our sealing), 2010, our son was given a baby blessing. :) And it was such a beautiful blessing. I'm so thankful to be a part of this wonderful gospel and the blessings and promises that come with it. The fact that eternal families do exist is such a comfort to me. Knowing that even when my children grow up and create their own families, after this life, I will still be with them.

That same day, my brother, Nephi, opened his mission call. He will be going to the Washington DC South Mission and reports to the Provo MTC on November 3rd. We are so proud of him and his desire to serve the Lord. :)

More photos...Hyrum B. Sapp

2010-07-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here are Hyrum's first photoshoot. My wonderful sister took these pictures when he was just a week and a half old. :) Why can't they just stay little?...

Photos Catch Up

2010-07-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures I was supposed to post a while back from Hyrum's birth...

Wednesday...05.12.2010...The long story of Hyrum Bradley Sapp's fast arrival

2010-05-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

1:00 AM: Brad arrives home from work and goes to sleep.

2:40 AM: I wake up to use the potty like I always do since I've been about 8 months pregnant. Then I go back to bed and fall asleep.

3:10 AM: I wake up again thinking I need to use the potty. I check the time and realize that it had been only a half hour since I last used it. I'm so tired and don't really care, so I just went ahead and used it again. While sitting on the toilet, I notice that I'm contracting and my tummy is still a little crampy. I start thinking, "Darn Red Robins guacamole burger...," then I see some blood and realize my mucous plug had finally broke, or unplugged, and that was why I had been cramping most of the evening. I go to tell Brad that I saw blood in the toilet and I'm contracting. Brad says, "Oh really? We'll have to fix that." :) Then I tell him that my stomach is really starting to get painful. Brad then says, "That's not good," and falls back to sleep. Now I'm more awake and alert, but I try to go back to sleep anyways.

3:20 AM: After tossing and turning several times in bed, I notice that the contractions are getting stronger and causing me to not fall asleep very well. So I turn on my computer to pass some time while I surf the internet. While surfing the internet, I timed my contractions. The first two were about 5-6 minutes apart. Then the next three contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. Brad turns to me and asks me if I'm doing alright. I tell him how close the contractions are and its then that he realizes I'm in labor and asks me when we should go to the hospital. I tell him I'm not sure yet since I wasn't convinced that I was in labor yet and thought that maybe they were just Braxton Hicks. Then I wonder if I should call his mom and ask her to come over since there was a possible chance I was in labor.

3:40 AM: As I continue timing my contractions I realize that they are getting closer together, about every 1-2 minutes. AND they were also getting stronger and breathing through them was becoming a little more difficult. I thought, "Woah, this is happening really fast." Its now that I know I'm in labor and that my baby boy will be arriving. I tell Brad that I'm going to text his mom and tell her I'm in labor so that she can start heading towards us since she has about an hour and a half of driving to get to our place.

3:55 AM: Brad's mom starts heading towards Powell from Worland. I go and take a shower hoping it will help with the contractions a little bit and help to pass time. While showering, I got a really strong contraction and the thought of an epidural actually crossed my mind for a brief moment. I thought I'd better get out of the shower and try to fix myself up a little bit before the contractions got too strong for me to even stand up straight. But I was too late. The only thing I was able to do was brush my hair and get dressed.

4:25 AM: I go and tell Brad I don't know how much longer I'm gonna make it and that I think we should get all of our hospital stuff gathered and ready. So while he went to do that, I thought I'd lay down and watch a movie while I waited for Brad's mom. I didn't even get the TV turned on when a contraction hit me real hard and I felt the urge to push. I knew then that I couldn't wait any longer and that we needed to get to the hospital right away or I was gonna have my baby at home. I go to the garage where Brad is grabbing some last minute stuff and tell him that we need to get to the hospital.

4:30 AM: I head to the car and wait for Brad while he tells my sister and her husband that we're on our way to the hospital and that they need to listen for AimeeLynn when she wakes up. While waiting, I call Aunt Melanie and text mom to let them know that we're headed to the hospital and that's where they need to go. Now we're finally on our way to the hospital. By now, the contractions are pretty much happening right after the other one finishes and the urge to push just keeps getting stronger and stronger. A couple of times, I even gave in and pushed just a little bit to ease the pain.

4:50 AM: I'm finally in my room after going through the emergency room and being wheel-chaired over to the labor/delivery section of the hospital. One of the nurses that I don't like comes in and asks me to pee in a cup and to get dressed in the lovely hospital gown. I seriously wanted to choke her and tell her that I didn't feel like peeing and was afraid that if I tried, the baby would come out in the toilet. But I didn't really feel like arguing with her and just went in the bathroom and did what was asked of me, so I was in there for a while.

5:05 AM: A couple other nurses come in and ask me how far apart my contractions are and how I'm feeling. I tell them they're about a minute apart by now and I feel like pushing. So, they have me lay down on the bed so that they can check how far along I am. By now, I am EXTREMELY uncomfortable...and there they were, trying to attach an IV into my arm while I'm going through contractions and putting some band around my belly to check for the baby's heartrate. The nurse gets done checking me and says in amazement, "You're complete," meaning I'm 100% effaced and fully dilated. I think, "Darn, now there's no possibility of me even getting an epidural, oh well, that's good I guess." So, the nurse gets on the phone and calls Dr. Spomer to tell her to come on over. Meanwhile, the other nurses are telling me not to push, that I need to wait for the doctor. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? By now, I can feel the babies poor head lodged in my pelvic area, just waiting for me to push him out. But I don't like to argue, so I just grab onto to Brad's neck while I try to go through one contraction at a time.

5:12 AM: Aunt Melanie arrives and helps me get through the breathing a little more calmly. Brad and her exchange some words about where I'm at by now. I have my arms around Brad's and Melanie's necks as a way for me to get through the contractions without pushing. With each contraction I put my face into Brad's neck and tried my best to get through it. Short sentences such as, "I want this to be over," or "I just want to go back to sleep right now," or "Where's Dr. Spomer? Is she here yet?" kept coming out of my mouth. I was also extra careful with Melanie. I remember wanting to grab her hair as I did with Brad's, but decided that it was not a good idea, so I tried to exert most of my energy towards Brad. Poor Brad...he told me that once I grabbed the side of his face and just squeezed. And here he was being so supportive and so good to me after only 2 hours of solid sleep.

5:15 AM: After what seems like a century, Dr. Spomer FINALLY arrives and I can follow the urge to push!

5:16 AM: I look at the clock and wonder what time my little man is going to arrive.

5:20 AM: Dr. Spomer tells the nurses get ready for little Hyrum to pop out.

5:21 AM: One hard and long push and Hyrum's head is finally out and I still feel a strong sensation to push, but they tell me to wait while they check him over.

5:22 AM: Dr. Spomer tells me to push again. After another hard push, I feel his shoulders slide out and its smooth sailing from there. I feel such a big relief as the rest of his body slithers out and they set my baby on my tummy. :) Yay...Hyrum Bradley Sapp is here...now who cares about the rest of the story.

After 5:22 AM: YAY! Brad cuts the cord. :) The placenta comes out and Dr. Spomer stitches me up a little. Brad's mom finally arrives and she's sad that she wasn't there when Hyrum was born, but happy that it went fast for me. Auntie Aja and Uncle Kyle come and visit and bring AimeeLynn with them so that she can meet her little brother. Its sibling love at first sight! She totally loves him!! She was so gentle with him and gave him a hug and kiss when we put her up on the bed with us.

8:30 AM: The nurses come and get Hyrum's stats.

9 AM-8 PM: More friends and family come to visit.

11 PM: Brad, Hyrum and I go home! Whew....what a LONG day. :) (More pictures to come...)

Tuesday...05.11.2010

2010-05-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

On this day we decided to wake up extra early and do some more birthday shopping in Billings. We spent most of our time at Wal*Mart and Target. For lunch we decided to go to Red Robins since we're members of their e-mailing list for birthday specialties. Our birthday's are close enough that we wait until we all get the coupon for a free gourmet burger meal, use it, and we pretty much eat for free...all three of us. :) The only thing we've ever ended up paying for is my lemonade/limeade that I always get when we go there.

Since Brad still had to go to work later that day, we headed back towards home.

Later on that evening my tummy started cramping a little bit and I didn't really feel very good. I thought that maybe it had been because of the Guacamole Burger I had gotten at Red Robin's earlier that day. I ended the evening watching Desperate Housewives and went to bed at about 11:45 PM. (Yes, I know I should be going to bed earlier, but ever since Brad started working night shift, it's been a little hard. :)