The Massey Family

Trip To The Dentist

2011-01-22T14:17:00.004-07:00

In early December we all made the trip to the dentist. The twins had been to the dentist office before but the dentist had never looked at their teeth. This time however I had the dentist look quickly at Preston and Alexa's teeth, just so they could start getting used to the procedure. After he looked at their teeth I had them brush their teeth while the dental assistant talked to Mya about how to properly brush her teeth too.

You can see that Alexa did just fine with the dentist looking at her teeth, but Preston didn't even want to open up his mouth. I hope that changes.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-22T13:56:00.007-07:00

Thanksgiving this year was with the Thompson side of the family. We had the dinner at our home this year. I forgot to take any pictures of the "before" but Mya and I did take pictures of the "after" dinner. One thing I noticed this year more than any other year was the use of iphones/smart phones after dinner. Not everyone got on their phone, but many were seen around the house seeing to their facebook page, emails and other things. I think it has become one of the things we do to relax.... maybe, I don't have a smart phone so I wouldn't know for sure.

Mya took pictures of the "mess" she would have to take part in cleaning up. The "mess" after a party was one of the things, as kids, growing up, we disliked about the holiday get togethers. We all had to clean our rooms before and then again after. I can see by the many pictures that Mya took that she will have similar memories.

Spanish Immersion Dance Festival

2011-01-20T15:45:00.005-07:00

Mya's Spanish Immersion Dance Festival was held in November this year. The spanish music that they sang this year was all Disney Songs. Her dance partner was changed about a week before the program because he and his family were going to go to Disney Land and wouldn't be there for the Dance Festival. Luckily a 6th grade boy was able to learn the part quickly and be Mya's dance partner, otherwise it would have been her teacher Sra. Muntzing!

Parker's Blessing Day, November 7, 2010

2011-01-20T11:35:00.004-07:00

Parker was given a name and a beautiful father's blessing by Doug on Sunday, November 7th. Doug and I wanted to have him blessed while it was still fairly good weather outside and before the business of the holiday season was upon us. We were able to have many of the kids and adults eat and play outside because that morning's temperature was so mild. Parker was changed out of his blessing outfit (the same one that Preston wore) as soon as we got home from church. Parker, like all of my other children, is a spitter-upper. It was a good morning.

Halloween 2010

2011-01-20T09:46:00.005-07:00

Not much thought went into Halloween this year. Having just had Parker we ended up using costumes that had been used in the past. Mya wore her costume from last year, Alexa wore something from the dress-up pile and Preston wore something that Grandma Massey had.

We had the traditional trunk-or-treat with our ward, but this year two other wards decided they wanted to join us, so there were lots and lots of people there (maybe too many). Right after the prayer when everyone was trying to get their soup it started to down pour. Everything was moved into the church where we ate and passed out the candy there.

I thought that Preston's black eye kind of added to his costume, it's too bad that we didn't have a boxer costume though, I think that would have been perfect!

October 28th 2010 Family Pictures

2011-01-19T15:59:00.014-07:00

When I saw our family picture for the first time it took my breath away. Our last family picture had three people in it. This one has six. Our family has doubled on only a few short years and this was the first time that I was ACTUALLY SEEING IT. Six people, WOW, I never would have thought. What a blessing!

Kids Wear/Do the Darndest Things

2011-01-19T15:15:00.008-07:00

Preston has these pair of 3D glasses (minus the lense) that he likes to wear. Preston, you look so.... smart?!

Alexa loves dress-up, some outfits are interesting.

Preston gave himself a black eye jumping on our bed. He did this the night before we had family pictures taken. So typical.
Now something like this just makes you wonder "what the heck was he thinking"! I was grabbing something out of the storage room, and, when I came upstairs Preston and Alexa where putting their heads in the toilet. I got mad at them and told them to stop and closed the door. I cleaned Preston up and was working on Alexa and noticed that Preston had gone somewhere. I went downstairs and what do you think I found? I had to grab the camera before I got mad at him again, and tried my hardest not to laugh.

For some reason Preston thinks that when you sit on the toilet you need to get so low that you touch the water. At this point I don't think that he believes that there is any other purpose to a toilet other than to get wet.

Parker's Professional Pictures at a Week Old

2011-01-18T15:22:00.017-07:00

Last year when my sister Trisha posted the newborn pictures of her baby girl I LOVED them, I told her it made me want to have another baby so I could have their pictures taken by the same photographer. Well, about the time I was saying that I was pregnant, or almost pregnant and didn't know it! So, of course I had Parker's pictures taken by the same photographer, Peekaboo Photography!

Parker was the best! He stayed asleep until the very end. Even being manipulated in all different positions he just kept on sleeping. What a precious little boy!

Welcome Home Parker

2011-01-18T13:01:00.007-07:00

Parker being held by the boys/men in the family.

It's a tradition in our home to take a picture at bath time of the babies cute little behind with Doug's wedding ring on it. It gives the perspective of how big or small the baby is. This is Parker at almost two weeks old and the one below him is Alexa at one month old.

The nurse at the hospital propped Parker up one day so we could all just look at him. Look at his cheeks! Once he got home he lost those cheeks and we were worried because he wasn't gaining any weight. I think I just don't make good milk.

Delivery Day

2010-12-30T10:39:00.013-07:00

None of my C-sections have been scheduled before. Mya's c-section was an emergency and with the twins my water broke, but Parker was scheduled. In some ways a scheduled C-section is nice and in other ways it's hard. I really had a lot of time for my nerves to get all worked up.

Doug had gone to Orem Community Hospital's emergency room in August, the night he returned from his motorcycle trip and me and the rest of the family came home from the cabin. Doug was in a lot of pain due to a kidney stone. While I was there that evening I pre-registered for my hospital stay. I don't know what happened between that evening and the morning that I delivered Parker and I checked-in, but the computer system didn't want to recognize that I was there and needed the medication for the IV's with the C-section. I checked into the hospital at 6am.

It wasn't until about 8am that I was able to get my drugs and the doctors could start. So, for about 2 hours I was a nervous wreck. My body was shaking all over (usually I do this after the delivery because of the change in hormones, not this time), I was crying because I was so nervous. The staff was really good though.

Once I had the right medication I calmed right down and relaxed and everything was fine. I was so worried that I would be throwing-up (like I usually do) just after or even prior to the delivery, but I wasn't and didn't!

Minutes after I was wheeled into my room I was feeding Parker! That had never happened with me. I had always been so sick with all of my other babies that it was always 24 hours before I could even sit-up long enough to feed them.

Parker was born at 8:05am and weighed in at 7lbs 11 oz. (he is my biggest baby by far).

Mya had the opportunity to watch the delivery with her grandmother Massey from a window in the operating room. She wasn't sure if she wanted to do it, and we didn't push her. But the night before she decided that she did want to see it. I felt bad at Preston and Alexa's delivery. Mya was so excited to see them but they were rushed off to the NICU right from the operating room. She was so disappointed because she was so excited to have a brother and a sister. She didn't get to see Preston and Alexa up close until about 5 days later! Not so with Parker. She saw him before I even did!

The photos below are what Mya saw from the window.

I saw an email that Mya had sent to one of her friends and it sounded like she never wanted to see a birth again! From the pictures she took you could tell that she was kind of fixated on all the blood (I didn't include the pictures of the bloody rags that she took)!

Mya held Parker just minutes after delivery! It was weeks after Preston and Alexa were born that she could hold them.

Day Before Delivery

2010-12-09T14:23:00.006-07:00

I don't like to be photographed when I'm pregnant--I think it's the mood I'm in, 'cause I just don't feel well. But, when I'm done being pregnant I always want to see what I looked like. How big did I really get. I don't recall many pictures at all of me pregnant with Mya. I know I didn't workout with her and I had toxemia so my face, arms and legs, feet, everything got really swollen. See if you can tell which of the photos is me the day before delivery with Parker and which are 7 weeks before delivery (13 weeks away from having a full term pregnancy) with Preston and Alexa.

For both sets of pictures I'm in my gym clothes because I just got back from the gym. I don't wear gym clothes on a regular basis when I'm pregnant (just thought I'd put that in there).

June 10, 2010 Twins Photos

2010-12-09T14:11:00.008-07:00

I thought that Peekaboo Photography did a wonderful job with these two. Two year olds are hard to photograph. Their attention span is only so long. You've got to be creative with these guys. Notice Preston's finger on his knee? That's his "push button" finger. They got him to smile by letting him push the flash button. He is a button boy.

May 13, 2010 Twins Photos

2010-12-09T10:36:00.007-07:00

The weather didn't cooperate on this day so we had the pictures taken inside with a future date set for outdoor photos.

Motorcycle Ride?!

2010-12-09T08:34:00.004-07:00

Preston loves to go on short motorcycle rides with his dad. Alexa doesn't want anything to do with it.

First Day of School

2010-12-09T08:30:00.003-07:00

Mya's first day of fifth grade. I can't believe she is really a fifth grader!

Doug's Motorcycle Trip

2010-12-08T21:11:00.002-07:00

Doug took another motorcycle trip with his bestest friend Chris Parker. It's becoming an annual event. Usually I go with him, but being 7 months pregnant doesn't agree with motorcycle rides.

They had a 4 day trip, Doug says he wishes I was there. He says the scenery on this trip was even better than our Colorado trip last year. I'll let Doug document his trip for future generations.

This year we debated a lot of different routes, then finally decided to ride south through central Utah to the Grand Canyon. The first day we rode up Spanish Fokr Canyon, around Scofield Reservoir, past Electric Lake and across the Manti La-sal national forest and down into Huntington where we stopped for Lunch. It rained on us all the way through the top of the Manti La-Sal was very cool. After some lunch in Huntington we headed down to Escalante via HW 72 past Fish Lake to Torrey and then Scenic byway on Highway 12 to Boulder. At Boulder we took a quick ride down the Burr Trail. We got there just after a flash flood had come through. There were large washes running, and debri on the road. A cedar tree had been struck by lightning and then rushing water had torn it apart. The sweet smell of cedar permeated the canyon. There were waterfalls running off the cliff walls. It was really neat.

We then drove through Escalante National Staircase on the way to Escalante city where we stayed the night at a small inn. It was quiet, clean and nice, and several other motorcyclists were there for the night. The inn had a porch with rocking chairs all across the front, and people just sat out on the porch in the rocking chairs and visited with each other.

In the morning we headed to Bryce National Monument with a quick stop at Kodachrome Canyon along the way. We rode to the top of Bryce and ate a picnic lunch, then stopped at a few overlooks and did several hikes during the afternoon. We ate dinner and drove through Red Canyon on highway 12 and took HW 89 to Kanab where we stayed for the night.

The next day, Saturday, we rode to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was awesome to ride through the tall Pines on the way to the Rim. You usually think of RedRock when you think of the Grand Canyon but the access to the North Rim is a lush high mountain forest. I almost forgot how amazing the Grand Canyon is. There is a reason it's one of the wonders of the world.

We ate lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge after a few short hikes and long rides to several rim overlooks. Then we rode back into Kanab. Chris and Rachelle spent the night in Kanab. I rode ahead toward Cedar City, back up 89 to Mount Carmel and through Cedar Canyon. Heather and the kids were staying with Heathers family at her uncles Cabin in the mountains East of Cedar City. I ate dinner at Milts Steak House in Cedar Canyon while I waited for Heather and the kids to get back from their trip to Zion. They returned and we all got back to the cabin around 9:00 pm.

Got to play with the kids that night and in the morning. I gave Preston a motorcycle ride in the morning. He loves riding on the Motorcycle. Every morning he wakes up and says, "Motorcycle Ride Daddy, Motorcyle ride."

Chris and Rachele made it to the cabin at about 10:00 and we headed out for the ride home. We went through Cedar Breaks and down past Panguitch Lake then back tracked down 89 back to Highway 12 and back towards Bryce Canyon. As we were getting close to Bryce we stopped at a diner/cafe on the south side of highway 12. It was near some cheap run down looking motel. I didn't hold out much hope for the food, but it turned out to be amazingly good. It was probably the best meal we ate during the trip. We got some fried Mushrooms, fresh made jalepeno poppers, soup, salad, and I got some chicken fried steak. It was all really awesome. You have to stop in if you ever go that way.

After lunch we headed north up HW 22 to HW 62 throgh Koosharem, UT. Yeah, I didn't know it existed either. Then we hooked back up to HW 89 and rode it all the way home.

We have some of the most beautiful country in our own backyard, many of the roads we drove I had never been on before, always too big of a hurry to get where I'm going. Lived here for 40 years and never driven the HW 12 Scenic Byway, or all the way through the Manti La -Sal. Now I need to take the family and show them what they've been missing. At Bryce 70% of the people there were speaking a foreign language, most from Europe. They travel thousands and thousands of miles to see what we have in our backyard.

If you want to see a short video compilation of the ride click here..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4y4-yMXuug

Uncle Steve's Cabin

2010-12-08T16:25:00.014-07:00

Injury number one of the day for Alexa. We're not exactly sure how this one happened. But Briella and Alexa were both crying.

Injury number two of the day for Alexa was captured on film. Briella and Alexa were doing a chicken wing move with their arms and they got a little too close. Alexa ended up with a bloody nose!

This summer I saw a print out of an e-mail from my uncle Steve on my parents counter. Maybe I shouldn't have read it, but I did. It had an invitation to come up to his cabin this summer. So I suggested that we should do it. Doug had planned a motorcycle trip for August and I wasn't going to go--being pregnant and all, so I thought that that would be the best weekend to go to the cabin. And, since Doug was heading south maybe he could join us for a night.

My mom ended up putting the invitation out to all my brothers and sister and their families so we ended-up with a full house!

The kids had a good time getting dirty and running around in the fresh air and in and out of the cabin. We went to Zion one afternoon and Trisha brought up crafts for the younger girls to do and the boys made airplanes. Meals were split-up between all of us--and we had some yummy ones!

Go Celtic Storm!

2010-12-08T16:20:00.010-07:00

Mya made the Celtic Storm AAA U11 team this year. Her position is keeper and she has really gotten very good at it. She's had a coach that has worked really hard with her and she also has goalie training once a week as well as her regular practices with her team.

Mya's team played in a couple of tournaments this summer. The Murray Max cup was held in August and Mya's team went on to take first place in her age group. Way to go Mya, you are the "wall"! Her coach expressed to the team at the end of the final game that if they were to give an MVP for the game it would have been Mya. That is one great compliment!

Mya had two games the final day so rather than coming all the way home we went to the Living Planet Aquarium.

Good Bye Old Car

2010-12-08T16:10:00.007-07:00

We put our Expedition up for sale on KSL.com in August. It had been a good car for 13 years and only had 120,000 miles on it! We just needed a bigger vehicle so that we could fit the kids plus gear into it. The story behind this car was that we got it after we totaled our Explorer (which we won) on Christmas Eve 1996. 1997 was the first year that Expeditions were made and we thought we would try it out. It ended up being a pretty good vehicle.

Preston and Alexa turn Two

2010-12-08T15:15:00.009-07:00

Preston and Alexa had their second birthday while Doug was out of town so we didn't do cake and a party on that day, but we did do some things. In the morning they had the candle on their pancakes and then we went to the Lindon Pool for some fun in the sun.

Mindy made this beautiful cake for the twins birthday. We celebrated with cake and icecream on Sunday when Doug was home and the grandparent, aunts, uncles and cousins could come too.

Playing with Uncle Duane.

Oh, a TRUCK!

Quite books from Grandma Massey. Alexa loves it!

What kind of a face is that?!

July Catch-up

2010-12-08T14:49:00.009-07:00

Alexa's creativity on her face. I'm so glad she didn't get it on her dress!

The 24th of July Swim Meet was fun. Doug had to be at the Ward breakfast so he couldn't join us but my parents were there and the Howells were there to cheer on Danielle, so we had a good group there for Mya. After Mya's first race she and Danielle went into the pool to practice for the next heat. I don't know that they did a whole lot of practicing. They did some diving and the next thing I knew Mya was screaming and had blood gushing out of her nose and a fat lip. We got that all taken care of before she had to swim again. By the time the relay races came around Mya wanted to go home but I reminded her how well she had done last year in that, so she stayed. Danielle and her were in the same team and they ended up taking FIRST PLACE. Aren't you glad you stayed Mya?

The 24th of July on the the Boat was good up until we decided to go back home, then our boat wouldn't start. Luckily Doug's brother Dave was there at Utah Lake with his boat too so he started towing us back to shore. About 45 minutes into the towing back we were able to get the boat started back up. The wind had picked-up and the swells were larger and it really started to take a toll on me, being about 7 months pregnant. I finally had Doug drop me off at the Provo Harbor while he continued on to the Lindon harbor where our trailer was. We eventually met back up again.

4th of July

2010-12-08T13:58:00.008-07:00

The 4th of July was a traditional one. We did all the same things, Breakfast at Village Inn with the Thompson family, the parade, BBQ with the Massey family at our home and fireworks. We also enjoyed a BBQ at the Howells with the Thompson family the night before along with fireworks that we picked-up on the drive home from California. The only thing that we didn't do this year was the balloons as a family because being pregnant I just didn't feel like it. If I remember right Doug did drop Mya off at the balloons and she met my parents there and then joined us for breakfast.

Thanksgiving Point Gardens and Pool Time

2010-12-08T13:55:00.007-07:00

Looks like we may need to get a bigger pool for our family!

The end of June for Family Home evening we packed a picnic dinner and headed for Thanksgiving Point Gardens. Doug met us there on his way home from work in Bountiful. We had a nice stroll through the beautiful gardens.

California Vacation/ California Adventure Park

2010-12-07T17:32:00.007-07:00

We had a good time at California Adventure Park. We started the day out at the Bug's Life section of the Park. It had rides that were just right for Preston and Alexa! Again the favorite things to do at this park were the play grounds with slides and blowing and catching bubbles.

The next day we were heading back home but we had one more day on our California City pass so we packed everything up and headed to Disneyland to get in what we hadn't done yet. Alexa and Preston were able to go on the cars and guess what? Preston will be told from now until he can legally drive that the first time he got behind the wheel he fell asleep! He better not make that a habit.

California Vacation/ Universal Studios

2010-12-07T14:30:00.006-07:00

We spent one day at Universal Studios. We enjoyed the back lot tour the most, at least I did-it was one of the only rides that I could go on. The twins fell asleep! They even slept through the earthquake!

California Vacation/ The Beach

2010-12-07T14:18:00.006-07:00

We took only one afternoon, really only an hour or two, to spend at the beach. Mya and the older girls spent most of their time in the water. Preston spent most of his time on the blanket. He couldn't stand the feel of sand on his feet! Even at the Villa where we were staying he wouldn't play in the sandbox because he didn't like the feel of sand. Alexa on the other hand loved playing in the sand with her shovel and pail.

California Vacation/ Disneyland

2010-12-06T13:45:00.008-07:00

Disneyland, yippee! We got to Disney early in the morning and checked into a hotel right across the street. We were able to park our car there and got into the Park before the Howells since we didn't have to take a shuttle into the Park. We all had a good time riding the rides that we could (because of age/height and pregnancy). Doug and Mya did most of the "older" rides while the twins and I took a nap in our hotel that we got for just that purpose--I think it was a good idea for me AND the twins. We all felt much better after our naps and could enjoy the fireworks at the end of the day.

For the twins their favorite things were the animals and the playgrounds. The rides were OK, they just didn't like the lines so much.

California Vacation/ Sea World

2010-12-06T13:30:00.005-07:00

Everyone had a good time at Sea World. The twins didn't really like sitting for shows that long but they did good enough for the two that we went to. They touched the sting rays and Preston and Alexa fed them. They also loved looking at the Dolphins and I think they even enjoyed the final show that we went to that night. Mya and Doug went with the Howells while the twins slept and did some of the "fun" rides. This is what Mya remembers the most, as well as being freezing cold toward the end of the day because she went on a particular ride that got her soaked!

California Vacation/ San Diego Zoo

2010-12-06T13:24:00.005-07:00

We made it a VERY QUICK trip to the San Diego Zoo because we wanted to get to Sea World that same day. But for the attention span the twins had I think it was just about right.

California Vacation/ The Drive

2010-12-06T13:16:00.003-07:00

We worried what a drive to California would be like with two "almost" two year olds and a 10 year old. I brought along a bag for each of the twins that had crayons, coloring books, lots of books, cars, a tray (we didn't use this much, I think they might use it more when they are a bit older and want to color more), stickers, stacking blocks, blocks to thread, etc.) We also bought a new Extended length Expedition (since there is another child on the way) that had a DVD player in it. The kids LOVED watching movies. I think this may be what saved us. And oh how we loved it when they would take their naps!

California Vacation/ Life at the Resort

2010-12-06T12:59:00.006-07:00

This year we used our Marriott time share at the Marriott Newport Coast Villas. We had a great time. The Howell family came with us. I requested a villa near the kids playground which worked out well. There were BBQ's close to our villa as well, which we used on Father's Day--the dads cooked and it was a delicious salmon dinner.

We were so busy most of the time doing "other" things that the kids really only enjoyed the swimming pool once or twice while we were there. If we do this trip again we've decided that we will only do Disneyland and stay at the Villas more. We ran ourselves ragged. Duane and Holly would concur. We also say let's not do it again anytime soon with two "almost" two year olds and being 6 months pregnant.

May 2010 Catch-up

2010-12-05T21:45:00.006-07:00

Mya's 4th grade class danced to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" for their dance festival.

Memorial Day weekend Doug and Mya went to an International motorcycle race that was being held at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Doug was amazed at how fast the bikes were going. It was hard to get a picture of them.

Memorial Day Sunday we went to some of the graves of Doug's ancestors.

Memorial Day we spent time at a park in Provo, Ut. They had a small festival going on of the early days in Provo.

April 2010 Catch-up

2010-12-05T21:28:00.008-07:00

Mya's new short haircut!

Easter at the Howell home. You can see while the kids are jumping on the tramp the adults are still out searching for their eggs. Each adult has a very hard to find egg with money in it that they are to find each Easter.

Eating Jell-O

Mya had her 4th grade Utah program. She was an Indian. They sang songs and had some small fact that they had to share.

March 2010 Catch-up

2010-12-05T21:01:00.007-07:00

Snowmobiling with the Scouts up Heber canyon.

Finally weather you can swing in!

Thanksgiving Point the end of March was fun. It happened to be a pretty good day while we were there. I don't have any pictures of Alexa. Well, I do have one that shows only her black hat she was wearing. Doug had Alexa and I had Preston and the camera so there you go.

Mya's 10th Birthday

2010-12-05T15:21:00.005-07:00

Mya celebrated her 10th birthday by having a scrapbook party! She invited 5 friends. Each of the girls created 2 different pages six times each. They had a great time in the basement of one of my BUNKO friends, Linda. Linda took care of everything, including the cake and pizza (I'm so glad Linda took care of everything, I just didn't feel good at all). The girls had a wonderful time, they got a book with 6 pages made in it, which I would put pictures of the party in and deliver a few months later.

What?!

2010-12-05T14:48:00.012-07:00

I was doing so well. I had just caught-up on my blogging. Valentine's Day had just ended. Doug had just been called as a counselor in the Bishopric. Mya got the stomach flu. A couple of days later I was sick too. The next day I still didn't feel well. My brain was telling me that something was off. The stomach flu doesn't usually last more than 24 hours for me.

I decided that it wouldn't hurt to take a pregnancy test. I have done this many times, hoping that I would be pregnant but knowing that the outcome, unless it was a true miracle, would be that I wasn't pregnant. I'd taken a pregnancy test just the month before while dressed in a hospital type gown before having surgery on an umbilical hernia. The test came back negative--duh, after 18 years of trying to get pregnant when would it ever come back positive without spending between 15 to 50 thousand dollars!

So, I took the test. I looked at the result. I looked at the directions again and what the results meant. The results didn't look right. I thought I needed a second opinion. Doug was working from home that day so he was my second opinion. He didn't need to look at the directions again, he knew what it meant, we just couldn't believe it....we were pregnant!

My thoughts were what do I do now? How do I know that I'm pregnant for sure? Don't I need a blood test? Don't I need to see what my HCG levels are, don't I need an ultrasound. I called the Dr. and they said they didn't need to see me until I was 10 to 13 weeks along. 13 weeks along! No ultrasounds, no HCG tests, no shots for weeks on end, no repeat visits to the doctor? Is that what normal people are told?

For me this news was hard to take. I had always seen my children as embryos. I saw Mya through a microscope and I have pictures of Preston and Alexa as little embryos as well. Not seeing this little guy for a little while was going to be hard.

Mya and her twin at about 5 weeks.

Preston & Alexa Day 3

Parker at 9 weeks 5 days old.

An Attempt to Revisit the Past

2010-12-05T14:37:00.006-07:00

My last date to publish in my Blog was February 16th. That seems forever ago, and it is. A lot has happened since then. So to document and to try and remember what has happened I will attempt, in my way, to blog about the past 9 months--the amount of time it takes to create a baby. So those that are following this blog who don't want to visit the distant past wait for a few weeks and maybe by then I'll be caught up...or not.

Mya's Valentine's Day

2010-02-16T11:23:00.003-07:00

Friday morning, February 12, when I saw Mya for the first time I could tell that she had gotten up early! She gets really excited for holidays! She had painted her face, put on a pink dress with heart legging and curled her hair and put a bright red bow in. So cute Mya, I hope you had a good Valentine's Day celebration at school!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-16T11:01:00.007-07:00

Doug and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day on Friday, partially because that was the day we could get a babysitter and partially because we thought the restaurants wouldn't be quite as crowded. We wanted to go somewhere that most people wouldn't think of going. We try this approach every year, or most years and it saves us hours of waiting.

We had eaten at the Inn On the Creek in Midway a few years ago for Doug's birthday. It was really good food and we ended up being the only people in the restaurant. So I called to make a reservation there but I was informed that the restaurant was "temporarily closed". Strange. My next thought was the Blue Boar Inn Restaurant in Midway. I got a reservation there for 6:15pm.

The setting was Swiss country with a nice fire going in the fireplace. For the first course I got the House Cured Gravlax, I wasn't sure what gravlax was so I had Doug look that one up on his phone before I ordered it. It was the way the samon was prepared. Out came several slices of gravlax, egg chopped up fine with the white and yolk separated, chopped shallots, capers and gravlaxsas (a dill and mustard sauce) with pumpernickel toast. It was good and simple. Doug had seared scallops with a mango puree and a kiwi relish. They looked like they had more to them than the ones I had a month ago for our anniversary at La Caille--I won't be going back there any time soon, but that's another story!

For our second course we both had the same thing, Soup du Jour, which was a leek soup. It tasted like it had some pureed potato in it. It made me want to go home and try making some leek soup, something I have never done before, maybe because I don't have a good recipe for it!

Heather's Seafood Risotto

For the third course Doug had Seared Salmon with Rock Shrimp & Quinoa Risotto, Grilled Asparagus and Red Wine Gastrique. Quinoa must have been the grain type base that the salmon sat on. Doug thought it might have been barley. Again here was something on the menu that needed looking up. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), is a grain that comes from the Andes Mountains of South America. Quinoa's origins are truly ancient. It was one of the three staple foods, along with corn and potatoes, of the Inca civilization! The things you can learn when you go to a restaurant! For my third course I had a Seafood Risotto. the special for the night.

We were so full at the end of the night that we shared a Creme Brulee.

I love to go to restaurants that I have never been to before but many times I'm hesitant because I don't want to pay a bunch of money for something I'm not going to be pleased with. This Valentines Day was pretty good though. Thanks Doug for taking me out for a nice evening, and then making Lobster bisque the next night!

Ski Lessons

2010-02-09T13:41:00.003-07:00

Last night was the final night of ski lessons for Mya. Mya's school, Orchard Elementary had organized four ski lessons with Sundance during January and February. Parents volunteered to drive and also got a free night skiing in doing so. Their lessons would begin at 4pm and go for two hours. The kids could then ski on their own for about an hour and a half. They were back to the school by 8pm.

Mya was in the most advanced of the levels of ski classes that they had for the kids. She was in level 6. She said that yesterdays class was spent going off jumps! I'm glad that she was able to have a good time with some of her friends and make some other friends as well.

FUTSAL

2010-02-09T13:29:00.003-07:00

Futsal: a form of soccer played indoors, with five players per team. That's what Mya has been doing on Saturdays lately.

Mya's cousin Danielle said her AAA team needed another player and asked if Mya wanted to join. Mya plays with the Celtic Storm during the regular season but doesn't play during the winter so she decided to try it out.

Mya enjoys playing goalie. This last game she played goalie the whole game and only allowed one goal. Way to go Strikers!

Same Age, so Different!

2010-02-09T13:23:00.003-07:00

It's those beautiful babies again! They are growing up so fast. Preston looks like he's contemplating the mysteries of the universe and Alexa just wants the camera!

Dinner Out with the Twins

2010-02-09T13:09:00.002-07:00

Last Monday when Mya was gone to skiing lessons we decided to get out of the house and go to dinner at Jason's Deli. Dinner out with the twins is always an "adventure". I've learned to bring some items that make things a bit easier, like bibs, sippy cups and suckers, but even with all the things I bring to help make things easier is seems that after every meal out Doug always says, "never again!" Preston and Alexa are loud. They pound their sippy cups, throw food on the floor and at the last place we went to dinner, California Pizza kitchen, Alexa found the acoustics in the room so good that she wanted to squeal/scream the whole time. That trip because it took so long for us to get our food Doug and Mya were out walking more than they were in eating! Well, we'll see if and when the time will come to go out to dinner as a family again.

One of those Bitter, Sweet Days

2010-02-03T14:22:00.003-07:00

Two weeks ago Preston and Alexa were finally at THAT age (18 months), they could go to nursery on Sunday! I was asked the day before to help out in the nursery that Sunday so it really wasn't the break that I had been looking forward to for the last 18 months, but oh well. The next Sunday came around and I dropped them off and went to my classes. It didn't turn out to be as wonderful as expected. I MISSED MY BABIES! And then I realized they weren't babies anymore. Now I've spent the last few days morning the loss of my babies and that never again will I have a newborn. It just seems that when you get out of a phase you miss it and want it back so you can remember it better. But, while you're in it, it's hard and you can't wait to get out of that phase. I guess you just need to make the most of each phase of life and enjoy it to the fullest that you can!

Here's a look back at the day Preston and Alexa were born and then their first day in Nursery without mommy!Alexa 7-15-2008

Preston 7-15-2008

Preston and Alexa 1-31-2010

Catch-up January

2010-02-02T16:19:00.011-07:00

We celebrated New Years Eve at our home with family. We had the PS3 with Rock Band going on downstairs, the Wii with skiing upstairs and regular games going on in the dinning room. Of course we also had lots of food to eat!
The next morning after having seen everyone on the Wii board "skiing" the night before, Preston and Alexa decided it was their turn. With no TV on, just the board and the controls they began skiing at the tender young age of 17 months!

Sledding down the stairs on a small hill made by dad. Snowman making 101

One of the common activities at our home when Mya is around goes like this: Mya sits in the dump truck and she pushes Preston and Alexa on their car and airplane. Once the babies stop they use their feet to back-up to where Mya is and the fun starts again. The twins love it and I think Mya has fun too.

Hats!

It's been said that Mya and Alexa look a lot alike. I can see some of the same mannerisms in both and they have the same "crusty" stare. Mya calls Alexa her identical twin from the past. In this picture they are both doing one of their "faces" that they both do so well.

More fun in the snow!

My dad loves model trains so when he heard about the Ophir-Tintic and Western Model Railroad Show that would be happening at Thanksgiving Point in January he invited all the grandsons and their fathers to come with him. Doug and Preston had a wonderful time seeing all the tracks and trains along with cousins Kamen and Alex and uncle Duane and Papa.They finished the morning off with lunch at JCW's

Catch-up December

2010-02-01T13:55:00.008-07:00

Preston and Alexa love flowers. Preston especially loves to smell and give flowers away. What a gentleman!

Mya REALLY wanted to make a gingerbread house this year for the holidays. I knew that wasn't going to happen on my watch. But, at BUNKO in December I won a gingerbread house kit. I had Mya watch the demo on the computer (it was nice because it wasn't an adult that did the demo but a kid). Mya ended up doing almost the whole thing by herself with a little help decorating from her cousin Karene. Now this kind of gingerbread house I could do every year!

The annual picture and conversation with Santa.

It's a working lunch!

Preston and Alex, but especially Preston, love to pretend to talk on the phone. If you put a real phone with a real person on the phone up to their ear they won't do much but listen in amazement! But, when it comes to pretend they use remote controls, cars, combs, anything that is about "that size" as their cell phone and jabber.

Preston with Santa at the ward Christmas Dinner. Alexa would have nothing to do with Santa this time.

I attended Orchard Elementary's Christmas sing on the day they performed for each other. Mya is wearing a green shirt/dress with sunglasses on.

Opening presents at my parents house.

I really need to hire a photographer for Christmas. These pictures are about all that I have with a small amount of video! The twins got their forward facing car seats and some toys to ride around on, as well as a bunch of clothes and pajamas. Mya got a pink rip stick, boots, videos, picture of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and accessories. The big family gift was a PS3 and Rock Band!

Catch-up November

2010-02-01T10:44:00.008-07:00

Preston is not a binky boy, Alexa is the binky baby. But, from time to time Alexa will pass her binky from her crib over to Prestons. I think she does it just because she loves to see how silly he looks with a binky in his mouth the wrong way!

What do you do when the weather starts to get cold and your kids gotta get out of the house? You go to the pet store. Just make sure you don't come home with anything!

November was the month that Mya had her Spanish Dance Festival. The Spanish Immersion classes from second grade up to sixth grade had some very colorful costumes, sang some spanish songs and performed some wonderful spanish dances!

Thanksgiving with the Massey Family was held at our home this year. Mya made place cards for everyone and helped to set the table. We had Jeanene and Robert's family, Dave and Lorisa's family, Doug's parents, Doug's aunt Diane, her husband Dan and her daughter Adrianne and of course our family.

Fireplace in the family room where we stayed in Park City. No more pictures of the weekend other than this!

After dinner was eaten, the dishes were done and tummy's were full, my mom and dad picked-up Mya, Alexa and Preston and took them for Thanksgiving dinner at my Brother Tyler and sister in-law Brook's home. Doug and I had plans to celebrate his 40th birthday alone in Park City.
We spent Thursday and Friday night in Park City sans kids and it was wonderful! We stayed up shopping on Thursday night until 3am--Dave and Lorisa came up for the evening and joined us. The Park City Outlet mall had a Black Friday event that started at midnight. The next morning we ate at our favorite breakfast stop on Main Street, the Main Street Deli. Lunch, more shopping and relaxing and dinner were all that we did the rest of the time. I hope Doug enjoyed his 40th birthday, it's what he wanted to do.

Sunday we invited family and friends over to welcome Doug into his 40's!

Happy Birthday Doug! I'm so sorry you couldn't go skiing for your birthday like you usually do. You are a brilliant, strong, handsome, hardworking, fun, generous father, husband and friend!

A few hours after arriving home from Park City Doug and I went to the BYU vs. Utah game. BYU won 26-23 in overtime. It was a great game! When we got home and checked on the babies we found this....

Catch-up October

2010-01-31T20:21:00.008-07:00

October 7th Mya got Alexa to hold onto the back of her pants and start walking around. The next day Mya worked with Alexa again and got her walking on her own for the first time. Thank goodness for big sisters!

Mess makers, mess makers make me a mess! Preston and Alexa excel at mess making!

Before

After

Saturday October 17th Doug decided it was time for Preston's first haircut. Doug performed the honors.

Mya had a field trip to This is the Place Heritage Park in October. My mom was good enough to go with Mya and help out. This was the first field trip that my mom had been on since retiring as an elementary school teacher in June. She said it was much different not being the one in charge!

Peter Pan (Heather), Tinker Bell (Alexa), Vampiress (Mya), Captain Hook (Doug), Lost Boy (Preston)

Mya and her cousins: Japanese girl (Ashley), 80's chic (Danielle), pumpkin (Kamen)

Handing out candy with two little kids was crazy. Alexa and Preston tried to "help" by putting the candy on the ground faster than I could give it out.

Halloween. The events start with my sister Trisha's place of work, ancestry.com where we go through the different departments "spook alleys", next it's off to see grandma great Thompson at the nursing home. Of course the night is not complete without "trunk or treat" and then visits to the grandparents!

One crazy event of the day happened at the trunk or treat! Preston loved being near all the people walking around having a good time. He got into the spirit of things and just started walking around! Never before had Preston even walked two steps and here he was like a pro--until he fell flat on his face. It took quite a few days for the goose egg to go away and to get the nerve to try walking again!

Catch Up September

2010-01-31T19:24:00.007-07:00

Oh my time has really flown by! There are things that I can just let slide and then there are things that when I let them slide just keep bugging me until I get it right. This is one of those things that just keeps bugging me. So, here I go, I'm catching up.... Holly, Danielle, Mom, Dad, Mya

The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival is an event that Mya and I have gone to once before a few years back. This year my mom thought that it would be a fun event for the older grand-daughters and their moms to go to the culminating event of the Festival, "Laugh In" night with 12 of the best storytellers. I think my favorite was Bil Lepp. He told an amazing tall-tale of a camp leader that was sick of eating tuna fish and the events that transpired after throwing out all the cans!

Labor Day we decided as a family to see what all the fuss was about the Sheepdog Championship and Country Festival. Our favorite event ended up being the Splash Dogs!

I took 6 pictures of these cute kids one morning in September and none of the 6 had both of the twins eyes open. I think Alexa or Preston is going to be like me in that they close their eyes when a picture is taken.
Eating grandma Massey's yummy chocolate chip oatmeal cake!

Preston's Surgery

2009-09-16T11:04:00.005-06:00

On August 26th Preston had surgery at Primary Children's hospital. It turned out that the procedure wasn't as invasive as was first thought it was going to be and while I thought I would have a sleepy boy for the rest of the day I did not. He woke right up in recovery, drank a bottle of apple juice and then took a short nap. That was the extent of his sleepiness for the day.

Playing with toys in the waiting room, he has no idea what's going to happen to him. Poor boy.

Nice gown Preston!

Still waiting for surgery and hungry!

Groggy after surgery. All went well.

First Day of School

2009-09-15T17:00:00.003-06:00

Mya started her first day of 4th grade on August 20th. Her teacher is Sra. Tavares--I don't know if I'll ever be able to remember that name. 4th grade is all Spanish, no English spoken in class. I can't believe that Mya can do that. I'm so proud of my Spanish speaking daughter!

Friday Night Pizza Night

2009-09-15T16:50:00.003-06:00

Everybody loves Friday night Pizza night!

Motorcycle Trip

2009-09-11T16:57:00.007-06:00

Last year when the gas prices where so high I gave in to Doug's wishes to buy a motorcycle. Truthfully it hasn't saved us any money. As with any "toy" accessories are always required as well as tune-ups etc.

Anyway...

Our good friends Chris and Rachelle Parker were going on a motorcycle trip for their Anniversary (it has become a tradition with them for their Anniversary and one that we participated in a couple of years ago) and they asked Doug if we would like to come along. Doug told me he was going with or without me. With his broken leg I was hesitant to get on the bike with him but he said it would be fine and he was really excited to do something that he would normally do. This year the plan was to go to Colorado via Vernal, UT, go to Steamboat, CO, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado National Monument and back home on I-70.

If you've never done a motorcycle trip I actually recommend it. It's like being on the lake in your boat. You feel the wind, you smell everything better and other bikers wave! You do get saddle sore though, but that's OK 'cause you just look for places to stop (something you wouldn't normally do in a car). We stopped at one point of interest stop and learned that a huge fire had burned up all that you could see at one point--something I would never have found out if I had traveled in the car.

It threatened to rain on us a few times but we seemed to be in the right place at the right time for all the storms where we either just missed it or just pulled into a town when it hit so we could get to shelter. I love the smell of rain on hot asphalt and the smell of fields just after a rain. Not something you would experience in a car!

Things I don't like about the motorcycle, getting saddle sore, going faster than 70 miles an hour, having the communication system, along with your music die because of the battery, long drive with nothing to see-- for example from Vernal to Steamboat and I-70--Utah part with no communication system!

I loved eating out, hanging out in the hot tub every night, reconnecting with Doug, spending time with just adults for longer than 2 hours (something I haven't had since the twins were born).

Had to make a stop here, not for the restroom but because Doug wanted to buy some moccasins to put on his broken foot--his toes were getting too cold...

Colorado National Monument

View from Colorado National Monument

Bear Lake in Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park

Payson Lake

2009-09-11T16:21:00.004-06:00

The second weekend in August we decided to try camping out with my family. Holly had arranged for all of us to camp up at Payson Lake. My parents and Holly's family stayed up on Thursday night and Trevor and his family and our family joined them on Friday night.

Again we had to pack so much stuff that we didn't have room for everyone in our Expedition. Doug was just fine with that because he had an itch to ride his motorcycle while up the canyon anyway.

I would say that the hardest thing about camping with babies that crawl is that they want down and down would be in the dirt. I just couldn't stand that! They did have lots of people to hold them and take them on walks though. But, by Saturday afternoon I was ready to go home. It had been quite cold the night before and the day hadn't really warmed up either. We all spent most of the day around the campfire.

We enjoyed the fire, good food and bike rides around the lake. It was the first that I had been on a REAL bike for almost two years! It's too bad that we didn't get out on the lake in the canoe while we were there, I think Mya may have, but for the babies it was just too cold. Maybe we can try something like this again next year and hope for warmer weather.

Oquirrh mountain Temple Open House

2009-09-11T12:30:00.004-06:00

I know it's been awhile since the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House but now is the first time that I'm able to blog about August, so a few more blogs are forthcoming.

Doug's sister Jeanene arranged for her family, Doug's parents and us to attend the Open House on Saturday August 1st.

To me it was a beautiful temple, much like the Draper Temple. Mya felt like the Draper temple was a bit more beautiful and I might have to agree, but they are both gorgeous temples.

Preston and Alexa came with us to this temple open house. They did just fine. Preston was awed by the wonderful chandeliers and Alexa had wonderful things to say (that I didn't understand) when I pointed out the various pictures of Jesus throughout the temple.

Summer '09 Park City Vacation Thursday to Saturday

2009-08-05T16:17:00.003-06:00

On Wednesday evening Mya's friend Kennedy left and Danielle (Mya's cousin) took her place as her roommate. They did some fun stuff together like swimming, hand painting, games in the pool, taking rides on the gondola outside of the condo. Oh and bubble baths after swimming. I really wanted them to read but they would have none of that!

On Thursday we decided to go to the Hoggle Zoo. It was a hot day, which made us very happy to return to the Mountains where it was a little bit cooler.

One of the toys the twins got was a little walking toy. Alexa was very excited to start using it!

Saturday, another hot one, even in Park City, was a busy one. Early in the day we went to Park City Mountain Resort to go down the Alpine Slide and Coaster. Danielle, Mya and I did the rides. Mya and Danielle were afraid to go down the slide by themselves, but I made them. You can get an idea of how fast they allowed themselves to go by the picture. Usually the riders behind you don't catch up to you and have to help push you down the slide. The girls did much better on the coaster ride though.

After this us girls went shopping, then Doug went shopping. Guess who took the longest and spent the most. If you don't know me very well then you may not know that I hate to shop, so contrary to popular belief this set of girls did not shop long or buy much.

Back at the condo the Canyons Resort was getting ready for their first Saturday Concert of the summer. Us girls and the babies sat on the lawn ate goodies and listened to music. We had a fun time getting to know the people around us and relaxing on our last evening in Park City as we waited for Doug to join us after his shopping spree.

We had a great time in Park City even with babies and a broken leg. To me, family vacations are a tradition you must keep. It's a bonding time as a family that is usually never forgotten and something to be treasured.

Summer '09 Park City Vacation Monday to Wednesday

2009-08-05T15:03:00.006-06:00

For our summer vacation we decided to stay close to home. In a positive light we could always come home if we forgot something important and the drive isn't that long and, in a negative light Doug is closer to work so he went into work a few times while we were in Park City. But, with his broken leg he couldn't do much of what he would have like to do while we where in Park City anyway.

For the most part Mya and friend, Kennedy (the first part of the week) and cousin, Danielle (the later part of the week), spent their days swimming, eating and watching TV. There was once I caught Mya and Kennedy doing something else so I took a picture of that.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were spent doing the above. Wednesday we went shopping because we had a birthday party to throw for the twins and presents and food to get. So to the outlets we went!! No pictures of that but we did brings bags of clothes home to package up for the twins to open.

Wednesday before the party Doug and I browsed around a farmers market that they had going on at the Canyons. Doug bought goat cheese. He's bought cheese at the most interesting of places, he's a cheese guy. And I got a skirt and earrings.

May be the only picture of me on the trip. I'm finally getting a chance to eat some cake.

Why do they put these kind of blinds in rooms? The babies love to play with them and they break right off! I know Preston broke a few.

4th of July 2009

2009-08-05T14:27:00.002-06:00

Mya announced earlier this year that her favorite holiday was the Fourth of July. Why? I think it's because we start at 6 am and go until 11pm. It's an all day event with family, food and fun.
We started the day out at the balloon festival. We will usually meet my family while there. So we meet up with my mom and dad and Trevor and his family. Doug's parents also decided to come and we meet them there as well. This is also the one time of the year that we always run into our friends the McCanns.
After the balloons we had wanted to go see Holly and Danielle come in from the 5K race but were too late so, we meet all of my family (minus Trisha, Kyle and Tyler and Brooke) for breakfast at Village Inn.
After Village Inn it was off to the parade. The kids all enjoyed the parade, the only draw back was that Kaman, our three year old nephew, decided to take a walk on his own towards the end of the parade so we all split up looking for him. A nice policeman found him and Duane recovered him. That was scary! It got me thinking about what I may need to do for the next 4th of July when I'll have two one year olds (almost 2 year olds) running around. All it takes is for one of them to catch an interest in something in the parade, like Kaman, start following them and then with a huge group of adults, to think one is watching while the other thinks someone else is watching the child. So, I've decided maybe I'll put our cell phone number on the back of their 4th of July shirts that says "If I'm lost call..."

After the parade we hurried home and got working on lunch. It's become a tradition to have Doug's family over for a BBQ on the 4th of July. We had corn on the cob, salads, chicken tenders and yummy miracle dessert. The kids will usually cool off jumping on the tramp with the sprinklers or, like the twins, jump in the pool.

After our BBQ we went to my sister Holly's for the Thompson family BBQ. Holly lives in Cedar Hills so we ended the day here watching fireworks from their balcony in Pleasant Grove, and surrounding areas. It was a good and exhausting day!

Summer '09 Swim Team

2009-08-03T21:42:00.007-06:00

Mya and Danielle in the bullpen waiting to swim

Mya and one of the three girls that was on the relay team

Doug and I talked Mya into being on the swim team for the summer this year at the Scera Pool. Mya thought it would be a lot of fun because she would be doing it with her cousin Danielle. But, when the preview with the parents came around and she was going to have to swim in the pool to make sure she qualified she wasn't sure any longer that she wanted to do it. After jumping in the pool and swimming though she quickly changed her mind.

Mya had swim team Monday to Friday at 11am. June was a cold one but they kept the pool warm. There was a day that you could see steam coming from the pool it was that cold outside and that warm in the pool.

Mya swam in all of the swim meets that she was in town for. On the last meet she placed second in Freestyle. I was very proud of her and I think she even surprised herself. She also got first place in a Relay Freestyle event on the last swim meet.

I think Mya had a good year. She learned a lot and by the end of July she had had enough swimming for the summer!

Preston and Alexa's FIRST Birthday

2009-08-03T21:19:00.005-06:00

The bathtub ended up being the closest thing to the swimming pool that we did for the twins, it was bedtime by the time all the presents were opened.

Can you find the babies in all the gifts?

I can't believe that Preston and Alexa are really one. In many ways the past year has gone by very fast. I think it's because it has been busy. With Mya I had time to take in every milestone that she went through during the first year. Everything got written down. With the twins if it's not on the blog it's not documented. So one milestone blurs into another. Somewhere Preston got 4 teeth and Alexa now has two and while I remember that Alexa started to crawl while we were on vacation in Phoenix I don't really remember when Preston started to crawl (he did the army crawl first for quite awhile).

So it's been a whole year, WOW!! I wanted to have a party that we would always remember so I booked a condo in Park City for the week (Westgate at the Canyons) and invited my family and Doug's family and some close friends up for the twins birthday to have a BBQ and play in the pool. I hope that everyone that was able to come had a good time. I know Preston and Alexa will have lots of fun playing with all the toys and wearing all the clothes that they were given. Happy Birthday Preston and Alexa, you are loved!!

Orem Summer Fest June 13th

2009-07-28T22:19:00.002-06:00

Orem Summer Fest has also become a tradition for our family. It usually falls on Doug's mothers birthday (this year it was the day before). Becky and Garth and their family had come up from Phoenix for the week so Mya was excited to spend some time with them.

Doug's parents do live too far from the Parade route so we walked. Some nice man who had saved a spot probably a couple days before the parade said we looked like we needed somewhere to sit and gave us the space where he had put down a tarp.

It was fun to watch the twins and their reaction to the parade. Preston got excited at all the "manly" things, he loved the police when they came by on their motor cycles and the fire trucks. Alexa would clap when she saw the pretty girls on the floats and the cheer leaders. They both liked the bands.

It threatened to rain and as soon as the wind started to pick up we were out of there. We got pretty close to Doug's parents home before it really started to rain hard. Mya's clothes had been soaked through from another run through the rain earlier that day when at the carnival.

Luckily the rain stopped and the fireworks ended the night.

Dance Festival, May 2009

2009-07-28T22:10:00.002-06:00

Mya's 3rd grade did a dance to one of the songs from Grease for their yearly dance festival. She performed it for us almost every day as they learned it.

Mya loved 3rd grade and especially her teacher Sra. Petrie. She's made some good friends in this class and will continue to do so as this is one class that stays the same year after year until they graduate from 6th grade.

I know you'll do wonderful in 4th grade Mya!!

Cinco De Mayo

2009-07-28T22:02:00.005-06:00

It has become a tradition in our family to go to our favorite mexican restaurant, Maria Bonitas, on Cinco De Mayo. Mya loves to get dressed up and speak Spanish with the waitress there. I believe that this was Doug's first dinner out since the accident.

Horchata anyone?!

Who Makes the Biggest Mess?

2009-07-28T21:54:00.004-06:00

Who makes the biggest mess when they eat? Is it eater number one, Alexa, or is it eater number two, Preston. The proof is on the bib, and many times on the hair. I will say that Preston has been making the biggest mess of me lately while I feed them though. He has decided that it's fun to blow "raspberries" with food in his mouth. Not good!

Spring Break 2009, Phoenix Vacation

2009-07-28T10:08:00.010-06:00

A couple of weeks after Doug broke his leg we flew to Phoenix, AZ. I know, kinda' crazy with twins and a husband just out of surgery. We had booked the trip almost 9 month ago and it was spring break so we decided to try it.

A couple of days before the trip I finally realized how much work this was going to be for me and asked my parents to come. My parents attended a funeral in Nevada and then drove down to meet us in Arizona. They arrived only a few hours after we did!

Getting through security at the airport was crazy. With Doug and his metal in his leg and the babies with their bottles, juices and food, it took awhile. The plane ride went well. Doug sat in first class to have room for his leg and Mya and I had a whole row to our self with the babies. A couple in front of us offered their help if we needed it.

Our vacation consisted mostly of taking walks, hanging out at the many pools the Desert Ridge Marriott Resort had to offer and visiting with Doug's brothers and sisters and their families. Oh, and we did go to the zoo while we were there.

It was good to see Jen and her family. She had just had a baby a few weeks prior. It was hard to believe that not long ago our babies were that small! It had been awhile since we had seen Steve and Barbara and Elizabeth so I was glad they were able to come see us while we were in Phoenix. Becky and Garth and their family came up a couple of times and we also meet them at the zoo while we where there. Mya had fun playing with them.

Playing with bubbles just outside of our condo

What do you do when it's so hot outside that you can't stand it (while everyone else in Utah is freezing because it's snowing in April)?

You go swimming!!!

Oh, and to the zoo in your wheelchair.....

Blog Suffers Because of Ski Day Gone Bad

2009-07-07T10:30:00.005-06:00

Doug tried all winter long to always ski on the weekends. On Saturday March 28th Doug got a late start on the mountain because he had a Young Men ward clean-up activity that lasted for a few hours. Then I had him take Mya to her soccer game. It wasn't until nearly 2pm that he was able to get to Sundance.
Nearing 4pm Doug took a run down Juniors, a steep somewhat cruddy/icy slope. Doug either caught a tip in some crud or a rock, who knows, but to make a long couple seconds short his binding didn't release in time and he broke his right Tibia in 4 places. Doug's cell phone didn't work in the spot he was in so he said he yelled and waited for ski patrol to find him. He waited for about 15min. But, as the "fish story" goes it is now up to 30 minutes last I heard told... anyway, they had to ski him down on a toboggan to Flathead lift and then attached the toboggan to a snowmobile there and skied him the rest of the way down. He called me while he was still on the mountain. His voice was all shook up so I knew that he had either done something really awesome and he wanted to tell me about it, or he had done something really terrible and wanted to tell me about it. It was the later.
Luckily I had called my parents earlier because I wanted to clean-up my messy office without interruptions of babies and they were over at the house when Doug needed me to hurry up to Sundance to get him.
Once I got to Sundance we decided that it would be best for him to go to the ER in the ambulance, they could shoot him up with morphine where I couldn't. I hurried to the hospital and waited for about a half and hour until he got there. They took x-rays, got his ski boot off of him after dosing him up with some kind of medication that would make him not care so much and ease the pain.
In the end it was decided for him to go home with a splint on and medication and to come back and see the doctor on Monday were it would most likely be determined that he would have surgery that day. Doug did indeed have surgery where they place 11 screws and one plate in his leg. He stayed in the hospital for a few days after surgery for pain control. It hurt REALLY BAD he said, especially after surgery when they let the pain medication start to wear off.

Well, it's now July and Doug still has on a walking boot. At this point he can put 100lbs of pressure on it. He tries to do as much as he can. His swelling in his foot is much better than it used to be and he doesn't have much pain at all.

Our ward and family again stepped up and helped us out a lot. We've had meals brought in, laundry done (our dryer decided not to work the day Doug went in for surgery), and neighbors will just show up from time to time to mow our lawn! We have great neighbors!! This has been a humbling experience and I think Doug has learned much about patience and I have learned much about service--service that I give and receive. Having twins babies and a husband that can only hold but not transport has been hard but things have gotten much easier in time, especially with all of the help that we have received!!

And so the blog has suffered but soon, if all goes well, updates of the last few months will be on their way!

Ski Day

2009-03-24T10:37:00.002-06:00

Mya is always looking for friends her age to ski with. Our neighbors had wanted their boys to learn how to ski so on March 14th we traded babysitting of the twins for ski lessons and took the boys up to Sundance to learn how to ski.

I thought that we would only spend our time on the bunny hill and never get to the lift but they learned fast and we ended up going on the lift a few times. It was a beautiful spring day and it was enjoyable to have a Saturday spent outside.

Valentine's Day Gift

2009-03-24T10:25:00.005-06:00

Doug and Mya decided that for my Valentines Day gift this year they would paint the baseboards in the house. Well, Doug always likes to please so they went above and beyond the baseboards and decided to paint the dining room and add some decorative trim as well. I think that it looks wonderful. Thanks for the Valentines Day gift, I love it!

Mya's 9th Birthday

2009-03-22T10:40:00.013-06:00

Mya is extremely creative. She comes up with things that I could never have imagined at her age. She is a very talented artist, so it made sense to have her 9th birthday party at Color Me Mine. The girls all got into their projects and took a great deal of time and thought on their ceramic they were painting.

We had a wonderful time eating, watching Tinker Bell, opening gifts, using their creative minds and eating brownies (Mya doesn't like cake because of the frosting).

Later that evening Mya wanted to go to McGrath's for her birthday dinner--she loves shrimp.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday Mya, we love you!!

Jumping and Pancakes

2009-03-22T10:27:00.005-06:00

Preston excels at jumping. He loves his Jumperoo. He could jump in his sleep, as you can see he's doing right here. I had gone to change Alexa's diaper and when I came back Preston was sound asleep. When I touched him to take him out he started jumping again as though he had never missed a beat.

Sometimes the cutest things the babies do are when they're eating. Here we gave Alexa a bit of a pancake. It was Mya's birthday and it's a tradition to have pancakes on birthdays so we can blow the candle out on the pancakes for breakfast.

Mya's View of her Mom

2009-03-20T18:31:00.006-06:00

Here are some questions I asked Mya after seeing this same post on a couple of my friends blogs. I was kinda' afraid to see what some of the responses would be and how well she actually knew her mother.

1. What is something Mom always says to you?
" Do your homework"

2. What makes Mom happy?
"When I ask if I can help"

3. What makes Mom sad?
"When she has the babies all day long by herself"

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
"When she scares me"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
"smart and fun"

6. How old is your mom?
"37"

7. How tall is your mom?
first answer "2 feet 3 inches" second answer " 7 feet 3 inches"

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
"Read by the fire"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
"sleep"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
"Being pretty" I'll pay her for that answer later

11. What is your mom really good at?
"bike racing"

12. What is your mom not very good at?
"Skiing steep, icy slopes"

13. What does your mom do for a job?
"Ski Instructor"

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
"Mexican"

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
"That she tries to help me do the best in life"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"This answer counts because Garfield is a cartoon--Garfield's owners girlfriend" I believe that is Jennifer Love Hewitt. I'll pay her for that answer later too.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"Ride our bikes in the canyon"

18. How are you and your mom the same?
"We both have blue eyes"

19. How are you and your mom different?
"We have different faces"

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
"When she puts me to bed every night she says she loves me"

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
"He's funny"

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
"The gym"

Alexa Sits on Her Own!

2009-03-20T18:05:00.002-06:00

This photo was taken February 11th 2009.

Now, over a month later in March it is so nice to just plop Alexa down and have her sit anywhere. She is a little bit more coordinated than her brother. Preston is about at the stage Alexa was in this picture where she could sit but not for very long before falling over. So, Preston is still laying most of the time when they're playing, hence Alexa, because she is sitting will take, many times, what Preston is playing with and hold it over her head so he can't get it back. She also likes to grab his ear and pull. She better watch out for the day Preston can grab her toys and pull her ears!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-03-20T17:53:00.004-06:00

On a cold and windy February 9th day, Doug, Mya and I went to the Draper Temple Open House. What a beautiful temple! The craftsmanship was beautiful and the materials came from all over the world. If I remember right the stone inside the temple was from France, the wood was from Africa and the outside stone was from China?! Where ever it all came from I think it's appropriate for the Lord's House.

6 month check-up

2009-03-19T11:44:00.004-06:00

Here is Alexa waiting patiently and model-like for the doctor to come in for her 6 month check-up. Both Preston and Alexa LOVE the mirror.

At this check-up, on January 28th Alexa measured in at 13.34 lbs and Preston was 13.16 lbs. Alexa's length was 24.5 in. and Preston's length was 25.5 in.

More Pics

2009-01-21T14:12:00.003-07:00

To look at this picture of Alexa and then one of her taken in the hospital there is a noticeable difference. Alexa was so small when she was born, only 3lbs 12 oz. Here you can see that she is starting to get a little meat on her bones. Her face has also filled out more. What a cute little girl!
How do you get a picture like this? Well, you have to have a lot of patience. It took hours! Especially when you have twins. The key is to have an electric heating pad under the blanket so the babies stay nice and warm and want to go to sleep. We were afraid that they might not sleep. Photos of sleeping babies are usually taken during their first month of life but they were in the hospital then and by the time the photographer had an opening they were two month old. I'm so glad that they let us get these shots and slept for a little while.
The blessing dress here is actually longer, it's bunched up. Mya's aunt Jen made it for Mya when she was a baby. It's a beautiful dress. I'm glad that we were able to use it twice!

Don't they look sweet?

Oh how they've grown

2009-01-21T13:50:00.008-07:00

I started this post back in January and haven't had time to finish it until now. I probably won't finish it right now either since I have one baby cryinging and it's 5 min. before feeding time again. Oh well..
So, a couple of months ago I was thinking how the twins have grown so much over the last 6 months, it's 8 months NOW. So here's a look back....

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

Favorite Photos

2009-01-21T13:15:00.006-07:00

I finally moved my computer from my office out to the desk in the kitchen so when the babies are asleep (one of them usually sleeps in my office) I can get on my computer for a few minutes.

I've had these pictures on my computer for ages, it seems. We had the twins photos taken professionally on September 11, 2008 (they were almost 2 months old) in our home and ended up buying the digital image for all of them because they were so adorable. So here are a few of my favorites.

More to come later, Alexa's up...

Did She Roll Over?

2009-01-21T13:06:00.006-07:00

So, last week on January 15th, Alexa and Preston's 6 month milestone, I came back from putting Preston down for a nap and saw Alexa in this position. Alexa had rolled over! She was smiling and so proud of her self. Well, I wanted to see if she could show me her new trick so I put her on her back and got the video camera going. She rolled over for me! Just when I turned off the camera she rolled from her stomach to her back!

Now Preston, I know he was the first to show us that he HAD rolled over BUT he has yet to demonstrate his new found skill for us. We're still waiting Preston....

Christmas 2008

2009-01-09T16:42:00.003-07:00

I'm finally getting a chance to blog about our Christmas. Some days it's either take a bathroom break or get on the computer when the twins are down for a nap.

Santa found us on Christmas. Mya is showing off one of her hats here (she is all about accessories now). Grandma and Grandpa Massey came to see us open gifts and see what Santa had brought. The twins got an exersaucer. They look so tinny in it. Their arms barely reach SOMETHINGS and their legs are no where near touching the ground!

We traditionally have breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa Thompsons. We decided that if we were going to eat that the twins could try rice cereal for breakfast too. You can see Alexa's reaction to that. She did not like it! A few weeks later Alexa is the better eater and Preston is not really interested.

Opening gifts was on the agenda next and then a trip back home for naps!

Did he roll over?

2009-01-07T16:29:00.003-07:00

I had to walk away from the babies for a bit today, when I came back Preston was on his tummy, I didn't put him on his tummy. So either Alexa kicked him over onto his tummy (not likely) or he rolled over! Our nanny said he rolled over yesterday in front of her but I have yet to see it with my own eyes.

7th Highlight of Park City Vacation

2008-12-24T11:47:00.002-07:00

On the weekends Santa came to one of the shops just out our door, down the hall and around the corner. He was so close we had to go see him and get a picture! Look, the twins are not crying or even close to being scared. I even left Alexa on Santa's lap a bit longer than anyone else because Santa wanted to hold her.

6th Highlight of Park City Vacation

2008-12-23T15:40:00.004-07:00

The Polar Express was a highlight that Mya especially loved. I think Preston may have liked it too, but Alexa did not so much. It was time to go to sleep and the noise really bugged her and she let us know it for about a half and hour or so.

We got to have hot chocolate and a cookie. The elves took down what Mya wanted for Christmas so they could let Santa know. I really don't know if Santa will ever know exactly what Mya wants for Christmas because even on the train ride she changed her mind twice! We also read from the book Polar Express, sang Christmas carols, talked to Mrs. Clause and asked her what Reindeer eat and then, best of all, WE SAW SANTA!!

Let it Snow, let it Snow!!

2008-12-22T12:30:00.002-07:00

Let it snow let it snow....but stop for a little while over the next couple of days 'cause I'm not done shopping...then start up again!

5th Highlight Of Park City Vacation

2008-12-22T12:22:00.002-07:00

Ice skating was another highlight of the trip. Mya LOVES to ice skate so I was glad that we had time to do this with the Parker family. We decided that the twins didn't need to go skating so I stayed back at the resort and took a nap! The only nap of the whole vacation.

4th Highlight of Park City Vacation

2008-12-21T18:08:00.006-07:00

Skiing was the main reason we took the vacation to Park City. I had a clinic that I needed to go to. Being a PSIA (professional ski instruction of America) member, I needed to keep up my hours of education to remain in good standing. So on this particular day I had the clinic at Park City Mountain resort so Mya and Doug came and skied here while I was in the clinic all day.

The resort that we stayed at was on Main Street, but from the top of this lift behind us (in the picture above) there is another lift that will drop you back into town on Main Street right at our resort. On the picture below we are on that lift.

The next day we skied Deer Valley and the day after that Doug was the only one that skied and he skied at The Canyons. The resorts all had minimal snow and very few lifts and runs open. You win some and you loose some this early in the season. I guess we lost this year.

Mya's Christmas Program

2008-12-21T17:48:00.003-07:00

So on Thursday when I picked Mya up for school she says to me, "There were three terrible things that happened to me today".
I wanted to start the ride off with something positive so I said, "I saw your Christmas Program today!"
Mya replied, "make that two terrible things".
Mya hadn't seen me in the huge crowd of parents in the gym. I wasn't sitting too far back. I thought that she would have been able to see me, but as you can see in the picture (Mya is standing right next to the girl with her hands on her deer head) Mya was doing what her teacher had told them to do, she was keeping her eye on the teacher. I tried to get to her after they were done singing but the hall was jammed with the 4th grade getting ready to go on stage. I was about a half an hour late in feeding the twins and needed to get home as fast as possible, so there was a good reason why Mya might think I didn't make it. Well, it's a good thing that I have proof (see above) that I was there!
Mya's grade sang Jingle Jangle" and "Pablo". I liked Pablo the best I'd never heard it before. I guess Pablo is kinda' like Rudolf in Mexico.

3rd Highlight of Park City Vacation

2008-12-20T21:10:00.002-07:00

Swimming in the indoor/outdoor pool was fun. The babies went swimming too for the first time! The water felt warm but the air was a little cool even in the indoor part of the pool, so the twins first experience swimming was a short one.

2nd Highlight of Park City Vacation

2008-12-18T13:50:00.003-07:00

While in Park City we took a morning and went to the Olympic Park to see the museum and also to watch some Skeleton racing. Try as I might I could never get a still shot of the skeleton racer coming down, they go so fast! We enjoyed this outing with the Parker family.

This was the first snow that Preston and Alexa experienced. You can see from the expression on Alexa's face that this is something new and different!

1st Highlight of Park City Vacation

2008-12-17T11:49:00.002-07:00

If you know us well then you know that we can't stay home for long. We had to take a vacation! With two babies only 4 1/2 months old we couldn't go far. It took two cars for us to get away with all the baby things, skis, food, clothes and a nanny. We decided to enjoy a vacation up in Park City last week. We stayed on Main Street at the Marriott Summit Watch. At this resort we could enjoy a full kitchen and much needed living space.

Of the many things we did one of the first was to walk main street and go in some of the shops. We like to browse the art stores.

Girls Night Out

2008-12-16T15:51:00.002-07:00

It was a "girls night out" with the Thompson family sisters, mom and sister-in-laws on Saturday,(Brooke couldn't make it due to the snow--Trevor, my brother, also came, he said he was comfortable with his manhood and would be just fine).

We started off with lunch at PF Changs. It's the best restaurant to go to with a large crowd because you can share. We ended up getting two fixed price menus for two. I think it was the perfect amount of food for 6. We got 4 soups 2 different appetizers (lettuce wraps and seafood wontons) 4 entrees (honey chicken, sweet and sour chicken, cashew chicken and mongolian beef) then it also came with 4 mini desserts!

Next we went to the theatre to see Twilight, which was the reason for the outing in the first place. All of us had either read or listened to the book. My thoughts were that Edward didn't "dress" the part. He and his family have more money than they know what to do with. They have a sister that can see the future, now what do you think their stock portfolio looks like?! He also didn't drive the appropriate car for the part either. And, Edward is supposed to be drop dead gorgeous...I wasn't seeing it. Jacob kinda' grew on me, he's not what I had exactly pictured though. I read today that the actors part as Jacob had not been agreed upon for the next movie, we'll have to see what happens there...

All was well at home when I returned. It was fun to get a day out!

Angels Singing

2008-12-04T20:43:00.004-07:00

Mya sang like an angel today at our ward Relief Society Christmas dinner. She sang "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Tell me the Stories of Jesus". Again she wished that she could have sung a solo. She wanted to sing "Silent Night". Mya really loves to sing so I'm glad that she was able to have this opportunity with some of the other children in the ward.

Doug's Birthday

2008-12-03T20:23:00.003-07:00

Doug had his birthday on Sunday. He's not a cake person so we didn't have cake. Mya thought that it would be nice to have pancakes to put the candle into so he could blow it out and make a wish. Well, Sundays are crazy at our house so Doug ended up making his own french toast and blowing the candle out while I was feeding one of the babies downstairs. My french toast from that morning is still in the fridge, like I said Sunday is a crazy day here, maybe I'll get to that french toast tomorrow.

So the day of Doug's birthday wasn't the best, but on Friday we went to see Bolt with Mya and then a couple hours later Doug and I went to dinner at a Sushi restaurant and then to see Australia. I highly recommend Australia, it was an excellent movie.

The next day, Saturday we did the traditional ski trip for Doug's birthday. Doug and I went to Snowbird and had a good time. It snowed while we were there and the terrain was surprisingly good for this early in the season. Visibility was not so good at times but we all survived. Happy birthday Doug!!

Gratitude Day 19, 20, 21 & 22

2008-11-30T14:33:00.002-07:00

I've been so busy over the Thanksgiving Holiday that I haven't had a chance to do my gratitude days. I've saved the best for last and that is my family.
Gratitude Day 19 Doug
1. I am grateful when Doug starts the laundry.
2. I am grateful when Doug takes me out on dates and I can spend one on one time with him.
3. I am grateful that Doug can fix anything (at least that's what he tells Mya). Gratitude Day 20 Mya
When the photographer was going to send us the DVD of the pictures she had taken of our children above she wanted to put it to music. One of the songs that she suggested was "Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah Mclachlan. I couldn't pick that song because for us children are no "ordinary miracle" so...
1. I am grateful for the extraordinary miracle of Mya! Mya came to us after going about trying to have her the "traditional way", 5 artificial inseminations, seeing an iridologist with a colon cleans etc., acupuncture, much vitamin c, and 2 invitro fertilizations. Mya was no ordinary miracle. The embryologist that we used worked in the same office that I worked in so technically when I got pregnant with it was at work while Doug was out of town in Colorado. Kinda crazy how that all works out. I saw Mya through a microscope when she was literally 2 days old. She was just a bunch of cute cells then.
2. I am grateful for the friend that I have in Mya. I love to have mother daughter outings with her and enjoy her company just one on one. She is a wonderful person to be around.
3. I am grateful for Mya's beautiful voice! Since Mya was a child she has woken up singing. She would sing every time she went to the bathroom when she was younger and now she sings in the shower. Her dream is to be on American Idol but right now she'll settle for singing a solo in church.

Gratitude Day 21 Alexa
1. I am grateful for the Extraordinary miracle of Alexa! Alexa came to us after 5 invitros. One with Dr. Andrews and Dr. Richards, one with Dr. Ringler in LA, one with Dr. Blauer, one with Dr. Bryner and Dr. Richards and the final one with Dr. Blauer again. You could say that we went with the idea of never give up never surrender. Just at the time we were about to surrender was when our little Alexa became a reality. I too was able to see Alexa when she was at cellular level. At the final procedure we asked our doctor if the two embryos that we had chosen where going to be smart kids and he said he didn't know about that but that they were good looking. And Alexa is, she is a very cute little girl.
2. I am grateful for Alexa's loving face. Alexa will look at you with such love and a beautiful smile when you smile down at her in the morning when you go to get her. Seeing a face like that at the start of your day is so wonderful.
3. I am grateful that Alexa is a fast bottle feeder. At the 10pm feeding Doug and I are always running to be the one to get Alexa so we can get to our beds quicker. Oh, thank you Alexa for being so fast!

Gratitude Day 22
1. I am grateful for the extraordinary miracle of Preston! At the ultrasound where we find out what we are having I'll say we were glad to have whatever, but I think secretly Doug and I both wanted at least one boy. We saw Alexa first and then Preston and we were soooo excited. We had the name Preston picked out for about 15 years and were glad to finally have him.
2. I am grateful for Preston's playful personality. There have been nights at 4am when Preston's making noise and you go in to quiet him down and he looks up at you with the biggest grin and starts moving around as if to say, "hey, I'm glad you came, let's play!" It's hard not to give in.
3. I am grateful that Preston can just sit and chill. He is quite mellow and so fun. I can't wait to hear his first words.

Gratitude Day 18

2008-11-26T17:44:00.003-07:00

1. I am grateful that Preston has found his thumb. When he was in the NICU there was one day that he had his thumb in his mouth, I think he found it by accident, but since then, nothing. Over the last couple of days though he, either by accident or on purpose, has found his thumb again and has figured out how to get it back in his mouth. Right now I'm grateful he can get his thumb in his mouth because at 4am he can't get his binky back in his mouth but he can get his thumb in. Yesterday I saw Alexa with her thumb in her mouth. I think Preston may have been filling Alexa in on his new find!

2. I am grateful for good friends. Meals, vacations, parties, conversations, etc. are always so much better with good friends.

3. I am grateful to have family close. I can't imagine the holidays without family. Some holidays get a little overwhelming spending all day going from one family to the next but in the end the holidays are a good tradition BECAUSE OF families.

Gratitude Day 17

2008-11-25T11:45:00.002-07:00

1. I am grateful for the times when I'm in a hurry and the lights are green when I need them to be.
2. I am grateful for Carnation Instant Breakfast and fruit leather. I'm always in a hurry in the mornings and if it weren't for these two food items I don't know that I would get anything in me until noon.
3. I am grateful for warm coats when it's cold outside. I just got a new coat for this ski season and I'm hoping that it's a warm one!

Gratitude Day 16

2008-11-24T11:58:00.003-07:00

1. As winter inches closer and closer I am grateful for God's paint brush. The photo here is from Powder Mountain a few years ago. What a picturesque day it was!

2. I am grateful for "powder days"! Some people don't like to ski powder, I can't think of anything better. While on the trip from the photo above, Doug and I were privileged to be the first ones down a run that was just opened for the season after a big dump of the white stuff. You can't help but smile as you're going down a run like that!

3. I am grateful that Mya and Doug both ski. Actually according to Doug we wouldn't even be a family if I didn't ski because that was a MAJOR requirement for his wife. Skiing is one activity that we do as a family where you have multiple chances of one on one time with your child and they can't go anywhere! The lift is a great bonding tool to use with your children and spouse. I highly recommend skiing as a way to cultivate relationships.

Gratitude Day 15

2008-11-23T20:42:00.004-07:00

1. I am grateful when BYU wins! That didn't happen last night against the University of Utah so we have some sad boys in our house.

2. I am grateful for God the Father and His son, Jesus Christ. As literal spirit children of our Father in Heaven we would not be here if it were not for him. And without Jesus Christ we would not live again! As the season of Christmas approaches I am grateful for His birth. His life was an example to everyone of the kind of life we should strive to live.

3. I am grateful for frozen cookie dough or good sister in-laws like Mindy who will make cookies out of scratch. Last night as the BYU vs. Utah game was looking worse and worse and I was feeding a baby I thought we needed something sweet so I asked Mindy if she would make us some cookies. I told her to pick some cookies out of our freezer and make those up (I like things quick and easy, plus our family gets tired of cookies when I make a whole batch and we don't finish them all). Mindy said, "that's OK, I'll make some from scratch, I have a recipe!" Mindy's like a boy scout, she comes prepared with recipes....

Gratitude Day 14

2008-11-22T14:39:00.004-07:00

1. I am grateful for times of rest and relaxation. Oh, I'll get to that time in my life again someday....I hope!

2. I am grateful that Doug has never been out of work since we have been married. We have really been blessed in that regard.
3. I am grateful for good memories.

Gratitude Day 13

2008-11-21T15:03:00.004-07:00

I thought I would ask my daughter what she was grateful for, many I have listed, but some I haven't here are a few.

1. Trees. Trees seem to make everything more beautiful.

2. Animals.

3. Temples.

Gratitude Day 12

2008-11-20T11:21:00.003-07:00

1. I am grateful for the sunshine. I can't imagine waking up to darkness. I guess in certain parts of the world there are times during the year where they don't experience much light. I would get so depresses during that time of the year. Love the sunshine!

2. I am grateful for the moisture that we receive. I love it when it snows during the winter and I love a good rainstorm when it comes down hard (assuming I'm indoors). The sound of thunder and the bursts of lightning are a wonderful show unless you're in the Uintas and someone was killed by lightning a week before there, then it's not fun--been there--really, not fun!

looking out of our tent during a rainstorm in the Uintas

3. I am grateful for washing machines. Enough said!