Thanksgiving Fun!

OK, I know it's been awhile since I've posted. It's not due to lack of trying, that's for sure. I had a post all ready one day and my computer crashed and I lost it. So, here we go again. Here are some fun pictures from our Thanksgiving together. Everyone was there except Brian and his family. We missed you guys!!!

Lucas loves to be lifted into the air. Janine was lifting him up and would just laugh. It was so cute.

Joni brought up her jewelry and jewelry makings so that we could make some. Lincoln and Spencer each wanted their chance to try it all on. She had quite a few necklaces.

Check out tough Spencer. Even though he wanted them on, he's still showing his "manly" side.

When it came time for the turkey to come out, Kevin decided it needed a little extra attention to make it more tender. He wouldn't carve it but decided to give it a massage. Go figure!!

Look at cute little Kambry!!

After dinner, Joni and I decided to play a game with the kids. I don't remember exactly what was going on with Micah at this moment but I promise she was having fun.

While we were playing, I had music playing on my cell phone while our pieces moved along the board. Once they were in place, the music would stop until the next person's turn. Lincoln was very entertained by it.



Lucas, on the other hand, had reached his limit. Here he is totally asleep on Grandma, which of course she does not mind at all.

A few of the cousins together. Cute shot huh? Kambry had reached her limit as well. She did not want to be far away from Mom.

Check out this picture of Lincoln and Brett. It is so cute!!!

We had a great time, good food, good laughs, good times.

Happy Halloween!!!

This Halloween was a lot of fun and hard at the same time.

First the fun: After Kambry's birthday party, Janine and I went back to the house and her family and I all carved pumpkins. Well, let me be honest. Janine, Jason and I carved pumpkins, the boys were disgusted with the whole cleaning out process. They both tried...briefly...but the did not like the feel at all of the guts of the pumpkins on their hands. Lincoln lasted longer than Spencer. Spencer couldn't get his hands washed fast enough. He was perfectly happy once his hands were clean. Janine attempted to get Lincoln into it. She ALMOST had him. She started to shake his hands and show him how slick they were. He seemed to have fun with it for awhile until she tried to get him to get more on his hands. Nope, he was not up for doing that. Here are some of the cute pictures I got: 

He thought it was so funny to watch Janine's hand slick right off of his. We were all laughing. But looking back, was it the hands slicking off each other or was it Janine's reactions??? I think probably both.

Really, he was awake for all of this. I just happened to catch him mid-blink. He was having fun for awhile until he saw Spencer reactions. Then he remembered that he was supposed to be disgusted of this all and insisted on getting a wipe to clean his hands. That left Janine and Jason to handle the pumpkins. All of her pumpkins turned out so nice...especially the Jack Skeleton one. It was cute!

A few years ago, Janine started to bring Spencer downtown to have lunch with me and do a little trick-or-treating at the office which has consisted of just coming up and visiting my office. When this all started, Barbara and I were in the same office. She loves Spencer and tells me often that there is something special about him. I can't argue with that. She looks forward to it every year as do I. This year, when Janine called and asked if I would want them to come up again this year, I said, "Absolutely!!!" When I got off the phone I called Barbara. She was so happy and quickly said, "I'd better make sure I'm stocked up and ready." It was so cute.

Well, on Halloween day, Barbara called me mid-morning wondering what time the group would be there. I told her and she said, "OK, I'd better go to lunch soon so I make sure I am here and don't miss them." After lunch, we headed over to my work. We went to see Barbara first. Spencer remembered where he was going. We let him walk in first. He went right up to Barbara and gave her a hug. Look at her face. Do you think she hated it?? You're right. She loved it.

The kids properly trick-or-treated, but with Barbara they always end up with way more than they need. She not only gave them whatever candy they wanted, she also told me to go get some baggies out her closet and she filled them each a baggy of Chex Mix. Thank you Barbara for being so kind to my nephews. The loved their visit with you. It was the highlight of their trip downtown.

Here's Lincoln giving her his appreciation:

We had to see the helmet with the visor down once. I hurried and snapped a photo. Spencer was "Maverick" from Top Gun. I think by the look of the costume he will have another year at least of being Maverick. Look at the rolled sleeves. He was pretty cute!

Here's a cute Halloween family. They were all standing together so I quickly snapped the photo. Here's the roll call: Indiana Jones, Hippie Chick, Maverick, Mickey Mouse, and a lion. Cute huh?

When we got up to my office, they met my new roommate Laura. While Lincoln was working away at my desk (which I sadly didn't get pictures of), Janine finally took poor, confined Lucas out of his stroller prison. She stood him up in front of her than would gently nudge him to standing straight up. He did it.Stood for quite some time and then would lean forward to have her catch him. It became more of a game for him of course. He started to just lean forward to have her catch him. He would laugh and then want to do it again.

Check out Lil' Blue Eyes. Yes, yes, he's only 1/2 lion now. He was roasting in that lion costume. One unhappy camper...or little lion that is. He was much happier once the top part was off. Look at his cute Halloween onesie. 

Look at those blue eyes. That's why his nickname is "Lil Blue Eyes." Such a cutie pie!!!

I had a great time with them. Thanks Janine and family for coming up to see me. I loved it!!!

Now for the not-so-fun part of Halloween weekend: After Janine and her family left, I went right back up to my office and called Mom. She sounded terrible. She had been REALLY sick all weekend. I actually stayed out there Saturday and Sunday nights to keep an eye on her. I almost ran her to the ER but didn't. I could resist no longer. As soon as she answered, I knew it was time. I told her I was coming to get her and for her to be ready. She told me no, but she knew she couldn't stop me. She needed to see the doctor. I forwarded my phones and left immediately to pick her up. After 5 hours at Instacare, 2 IV bags, and 1 trip to the pharmacy, we were back at her home. She had a serious infection and was dehydrated. She had not been eating, not drinking, not keeping anything down that she did ever manage to try to eat. She was really sick. But she seems to be on the mends now. She is getting stronger little by little. She's keeping down some food. And is actually returning to work tomorrow. That will be a real test of her stamina but I think she'll make it.

It's just so hard to watch someone who has always taken care of me when I'm not doing well, to be so sick that it's hard to even get her up and moving. I owed it to her to help as best I could. Mom, I'm so glad that you are starting to make your way back. I love you very, very much and I know I don't tell you enough. Thank you for all the years of sacrificing, watching over, caring for, feeding, cleaning up after, bandaging cuts, and most of all for loving me. I greatly appreciate it more than you will ever know!

Fun Ride to Kambry's Party

So on the way over to Kambry's party, Lincoln and I decided to start singing. One problem though: I found that Lincoln's version of the song lasted a bit longer than my version. I finally decided that it was too cute not to capture on video. Check it out:

I told Janine that I was going to teach him, "This is the Song That Doesn't End." She threatened my life if I did. Just kidding, she didn't. But I said I wouldn't do that to her. In order to get him off the song, since it just kept restarting like a skipping CD, we got him singing a different song. I believe Janine's go-to song is "Twinkle, twinkle little star." I still like hearing him sing it though. It's great fun!!!

Kambry's 1st Birthday

Kambry turned one last week. It has been so amazing to watch her grow and to watch the lives of Kevin and Tenille change forever. They are so happy. Janine, Lincoln, Lucas, and I went to her party. Mom and Spencer were both sick and Jason stayed home to take care of Spencer.

Everything was pink. The decorations, the lemonade, the cake pops. It was so much fun. Here's the way that Kambry was dressed when we got there.

This little car is something that Kevin and Tenille gave her. Tenille said that Kevin picked it out.

Kambry came over and one point and sat with Lucas and I. Doesn't she just look the part of the party girl?

Kevin and Tenille have taught Kambry how to open presents. She will rip the paper or take out the tissue and then hand it to Tenille. What she hasn't learned yet is that once the present is open, the bag gets taken away. She was not happy about that. For Christmas I suggest everyone just give her a bag and some tissue paper. (Just kidding!)

Here's part of the group that was there:

Kevin had bought a flying fish. However, he could never get it to fly. It was so sad, we were all looking forward to watching this flying fish.

Kevin and Kambry had put a book together of Kambry's first year. It talked about everything. At the end of the book, there was this page with pictures from each month of her first year. So cute!

Lincoln was having a great time with Kambry's presents. He especially enjoyed her new purse:

Check out Cory and Zachary. They look so innocent, right??? Cory was having fun filling me in on his latest date. He seems a little smitten.

This was a look I captured after Janine changed Lucas's diaper. So cute!

OK, let me explain. Zachary offered to help Tenille get things ready for dessert. She asked him to frost Kambry's cake. He had a knife full of frosting and ended up getting the frosting on my finger. So what did I do? Of course, I put it on his face. :) As you can see, he was a good sport about it.

Isn't this so cute. Tena got a little Aunt Tena - Kambry time. Tena was very happy!!

Check out this onesie I found for Kambry. I had already picked out some jeans and a ivory sweater when I found this. I couldn't resist. it was too cute!

When it was time for cake, Tenille stripped Kambry down to her diaper and strapped her in to her highchair. It was cute to watch her tear into her cake. Unfortunately, I was taking pictures with Kevin's camera since he was still working on the flying fish.I think Kambry liked her cake.

Happy Birthday Kambry!! We are so happy you have joined our family! We all love you so very much!!!

Impromptu Visit

Mom and Janine and the boys surprised me one night when they decided to come over and check out my bathroom remodel. Once inside, Spencer and Lincoln had a new focus: my pumpkin candy holder and my scarecrow. Last year, Lincoln couldn't keep his eyes off of it. He would go over and hug it. This year they are the same height. Here's one of his first views of the newly christened "Ichabod":

He inspected it, hugged it, had fun with him:

I don't think my decorations have ever received so much love:

They were both getting into the action:

Lucas discovered my dancing frogs. It was fun to watch him learn something new. He learned where the button was and kept pressing it and watching the frogs dance and sing.

Lincoln and Spencer found my iPods. They were having fun listening to the music on it and at one point they had each given me one of their earbuds and I was listening to two songs at the same time. To make it harder, Lincoln had Disney songs and Spencer had Christmas music.

Grandma even got in the action. Spencer had her listen to some of his songs:

Lincoln went over to Janine and they listened and sang with a song, until that is he discovered the fast forward button. He would skip them ahead and rewind it. Janine would make a face and Lincoln would laugh.

Check out "Lil Blue Eyes". He's giving us his Elvis look. He is so cute.

Janine was nibbling on him and he was laughing so hard.

I had a great visit with them. I am so glad they came over. Love you all!!!

Tub/Shower Remodel

PREFACE TO THIS STORY: Before needing to do the driveway, I had decided that it was time to upgrade my bathtub/shower enclosure. I had pink ceramic tile which I hated. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a pink person. I kept my curtain closed so I didn't have to look at it. Well, I had many people come and price it and decided that I would go with a cultured marble. I was all ready to go until the basement flooded. My bathroom went back onto the back-burner and the driveway came in front and center.

AND NOW THE REST OF THE STORY: So during the mess with the driveway, I was in my house. I went in to clean my bathroom, and while cleaning, I inspected a couple of what looked like either hair or future cracks. While I was feeling it with my thumb, my thumb went right through the crack and created a hole. BUMMER!!! Now I have another thing to fix.

Well, after a month and a half of baths only, I pulled the trigger on getting the bathroom fixed. I decided while I was at it, I would move from a two handle, old style faucets to a single handle manifold. One of my neighbors in my ward is a plumber and has done other projects for me. (This has been a huge help.) He came the night before and cut out the wall and replaced the plumbing. Now we are ready for marble. Here's how it looked after he was done.

One final look at the fiberglass wall, dumb shelving, nasty broken soap dish, and yucky pink tile. "Hey, hey, hey, goodbye!!"

The tile ended up coming out in sheets. It was a amazing. Well, this was after the tile and surround was out. Yes, you are seeing things right. Somewhere in the past, someone had both pink tile and matching pink walls. WOW!! That would have been nasty!!!

 Everything all patched and ready. Now for the marble. I'm getting excited.

 And here's the finished product: Isn't it beautiful?? I love it. I feel like my bathroom is taller and my enclosure wider. I had no idea how much the shelving unit in the fiberglass surround took up real estate. I now feel like I have a TON of room.

 Here's how the other side turned out. I kept my shower head but everything else is new including the drain cover and the vent.

Overall, I am very pleased and it feels like my bathroom is the first room that I am completely satisfied. I think getting that old tile out really updated the look and feel of the bathroom. What do you think?

Conference Weekend

Conference weekend was great. I always love conference. Zachary came and stayed the weekend with me. Our plan was to go to conference Saturday morning (thanks to a couple of tickets given to me by my boss) and then we were going to come home, do a little work outside, watch conference, do more work outside, get Zachary to Priesthood, and then have a fun night. Sunday we were going to stay home all day and watch.

Right as we were leaving for the Saturday Morning Session, I received a call from Dad. He wanted to know if I wanted to go then to go and get some mulch. (I had talked with him earlier in the week to see if we could find some time to go.) Well, after his call, Zachary and I ran to get our work clothes knowing that right after the session we are going to head down there. Dad was awesome. We ended up making two trips to pick up mulch. I ended up with a huge pile in front of my garage. Dad said that I would be forever until I got that moved.

By the time we were done running around, there was a storm blowing in. Dad told Zachary and I to hurry home to get as much of the mulch protected as possible before the rain hits. Zachary and I started working. Using a 5-gallon bucket, a square shovel, and a snow shovel, check out our results:

 The pile got moved. We ended up working in the dark by the end of it, but we did it. Zachary worked like a dog. He was such a hard worker. I was very impressed and lucky to have had him there with me.

We were very tricky as we were moving the mulch onto the patio. We built a supporting wall around it so we could build the pile higher without going wider.

Zachary decided to plant a flag on top of our mountain of mulch. He wanted to call it Mt. Everest but I think we settled for Mt. Mulch.

Needless-to-say, when we finally got inside and cleaned up (we were ABSOLUTELY FILTHY), we got something to eat and watched a show on TV. We went to bed and both of us slept VERY well that night. My back was a little sore the next day.

Conference Sunday was wonderful!! Here is Zachary enjoying conference. :)

He really was listening, but I did sneak this picture quickly. I had a great time Zachary! Thanks for coming and spending the weekend with me!!!