The Felt Family

Graduation Party

2011-05-11T15:38:00.000-04:00

For quite a while now I have been trying to post about our terrific vacation to Hawaii over Christmas break, (yes...I know that was 4 months ago) but for some reason Blogger doesn't want to upload any of those pictures. I have tried everything I can think of and have decided I just need to move on.

This last weekend was Dave's graduation party. We had a great time. It was really fun to have an excuse to dress up a little. The last four years have not been easy, but the memories and friendships we are leaving with make it all worth it!!

Do you like Dave's hat? It was his prize. He was voted Best Male Personality by his class. Pretty neato!!

Woo-hoo!!!

2011-05-06T08:38:00.001-04:00

What a HUGE accomplishment! So proud to be his wife.

Catch up time!

2011-04-07T15:08:00.007-04:00

About 3 months ago I sat down to post about Halloween through our trip to Hawaii for Christmas. It took me a VERY long time to sort through all the pictures. Then it took even longer to get them all in order for a post. When I finally finished what happened? The post was gone! I kid you not, I could not find it anywhere. I am reluctantly trying again. Halloween:

Austin chose to be Thugee Slave Driver from Indiana Jones. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what a slave driver is, but thought he looked cool.

Taylor was a green moray eel. The costume is kinda goofy, but I did my best and he LOVED it!

Caden was Mola Ram, also from Indiana Jones. I guess my years of pumpkins and ghosts and skeletons are over.

Sweet Haley was the tooth fairy. She is such a girl and loves all things pretty.

For Thanksgiving we went to visit the Cannon clan in Rochester. Dave's little brother Rupert and his bride Jessica came out from Utah also. We had a super fun time being together. One day I hope we can live closer to eachother.

All the cousins.

Playing the hat game.

Me and Dave at Mayo Clinic

Random pictures:

Haley not so sure about the whole Santa thing.

Haley loves her Daddy and loves to wear his work glasses.

We have the best optical shop where we get the boys glasses. There are two ladies there who know us and are so kind whenever we come in. One of the last trips to get the boys glasses adjusted Haley kept wanting to try on her own glasses. One of the ladies got an old pair, popped out the lenses and gave them to her so she wouldn't feel left out. She also gave her a princess purse/glasses case which she takes almost everywhere. The glasses didn't last long, she broke them after about a day, but she thought they were pretty fun!

And then the boys...

2010-11-09T17:14:00.006-05:00

I gave up on getting school pictures done at the school a long time ago. They are hardly ever good and they cost way to much for only a few pictures. I have been taking the kids to JC Penny. We love our photographer and I feel like I get a great "school" type picture every time. Here are our growing boys. Austin and Taylor in 3rd grade and Caden in 1st.

Austin

Taylor

Caden

Haley's 1 year pictures!!

2010-09-21T11:30:00.003-04:00

So in love with this sweet girl.

Finally an update!!

2010-09-13T03:00:00.001-04:00

Well, here we go. I am going to have to apologize now for the lack of writing. There is just to much to post and I think most people would rather see pictures anyway. So here you go!
Is that a tornado? Well Taylor thought is was. He loves tornados and every time there is a thunderstorm or dark skies he wishes he could see one. This was a neat cloud and he was positive it was going to be a tornado. (it wasn't)

I love how Haley is looking at her Grandma. Haley had such a fun time getting to know her a little more!

We went down to Nashville, IN for the 4th of July (the day after I guess) and walked along the same lake we walked in the fall.

Happy Anniversary to me!! Dave stripped my kitchen floor. If I remember right it took him almost 4 hours. It was BAD!! Gross hua? I couldn't think of a better gift! Thanks sweetie!

2010-09-13T02:57:00.000-04:00

Austin and Taylor's 9th birthday. We let the boys choose what they wanted to do, have a party with friends or go up to Lake Michigan and the beach. They chose the beach. Grandma was still in town and some close family friends came with us to help celebrate. The boys LOVED it!!

Taylor with his new Moray Eel and Austin with his new octopus. (Those are the animals of choice right now)

Taylor wanted cupcakes and Austin wanted Fruity Pebble crispy treats. What do you do? You make them both!!

I love the look on Taylor's face.

Pay no attention to the time stamp that our terrible camera left on the pictures. This really was July 2010.

2010-09-13T02:55:00.001-04:00

Caden turned 6 this year and wanted to go to Incredible Pizza. It is kinda like Chuck E Cheese for bigger kids. They have go-karts, bumper cars , mini golf, mini bowling and of course all the arcade games...plus a buffet.

This is Caden opening his new PS3 game. Apparently we didn't take very many "good" pictures. Sorry.

2010-09-13T02:50:00.004-04:00

Haley is one!! I can't believe we have had this sweet girl in our family for over a year now! She brings us so much joy. I love her more and more every day! Haley wasn't sure about what was going on, but she had fun opening her prizes and eventually ate some of her cupcake.

2010-09-13T02:50:00.003-04:00

The first day of school at a new school. The boys all get to go to the same school this year. Austin and Taylor are in 3rd grade and Caden is in 1st. They seem to like their teachers and their new friends!

I know! They are so grown up!! (Caden, Taylor, Austin)

2010-09-13T02:45:00.001-04:00

A bunch of dental families rented a pontoon boat and spent the day out on Monroe lake a couple weekends ago. We had such a fun time!

Austin and Taylor getting carried away in the current.

Caden just kickin' it!

Some of the fun group we got to spend the day with! Thanks Yancey's for putting this all together!!

2010-09-13T02:40:00.001-04:00

Our family went on a new adventure to Turkey Run State Park. The kids loved it. There is a suspended bridge that they thought was the bridge in Indiana Jones. They loved climbing on all the rocks and seeing how high they could get. Taylor turned out to be very brave and surprised me at some of the things he was doing and rock he was climbing.

2010-09-13T02:35:00.001-04:00

Another new adventure was to Catarac falls. The falls weren't really falling because it has been a l o n g time since Indiana has had rain. The boys all loved it just the same. Climbing, expolring, and getting a little wet, being with great friends doesn't hurt either!!

2010-09-13T02:30:00.003-04:00

You may have caught a glimpse of this already, but here is a better picture. Caden had to get glasses. He was blinking hard, a lot, then he started moving his head to the side when he blinked. He also said his eyes hurt. We took him in and he has Amblyopia (basically lazy eye). You can't tell by looking at his eyes, it is something that is happening behind his eye that is causing it. So he got glasses, and he actually likes them. It is still hard for me to look at him sometimes and not see his cute little boy face anymore. He looks to smart and grown up now!
He is a goofy guy, this is he best smile I could get from him!

Haley in her birthday outfit from Grandma. It is finally getting a little cooler so she can wear it. Never mind the squirt bottle, every time I tried to take it away for a picture she cried, but look...she actually left her bow in for more than 15 seconds!

Haley in the tub. These are her first tub pictures. I don't know why, I love tub pictures!

This is just last night, so now you are completely up to date. Hope you enjoyed it!!

I KNOW!! I KNOW!!

2010-09-08T09:54:00.004-04:00

So here is the thing. For those of you who still actually look at my blog, I think you are nice. For those of you who have told me to get my act together and post again, I hear you! The thing is we lost our camera, then found our camera with some great pictures on it. So now I need to organize the pictures from both cameras and then I can post again. It is on my weekly list of things to do. So hopefully by the end of the week you will have some great pictures to see!

Fun web site!

2010-07-21T22:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I came across this fun web site through a friend who was doing a give away, but thought it was good enough to pass onto all you creative ones!! They have super cute family stickers. Hope you enjoy!!http://www.hobbynobby.com

Girl's Camp

2010-07-14T19:02:00.004-04:00

The very early morning after Dave got home from Brazil I left for Girl's camp. I had such a fantastic time. The girls were fantastic and we had a lot of fun. I was with the fourth years and they get to go repelling. Let me tell you, I am terrified of heights, nothing about repelling felt natural to me, and I didn't love it, but I did it. At least I can say that much! I have a lot of feelings and thoughts about camp but none I really want to post here. Just know it was an amazing experience, one I hope I get to do again!!

The girls hugging me after they got soaked playing water games!

Our fantastic group, love these girls!!!
Me, Meranda, Megan, Chamae, Jennifer, Reanne, Sariah, Amy, Amber,
Becca, Noelle, Jordan, Lauren, Lara.

Dave's Brazil Trip

2010-07-14T18:48:00.004-04:00

Back on the 19th of June Dave left to go to Brazil for 10 days with a small group from the dental school. They worked for 4 days (it was supposed to be 5, but because of the World Cup they closed on the last day...everything shuts down for a soccer game.) He had a great time and was very well taken care of by his host family. On Saturday the group got on a bus and headed for the Iguazu falls. Dave said it was incredible! I'm glad he could go and have this fun experience.

Cub Scout Camp

2010-06-27T19:44:00.004-04:00

Austin and Taylor had the opportunity to go to cub scout camp this year. I was a little nervous sending my boys away all day every day for a week. Shooting BB guns, doing archery, swimming in a lake...to name a few. One of the leaders overheard a scout saying "this is awesome, my mom would never let me do this stuff!"
This great man is Leo, he is the director at the camp the boys went to. He totally catered to them. Calling them his "assistant camp directors" driving them (well Austin, but Taylor got to join) in a cart when the walk was just a little to far. The boys had a fantastic time. They were sad on Friday when they realised it was over and they weren't going back. Thank you so much to all the leaders that helped chaperone every day to make this all possible!

Taylor loading...I think.

Ready, Aim, FIRE!!!

Austin with his eye on the target. Speaking of target, I'm not sure how close they were to the targets, but the boys brought home their paper targets and they actually had holes in them! I was impressed.

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!

2010-06-02T14:29:00.006-04:00

Well it's official. The boys are all done with yet another school year. It was a good year. Austin and Taylor made good progress and are still climbing up the charts towards the goal we would ultimately like them to be at. This is a good thing, I get nervous every time there is a meeting to talk about their progress. I dread the day when they start to plateau (maybe that day will never come though). This is Ms. McKulsky and Ms. Ferguson. Two of the best teachers in the whole world, I'm certain of that!

Caden is our smarty. He is completely ready for 1st grade! He had a super cute graduation ceremony but he wouldn't look at me. This is the only picture I got of him looking.

Caden and Mrs. Haskins. The best Kindergarten teacher around.

This is Haley. This is Haley's first time sitting on grass. Haley does not like grass.

After a towel placed under her she calmed down and enjoyed the dandelions.

That's it for now. It is going to be a busy month though. So I'm sure there will be a lot to report later!

It's been a long time.

2010-05-06T20:09:00.007-04:00

For those of you that still look at our blog, I am sorry. I have a couple pretty good excuses though #1: our computer died, we sat on it for a while and then decided to replace it. Then we had to get the hard wear to transfer all our stuff over. #2: I actually tried to update a couple weeks ago and when I went to post it wouldn't let me and it wasn't saved, that was a little frustrating. Anyway, I have finally gotten the motivation to try again. We haven't had a very busy last 3 months, but we have done some fun things.
This picture was taken when we were in Utah for Ru and Jess's wedding. It isn't our normal picture, Dave and I both prefer casual, but all of Dave's family were together so we took a more formal picture with everyone and then of just our family. It is nice to have, but it is already outdated. Haley is so much bigger now!

St. Patty's day was kinda fun this year. Dave, Haley and I went to a parade downtown and then walked the canal that they die green with the Cannon's. Haley didn't have any green so I made her a little flower out of some left over felt I had. It turned out pretty cute I think!

It finally warmed up and we broke out the BBQ, that is saying it pretty lightly. Dave loves to BBQ and does it snow or sun! Notice his apron? It says Del Taco. He bought it on eBay from a guy in California that got arrested and spent time in jail because he pulled a gun on a guy while he was working the counter. Nice hua?

We went up to Chicago for spring break again. This time we went to the Shedd aquarium. It is amazing. It was super crowded though being spring break and a Saturday. The boys still had a fantastic time! It was perfect for them. Taylor is really into eels right now, Austin is into octopuses, and Caden loves sharks!!

I know this picture is blurry, but it is still so cute. Maybe we can call it artistic?

Easter was nice. It fell on conference Sunday this year so we got all dressed up the week before.

Just a couple cute pictures of Haley, we can't get enough of her.

So it has been so long since I have posted that we actually went back up to the Shedd aquarium. We bought a membership the first time because it was cheaper then paying for our whole family one time.

We bought a new toy for our backyard. A small 8' trampoline. The boys helped Dave put it together and have really been enjoying it.

There, now we are all up to date. Good thing to with all our birthdays right around the corner. Plus the boys have scout camp, Dave is going to Brazil with a small group from the dental school and I get to go to girls camp. Busy and exciting summer ahead of us so stay tuned!!

To Utah and back!

2010-02-01T19:37:00.007-05:00

This is Jessica...

Jessica and Dave's little brother Rupert (aka: Robert, Bob, Ru, Rupey, Rob) got married on January 15th. Our family was able to go to Utah to be a part of it.

Here are some pictures from our fabulous trip!!

We had the privilege of staying with Grandpa Rigby (Kerrie's dad) for the first 4 days. He was so kind opening his home to our crazy family. The day we got there he asked what kinds of foods the kids liked and promptly went out and bought them. He made sure we were comfortable. It was really nice to just sit and talk to him some evenings. He is a great man.

Granny Felt (Rod's mom) kept her Christmas tree up so we could have a little Felt family Christmas. We had a yummy dinner, acted out the nativity, and exchanged gifts. Just like a "real" Christmas. It was so nice to all be in the same place together again.

Haley loved all the attention!

Dave and I at the Salt Lake Temple. It was a very nice ceremony. The sealer was Mark Benson, President Ezra Taft Benson's son. Who also happened to be Rod's mission president. Who also happened to marry Dave and I 11 1/2 years ago.

All the Felt siblings.

Apparently Dave and Eric thought they weren't in enough pictures so they snuck into Jessica's family picture time! (see them in the top right corner hee-hee)

Austin, Taylor and Caden were unbelievably good throughout the whole time in Utah. They were very patient and well behaved. I'm a lucky mom to have such great kiddos!

Taylor and Austin making sure they looked their best for the reception.

Me and Haley

The crazy boy cousins looking so sharp!

All tuckered out after a VERY long day.

After the wedding festivities were over we decided to stay in a hotel with a pool for a couple days. The boys love swimming and we wanted some time together as just our family. This was Haley's first time in a pool. Cute hua?

We didn't get to spend very much time with my sister and her family, but the time we had was really nice. These are all the Kendall cousins and my boys, I think Haley was asleep.

One of our favorite things we used to do when we lived in Utah was going to the bounce house at Classic Skating. This time they had added "the jungle" the boys had such a fun time climbing and playing.

Along with the wedding we were able to do some other fun things to. We went to a children's museum called the Tree House, I was able to go to dinner with my dearest friends from high school, Dave was able to go skiing, we visited Dave's old work family, ate really good food that we don't have here, and played, played, played.

We had such a fantastic time in Utah, it was pretty hard for me to come back to Indianapolis this time. We love it here but you know the line, "there's no place like home."

AW YEAH!!

2010-01-26T12:52:00.007-05:00

The Colts are going to the Superbowl! I am so stinkin' excited. I love that Collie has actually been an asset to the team, the announcers kept calling him Manning's new go to guy. Pretty cool.

I thought this picture was fun, he jumped over a Jets player and flipped, sure glad he didn't land on his neck!

Oh...the post about our fantastic trip to Utah is coming. I'm just not very motivated to go through all the pictures right now!

HaPpY nEw YeAr!!

2010-01-01T12:14:00.004-05:00

We have had a great break so far. It has been nice to have family close to us this year especially. Plus Dave's little brother came and stayed for about a week. Here are a few pictures from some of our adventures.

Cute Haley. We sure can't get enough of her!!

Christmas morning. Waiting for the OK that Santa had come.

I made matching PJ's for our family this year.

We went with Uncle Bob, Aunt Andrea and the cousins on a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium, that is where the Colts play. It was really fun, especially running around on the field (well the end zone is all we were allowed to go on, but still fun!)

Well, That's it I guess. We are getting all our plans put together to go to Utah for Bob and Jessica's wedding. It will be the first time all the Felt's have been in the same place in a long time. Should be fun!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2009-12-22T15:39:00.002-05:00

I said I wasn't going to do a Christmas card this year. Then when it got down to it I felt kinda bad not sending one out. So I did a few, mostly to family. I'm sorry if you feel like you should have received one and didn't. I really only did a few. But here it is, including the letter attached. We hope all of you have a fantastic holiday season!

It’s hard to believe that the Holidays are here again!! This year has gone by so quickly!! As we look back, we can see that we have been very blessed here in Indianapolis. Student family life is busy, but has been very peaceful and wonderful. Our family continues to grow and create many lasting memories together.
Dave is in his third year of dental school and is now able to work with real patients in the clinic. He enjoys interacting with his patients and continues to learn new things every day. Most of all, he loves being a husband and dad and is grateful that he can now be home more often in the evenings.
Nicole enjoys being a mom with all that title entails. She loves helping in the classrooms of all three of her boys. She continues to serve in the primary presidency which takes up a good amount of her time also. She feels very blessed to be able to stay at home with her kids.
Austin and Taylor finished a great 1st grade year and are now half way through their 2nd grade year. They are learning a lot and love both reading and math. The biggest event for them this year was turning eight. They were baptized and confirmed by their dad on September 5th. We were blessed to have many family members make the trip to Indianapolis to share in this special day. When asked how it felt to be baptized Austin answered “wet.” Hopefully that isn’t all they felt. Their current interests are eels, tornados, motorcycles, and race cars.
Caden started all day kindergarten this year and has the same teacher that his big brothers had. He loves it. He is very smart and is doing very well in school. He enjoys playing with his friends and on the computer. He was recently placed into an advanced reading group and loves that he is able to read books. He is very sweet and loves to help any time he can.
Haley is the newest addition to our family. She was born on August 5th, sharing a birthday with her Grandma Felt. She is such a precious little girl who we have all fallen in love with. She loves to be cuddled, play peek-a-boo, and chew on anything she can. She especially has a soft spot for her dad who feels the same about her.
We are very grateful to have had a healthy and peaceful year this year. It is nice this time of year to spend a little extra time together and remember all of our family and friends. We are grateful for all of you and hope you have a very happy holiday season.
Love,
Dave, Nicole, Austin, Taylor, Caden, and Haley Felt

O Tannenbaum, O tannenbaum

2009-12-14T14:05:00.003-05:00

This last weekend we went to our favorite tree farm in Indiana to get our Christmas tree. It is always a fun outing!

Looking for the perfect tree...

Trying to keep warm...

Cutting down our tree...

Haley's first time visiting Santa...

The end...

This is how I feel today...

2009-12-08T09:09:00.001-05:00

Last but not least...Haley

2009-11-30T17:44:00.006-05:00

(Sorry all of these post were supposed to be in reverse order, you can start at the bottom if you want!)

We love this little girl at our house. She is getting bigger and more fun every day!!

2009-11-30T17:36:00.005-05:00

My Aunt Maria passed away on the 14th. I was lucky enough to be able to go out to Utah to be there for the funeral with my sister. Maria was the one who when my mom passed away when I was 11 stepped in and took care of me and my dad. She was a fantastic person who I will greatly miss.

Here is her obituary if you want to read it:
Maria Ernst passed away peacefully November 14, 2009 at the age of 93. She was born in 1916 in Germany during World War I. She was one of 9 children who loved each other and were very close. After their mother died, Maria became caretaker for the younger children, which began her life of service and caring for others. The family struggled during World War II and after. She took care of her own siblings and her sister's children as they all fought to rebuild after the war. The strength that came from those years was remarkable and was evident to all that knew Maria.In the 1950's, she immigrated to America, not speaking a word of English. She worked as a housekeeper in Cody, Wyoming for a family that she loved dearly. It was there that she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Her faith in Jesus Christ and testimony of the restored gospel was firm. She moved to New York City to be near her younger sister Anna and learned to sew so she could get a job in the same design house in the garment district. Maria loved the people in the Manhattan ward and the Spanish branch where she served tirelessly taking care of baptismal clothing.After she retired, she followed Anna and her family to Utah where she lived the rest of her life. She served as a missionary in the Frankfurt Temple in 1988 which she loved. She spent countless hours in the temple, doing genealogy, and sewing clothing for humanitarian projects. Everything she did was meticulous--her best effort. That is how she lived her life until the end. She was positive and strong in spirit, even when her body became weak. She never married and had children of her own, but she truly had a mother's heart. After Anna died, Maria took care of her ailing brother-in-law and their young daughter for seven years until their oldest daughter finished schooling. How can we ever express the love and appreciation that we (Anna's daughters) feel for our special aunt Maria. She has strengthened us and sacrificed for us. She taught us to work hard, serve others and have faith. We will miss her so much. We are sure the reunion on the other side was great and joyous.She is survived by one sister in Canada and nieces and nephews in Germany, Canada and Utah/Indiana. The family would like to thank the staff at the Beehive Home and CNS hospice for their kindness and help in caring for Maria the last year and a half of her life.Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 23 at 2pm at the Suncrest 10th ward, 90 North 600 West, Orem, with a viewing before the services at 1 pm. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery.

Halloween

2009-11-30T17:08:00.004-05:00

I don't have very many pictures from Halloween, but we had a fun day. We carved a pumpkin the night before.

Had a fun Halloween lunch with our cousins.

Went to a soup dinner get together with friends and neighbors and went trick-or-treating.
We also went to a fun Halloween party at a friends house. To protect the innocent "Goofy" shall not be named!!

Nashville, Indiana

2009-11-30T16:51:00.005-05:00

On another fun adventure with the Cannon's we went down to Nashville, IN in Brown county. It is a nice little town with mom and pop stores lining the streets and a beautiful state park with a lake you can walk around. The leaves were just starting to change when we went. (the group picture with all of us need a little explanation, Dave has a funny face because he was trying to get all the kids to look at the camera. Go figure!)

Rockville, Indiana

2009-11-30T16:45:00.002-05:00

For a little adventure we traveled to Rockville, Indiana with the Cannon's for the covered bridge festival. Funny thing is we didn't see any of the covered bridges. Oh well we had a great time anyway. We went on a horse drawn wagon ride, enjoyed all the little booths selling fun things, and ate some yummy BBQ!

Getting WAY to far behind

2009-11-30T16:21:00.001-05:00

So I know I said I would do better at posting and that I had a lot to share so I was going to break it up. Truth is, I am way to far behind now. So what would have potentially been a few really nice posts is going to be a few really short posts. With fewer words and much fewer pictures.

So for Austin and Taylor's baptism and Haley's birth and blessing we were blessed to have Dave's parents come be with us. Kerrie came the beginning of August and stayed until all the festivities in the first week of September were over. Rod who wasn't able to be away from the restaurant as long came for about a week when it was time to baptize and bless the kids.

We had a super nice time with both of them. I could not have made it without Kerrie here to help. There are not enough words to express my gratitude to her.

We went to parks and had fun dinners but mostly just enjoyed being together. We even went to Madison, IN where Rod served part of his mission and saw the same apartment he lived in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

2009-11-06T14:24:00.003-05:00

My mom would have turned 85 today. She was an amazing woman who I will be lucky to be anything like when I grow up.

Austin and Taylor's Baptisim

2009-11-05T17:39:00.002-05:00

Ok, I know I said it wouldn’t be long before I posted again…I lied! We had such a busy and full last couple of months that I guess I didn’t know where to start! So I am going to do a little at a time. #1 so I don’t bore you and #2 so I actually do it.
On July 9th Austin and Taylor turned 8. They decided to wait until September 5th to get baptized when their Grandma and Grandpa could be here. We also had a special surprise when the boys Great Grandpa Rigby said he was going to be coming. We felt very honored to have him here. The boys looked so grown up to me. I am very grateful that they chose to be baptized, whether they fully understood what they were doing or not. We had a very nice program. Dave baptized and confirmed both boys. Their Grandpa and Great Grandpa both spoke. The room was filled with the spirit. I hope they can remember how they felt that special day.

Here you go!!

2009-09-14T17:39:00.005-04:00

I know, I know! It has been 6 weeks Wednesday since we had our baby girl, but man, I totally forgot how much time newborns take! Mine especially thinks she needs to be held at all times, making updating my blog a little difficult. Anyway, before she wakes up here are a few pictures.
We have had a HUGE month but all the rest of the great things are going to have to wait.

Haley Nicole Felt was born on August 5th at 8:35am. She was 8 lbs 12oz and 20 1/2 inches long.

Her first cuddle with mom.

I know it's blurry, but it is still pretty cute I think!

Look at all that hair!!

Caden absolutely loves his little sister.

Time to go home!!

Sleeping baby, awww!

Not so sure about the whole bath thing.

Takin' a break in her swing.

This little girl is tightly wrapped around her daddy's finger.

Well there you have it. Stay tuned, I promise it won't take as long for me to update the rest!!

A month full of fun things!!

2009-08-01T15:42:00.006-04:00

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but honestly this month has been CRAZY. July usually is for us but it was more so with the last few weeks of pregnancy going on and a couple other "not normal" things happening...so here is the month of July in a nut shell (and a little bit of June).

All of our family has a birthday in the summer, it starts with me on the 3rd of June. I turned 30 this year and Dave took me on a fantastic date with a yummy dinner and to see Wicked. This is a big deal for Dave, he really doesn't like plays/musicals. We both left though thinking it was fantastic (well fantastic for Dave might not be the right word, but I know he didn't hate it!)

Austin and Taylor started a summer school program that was really well run and they loved it. Taylor even got most improved for his class! It was nice for them to have something to do during the day. This was especially true for Austin as he had Botox injections in his leg to help with the muscle tone, then they put a cast on his foot to hold it in a certain position. They also casted his right arm to force him to use his left arm, his weaker one. He had both casts on for 5 weeks and we finally got them off yesterday. The Dr. was very pleased at the progress he had made, and I think he could tell a difference also. What a trooper!

Dave's birthday was on the 3rd of July and we took the day and went up to South Bend for Del Taco and some playing at the beach. It was a fun day.

Austin and Taylor turned 8 this year, that is really weird for me. They got to go see Walking with the Dinosaurs and thought it was really neat. This also means that it is time to be baptised, they are waiting until September though when their Grandpa and Grandma will be here. They did get to start Cub Scouts and they love it. They have really great leaders who help them and push them! In fact Dave and I got to spend the evening of our 11 year anniversary at the Raingutter Regatta. It was so fun to see the boys blowing on their boats that they painted and made with Dave. (they won every match they were in). It seems like Dave and I have been together forever some days, and not long enough to be having our 4th baby on others. All I know is I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to such a fantastic guy.

We got Dave's board exam results on the boys birthday and he passed. It was a relief for both of us, but obviously mostly for Dave. He didn't feel too good about this exam when he came home after taking it. It was a literal load off his back to get such good scores. He worked so hard and we are very proud of him. He has started working on "real" people and really enjoys this part of his schooling!

Caden has been in swimming lessons these last two weeks and loved it. He also had is 5th birthday on Thursday and all he wanted to do was go to Chuck E. Cheese. I know we did that last year, but it was what he really wanted. What's a mom to do? The hard thing about Caden turning 5 is that he is old enough for kindergarten. I am going to miss my little buddy while he is gone all day. In fact all the boys will be starting school on the 10th of August.

I think that just about wraps it up. Oh, as for me, well I am HUGE, swollen and ready for this little one to come. I go into the hospital on Wednesday at 6am. We are all very excited, the boys more because with the baby coming it also means that Grandma is coming!

I realize that each of these events deserve their own post, but I really haven't had the energy this month. I can only promise to try and do better in the future (give me a week or so after this Wednesday).

OH!! I also need to give a little shout out to my fantastic sister-in-law who has watched one or all the boys many, many times over the last few weeks for Dr.'s appointments and other things. I could not have made it through the last little while without her! Thanks A, I love you!!

Lake Michigan and Indiana Dunes (lots of pictures, not a lot of words)

2009-07-02T13:47:00.007-04:00

This last week our little family went on a two day trip to Lake Michigan and the Indiana Dunes. The boys had such a fun time climbing and rolling down the dunes. The water is still pretty cold, but the boys really didn't seem to notice.

I can't believe how big these guys are getting, where does the time go?

They had a lot of fun jumping into nice soft sand. I was surprised they even tried let alone did it again and again! It's a pretty high jump for a little guy!

Austin's favorite way to get down:

All my boys

How cute are they?

I love that you can see his splash.

Goofy Caden. Again, when did he get so big?

As for me. 4 1/2 weeks left, that's all I have to say right now!

Lots of fun stuff!!

2009-06-08T10:48:00.009-04:00

Ok, the last few weeks have been full of a ton of stuff. Where to start? I guess first, Dave's sister and her family moved from Virginia to Indianapolis (and brought Grandma with them). Eric graduated from Med school and is now an MD. He will spend a year here and then 3 years at the Mayo clinic to become an anesthesiologist. Cool hua? We are very excited to have them so close, even if it is just for a year.
The day after they got here was Caden's graduation from pre-school. He had great teachers and never complained about going to school, he loved it!! The program was extra fun because Grandma was able to be there! I can't believe he is going to be starting kindergarten in only a couple months. He is so excited and ready though!

The next day was an awards ceremony at Austin and Taylor's school. Unfortunately we have no pictures, it is all on video. Oops! The fun thing is that the boys got all the awards they could have received, from honor roll (all year) to perfect attendance. Pretty neat if you ask me!! After their ceremony we took them to a qualifying race for the Indy 500. They loved it and now want to be race car drivers...we'll see about that!

Taylor's favorite was the monster truck.

Caden absolutely loved seeing "the real" Bumlebee.

We had a lot of fun while Grandma was here. We played guitar hero, went to the zoo, went on a surrey ride around the canal downtown, went to Stir Crazy for dinner and Krispy Kreme for a treat, and had a BBQ with the cousins.

Please excuse my largeness, 8 more weeks to go, Wahoo!!!

The boys really enjoyed using chopsticks!

The best part of the last couple weeks for the boys I think was just being able to play with their cousins.

All the boys had such a fun time while Grandma was here, but I think Caden liked it the best. When he woke up and Grandma was gone he started to cry. He only got better when we told him she would be back in a few weeks when the baby is born. So sweet!

Ok, 3 more things:

Taylor found a great prize outside (it's a worm) he was thrilled that Dave actually let him "play" with it.

Dave finished up 2nd year! I can't believe how fast the last two years have gone! He did really well this year, and is now, as we speak, studying for the National Board exam, YIKES!! I know he will do great though.

During the last week of school the students participated in what they call "stab lab" can you guess what that entails? Basically they practice giving each other numbing shots, OUCH! I guess they have to learn somewhere! This is Dave giving a shot to his friend Adam. From what I hear, he did a great job!

Oh, and a little update on me:

That about covers it on my end!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T10:40:00.003-04:00

Mother's day has been a hard day of sorts for me for many years now. Tomorrow it will be 18 years since my own mom passed away after a good fight with cancer. As I have been thinking about her and mothers in general I realised how blessed I have been in my life. I have had four women in my life who at different times have been my mother.

The first is of course my birth mom Elizabeth. I am grateful to her for bringing me into this life. She was not in great place in her life when she had me, but through looking at all the pictures and small amounts of video, I know that she loved me. She loved me enough to make the difficult decision to let me be adopted by Anna and Bill, my wonderful mom and dad! For this I am eternally grateful to her.

The second but the one who means the most to me in this whole world is my mom, Anna. I sit here in tears thinking about what a magnificent women she was. She was older when she married my dad, and was only able to have one child, my sister. She opened her home to me when I was 4 at a time of need in my life, and never hesitated in the idea that I was meant to be in her family. She worked extremely hard for our family. She never complained. She was the most talented seamstress I have ever come across. The students she taught loved her because of her strictness and more for the love and concern she showed each of them as she taught. In the short time (8 years) that I was blessed to have her as my mom she taught me things that I still reflect on and use today. She was a beacon of strength and hope to me. Even after eighteen years without her here there are many days where I wish I could call her and get her motherly help, support, and advice. I know she was there watching over Austin and Taylor while they were in the hospital. We have special experiences that testify of that. I know that she watches over me and cries when I cry and picks me up when I fall. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of eternal families, that I will get to see her again, some day.

The next mom to me is my aunt Maria. Maria has given her whole life to serving others. During the war in Germany when given the opportunity to marry, she chose to stay and take care of her family. She served as a housekeeper to a wonderful family that adored her in Wyoming for many years. After my mom passed away she stepped in to help my dad and I in our daily lives. I did not appreciate her as much at the time as I should have, I thought she was trying to replace my mom. I know now, and have known for many years, what a selfless act of charity and love she displayed to me and my dad.

The fourth mom is my dear mother-in-law Kerrie. Kerrie has always been a huge support to me. I feel very blessed that I can honestly say I love my mother-in-law. I know there are those who can't. Kerrie has been more like a "real" mom to me than a mother-in-law. She is always there to listen, I feel I can tell her anything and she will not pass judgement. She is loving, caring and genuinely concerned when it comes to me. When Austin and Taylor were born she was at the hospital as much as Dave and I were to show her love and support of our small family. When Austin came home a month before Taylor, and I couldn't be there every day with him, she was, and was more than happy to be there. She is an inspiration of a faith promoting women of God, who I aspire to be like some day.

Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful women in my life.

Listen to this!

2009-05-03T13:19:00.002-04:00

Do you like Taylor Swift? Well I don't. Do you like Coldplay? Well I do. Have you heard of Jon Schmidt or Steve Nielson? This is a really neat performance by Jon Schmidt and Steve Nielson. It is an instrumental performance mixing Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" They both went to Highland High, Jon a couple years before Dave and Steve a couple years after. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

http://

Well...

2009-04-19T17:30:00.002-04:00

It's going to be a girl!!

A little from this last week

2009-04-13T13:12:00.008-04:00

The roller coaster is open at the zoo. Austin and Taylor loved it last year and were very excited to get to ride it again, this year they are tall enough to ride it together. Click on the first picture to make it bigger, their expressions are pretty funny! Caden was to short to ride it last year, which was probably best because he really didn't want to anyway. This year I talked him into just trying it once and if he didn't like it he wouldn't have to ride it again. Needless to say it was all he talked about the rest of the day.

All the animals seem to be more responsive and active. The polar bear is swimming around, the walrus loves to play with you at the glass, the baby bears are wrestling and are so cute, the tigers and lions are up and walking around. (I don't think I had ever seen the tiger at Hogle Zoo move) If you can't tell what Caden is looking at it is a stick fish, it is his favorite fish with exception to the tiny jellyfish.

And of course Easter was yesterday. I know these aren't the best pictures, especially the last one, but I just can't get over how big the boys are getting. Where does the time go?

Oh! Stay tuned, I am hoping that on Wednesday I can get a another peek at the gender of the baby.

I want my brain back!!

2009-04-08T18:34:00.004-04:00

There is no reason I have to be so dumb right now! Is there? I mean come on. Here is a little list of the things I have done recently that I can't explain.

-put away clean dishes... in the fridge
-folded and put away dirty clothes...right out of the hamper
-I seriously can't remember which name goes with which boy. "Caden, I mean, Austin, I mean Taylor can one of you please help me?"
-ran into the wall with my pinkie toe (a couple times)
-tripped down stairs that I normally can run down without thinking about it
-mixed the wrong ingredients at the wrong time and the wrong amount. 1 cup flour and 3 eggs, not the other way around.
-threw away papers I needed and kept the ones I meant to throw away
-drove right by a store I was going to (a couple times)

Well, that list will have to do. My brain is not working, so much so that I can't remember the others. Yes, there were others. What am I going to do?

This is neat!!

2009-04-01T11:42:00.006-04:00

I saw this on my friend Jayne's blog this morning. She is in Utah so for those who don't have access to her blog you should check this out. It totally put a smile on my face and even made me cry a little.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE3CNu_rtY

Have a great day!!

Dave's Spring Break

2009-03-23T11:44:00.006-04:00

Well we just finished a nice week with Dave at home. We took the boys to the museum (and forgot our camera) the zoo and to Chicago! Earlier this week I had my ultrasound. The baby is growing and has all it's parts, at least the ones we could see! This baby is either very stubborn, or very modest. It had it's legs locked closed the entire time! I was quite sad, and even started crying...pathetic, I know. I blame it on all the extra hormones floating around in me! Dave got to be there, so it made it even harder to not find out. My doctor is going to try and come up with an excuse to get me in again next month, so keep your fingers crossed for me! I know some people love the element of surprise, but I am not one of those people. I like everything ready to go!!

Below are a bunch of pictures from our week.

For some reason the boys all wanted maps at the zoo, they have never wanted them before, but they loved looking at the animals on the map and telling us where we should go!

The boys loved riding the huge ferris wheel on Navy Pier.

Chicago is a really neat city, we had such a nice time just walking around looking at everything. The boys really wanted to go swimming in the lake, and I finally got to try Garrett's popcorn, SO yummy!

If you are Dave, or a member of his family you can't go somewhere that has a Del Taco and not eat there at least once...we ate there twice. Luckily we all love it!!

We spent a good amount of time at Millennium Park, Caden could not get enough of the huge "jelly bean."

We had to stop by and look up the Sears Towers. We heard a lot of WOW's from the boys.

We had such a nice time being together as a family. It really made me realise how fantastic my three boys are. They get along so well together and are so kind and thoughtful. I think they are just wonderful and I am so grateful I get to be their mom. I also remembered how nice it is to have a hubby around! However, I am also very grateful to him and all his hard work in school. We are both doing what needs to be done for our family right now, and it feels good to have such a great companionship where we both understand that!

A little Hawaiian update...

2009-03-12T14:32:00.005-04:00

Some of you have been asking me how things are going in Molokai with my in-law's restaurant, and how Rod is doing after his accident.

Well, The restaurant is finally open. They have be super busy which is a great thing. There are a few kinks that they are trying to work out, but they are hopeful and things are going better than expected.

Rod's accident was scary. We really didn't know the extent of his injuries until after they transported him to Oahu. By some miracle they didn't have to do surgery and Rod was actually released the next day. He has some nasty open holes in his arm that have to be packed with gauze and changed often to prevent infection, and a grapefruit sized nodule in his thigh that has been giving him some discomfort. Both are starting to heal though. Rod sent us this picture of his truck. It looks like one that has been sitting out in a junk yard for a while, but this really is, or was, his truck. Our family knows that he was being watched over and protected!

Thanks to all you great friends who know how great Rod and Kerrie are for keeping them in your prayers and asking about how they are doing. It is nice to have such great support, even when we don't get to see each other very often!

A little glimpse...

2009-02-25T15:08:00.004-05:00

I went to the Dr. today, just for an ultrasound. They were unsure of my due date and they also wanted to make sure there was just one baby. Everything is going well and there IS only one baby. I am officially 16 weeks!! In a few weeks we will get to find out if this little one is a boy or a girl. Pretty exciting. I know this is our 4th, but it is still so much fun, and getting to see the little body moving around today made it even better.

It's been a rough week, but...

2009-02-06T14:46:00.005-05:00

Caden was playing with blocks and was excited to show me what he had done! It's the little things that make it all worth it!!

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!

2009-01-29T11:02:00.004-05:00

Well, it finally snowed in Indianapolis. We got a record amount: 12 1/2 inches in one day. It is the most they have had at one time in 13 years (or something like that). They even cancelled school, all the schools, even Dave didn't have to go in. That is a little unheard of, the dental school never closes!! I did have to laugh a little at the big deal it was, growing up in Utah and all.

The boys were so excited to get to go out and play in the snow. They don't have school again today, and have already been asking if they can go out and play!

Just a litte something

2009-01-26T12:59:00.003-05:00

When we first moved into our apartment we painted some walls. The walls in our front room were supposed to be a light brown color, instead it didn't look like we painted at all. The night before Dave went back to school after Christmas break we decided to fix it. It is now a brown that I probably wouldn't have chosen, but I really like it now. Here are a couple pictures of Caden helping Dave paint. I love the one on his tippy toes, trying to reach the top.

Oh and one more bit of news...

Do you get it?

Christmas break

2008-12-30T12:55:00.007-05:00

Dave has this game called Rampage, it is a monster game where you jump on buildings and try and earn points. Caden has recently taken an interest in this game and is pretty good. We looked on line to get the code to unlock all the monsters so he has more than 4 to choose from. He was asking me if I could look up the codes again so I could unlock the monsters. I told him I didn't need to look it up because the code was in my head. This is what he did next...looking for the code! Silly kid.

Dave's big project this semester was to make a set of dentures. He worked really hard and did a great job, see... by the way, they were washed really good between mouths! They are sure nice and straight, but I am super glad Dave's teeth don't really stick out like that!

Our ward had a nice Christmas party with a special guest, can you guess who it was? We have pictures of all the boys, but Caden was the only one who looked.

We went to cut down our Christmas tree again this year. It is such a fun thing. It was kinda windy, and cold, but we had a great time being together.

The boys really wanted to put candy canes on the tree this year.

Caden got this funny straw from his class party, silly hua? I love how he looks so serious even though he thought it was so funny!

Christmas Eve I attempted a traditional German dinner, three different kinds of wurst (sausage) and hot potato salad. I am pleased to say that it was delicious. This was the first year I have had to do the wurst, so I was a little nervous. Christmas morning was fun, the boys really got into it this year. Caden and Austin forgot to wake us up before going downstairs, so that took some of the fun out of it for Dave and I but it was still great!

Well, that's all in a nut shell. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas also!

A little Christmas laugh

2008-12-07T20:48:00.002-05:00

So do you remember Elf Yourself last year? Well they added a few new versions. Here is one of the boys. They laughed so hard when they saw it and wanted to see it over and over again. Enjoy!!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/jaCxJFNNcFt65HolaaR1

Thanksgiving

2008-12-06T16:31:00.004-05:00

I know this is a little late for a Thanksgiving post, but Dave had all the pictures on his laptop so I had to wait for him to put them on our computer.
So kinda last minute we decided to make the drive down to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with Dave's Sister and her family. What made it even better was a few days before Dave's mom called to say she was going to be there to.

Dave's sister had her third baby, Whitney on November 6th so I was a little hesitant at the thought of us all there, but she insisted that they wanted us to come. To lessen the chaos we booked a hotel for our time there. Because she would still be recovering (from an almost 10 pound baby, without any drugs!) I told her I was going to do the dinner...all of it. Boy was it yummy. We had turkey, cranberry apple stuffing, sweet potato casserole (it tastes like candy, not gross sweet like the kind with marshmallows, but buttery brown sugar pecan goodness sweet) mashed potatoes whipped in the kitchen aid, corn, maple glazed baby carrots, homemade rolls, and apple juice mixed with sprite. For desert we had turtle pumpkin pie, triple chocolate pie, and a pecan pie (that was not made by me, we had a couple come to dinner from Dave's sister's ward)

We had a ton of fun hanging out together, playing games, going swimming at the hotel pool, shopping Black Friday, I even got to see a good friend from University Student Apartments that moved to Virginia.

We had such a nice time with family, it was so nice for the boys to get to spend time with their Grandma. I probably had a lot more to say about this whole experience, but I have let it sit too long, now all I want to talk about is Christmas. We did have a fantastic time though, it is always great to get to be with the people you love the most!

Whitney Dee and Andrea

Me and Andrea

Our Dinner group

Swinging with Grandma

Grandma and all her grand kids.

Playing at the pool

Sorry it is blurry, still kinda fun!

OK, so this was fantastic. There is a place called the Monticello trail, I think it is 4 miles round trip. We walked down the last mile. Well I walked, the kids ran, the whole thing, and guess who crossed the finished line first? Guess who never took a break when the others did? NO, not Taylor, that is Austin. Can you imagine cute determined Austin with his limp running the whole thing? Well he did and was sooooo proud of himself, and so were we. He continues to amaze me in the way he pushes himself, and overcomes his physical challenges!!

Andrea, Eric, Dave and Me

I hope everyone had as fantastic of a Thanksgiving as we did!

I thought 2's were supposed to be terrible...nobody told me about the terrible 4's!!

2008-11-11T20:22:00.003-05:00

Those of you that know me really well know that I absolutely adore my youngest (I absolutely adore all my boys but for the sake of this post I am only talking about Caden).

When Caden was born I wouldn't put him down. Grandma was lucky if she got to hold him! Give me some credit though, I didn't get to hold my first 2 for almost 3 months!!

Anyway, Caden has always been a sweet, go with the flow type of child. Not anymore! There is a fight about everything, and I mean everything. Don't get me wrong, he is still very sweet some times, but lately though, mostly not!

Lately Caden does not want to sit in his car seat, he wants to sit in one of the big boys. He is fine in a tall booster with a seat belt, but I have just been to lazy to get him a new one (and I don't want to fork out the cash!) After all, he still fits OK in his. Well, this last weekend I was visiting a friend in Ohio, and she gave me one of her old boosters that she isn't using, to use for Caden. It was perfect, I thought. Today Caden got to try it out. He got in it and was all situated and said to me, "I don't like this seat, I want my old one!" Me: "What do you mean you don't like it? You always want to sit in Austin and Taylor's, and now you have your own!" C: I don't want to sit in Austin and Taylor's, I just want to sit in mine." Me: "Well, that one is yours now. You are getting to big for the other one." C: "If you say that again, I won't be your friend!" I laughed and off we went to the store. About half way down the road he found a little pocket/cup holder thing on the side of his new seat and was thrilled. C: "MOM! Look at this!" Me: "That is for a cup, or maybe some snacks, or a little toy." C: My old seat doesn't have that. Me: "No it doesn't, do you like your new seat now?" C: "Yah! It's great!!"

Later on today, I walked into the front room where the old seat was still sitting and found this:

However frustrating my days seem to be with this little guy lately, I sure love him!

Halloween Fun

2008-11-03T12:56:00.007-05:00

The night before Halloween the boys and I decided to carve their pumpkins. They each had one and were getting ready to choose what they wanted them to look like when Caden broke down in tears because he didn't want to cut his. So sad, but cute to. We didn't cut his!! Here are how Austin and Taylor's turned out.

So I thought I was going to be able and get a good picture of the boys in their costumes, but it just didn't happen. We had a fun Halloween though. Dave took the boys out trick or treating while I stayed home and tried to get rid of all our candy!

After they were all done and had more candy then we gave out, we had a fun little Halloween dinner. A friend made "mummy dogs" for a little party she did and I thought they were so cute, I made them for us. So we had "mummy dogs", witch fingers (french fries dipped in ketchup), green goblin goo (apple sauce died green), and dirty witch's brew to drink (chocolate milk). I was kinda sad after we ate because I didn't get a picture of the spread, it was pretty impressive! This is what the mummy dogs look like though:

After eating we went to a little party our friends were having. They had it in their back yard with a big flood light. A nice warm fire and hot cocoa kept the chill away. They had a wagon full of hay for a "hay ride" (which the boys loved) a pumpkin bean bag toss game, a "stick your hand in here and feel some brains, severed fingers, worm and eyeballs" thing. Goodie bags, costume contest, and a real live scarecrow! We had a really fun time!

Well, I went to the store today. All the Halloween stuff is 70% off and all the Christmas stuff is out in full force. What about Thanksgiving? I love this time of year we are going into. It makes me grateful for the fantastic family I get to share it all with.

Pumpkin Patch and Trunk or Treat

2008-10-25T16:25:00.005-04:00

A couple weekends ago the boys and I went to Cincinnati while Dave stayed home and studied for a test. One of my best friends lives there. We met when we moved in above them at the University Student Apartments 5 1/2 years ago. Anyway, we got to go to a pumpkin patch that is also a farm. The boys had a great time feeding the goats, petting the cows, riding on the hay out to the pumpkin patch and of course spending time with great friends.

Last night there was a tri-ward trunk or treat at our church. It had been raining most of the day so they moved it inside. It was a little crowded but the boys still had a great time. This year the boys told me what they wanted to be, without any help from me (or Dave). Taylor and Austin both wanted to be a "light saber guy" I found a great deal on a Anakin costume for one of them and thanks to a friend that had one from a couple years ago all I had to buy was light sabers. Caden wanted to be a cowboy. I made him some chaps out of felt and a belt buckle and borrowed some cowboy gear form the same friend that gave us the other costume. I thought he looked pretty cute. Hopefully we can get some better pictures on Halloween.

I'm your best friend?

2008-09-26T13:21:00.003-04:00

So recently Caden has started saying to me, "I won't be your best friend" if you don't or if you won't something or an other. At first I was a little hurt, how could such a sweet boy say something so un-sweet? Then after hearing it a few times I got to thinking, he thinks of me as his best friend. How great is that? How long will this last? He still loves to cuddle, he sporadically tells me that he loves me, he will be walking away and say "oops I verygot (forgot) something" and come back to where I am and give me a kiss. I look at him every day and sometimes find myself staring at him in amazement. Where has the time gone? When did my baby turn into such a big boy.

Look What I Did!!

2008-09-09T12:43:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday a friend and I and our kids who weren't in school went to a local orchard and picked red raspberries. They charge $2 a pound and you can eat as many as you want while you are picking. I was having such a fun time picking that I went home with 5 1/2 pounds. After eating A LOT of them with cream and sugar I made jam. I have never made jam by myself and I am quite pleased with the results. It is so yummy!

Time, I have plans for you!

2008-09-03T13:26:00.003-04:00

Today Caden started pre-school at a little church down the street from our house. He has been so excited to go. We have driven by it as often as I would allow, just to see the playground all summer. I was telling Caden yesterday that he was going to get to go to pre-school tomorrow. He got really excited. I told him I was going to miss him while he was gone. He looked at me and smiled and then said, "I will miss you too momma, but I will come back." I thought it was pretty funny that a 4 year old was doing the comforting.

Caden is going to be in a class with 20 other little kids, three of which are his friends from our ward/neighborhood. He was really excited about that. There was no hesitation from him going into his classroom this morning. I'm sure all the puzzles and toys had something to do with that. It made it easier for me too.

This is what happens when you have 4 moms trying to take a group picture at the same time. Can you tell where everyone's mom was?

Caden getting right into it.

Rise and Shout the Cougars are out!!

2008-09-01T12:40:00.004-04:00

So this post is a little backwards. I am just way too excited to get to say that college football has started. Not just college football, but BYU football. Those of you who know me well, know that I have been going to BYU football games since I was 4 years old. I absolutely LOVE them. I love being in the crowd, I love wearing the blue and white, and I LOVE the game of football. I love to hear the pads hit together, I love to watch a long drive, I love...well I think you probably get the fact that I LOVE BYU FOOTBALL. This was something I got to share with my dad, who also was a huge fan, it is fun to have memories of him every time I get to see a game. Now the sad report. Comcast does not carry the MTN. here in Indiana, I guess not a lot of people out here are interested in the Mountain West conference. We will get a few of the games, so I guess I should be happy with that. I have also already told Dave that when we are done with school I would like us to be season ticket holders, he is a fan too so I think we will make sure that happens! OK, so that is probably enough of my ranting, I just really love it!! GO COUGARS!!

Last Thursday Dave and I (and some friends) got to go to a Colts pre-season game is the new Lucas Oil Stadium. I know it is not the biggest stadium, but it is the biggest I have ever been in. It was amazing. Because of Dave's injury we were able to exchange our tickets for some that were in the disabled area, they were really good seats too. No one in front of us, the snack bar right behind us and no stairs for Dave to have to climb. We had a great time!

Now a little report on Dave's Achilles. He had surgery on the 22nd. It was a much bigger deal then either of us thought it would be. Dave was intibated and the surgery lasted about 3 hours. They gave him a nerve block in his leg to help with the pain. Apparently, according to the surgeon, this is the most painful of orthopaedic surgeries to recover from. This proved to be true on Saturday. Now, Dave is a tough guy, he doesn't complain and whine when he is hurt. I don't think anyone knew what really happened when it did because he just walked off the court. Saturday, was horrible, I was bawling watching him be in so much pain, and knowing there was nothing I could do to make it better. The catheter they put in for the nerve block was turned up as high as it could go and was not working and he was taking as much pain meds as he was allowed. By Sunday afternoon his pain seemed to be under control, thank goodness! He has gone back to school and has a follow up appointment on Thursday. We have been told that he could be in a cast for the next 6-12 weeks. Yikes!! We are both hopeful that some of that time will at least be a walking cast so he can get around school/lab a little better. I wanted to say thank you to those of you who have called and wished Dave well. Also those of you who have watched our boys during the last couple weeks, thank you to the two great friends who came and gave Dave a wonderful blessing, and of course all of your prayers on his behalf. Your kindness and generosity are greatly appreciated. We recognize the hand of the Lord in all things and are grateful for His help during all of this.

Our exciting week!!

2008-08-18T12:38:00.005-04:00

Last week was quite an eventful week at our house. The most exciting was that Austin and Taylor started first grade. They had a great week and both love their teachers (they are in different classes this year).

Dave had his first monthly exam last Monday, so after everyone got home we all went to the Indiana State Fair, and oh what a fair it is. We rode rides, saw a circus show, played on a little farm, saw a lot of stinky farm animals, and or course ate yummy fair food. Dave's favorite is the big turkey leg. It is pretty yummy, but I feel a little barbaric eating it. He also decided that this was the year to try fried Pepsi. Yup, you heard right, the fry everything you can imagine. Snickers, oreos, brownies, cookie dough, peanut butter cups. For the fried Pepsi they make a batter using Pepsi instead of water, fry it, then they drizzle Pepsi syrup and powdered sugar on top. We were little disappointed, but it was still fun to try.

And last but certainly not least...Dave was at the church playing ball with a bunch of the dental guys, he pushed up to jump for a rebound and fell down instead. Wanna know what happened? He ruptured his Achilles tendon. He is in a cast for now, and has an appointment with a sports medicine Dr. on Thursday. The first Dr's he saw told him that surgery is almost inevitable. He can't put ANY weight on it and has to use crutches. This is panning out to be a hard thing to do when he is in lab trying to carry a tray. Go figure!! The thing is, I think I am taking it harder than he is. We are looking forward to Thursday to hopefully get some more definite answers.

Happy Birthday to You!!

2008-07-30T09:27:00.006-04:00

Well, my baby turned four today. I can't believe it. Four years have come and gone so quickly. After our situation with Austin and Taylor I was a little hesitant to want to have any more kids. Dave and I felt that it was the right thing to do however and we had Caden. Caden was and is such a blessing to me. He is the one who helped me break the nurse shell and be able to really come out and feel like a mother. He has always been a sweet, patient little boy. He still loves to snuggle with me (which I love) and he is very kind to his brothers. Caden is a talker, if you will listen he will talk to you. Caden loves to play pretend and is so funny when he makes up stories. Caden we love you. You hold a very special place in our family. Happy Birthday! First thing, and I mean 7:00am we all got up before Dave had to go to school and opened prizes. He was thrilled with everything. I wasn't going to do anything like a party for him this year because he really didn't ask for one or seem to care about it. However, when Dave told me is was going to have to be in lab until 6:00pm I started feeling bad that he wasn't going to have a good b-day. I called a bunch of little friends and invited them to Chuck E. Cheeses for a get together. I got a yummy Costco cake and bought a ton of tokens. Everyone I called ended up coming. 19 kids (including babies) plus their mommies. 28 in all I think. Caden thought it was fantastic. Thanks to all of you who came and helped make his day so great. It was a little crazy, but I appreciate all of you. When we got home Caden got to talk to Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Bob on the phone and open his gift from them. Remember the burned monkey story from an earlier post? Well, Grandma made him a replacement. You will see by the picture how excited he was to have it. When Dave came home and per Caden's request we went to a McDonald's play place for dinner. It was a great day.

The final instalment of our summer break...the part with Dave anyway.

2008-07-29T21:08:00.016-04:00

After we got home we still had a lot of time to fill. We had a fun BBQ with the other LDS grad families that were still in town. Caden got to hold baby Max, his first real baby, and we went to the zoo (a few times). The boys got to touch a Gator, an Elephant and goats. They love to play in the splash area.

Our good friends gave us their little boy's old bike. Dave got some new training wheels for it and we put Caden on to try it out. He loves it!! His mom on the other hand is still trying to get used to the idea that he is going to go fast and yes, he will probably fall, a lot. Yes, he usually does wear a helmet, this was just a trial run.

Next up was no small thing. Austin and Taylor turned 7. I wanted to share their story a little but realised that it would take entirely too long. Lets just say we are so blessed to have these little boys as part of our family. Congratulations Austin and Taylor for overcoming so much and working so hard to improve your quality of life. Mom and Dad love you more than you will probably ever know. Thanks for taking a chance on us and deciding to stay with us in this life. So, for their birthday they got new bikes. Taylor's is your typical bike. Austin's however is a specially made adaptive bike so that he can ride a bike like little boys should. They both love their bikes. Austin kept riding by me saying, "I love this bike, I love my bike!" It was so fun to see both of them doing something they were never supposed to be able to do. Austin doesn't really care for cake so I made them a fruity pebbles crispy treat "cake." We also had Grandma in on the festivities through the computer. That was way fun for the boys to show her how they ride their bikes and to sing while they blew out their candles.

So you have heard me talk about Del Taco, right? Well if not it is probably Dave's favorite place to eat. He found out that there is one up in South Bend. So with a last minute decision we drove up to Michigan City, Indiana, played on the beach for a while and went to Del Taco for dinner. The beach is awesome, you can go really far out before it gets too deep to stand. We had a great time. Oh ya, Del Taco was good too.

We have some great friends from when we lived in student housing at the U. They live in Cincinnati. We have visited a couple times and they come down here but this time we took a couple pictures. The first is on the Purple People Bridge, you can walk from Kentucky to Ohio. The big Ice cream cone looking thing is just that, it is a very yummy ice cream stand called The Cone. They have hundreds of things to choose from. Yummy!!

Are you still with me? Two more pictures left. Our buddy Russ (another 2nd year dental student) went home to Utah and got married during summer break. The first day back to school we had a BBQ as kind of a congratulations get together. These are the first pictures we have of all the guys, and girls for that matter together. We were only missing one of the guys and two of the wives.

Well there you have it. I think now we are caught up to date. See you soon!!

WE INTERUPT YOUR PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED POST FOR THIS EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

2008-07-22T10:46:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to take a quick minute and tell everyone why I am the luckiest girl in the world to have been married to such a wonderful guy for the last 10 years. Yes, 10 years. Where has the time gone? Sometimes it feels like yesterday that we were going to the Salt Lake temple to be married and sealed for all eternity. I love saying those words. I am so blessed that I get to be with my best friend for ever and ever. Dave is the most patient, kind, loving, understanding, helpful, caring husband I could ever ask for. He has a great sense of humor and people can't help but feel comfortable around him. He is the perfect dad to our little boys who in turn adore him immensely. Dave, I love you. Happy 10th Anniversary!!

Part 3 of 4

2008-07-21T14:02:00.012-04:00

After our time in Utah we drove down to Newport Beach, CA to spend some time relaxing with just our little family. The boys absolutely loved the beach.

When we go to Cali we stay at Quality Suites. Dave's family stayed there when they would go down and we have stayed there every year we go too. They have a yummy cooked to order breakfast, and a great pool that is almost always empty. This trip Taylor and Austin learned to jump into the pool by themselves.

Newport pier always has tons of fisherman on it. The boys love to go walk the pier and see the "dead fish." On Sunday we went up to the Newport temple.

We checked out of Quality and headed south to San Diego so we could go to Sea World. Austin and Taylor were tall enough to ride Atlantis with a parent. They didn't love it, but were brave and went on it with us. Sea World has a new Sesame Street area. They boys don't watch Sesame Street but they had a great time on the rides. WARNING!! The last picture in the set is Austin looking like he is flipping you off, in reality he had just hurt his finger and was showing us where it hurt. We thought is was funny, is that bad?

When Dave was little he remembers going to stay at a beach house in Mission Bay. We were able to find the exact beach house (sorry no pictures of it) Then we went over to a carnival type place that Dave had fun memories of. The boys played at the arcade, rode a couple rides and ate cotton candy. After that fun we went to Gina's pizza, which is arguably the best pizza out there. Then it was time to head home. What a fabulous vacation and fun family time.

Even though our "vacation" has come to an end we still had 2 1/2 weeks of break, so stay tuned for the rest of our adventures (probably in the next day or two).

Part 2 of 4

2008-07-17T15:18:00.010-04:00

Ok, ready for some more? Great!! Our next adventure was going to Dinosaur Land in Ogden. Most of you know the boys LOVE dinosaurs. We had a great time.

On one of the last days of our stay in Park City we went to Jordanelle and went boating on Cannon's boat. The water was WAY to cold to get in and be happy about it but we all had fun hanging out eating treats and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. At one point Eric and Dave dared each other to jump in and swim around the boat. They both did it but were pretty cold. Even Kerrie hung off the ladder and got up to her waist wet. We also had a little accident when some harmless playing ended up with Caden in the water...oops!! He got out and said, "I didn't love that!"

Next was one of the main reasons for going to Utah, a family reunion, two really, a one day event with the Felt's (thanks Eric and Joyce) and a 2 1/2 day event with the Rigby's. The land that used to be owned by Grandpa Rigby is being hauled over to make it ready for houses. There was a huge sand hill that the kids got to play on, they had such a fun time. We also went to temple square for a family activity.

The next leg of our trip was a stay at my sister's house in Provo. It was so nice to get to stay there with them and visit. While in Provo my best girl friends from high school and I went out to dinner. We had a great time!

On the last day of our Utah time we went up to Snowbird and took the tram to the top of the mountain. It was pretty funny to be playing in snow with flip flops on.

Well, did you make it? This is the end of part 2. It is safe to say that Our time in Utah was more than expected. It was fabulous.

OK, here it goes...

2008-07-15T10:55:00.007-04:00

So I think I might have to make this post a series of posts. I went through ALL our pictures last night and I narrowed it down to 91 pictures. Yes that is narrowed down, a lot! I do this not only for family and friends to see but for my own journal records. If you want to read than read, if you want to look than look, if not I won't know so I won't be offended. Fair enough? Here we go. On June 3rd (my birthday, I turned 29) I was busy packing and getting ready for our departure the next day. The boys were being less than helpful so Dave decided to make paper boats and sail them in the creek in our back yard.

After a nice plane ride we landed in LA, stayed the night and headed up to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Stratosphere and got to go up to the very top.

We had a nice visit with Dave's brother Jake and then headed towards Utah. On our way, driving through no mans land, Caden needed to go potty. I was so excited!! This was going to be our first outdoor peeing experience. I know, I am a little weird, so weird in fact that I took pictures. I love the expression on his face in the second one, kinda like "you took a picture of that?" Yes I did, and I might use it for bribery some time in the future!!

We arrived safely in Park City where we would be staying for the next week. We got a steal on a villa at Mountainside Resort. Dave's mom was there (from Hawaii) and Dave's sister Andrea was there with her family (Eric, Sterling and Kerrie Ann). The place was so nice and we all fit with room to play. It wasn't very warm in Park City, but we couldn't let a perfectly good pool go to waste.

We also took the boys on the Alpine slide. It was fun, but they have slowed it WAY down. It was a little disappointing, but probably best with the kids.

One of our days we went to see Horton Hears a Who and feed the ducks at Sugarhouse Park, Caden sat right in fresh goose poop.

Another day we all went to a bounce house. We had taken the boys to this same place before but it was too hard for them to climb up to the top. This time they had no problem. It was just another reminder of how much they have and are still overcoming. We had a blast. As you can see Caden was a little hesitant to leave. On the way to go bouncing we stopped and got a shave ice at our favorite shave ice stand. It was a pretty cold day, but we had to get one!!

Ok, that is enough for the first part. Stay tuned, I will try and have the next episode up in a couple of days.

HI!

2008-07-14T12:14:00.001-04:00

I have had a few people ask me when I am going to update again. See the thing is that we have had such a fantastic summer vacation that there are way too many pictures to show and things to say. Honestly, it is a little overwhelming. I am going to do it though...soon, I hope! Thanks for being interested!! I'll be back.

A Few Random Happenings

2008-04-26T15:51:00.008-04:00

There has not been a whole lot of exciting things going on around our house lately. Life is pretty much crazy but enjoyable. On the 18th Austin went in to get Botox injections in his left leg and a cast put on. He is such a trooper, they gave him Versed (sp) this time so that he wouldn't remember getting the injections, they give it to kids through their nose, kinda weird, but he didn't seem to care. Then he quickly got extremely relaxed and they did the procedure. Guess what? He really doesn't remember the shots. He remembers the "drips" in his nose and getting the cast on, pretty cool. The Botox is given to decrease muscle spasms and tightness and increase his range of motion. The cast is placed to help position the joints, stretch tight muscles and decrease muscle tone. Austin had this same procedure done last year with minimal results. The physical therapist thought he could really benefit form it again so we went for it. His first cast was on for a week (he choose bright orange...like the cones you see on the side of the freeway). The therapist took it off on Thursday and said that his range was already looking a little better, but next week she would know if the Botox is working. This time he choose a bright green cast...bright neon green!! It will stay on for a week, then he will get another one on and keep it on for 2 weeks. The cast really doesn't bother him, actually he tells me how much he likes it and how he likes walking in it. I'm sure it gives him some stability that he isn't used to having. Pretty great, we are very hopeful that this will help him greatly!

Austin and Taylor's school did spring pictures, not normal pictures though. They reminded me of Senior pictures in High School. We didn't order any but here are the proofs.

Let's see what else...Oh! The other day I went to Costco with a friend. When we got home I went upstairs to put some things away, Caden was downstairs doing a puzzle. I was probably upstairs for 10 min, when I came down, he was zonked out on the floor in front of the door. Caden has not taken a nap in months, I was shocked. He slept there for a good hour!

And last but not least, here is a picture of Dave's parents restaurant in Molokai...looks good hua? We are so excited to go over and have some fries and a shake! Good work Rod and Kerrie, it's is beautiful!!

Ba deep Ba deep Ba deep...that's all folks!!

Really Long Post With A Lot of Pictures

2008-03-31T12:53:00.013-04:00

I can't believe that after only 10 days I have so much to write about, but I do so here it goes. On the 22nd the Cannon's came for a fun Easter time visit. The Cannon's are Eric, Andrea, Sterling, and Kerrie Ann. Andrea is Dave's sister. They left their home in Virgina the afternoon of the 21st and drove straight through and arrived at our house around 1am. Saturday morning we had a yummy breakfast and got ready to go to the zoo. It was cold and a little rainy but still fun. A lot of the animals were not out and the train wasn't running, but we made the most of it and the kids really could have cared less.

Since the train was not running we went over to Riley (the children's hospital) to ride the People Mover that connects three of the hospitals in the area. It sounds kinda silly but the kids LOVED it!

Sunday was Easter and it was a great day. Dave didn't have early morning meetings which was really nice and I had a lot of fun getting the boys dressed in their Easter wear. Taylor and Austin have shown a recent desire to wear Dave's ties. So I decided to get them their own. I can't believe how a tie and a belt can make someone look so grown up!

After church we tired to get a picture of the cousins in their nice clothes. This is the best one...OK not really but I am not posting the "real" one yet. The "real" one is part of a gift for someone who is to go nameless, so I am going to wait until unsaid person gets it.

The next activity was coloring eggs, this didn't turn out like I had expected, but it was still pretty fun. Then we decorated craft bags with stickers for our Easter baskets. While we were doing this activity the Easter Bunny came and left tons of treats and prizes.

This is the kids acting like bunnies before they went hunting.

How cute is she?

Right before this, he was playing these "flutes" with his nose!! Now that's talent.

We had a great time and a yummy traditional dinner with Honey glazed ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, home made rolls, and triple layer lemon pie for desert. It was soooo good, if I do say so myself.

Monday Dave had to go to school, and Austin and Taylor went until 1, when we picked them up and went to the Children's Museum. I still can't believe how much there is to do there, you definitely leave exhausted but fulfilled.

Tuesday morning the Cannon's packed up and went home. The first thing Taylor said when he got home from school and they weren't here was "where is Sterling? I want him to play with us" I am so glad that they had such a nice time with their cousins, family is such and important factor of life. I am so grateful to be part of such a great family!! Oh and in case I haven't said it lately, I really do love living in Indiana. When I think of all the other places we applied to for school, I smile to think that we got into the school that fits us perfectly. Dave found this neat picture of our downtown.

OK, just a couple more things...I know this is really long. Saturday the boys got invited to a birthday party for one of their friends. It was a pirate party and it must have been fantastic because it is all they have been talking about since. They are still wearing their vests and playing with their swords.

And last but certainly not least. Caden has decided it is OK to wear underwear and go potty in the toilet. After so much resistance from him, and way to much putting it off. I finally decided it had to be done. There was a little crying and fighting when I first tried to get the diaper off and the underwear on, but now he tells me when he needs to go (he even told his primary teacher yesterday at church) and he gets sad when he has to take his underwear off at night. YEAH!! Good work Caden!!! No more diapers for you.

Whew! Did you make it through all of that? Thanks for looking!

What's That Smell?

2008-03-20T16:16:00.003-04:00

In a nutshell yesterday was a bad day. We woke up to rain and wind and cold....again. Caden and I after putting the boys on the bus headed to the outlets to return a couple things and see if a dress I had my eye on might just work for Easter. When we got there it was so windy and raining so hard we ran into the store and were still soaked! The dress that I thought was going to be so cute, turned out to make me look 8 months pregnant, and I am not, so that isn't a good thing!! That really shouldn't have bothered me, but it was my second choice outfit for Easter, I could not find a skirt that would match this wonderful shirt I wanted so badly, so I moved on, with no luck. I had to stop at Target on the way home and had a very cute but very whinny 3 year old barking orders and demands at me. I hurried and grabbed what I could and promptly took him home, later realizing that I had forgotten all the things I really needed and only bought things I didn't really need. The boys came home from school and their day was pretty good, actually Taylor got a Star Student award for doing all his work so good, and for setting a good example for others. Yes, I said Taylor, I don't know what happened but he is doing so much better at school, and I am grateful. After snack the boys went upstairs to play, fine whatever, they do it every day. Then, I am on the phone with Dave and screaming Caden comes downstairs because Austin has hit him, then I hear screaming Austin because Caden had hit him. At this point my hands are up in the air, and I am about ready to give up my day. After calming everyone down I decide it is time to cook dinner (it is still pouring rain by the way) so I take the boys upstairs to watch a show so I can make dinner in peace. Well, remember the title of this post? I could not find it, I could not find the burning smell, where was it coming from? This clearly wasn't OK. Oh there is is up in the torchiet, a burning monkey. Yup you heard me right, a burning monkey. Apparently Taylor had thrown said monkey up in the air and it landed on top of the torchiet. It was on fire...I kid you not...flames!! I grabbed the one leg that was hanging over the edge of the lamp and ran to the bathroom to drown the monkey in the sink. Everyone and everything is fine, a little stinky, but fine and safe. It scares me to think if we hadn't gone up stairs what might have happened, but it didn't. After a very emotional talk with the boys and this and that I got tears in my eyes for the monkey, you see this monkey was made by Grandma Kerrie for Grandpa Rod probably 30 years ago. Austin and Taylor got monkeys made for them before Caden was born, so when Caden was old enough to realize he didn't have a monkey Grandpa gave him his. Caden was VERY sad at the sight of his bedtime friend, he looked at the black face and went into the other room and sulked on the couch for quite a while. I wish I would have thought to take a picture, it was really very sweet, but my mind was elsewhere. I did take a couple pictures today, Caden wouldn't hold the monkey because he says "it's to scary now." Understandable I guess.

On a brighter note...the sun was out today, the wind was minimal, and we had a great day!!

Spring Break

2008-03-13T19:29:00.002-04:00

So, Dave is currently on Spring Break. Austin and Taylor however are not...Dave and I decided though that it would be no biggie if they missed a day of school so we could go do something fun together as a family. Now, I am not quite sure why but the boys all love to stay at hotels. We found this great Holiday Inn in northern Indiana that has a HUGE indoor water park connected to it, in fact you can't go to the water park unless you are a registered guest of the hotel. So that is what we did, on Monday right after the boys got home from school we packed up our bags and headed to the hotel. This place was really great. 3 big water slides, 2 of which the boys were to small for, but the favorite was a yellow one that you ride tubes down, they went again and again and again. Well, Austin and Taylor did, Caden was a little scared. The water park also has a lazy river that was fun to ride around in the tubes, a big pirate boat with 2 little slides, dumping buckets, a little sand (not real sand) island with palm trees, and a huge bucket that dumps from way up high every 10 minutes or so. Oh, and how can I forget the "bubbles" (hot tubs for those of you who don't speak Felt!) the boys love the bubbles!! We played from 4:30-7:30 the first night and then the next day we played from 11am-3pm. It was great and as we were leaving Caden got really sad and wouldn't talk to us in the car, when he finally did he said "I am too sad to leave." So fun, so great, we had such a nice time with our little family. The really neat thing is that we used it as an incentive for Austin and Taylor to be good at school. At school they have a red, yellow and green light system that they work on. Green obviously is a good day, yellow not so great, red...BAD!! We have been struggling with a lot of yellows and reds, so we decided to use this mini vacation to see if it would help them try and be better. It worked!! They both got green lights every day minus one yellow light from one of them for 2 weeks straight, pretty great!! Now for the sad news....I don't have one picture from this little adventure. We forgot our camera, and seeing as though the hotel is only about an hours trip, after the boys went to bed Dave went home to get it so we could get some pictures the next day. Guess what? He forgot to get it because he was getting a few other things and hurrying to get back. Oh well, I guess this memory will have to be in our head! We had a fabulous time though.

Fun With PlayDoh, The Museum, and The Moon

2008-02-21T12:37:00.012-05:00

Well, I don't think I have a lot to say but we have had a nice few past days. A little over a week ago the boys discovered our stash of PlayDoh. Now I consider myself a pretty nice mom, but I really don't like PlayDoh. It gets everywhere!! The tiny little pieces get mushed into places you could never imagine. However, oh so nice Dad was home so we pulled it out and had some fun. After making countless dinosuars Dave made some glasses so he could "look like Austin and Taylor," well they wanted glasses like daddy. Here is a picture of Taylor with his "glasses" on. Austin being a cat, and Caden, well I'm not sure what he was being but he thought it was pretty neat, so I do too!!

Last Friday the kids didn't have school so my good friend Heather came down form Cinncinatti with her kids and we went to the Children's Museum. I would have better pictures but my camera was acting funny! The boys favorite part about the museum is the water and boats, they could stay there all day if I would let them!

There is always such a long line to ride the Carosel, but this time we got to ride it and the boys thought that was really fun.

And finally, last night there was a total lunar eclipse. Dave took some pictures to send to his parents because by the time they would get to see it, it would be gone. I think it is kinda neat to see. You can click on the picture to make it bigger!!

I was tagged...again!

2008-02-19T18:34:00.004-05:00

A few things you may not know about Dave and I:

His Full Name: David Rigby Felt
Who asked who on 1st date: He asked me out.
Who said I love you first: He told me that he thought he was falling in love with me and I said the same thing in the same conversation. So I guess it was a tie!
Who kissed who first: Dave kissed me first....on our first date, what do you think of that?
How long did you date: Before we were engaged or married? 2 months to the day, before we were engaged, and 5 months and 11 days before we were married
Who Proposed: Dave proposed, he had such great plans for how and when, but the cabin we were going to go to we couldn't because of an avalanche. Then I ruined his other plans by telling him I wanted to go to my friends wedding reception before we went to dinner, had I only known! Dave being so kind let me go, and he came too, but he lost the reservations he had made at a hot spot in Park City. So we went to dinner somewhere else in Park City. He started towards taking me home to Provo. We drove up to Rock Canyon Park and went for a little walk. Under a lamp post he knelt down in the slushy rain and asked me to marry him.
Who Eats More: I plead the 5th!
Who's Taller: Dave by an inch.
Who's Smarter: Totally Dave, no question!
Who Cooks Dinner: I cook. Dave probably could if he wanted to but I really enjoy it.
Who does Laundry: I do the laundry. I think I burned a bridge there when right after we were married I told him he folded our "underwear" wrong. He has never done it since. That taught me!! Laundry isn't a chore I dread though so it is OK.
Who does dishes: I usually do the dishes, but sometimes I slack because that isn't one of my favorite chores and Dave picks up my slack.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: Facing the bed or when you are in the bed? Facing: Me, in the bed: Dave.
Who mows the lawn: The tiny lawn we have, Dave does it, and techincally I don't think it is mowing, he uses a weed eater.
Who wears the pants: I have pants on right now! Just kidding, we know what we are each in charge of!
Who drives when together: Dave, always!
Who Pays the Bills: I do.
Who has more Siblings: Dave, he has 3 and I have 1.
What have I left out: That depends on what else you want to know. We have been married for almost 10 years, there is a ton you probably don't know.

I tag: Meghan, Pamela, Rosie (Liz), Emmy, Janalyn

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T07:57:00.005-05:00

For those of you who don't like mushy things you probably don't want to read this post. Hey! It's Valentine's Day who better to write about then my valentine. Dave and I went on our first date 10 years ago yesterday. One of my best friends got married 10 years ago today. (Happy Anniversary Allie and B) Dave was kind and went to the reception with me, however he totally forgot it was Valentines Day, and I wasn't going to say anything, it was only our 2nd date. The next day he called me very sorry that he had forgotten. No worries, I still got to be with him. 5 months later, almost to the day we were married.

Sometimes Dave gets to read our blog and sometimes he doesn't. However I just wanted to tell him how much I love him. How great of a guy I think he is. How wonderful of a provider he has been and continues to be. How outstanding of a dad he is to our little boys. How I notice all his hard work and effort ALL the time. I know that I married up! I feel very blessed and a little lucky to have landed such a great guy to be with for all of eternity. I LOVE YOU DAVE!!

Now, I had put in this next picture to show you how sweet he can be. This was done on his way to school one chilly morning. Sometimes it is just the little things.

Since it is Valentine's day I have decided to show you all what Dave decided to get me. Most of you can probably guess considering a couple posts ago I told you of my "tragic loss." Thank you all for your condolences by-the-way! Hee-Hee.

Yes, that is a Pirates of the Caribbean valentine card. I am as we speak getting ready to make some delicious heart shaped sugar cookies, topped with pink forsting. (Dave's favorites)

Thank you Dave for being so thoughtful, you're the bestist!!

Bag Tag...Your It!

2008-02-13T09:29:00.004-05:00

OK, So I was bag tagged by my friend Kari. What is bag tag you ask? Well you take a picture of your bag, empty it out and take another picture...no cleaning it out first!! Then you post it on your bolg. Then you tag 5 people. Easy right? So here is mine. I didn't tag everything in my bag but I will list everything just for you!!

OK, so we have got a store list and receipt, small first aid kit, packet of sunscreen from the DR's office, Caden's sunglasses, my mittens, wallet, Barbie watch out of a Honey Smacks box, lemon drops, shortbread cookies, little bath and body lotion, purell, lots of lip stuff, 2 tampies, pen, tide to go stick, check book, calculator, more lotion, (which I have now thrown away because it was gone) 2 diapers, wipes, paint to take back to my friend, Caden's hat and mittens from when we ventured out in the freezing cold yesterday, and one of Dave's scrub tops that I am trying to find a matching color for to replace it. I know, I know...it's a big bag!!

I tag...Andrea, Cecily, Dana, Shanti, and Allie! Anyone else can too if you want.

Poor, Poor KitchenAid

2008-02-04T10:17:00.000-05:00

*****EXCLAIMER******This post is not about a human being!!!

It is with a heavy heart I submit this post. Saturday evening we had a loss in our home. Yes, my KitchenAid mixer burned out. A KitchenAid burned out you say? Is that possible? Well yes it is apparently, and guess what? It is the second time it has happened to said KitchenAid. The first time we got it fixed...supposedly. This time we decided it is not worth another $100 to get it fixed, just to have it burn out 6 months later. I have had this KitchenAid since we were first married, almost 10 years now. Quite a long time right? Well the thing is, if you know anything about KitchenAid mixers they DON'T die, atleast they aren't supposed to. My mother in law has had hers for three times as long as I have and she has run hers into the ground, grinding wheat, making bread, cookies, mashed potatoes, anything you can think of, some times all in the same day! Is hers dead? Has hers burned out...ever? NOPE!! Dave's Grandma has had one three times as long as my mother in laws that she too has used profusely, is hers dead? Has hers burned out...ever? NOPE!! I think she finally bought a new one, but not because her old one wouldn't work anymore!! Do you ever notice when you don't have something that you have had for so long you really, really miss it. Well, I really, really miss my KitchenAid, and who knows when I will get to replace it.

We had to stick it outside, it was stinking up the house so bad with it's burning oil.

This has got to be atleast a 3rd degree burn, right?

Poor, Poor KitchenAid all alone outside in the rain. You will be greatly missed my beautiful white mixing friend!

Books, Books Everywhere and Not A Thing To Read

2008-01-31T15:53:00.000-05:00

So I finally got these next pictures downloaded so I could share a little story. The other day I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. The boys had been having a less than great afternoon as far as getting along with eachother goes. So I declared a "quiet time" so I could try and get dinner pulled together. The boys were all in the front room, and as far as I could tell they were playing nice and being good for so late in the afternoon, which traditionally is meltdown, breakdown, whining time in our house, and the boys aren't usually so good either! Anyway, after a few minutes of "too quiet" I went in to check on them. Now, in our house we have a one book at a time rule. You get a book, you read the book, you put the book back. I guess they forgot. This was the first thing I saw.

This was the second...

How can you get mad at that? Well, I didn't and after some persuasion, and "I don't know how's" they helped me put them all back! (The couch cushions too)

I really do love my boys!!

OOPS!!!

2008-01-30T09:16:00.001-05:00

Hi there! There has been a little bit of confusion regarding my last post. I copied and pasted the bit about having "Lucy" from my friends page. I am NOT expecting a girl (or boy for that matter) anytime in the next 9 months, or longer! Sorry to disappoint! You will be the first to know though if and when a girl is ever in the picture!!

Do you need a swimsuit?

2008-01-12T12:37:00.001-05:00

So I saw this on my friend Chelsea's blog and thought those of you who look at mine might be interested so here it is!!

"One of my sister in laws forwarded this to me and there is such a"buzz "that I thought I would put it up here so I could share it with everyone. I think we all should get one for summer, especially because their motto is so great: "Swimwear that highlights the face instead of the body". Honestly, who wants people looking at our bodies, we already have to put on the swimsuit. I like it because I will have just had Lucy by swimsuit season. Let me know what all of you think. Maybe we could have a party or something. ;)" Here is the Link:

http://www.wholesomewear.com/

I know, I know I am horrible.

Happy 2008!!

2008-01-02T12:51:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!! Boy we have had such a great Christmas break. Today however, Dave is back in the saddle and Austin and Taylor will go back tomorrow. Routine is good, but not having one has been a lot of fun this last little bit. Since we didn't go to family for Christmas we tried to fill our days with fun activities and good friends, I am pleased to say we were very successful. Lets start with Christmas Eve. We had some of our friends over that are here for school, they have three kids too. One that is Austin and Taylor's age, one that is Caden's age and a one year old. Tradition in my family is to have a German dinner consisting of Bratwurst, Knockwurst, Weisswurst and hot potato salad. We decided though to go with the traditional Christmas dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, and cranberry juice mixed with sprite. Everything was so yummy. The kids played great together and we had a super nice time, probably one of the highlights of the break! Just before getting into bed Austin lost his second front tooth, lucky boy getting a visit from the tooth fairy and Santa in the same night!! Christmas day was pretty low key, we woke up when the boys woke up, opened prizes from Santa, had breakfast, got on the computer with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Bob in Hawaii and opened more prizes. Played with our prizes, ate treats and leftovers, and really just enjoyed being together.

So now that it is officially winter Dave has been constantly checking the snow totals at some of the ski resorts in Utah, he looks at pictures and live mountain cams and really wishes he could just go skiing. Some of you might not know that Dave is a avid skier who wouldn't admit it, but is VERY good at the sport. Out of curiosity and a want to go skiing he found a "resort" here in Indiana after looking at one in Michigan (just to far away) and Ohio. He and a good friend decided to take the plunge and give it a try. Here are a few pictures, those of you that go skiing in Utah will appreciate how good you have it. The first picture is the entire mountain which includes a large tubing hill! The second is the very top of the mountain, yup, it has 400 vertical feet!!

We had a little scare with Austin, on Sunday his right leg decided it didn't want to hold up his weight anymore and he couldn't walk. Because of his history I took him to the ER and they couldn't find anything it might be. When we took him into the Dr. today he thought it was probably sprained. He is able to walk better today but is still walking on his tip-toes. He is such a trooper. For New Years Eve a couple of first year families got together, we had a great time, the house we went to has enough rooms that all the kids we able to go to bed and not distract each other. It was really cute to have all the boys sleeping in a big king sized bed. We ate yummy food, talked, watched a funny comedian show, and played the Wii. Have you ever played a wii? It is really fun, and watching the players was more entertaining then watching the TV screen. I wish I had pictures, I don't know why we didn't take our camera. Oops!! On Tuesday, new years day a few families that we live by went bowling, even though Austin still couldn't walk he really wanted to go. We have such great friends here and everyone had a real blast!!

Well, I think that concludes this entry. Even though this says I posted on the 2nd, I really only started writing on the 2nd, part of it was written today, the 3rd. We hope you all have a great new year and that it is full of happiness.

Oh Tannenbaum, and other fun stuff!

2007-12-16T13:02:00.000-05:00

Today is Sunday and I didn't go to church! Yup, none of us did, as a matter of fact no one in our ward did. Indianapolis had it's first "bad enough to cancel church" snow storm. Not that we got a lot of snow, but that after it stopped snowing it started raining, my car is covered in a nice blanket of ice, and so are the roads. I tried to take a picture but you couldn't really tell. So I am using this extra time to update, and I feel like I have a lot to update! OK, so first I want to tell you about our Christmas Tree finding adventure. We found this great Christmas Tree farm where you can go and pick out a tree and cut it down yourself. It's not like going into the Uintahs like our family is used to but it was still fun, and we have decided to make it our tree tradition while we are here. The farm has wagon rides, hot chocolate, and Santa. None of the boys were afraid of Santa this year, that made it really fun!!

So, at the zoo here they go all out with decorations for Christmas and they are open until 9pm. We took the boys and had such a great time. Santa is there also, but you have to pay for those pictures. Also Santa's reindeer are there, however the male reindeer learned how to put his antlers under the fence and move it so on the day we went they weren't there. We are going again on Thursday and we are very excited to see the reindeer!

We are having such a nice time while Dave is on break. Austin and Taylor will be done with school Wednesday, and we will have even more time all together. What a great time of year it is! Earlier when we asked the boys what Christmas was they said it is when Santa comes, which is true in some aspects, but now when you ask them they say "it's Jesus' birthday!" How great.

These are a couple of pictures of all the boys making a snow alligator! They LOVE being outside in the snow, it is so fun!!

These last pictures have nothing to do with the snow, Christmas, or our break, but I thought they were really fun. The first is of Dave's Grandma and Grandpa Rigby, the second is of Dave's parents and the third is of us!

First Snow in Indiana

2007-12-06T10:36:00.001-05:00

Well it happened, it snowed in Indianapolis! Today the temperature is a frigid 20 degrees. BRRRRR!! Yesterday, Dave took a little time off his studies to take the boys out back and go sledding (on the biggest mountain in Indiana..hee-hee). Here are a few pictures from their adventure! Please try not to notice that my older two are not in snow pants, or boots! This snow caught me a little off guard, and to be honest I thought that their suits from last year (the one Caden is wearing) would still fit...boy was I wrong. Anyway they are layered, and they could have cared less, they had such a blast. Taylor did ask to take a warm bath when they were done! I love these boys!!

Caden and Daddy

Cheeeez!

Taylor driving, and Austin riding.

I know this one is a little hard to see, but it is Taylor, making a snow angel, I love the expression of happiness on his face!

Taylor

One of my angels making an angel.

Well, that's all for today! I hope you are all warm and happy.

Wanna Laugh?

2007-12-04T12:56:00.000-05:00

My friend had this link on her blog, pretty funny, and you can do it too!! Ha-Ha.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1162147944

Our Turkey Day Adventures

2007-11-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

So this being our first Thanksgiving away from "home" we decided it would be a fun thing if we packed ourselves into the car and take the 9 1/2 hour drive down to Charlottesville, Virgina to spend some time with Dave's sister and her family. That idea alone was enough to get me excited. Dave's sister and I are really good friends and I was totally missing her. However the idea only got better as we were able to find a decent priced airline ticket for Dave's little brother (well, little being 21) who we have not seen since we took him to the MTC to ship him off to Japan! So last Tuesday night Ru arrived. Dave still had class Wednesday, so we left as soon as possible after he got home. We were on the road by 4pm. Because of our late start we decided to stay in a hotel in West Virgina. Around 8am on Turkey day we hit the road towards Charlottesville. We arrived and the festivities began. Dave's sister had everything perfect. She even put together a few fun crafts for the cousins to do. She has a little boy just 7 months younger than Caden, and a little girl that will be 1 in a couple months. The cousins played really well together.

Sterling, Caden, Taylor and Austin

On Friday evening we drove away form Charlottesville towards Washington D.C. We spent a good part of the day Saturday seeing the sights. One day however, is not enough. The highlights were Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Lincoln memorial, WWII memorial, Washington monument, the Nation's Capital and of course the White House. Funny thing, I ran into a friend from here who had also gone to Virgina to be with family for Thanksgiving. Small world.

Austin and Dave

Me and Caden

Taylor, Uncle Bob, Austin

Me, Taylor, Austin, Dave, and Caden

The boys and Uncle Bob

Austin, Me, Taylor

Caden got a little tired after walking so far.

We had a great trip, and made it safe and sound, sound? what does that mean? Anyway...we had a supper nice time being all together. Now that we are home, well it's back to routine. Dave has what is seeming to be a never ending week and a half, during which he has 9 different exams, tests, presentations, and tooth model work that has to be done. The good news? On Friday the 7th in the afternoon, it will all be over and we will have our first semester under our belt. Dave will then have the next 3 weeks completely off. No school = no work!! Yeah!! Well, I guess that's all for now. Ciao!

Why do I read other people's Blogs?

2007-11-13T12:46:00.000-05:00

I have been tagged...Thanks a lot Dana!
I don't feel like I can come up with 7 things to say about myself, but here goes.

1. I HATE spiders. I will literally jump up onto the counter if there is one crossing the floor. I will not kill a spider because I am afraid that it is going to jump up and get me. When Dave and I lived in our condo, I watched a spider for 3 1/2 hours, making sure I knew where it was so that when Dave got home he could "take care of it". Pathetic, I know!

2. I LOVE football. BYU Cougar football mostly. I have been a fan since I was 4 years old. My mom and or dad would take me to games and to this day I still enjoy watching them. I know every word to the cougar fight song and will sing it for you if you ask nicely!

3. I recently have gotten into the vampire books, don't know what I am talking about? That's too bad, you are really missing out. It is a little shameful that I am so addicted to a story about a teenager who falls in love with a vampire. I find my thoughts are constantly on their lives, like I know them or something! The author does an exceptional job of describing every character and scenario.

4. I love to bake. I love to get my little Food and Family magazine and try out all the yummy treats.

5. I don't know how to drive a stick!! Seriously, I don't. Never have learned and probably never will.

6. My first kiss was awful, honestly, after that I didn't think I was ever going to want to kiss another boy again. Those of you who know me, know I got over that phobia pretty easily!! Too much info? Sorry.

7. I love the smell of coffee. I make it a point to walk down the isle in the store that has coffee so I can smell it. The best though is when I get to go to Starbucks...oh am I in heaven. (I don't get coffee for myself, I am partial to their steamed milk with hazelnut. Right now for the holidays they have gingerbread, yummy!)

Well, look at that! 7 things about me. I guess I am supposed to tag now right? Well I tag...Andrea and Shanti!

October update even though it is November

2007-11-05T17:48:00.000-05:00

Hello! I think I can safely say Happy Holidays! Crazy, I know, but have you been to the store lately? Everything is decked out for Christmas. I feel a little bad for Thanksgiving. It seems like it goes form Halloween right to Christmas. I really like Thanksgiving...all that food. Oh, ya and getting to be with family. We are lucky this year because Andrea and her family are in Virginia, so we are going to be driving down to spend Thanksgiving with them. Kinda nice for our first Thanksgiving away from home to still get to spend it with family!

Well, as far as an update goes...yup! I've got nothin'. School is still the same for Dave and the boys, and Caden and I are happy in our little routine.

I don't want to jump the gun, but I think, finally, after 6 years, Taylor is finally potty trained! YEA!!! His teacher was so nice she approached me with the idea of sending him in pull-ups and they would work with him at school. Academically the boys are ready for 1st grade so she thought this would be a good thing to get under the belt before next year. I am so grateful, of course I had been trying but how much can you do when your child is gone for 8 hours of the daylight! It took him 1 week, and we have only had a couple accidents since! Woo-Hoo.

Well I guess that just about covers my up date. Here are a few recent pictures!

Halloween night, well early evening. We thought it was funny that Taylor posed in all his shots, we never told him how to do it.

The next pictures are a few from Bloomington, we went down there on Saturday to try and get a new family picture. I am not posting it because you will probably all get one in your Christmas card and I want it to be a surprise!!

OK, that takes care of that! Thanks for looking, see ya after Thanksgiving!

All the fun we had with Grandma!!

2007-10-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

OK, so in my last entry I told you all to look back later for pictures of all the fun we had while Grandma was here. Well guess what? I forgot to take the camera everywhere we went except the zoo, so sorry, that's all you get pictures from. I will however be happy to tell you about all our adventures.

Kerrie or Grandma or Mamma, who ever you are talking to in our family arrived on Thursday morning and despite her tiredness Caden and I whisked her off to meet Dave at school and go to lunch.

On Friday Kerrie, Caden and I took the 35 minute drive to the outlets just south of Indianapolis. We had a nice time, however I had forgotten my cell phone and was preoccupied with the fact that today was going to be the day that the boys school was going to need to get in touch with me. Well they didn't but I didn't know that until we got home.

Saturday was a fun day that I really regret not having my camera, if I had, you might get to see me climbing a tree! We went to an apple festival at a local orchard. The boys had a great time being hoisted up to pick apples, searching under branches for raspberries, and stomping thorough the pumpkin patch to find just the right pumpkin! After all that hard work we had a yummy hot dog and an even better apple cider slushy! YUM! Dave had a test that next Wednesday so he was unable to come with us, but we had a great time!

Saturday evening was the Relief Society General broadcast, and our stake did a huge service project that consisted of 500 Hygiene kits, cards for the Ronald McDonald House, quilts and nightgowns for humanitarian aid, 500 puppy pillows for the Riley Children's Hospital and fleece blankets for the local Fire and Police departments to give to kids when they needed to be taken out of their homes for any reason. It was an amazing sight to see so many great women giving of their time and talents to help someone they would never know! The broadcast was as always an uplifting time to listen to those called to lead and direct us.

Sunday...Well, Sunday was Sunday!

Monday was going to be a great day, the boys were pumped up as they got on the bus to go see the "dinosaur bones" (the Children's museum). I even made special arrangements to pick them up from school a little early so we could have plenty of time to explore! We arrived at the museum and guess what? IT WAS CLOSED! How do you explain to 3 little boys after talking it up so much that they couldn't go in. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy and I spent the next few days hearing about how the "dinosaurs were locked".

Tuesday morning grandma went to Austin and Taylor's classroom and spent some time observing and helping. I joined her at lunch time and we had lunch with them.

If I remember correctly, Wednesday was pretty uneventful, a nice day but nothing really to share!

Thursday was a fun day, Dave was finished with his test and had the day off. We all went to the zoo, I know I have talked about it before but the zoo here is incredible. We packed a little lunch and spent just over 5 hours there. We got to pet sharks, but the highlight was probably the fountain that shoots up out of the ground. Here are some pictures from our trip to the zoo:

Austin touching a shark!

Caden on a shark on the carousel and Mom, Caden, Austin , Taylor and Grandma on the train. Dad came along for the ride but he took the picture!

Austin, completely enjoying the fact that he was getting wet, and nobody was stopping him!

Caden deciding if this was OK... Guess what he decided?

Taylor taking a break from running around getting wet!

Taylor and grandma! Fun grandma, hua?

Well, that pretty much wraps up the adventure with grandma. We were all sad to see her go, up until a couple days ago Caden was still saying that he "lost grandma." Cute!

What we have been up to since moving to Indianapolis...besides studying!

2007-09-20T15:13:00.000-04:00

So, for this entry I thought I would let you know what we have been able to do in the little spare time Dave actually has.
One of our first outings was to an Indiana Indians baseball game, unfortunately the popcorn was more fun than the game.

Next the Dental School held a White Coat Ceremony for all the first years, it was really nice. They had a few speakers who all had great things to say to the students, then they presented them with their "white coats." That was neat, each student told who they were and where they were from. After they had a nice reception in their honor.

On the 24th of July our stake had a HUGE party. Some of the highlights were the yummy watermelon, face painting, fishing ponds, wagon rides, home made pies & jams, corn hull (a Indiana game that I am told we will learn to love, maybe it's a mid-west game, I'm not really sure), square dancing, pioneer pictures, a really nice program, and the boys favorite...potato sack racing!

The boys have also enjoyed just hanging out in our little back yard and playing in the pool. It gets very hot a humid here, some days it is to hot to even go swimming!

We also like to go to the zoo whenever possible, it is great! A big hit with the boys is the Children's Museum, they have a really great dinosaur section. The boys often ask to drive by and see the "dinosaur breaking the building." Lots of fun!

You know what is amazing? Downtown Indianapolis, there are so many wonderful museums and buildings to explore. On one of our family drives we stopped and took in a few of the sights of downtown, Caden was asleep in the car so Austin, Taylor and Dave did the exploring and reported back to me!

Lastly, but certainly not least, Dave and I were able to go to a pre-season Colts game against the Bears. That was great fun, although the batteries in the camera were dead so I don't have anything to show you of that event. We were able however to go downtown for the big opening game party that the NFL holds for the Superbowl winners. Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, and Hinder came and did a free concert. I have never seen so many people crammed into one place before! Great times!

Well, I think that covers it for the next little while. We are so excited because Grandma is coming to visit in a few days and we have a lot of fun activities planned. I will make sure to take pictures and next month there will be something new to read and look at.

Thanks for looking!

Here goes nothin'

2007-08-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I have decided after talking to my very smart sister-in-law that I would try and put together a blog of our family. This is a huge step for me and hopefully I can figure it all out! I hope those of you that read this will enjoy!

Our family recently moved to Indianapolis so Dave could attend Indiana University School of Dentistry. We have been here since the first of June and are really feeling comfortable and settled. It is extremely hot and humid which is taking longer than I expected to get used to. My aunt Maria who lived in New York for many years told me I never will!! Also the fact that there seems to be a lack of Mountains (there are none) has been quite an adjustment. All in all, WE LOVE IT and feel very blessed to be here!!

Dave is really enjoying school, especially the hands on parts of the anatomy lab and building teeth out of wax. The school gives the students bi-weekly exams which are a combination of everything they have learned over the previous two weeks, those are turning out to be quite a time consuming process with studying and everything. I just try to remember that's why we are here and it isn't going to last forever! On top of school Dave has just been called to be the ward clerk, again. Dave has quite a way of dealing with the stress and pressure of it all and continues to be the happy, upbeat guy he always has been.

Austin and Taylor just started Kindergarten here and seem to love it. They have been placed into a general ed class in the morning and a special ed class that focuses on their individual needs in the afternoon. Both teachers are great. Academically they are probably a little ahead of a lot of the kids in their class but developmentally and behaviorally they have room to grow. We have great hope that this will be a fabulous school year for them. When the boys are not in school they love to go swimming at the YMCA and visit the zoo. They also love playing dinosaurs and make believe saying things like "when I grow up I want to be a octopus." They are learning so much and are so fun to talk to.

Caden is getting ready to start pre-school, I can't believe my baby is 3 years old! He continues to be a sweet, affectionate little boy who truly loves his mommy, which I am thrilled about! He loves to read books, play with cars and dinosaurs, and follow his brothers around. He is very talkative and lively. A real joy to have as part of our family.

I keep busy with being a mom. My calling in the ward is Home, Family, Personal, Enrichment Leader, which is panning out to be a lot of work. It is fun though, I work with great ladies who have wonderful ideas and are all willing to help.

Well, that is probably long enough for my first post. I am going to try and add some pictures, so we'll see how that goes. Thanks for reading!!