Sunday, April 24, 2016

Idaho Trip

Since we were sick and weren't able to make it up to Idaho for Easter this year, we decided to go a couple weeks later for Dad's birthday.  Rob's been wanting to go up w/ us again to the farm, so we brought him along as well.  I got off work a little early on Thursday the 14th, rode the train home, finished packing a few things, then went over got Rob and headed out.  We of course ran into traffic as it was a weeknight, but once we got out of Salt Lake area it was just fine.  We had a little rain at times, but for the most part had good roads.  We only made a couple stops for the bathroom and made it up to my parent's place around 11pm.

The next morning Dad, Steve and Rob went up to Anderson Dan to do some fishing.  Nyles and I hung around the house w/ mom.  Nyles found all the toys and was loving life!  The wind was blowing really hard so we didn't go outside much, but we still had fun.

Nyles riding the 3 wheeler forwards and backwards.  He's getting pretty good at it.  His legs are just the right size now.  Before he couldn't reach the pedals.  


Nyles had some noodles w/ Parmesan cheese for lunch.  He got a milk mustache while drinking his milk and thought it was the funniest thing.  He kept purposely trying to get a mustache from then on and had to show it to everyone.   

The guys caught a few fish up at Anderson.  Nyles was excited to see them come back.

Dad took the fish and put them in a vacuum packed package then froze them for later.  
Nyles thought it was pretty cool to watch.



He also got to learn a few new games w/ Grandma, which he thought was pretty awesome!

After the guys got back from fishing and we had dinner, we went and had our Easter Egg (sack) Hunt.  Nyles was waiting the whole day; he was so excited to finally go find his sack.  He even found some chocolate on the grass on his way to find his sack.


Nyles found his Easter sack in the tree.

Then Rob, Steve and I found ours too.

After doing our Easter Egg Hunt, Steve and Rob headed out to CJ Strike Dam to go Stergeon fishing w/ Mark Gasper (from the Grandview Ward).  Mark had been telling Steve about it for a while and got him excited to go.  Luckily they caught some!  The fish were 5ft, 6ft and even a 7 foot long one!  Steve said it took usually 3 of them to reel one in because they were so big and strong.  They would take turns until their arms hurt, then they'd switch off to someone else.  They weren't able to keep the fish, but they did get some fun pictures.

Steve posing for a picture showing how big it is (Steve is just over 6ft tall).

And another.

And now Rob.

On Saturday, Dad's birthday, the guys went fishing at CJ Strike.  They caught a couple there too.  That afternoon Steve, Nyles and I went back out and fished on the dock for about an hour before dinner while Dad and Rob watched his new Star Wars movie.  We had many fish bite, but only brought in one.  It was still a lot of fun!

Nyles waiting for a fish to bite.

Nyles and Steve waiting patiently.


Nyles caught one!

And he had to play w/ some trucks too in order to stay focused.

We made a chocolate cake for dad for his birthday and sang "Happy Birthday" to him that night after dinner.  Nyles loves birthdays, especially the cake and ice cream part.

On Sunday, we went to church w/ my parents.  Nyles was a little scared again, and asked that I stay w/ him in Primary.  There were a few visitors, so his Sunbeams classes was quite big and combined w/ kids up to age 6.  For that reason the lesson was a little advanced for him, but he made it through.  Barbara and her kids (minus Mikey) showed up around sacrament meeting time.  It was great seeing them and Nyles just loved having cousins around.  They played after lunch for an hour or so as well until we had to go.  He was sad to leave, but Grandpa took him on one more motorcycle ride before we left.  That made his day!

Abby jumped on the back of the motorcycle as well and took a ride w/ Grandpa and Nyles.

We left around 3pm in the afternoon, and made it home by 8pm.  Thankfully Nyles did take a nap this time.  He actually fell asleep shortly after getting on the freeway.  It was a fun yet short trip.  The Internet wasn't working the whole time we were there so I couldn't help mom order her pictures for her Scouts, but we did at least get them put on her computer.

This was our last trip up to Idaho before the baby comes.  I am 33 weeks today, so w/in the next 4-6 weeks the baby should be here.  Nyles was 3 weeks early, so we're trying to get things done and ready just in case this one comes early too.  I'll have someone cover my book at work while I'm gone, so I just need to have things in order so they can continue to work while I'm gone.  We had a Dr appointment this past week and the baby is growing right on track.  My back hasn't been hurting as bad (knock on wood), so hopefully I'll be able to continue to have good health to the end.

We went to our ward again today.  They read in our names officially, so I guess we're part of a ward again.  Everyone has been so nice and welcoming.  Nyles went to Primary/Sunbeams by himself this time (though we had to sneak out).

Well we hope everyone has a good week!  It's the last week of April already.  Love ya lots!

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

We are in our house!

So after I wrote on Easter, that evening I started feeling worse.  So that night, around 10pm Steve took me to a different Urgent Care, mainly because the others were closed at this time of night.  I felt horrible.  My whole face was tender so we figured I probably had a sinus infection.  I was also having a hard time breathing, so we figured we'd better go check it out.  Since I was pregnant, the Dr didn't want to do an X-ray to see if I had pneumonia, but figured I did based on my symptoms and the wheezing sound he was hearing in my lungs.  He decided to put my on antibiotics to be safe.  He gave me one antibiotic to take just once for 3 days, and another to take 3 times a day for 10 days.  We went over to Walgreens after seeing the Dr and get the antibiotics so I could start taking them that night.  After a few days I definitely was feeling better.  I'm so glad we went.  It's no fun being sick, let alone being sick and pregnant.  No thanks!

On Saturday, April 2nd we finally moved into our house (we were w/ Dave/Joann for 6 1/2 weeks and remodeling our house 3 1/2 of those weeks).  The last week Steve worked really hard to get the doors painted and put back in place.  He also got the hardwood floors in our formal living and dining room.  It took a lot of prep work, and of course it took a few hours to get installed.  Rob helped Steve install it, and Phill came over to help for a few hours as well. Thanks for the help you guys!  They had a little bit of trouble w/ the nail gun we were renting from Home Depot, so that put them back a couple hours as well…  They were determined to get it done though, so they stayed until 3 in the morning getting it done (Rob and Steve).  While Steve was working on that I was working on cleaning and packing our stuff at Dave/Joann’s back into boxes so we could move the next morning.

Doors that Steve worked on painting.


 Getting everything prepped to start laying the hardwood floor.
Rob getting the floors cut to precise measurements.
Getting the first few rows in.

 Rob's dad Paul Daniels stopped by to see the progress and making sure Rob was doing it correctly. :)

Making progress....

Getting late but determined to finish.

While Steve was working on the hardwood floor, the boys were helping Grandpa get the ATVs out of the trailer and into the garage (so we could use the ATV trailer to haul our stuff the next morning).  Isaac and Cameron stayed over at Dave/Joann's that night as well.  Nyles thought it was fun to have cousins over to play with.

We got a few hours of sleep, then the next morning around 9am we had people over to help load our stuff (Phill, Chris, and Dave Mensen).  We loaded up our bed and the boxes we had at Dave/Joann’s then headed over to Rob’s house to load the rest; Zach Hannay, Dave Thomas, and Rob of course were there to help load more stuff.  While they were doing that, Nyles and I ran over to Home Depot to return the nail gun.  We then went to our house and started unloading our clothes and a few boxes that were in our car, the Edge.  About the time I was finishing up, they guys were done loading up at Rob’s house and were headed over to our house.  Dave Mensen and Zach had their pickup trucks, so we used the back of their trucks to put a few things in them as well.  Steve said they were going to be hungry when they got there, so I left Nyles w/ Joann and went and got pizza, drinks and snacks.  When I got back, they were just finishing unloading the last few boxes into the house.  They were fast and were done by noon!  Everyone then ate some pizza, then headed out.

The next morning before starting the moving.  
We put all our boxes in here on the hardwood since it's the main floor.
This will be our formal living room.

Beautiful floors w/ the sunlight hitting them.

This will be our formal dining room.

Steve put Nyles down for a nap, then laid down himself, since he didn’t get much sleep the night before.  While they were sleeping, Dave and I worked on cleaning the kitchen.  The cupboards inside and out were pretty dirty, so it took a while to say the least.  We cleaned them during the whole afternoon session of General Conference, and still didn’t get done.  Nyles and Steve woke up, then Dave left, and I still worked on them another couple hours.  Though it took forever (like 4 hours), I’m thankful to have done it so we can have a clean kitchen.  We then worked on unloading a few things so we could get to bed.  It was a long day, but we were so grateful to be in our house finally!

Sunday we listened to General Conference again.  After the afternoon session, we went over to Draper Park and let Nyles ride his bicycle around the trail.  He is LOVING riding his bike!  Every day since moving into our house, he asks if he can go ride his bike.  He either rides it outside on our patio in the back, or in the garage if the weather has been bad.  He LOVES being outside whether riding his bike or playing in the dirk w/ his trucks!  It’s nice that we finally have some more space (both inside and especially outside), so Nyles can play a little more and explore his little mind. 

Steve and Nyles looking at the fish in the pond.

Nyles riding his bike.  

Since moving in we’ve been working on unpacking of course, and figuring out where to put things.  We definitely have LOTS of space though, that’s for sure.  We finally cleared the floor out where all the boxes were stacked.  We started hanging a few pictures this week, and put up some drapes.  Both of which are helping it to feel more like our home. 

Nyles wanted his cousins to come over and play as soon as we moved in.  So far he’s had Conor and London and Lynsie for a few minutes.  Conor and London played outside for a little bit, then played w/ chalk on the patio.  He went w/ Lynsie to the Aquarium and played in the playground mostly.

Conor, Nyles and London.

Nyles drawing using chalk w/ Aunt Stacie.

Aunt Stacie tracing Nyles w/ chalk.

Nyles and Conor eating a fruit roll-up and playing w/ trucks out on the grass.


Lynsie and Nyles at the Aquarium playground w/ Aunt Carrie helping them build w/ big blocks.


 Steve and Nyles at the Aquarium.

Nyles and Lynsie crossing the rope bridge all by themselves, such big kids now ;)

We went to our new ward the next Sunday.  Thankfully we kept the same time, 9am, which is our favorite since Nyles is still able to take a nap after church.  I was of course dying of heat during sacrament meeting, but thankfully I was ok the rest of the meetings.  Nyles was a little scared to go to Sunbeams by himself, so I sat in the back of Primary w/ him.  I then went to his class with him.  His class is actually the biggest class in the junior primary.  There were 6 kids there that Sunday, but if everyone is there, there will be 9 kids!  The teacher did a great job though.  She let the kids play w/ toys for a few minutes after sharing time before starting the lesson.  Then she gave them each their own snack to eat while she taught the lesson. She then gave them another snack before leaving class.  Nyles did really well, so hopefully next time he’ll be ready to go on his own.  After church and a nap, we went to the park again to let Nyles ride his bike and play on the playground.

We went and got him a new helmet since the week before.  
He's getting really good ie more confident riding his bike, going faster and using his brakes.  


This time it wasn't as busy on the playground, so he was able to go down the different slides.

 They tried throwing bread to the ducks, but they were actually "wild" so they just flew away instead of flocking towards the food like the ducks at Wheeler Farm do.


When we got home Nyles wanted to try making a few baskets.  
He did awesome w/ a little help from Steve!

Steve has been working in the yard as well.  He’s mowed the lawn twice already, and taken out 6 bags of old leaves that haven’t been cleaned up for a few years.  And there are still more leaves to gather.  Steve has also taken out some of the bushes as well.  The yard is starting to look really good.  We still have more to do and improvements to make, but so far so good.  Many of the neighbors have already commented on how nice it’s looking.  Sounds like the yard, in addition to the house, has been neglected for quite a while.

Nyles helping pick up leaves and bag them.

Nyles helping Steve mow the lawn this past week.
  
 Steve found a new light in the garage and switched it out.  
The old one was full of gross dead bugs too.
Steve also got sick of the toilets and put in new toilets downstairs and in Nyles’ bathroom.  The one upstairs you had to hold down the flusher for 12 seconds to make sure it wouldn’t keep running afterwards. We’ll put a new toilet in our bathroom once we finish the tile. 

A new toilet for the downstairs bathroom.

We have tulips coming up, yeah!

After Nyles got done w/ his medicine, he said he needed to give his stuffed animals some medicine as well.  He now thinks he needs to give them medicine every so often.  Silly kid ;)


"Popcorn popping on the apricot tree."  I sent this picture to Steve to show Nyles near by work.  It's his favorite song!  As we drive around he now has to point out all the "popcorn trees" that he sees. 

Nyles new favorite treat is a churro at Costco.  (Thanks to Aunt Carrie for introducing them to him).  Home Depot is close to Costco, so we've had to run over a few times after going to Home Depot to get him one.  He just LOVES them! And he actually eats the WHOLE thing!  Speaking of food, Nyles must be growing.  He's been eating like nobody's business these past few weeks since moving in.  He's been wanting to eat every 30 minutes.  His favorites are turtle pancakes w/ my mom's strawberry jam, apples, clementines, and Gogurts.  Steve said it's been hard to get things done since he's been wanting to eat every 30 minutes, but glad he's eating.  He's definitely got his appetite back after being sick the last week of March that's for sure! 

Churros from Costco!

Steve took Nyles fishing to a pond close by, but unfortunately the fish weren't biting.  
Nyles still had a good time though.

Well we've come a long way since getting keys about 6 weeks ago now.  I'll post more on our updates next time.  We're thankful to have our home and a place to call our own.  We are blessed!  I'm 32 weeks now, so we're on the countdown now.  We're trying to get a few more things done before baby gets here.  Nyles is getting really excited to meet him as are we!

Have a great week!  Love ya all and thanks again to everyone who has helped us w/ our house.  We really appreciate it ;)