Turkey Day!

This year we decided to shake things up a bit. It didnt make much sense for me to spend all of the time and money to cook for just our little family so we decided to head over to the Cracker Barrel. Best. Decision. Ever. No hassle, no mess, just a great night cozied up in from of a warm fire eating delicious food! We missed not being with our family back home, but we now are that much closer to Christmas where we get to spend 15 wonderful days in Utah!!!!

Our cute family, courtesy of delayed timer on the camera. Gotta love it.


There was a bit of a wait, so we hung out in the car watching a movie


The boys coloring at our table waiting for the food


Claire in the giant rocker outside of the restaurant

Dallin's Surgery

As most of you know, Dallin has blessed us with 4 years of sleepless nights. He would wake up 2-3 times EVERY NIGHT. Well after talking with an ENT about his history and based on all the symptoms he presented with the doctor decided we would go ahead and remove his tonsills and adenoids to help with any obstruction that could be causing him to wake up at night. I talked to Dallin about the surgery a few days before, and he actually was really excited! He couldn't wait to go meet the "sleep doctor" and get to wear a mask and hospital clothes! The best part about his surgery, was we got go receive a special visit from Grammie! We didn't even tell Dallin she was coming, we just pulled up at the airport the night before and opened the door. Grammie popped her head into the car, and oh my, Dallin jumped out of his seat so fast and wrapped his arms and legs around her so tight. It was seriously the cutest thing ever, I teared up for sure! It was great having her there to offer a little extra TLC, plus Andy and I were able to both go with Dallin to the surgery center, whild Grammie stayed home with Claire. That was very nice! The surgery went perfectly, and by the sounds of it we picked the best doctor. Dallin did fantastic and came out of the anestesia great! The nurses couldn't believe how well he was doing. He was a bit swoolen, but after a bit he was up in bed eating Jello! We were discharged a few hours later, and he did great the first two days! Day three was the hardest, he didnt eat much, and was in a lot of pain. From then on he just got better and better! I was soo proud of him for handling it so well. He was such a trooper, and was back to 100% after about a week!


In the waiting room


All dressed in his hospital garb, ready to go


Sooo sleepy, just out of surgery


Heading home, still a bit drowsy wouldn't ya say?


Day 2: Making cupcakes with Grammie!


As far as his sleep patterns, let's just say it's improving. It is still not what we want it to be, but it's getting there. Last week he slept 3 of 7 nights all the way through the night. That is a HUGE step for us. The other nights, he has been waking up around 11 or so and then sleeping until morning. That is also an improvement. He used to wake up at least twice. So, I am happy with the results so far, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it only gets better from here!!

Halloween Fun

We, like every other family on this planet, carved pumkins to kick off the Halloween festivities!

Andy and Dallin


Dall dug right in... for about 20 seconds. Mom to the rescue to help dig out the rest of the "guts"


My two cuties, and our finished products. Not too fancy, but that's okay, I am no artist!


Halloween was a lot of fun this year! I wasnt sure if Claire was going to understand it, but Dallin was definitely ready to hit the streets! We live on a golf course community with lot's of retired people so we thought that everyone would for sure be home. Actually, we were totally wrong. Basically every other house was dark, and nobody answered. We had to do twice the work!! Andy and I even dressed up a bit, which Dallin thought was pretty cool!

Surprise, surprise. Dallin wanted to be Spiderman.


Trick or treating was right up her alley this year. She loved being able to pick her own candy and put it in her pumpkin! And, she even kept her hat on the whole time, SHOCKER!


Spiderman and his little radioactive spider. Pretty creative, right? (actually it was really the only costume I could find on Craigslist about 2 days before Halloween, but we can pretend it was totally thought out)


HEAVEN!!


CANDY! Recently introduced to it, and totally in love!

Happy B-day to ME

I turned 28 (back in October), so I figured I should document it even if it's a bit late! We celebrated by going out to dinner at a local steakhouse, and then eating yummy spice cake with cream cheese frosting the me and the kids made! It was pretty low key, and I definitely missed my family (birthdays are a HUGE deal in my fam) but it was still a great day!

Me and Miss Claire


My two handsome men


Gotta love the "action" shot!

One day I will blog.. I promise.

Life in the slow lane

One of the things I am LOVING about living in Indiana is the fact that my life has become much simpler. We used to juggle both our jobs, run from grandparent's house to grandparent's house, from barbeques at a friend's house to birthday gatherings at another friends house. On weekends it was always, "who should we call"? Dont get me wrong, I absolutley loved ALWAYS having so much to do. But, I think I got caught up in it a little bit. Okay, a lot. After moving away it's made me realize just how C R A Z Y our life used to be. My poor kids didn't hardly get to bed before 9, I was never home to cook dinner, I had no schedule as far as cleaning or maintaining my house etc. but looking back, I didn't really know any different.That's how it has always been. Now my life is simple. It's quiet. It's organized. It's peaceful. It's MINE. I love it. I love that it's 7:40 pm and the kids are sound asleep and have been for about 20 minutes. I love that I get to go curl up on the couch with my amazing hubby, sip on a diet coke, munch on some popcorn and watch our "shows". Ahhh, so nice.

Life in the fast lane is fun, crazy and full of adventure, but sometimes it's good to pull over, and take a ride in the slow lane and enjoy the scenery.

My dynamic duo

Now that I live away from my family and friends, I figured I better post updates on these two little bundles of energy! They sure keep me on my feet all day long, and now that I stay home with them I am getting a hang of the stay at home mom role! I sure love getting to spend every day with them!

Miss Claire:
She is now 16 months old (where has the time gone). She is busy busy busy and climbs on everything. We spend lots of time at the park and people often ask me how old she is because they cant believe how well she manuevers around on the playground! She is talking more and more each day, my favorite saying of hers is "bless you". It just sounds so cute coming from someone so little. She also says, "touchdown" whenever she sees football, and "goal" when she sees soccer. Andy is so proud! We recently introduced her to an Elmo DVD that Dallin loved as a baby and now she is addicted. I just took her bottle away a few days ago, and she had no trouble at all (why does stuff like that always seem harder in my mind). She still absolutely LOVES her baths and now loves showers too! She is seriously the cutest, funniest, sweetest thing ever, and I just love every bit of her.







Dallin:
He has handled the move so well, way better than I thought! He started preschool just days after we moved here and he loves it! He goes to a Montessori school, which I hear offers such a great learning style! He is still incredibly busy, and always wants me to play with him. I have really struggled with this because it's hard for me to give him the attention he wants, give Claire some time and still try to manage the household duties. I have really been trying to encourage him to use his imagination more, and he is getting better. He loves dressing up like superheroes and watching superhero shows, of course. Soccer is still a daily activity around here, and he just started in a new soccer program here in Noblesville! We have been trying really hard to make friends, and spend every day at the park socializing! It's a great way for hime to get to play with other kids and gives mom a much needed break from playing spiderman all day! We took him to another ENT who told us we definitely need to get Dallin's tonsils/adenoids removed. I was relieved in a sense, because I know it is finally going to allow Dallin to get some restful sleep! No more 2-3 night wakings every night! The doctor said that the surgery should also help with some behavioral issues we have been dealing with too, so that is also a plus! Of course, he is still my sweet little boy who is SOOOOO loving, and so complimentary. He has such a big heart, and is so passionate about everything. Even though he tests my patience daily, I sure love this kid!

Newport, Kentucky Aquarium

One benefit to living in Indy is we are just a few hours away from many nearby cities with great attractions! We wanted to drive in to Cincinnati and Kentucky so we found this great aquarium that is located right on the levy in Newport, Ky which is just across the Ohio River. We ate lunch at a great pizza place and then spent the afternoon at the aquarium. It was awesome and there were some really great exhibits! After the aquarium, we spent some time driving around Cincinnati and Andy showed me some of the places he lived when he was serving his Mission! He lived right downtown in a couple different apartments, and I tell ya, I wouldnt want to be caught walking around those streets. Pretty scary stuff. Then we headed to a city called Batesville, In which is another area he served. We found his old apartment there too! That sure was a cute little town, located just an hour from Indy! Crazy how life has brought us back to this area! Here are some pics from that day!



The view into downtown Cincinnati from Kentucky


The highlight of the day was when I got attacked by a bunch of Parrots! We entered a part of the aquarium where they let the birds fly around freely in the atrium. We were allowed to feed the birds with these tiny little cups full of some sort of liquid. I held mine up towards a tree when suddenly the bird I was trying to feed jumped right onto my arm. It was pretty cool until the other few birds came flocking over and landed right on my head! It was HILARIOUS! I was dying, and total strangers were taking my picture! To make it even worse, the birds were pooping all over me, it was quite disgusting, but seriously funny. Dallin and Andy sure got a kick out of it. Not sure why I became the landing pad for the birds, but it made for a good story!




Claire LOVES fish! It was one of her first words, so you can only imagine the joy she experienced walking through this aquarium. Love her!

Fall Festival

Since moving to Indiana we have been fortunate to fill our weekends with fun activities as we explore this new state! We spent one Saturday at one of the many farms here called Stony Creek Farm. They hold an annual fall festival full of fun activities for the kids, including a giant bounce pillow (Dallin was in heaven), haunted house, corn maze, mini train ride, and a hayride to a secluded pumpkin patch where the kids got to pick out their own pumpkin (my camera died at this point in the day, boo.) Anyway, it was a great day, and we had a ball!

Welcome to Indy!

Here are a few pictures from our plane ride to Indianapolis

Me and Dallin


Mom and Sarah (definitely a huge help having them come along)


Claire, definitely enjoying herself! Luckily the flights weren't full so I was able to bring her car seat on board. A total LIFESAVER!


I know this picture is blurry, but it was the only documentation we got of us entering our new lives in Indy!

Sunday Blues

Just missing my girlies back home... LOVE YOU ALL!

We are here!!!

Just a quick update to let everyone know we have safely made the move to Indianapolis! Andy drove our van and we hired a company that drove the moving truck for us! I had the luxury of flying out with my kids after Andy and the truck arrived! My mom and sister came out with me on the flight, which was a huge help. They also stayed a few days to help unpack and wrangle the kids while we got settled. I was able to finally see my house in person, which was so much fun! We absolutely LOVE IT! The town we are living in is called Noblesville, which is a suburb of Indianapolis. It is about 20 minutes north of the City. Our house is right on a golf course, in fact our backyard is the Golf course! It is so beautiful here, green and lots of trees. We are so close to many of the ammenities we are used to in Utah, shops restaraunts, etc.

Dallin was able to start preschool right away, which is great for him. He goes 3 times a week, twice for 4 hours and the other day for 2.5 hours. He loves it already and I am glad he has something to keep him busy! I met a girl from the ward who already invited me to a weekly "potluck" for stay at home mom's. I am so excited, it is tomorrow and I will get to meet some new friends! The kids have adjusted so well, they are already totally used to Eastern Time, which I was totally nervous about.

Andy hasn't really started work yet. He should be getting his new laptop with all the programs he needs on Thursday, and then he can dive into work!

Overall we have been loving it! It still feels like a bit of a vacation, but I think I can get used to it here! We cant wait until Sunday when Andy's parents come out (they drove our other car). It will be fun to spend some time with them! I will post some pictures of our house shortly!

Movin' TIme

The time has arrived for us to move. We spent an exhausting weekend loading up the moviing truck and cleaning our apartment. Oh boy was that a task. It is so much different moving across the country vs. across the city. We litereally had to put EVERY SINGLE THING WE OWN in a box. Craziness. We basically played one giant game of tetris trying to get everything into the moving truck, and in the least amount of space possible (they charge per foot used). But we made it out alive, barely, so it's time to say our goodbyes and start our new journey. Andy leaves bright and early tomorrow morning to drive to Indiana. His buddy Chris is tagging along to keep him company during the drive. Of course, they had to squeeze in some sort of sporting event into the trip so they are going to a Chicago White Sox game on Thursday night. Then they will head over to Indiana. I get to stay here for a few more days and then fly out with the kids Friday! My amazing mom and sister get to join me on the plane and come hang out with us for the first few days in our new place!!! After they leave, Andy's parents will be coming a few days later. They are driving our other car out, and then flying home a few days later! I actuallly cannot believe it is all happening. It still seems a bit surreal in my mind. I am however, very excited. I cant wait to get settled and start a new chapter in our lives!

Cabin Fever

We decided to have a last shin dig with our friends up at Jenny's cabin! It was a great little getaway and we were all able to find babysitters for our kids! We stayed up till almost 3 am and slept in till 9:00! Wow, that's unheard of once kids enter the equation! We spend the evening barbequeing and goofing off. We played some games, but mainly just talked and talked and laughed (a lot). We only stayed one night, but it was much needed! We are very sad to leave all of our amazing friends, but know we will always stay in touch!

The girls (minus Christa who came up later that night)


Kate and Me. My bestie for life!


My SIL Lacy and Me. We have become such great friends over the years. Sure going to be sad to leave


Jen (iffer) and me (shlee) Love this girl. Go Red!


Couldn't resist acting like we were 12 again!


I love this picture of Andy and me but the lighting was strange. Oh well, it's still cute!


The Girls.


The boys. these guys (minus travis) all grew up together!