Sunday, February 7, 2016

Happenings the rest of January and start of February

Well here we are into February.  January sure seemed to fly by.  Here are a few things that have gone one.

On Friday, January 22nd Steve and his friend Rob Daniels went up to Idaho to take my mom a scooter to use after surgery (Monday, January 25th).  They were planning to come back the next day, so Nyles and I decided to stay home since it was going to be a quick trip.  They left shortly after I got home from work.  Nyles and I went to return a Redbox, then Nyles wanted to stop at McDonald's since Steve said he was grabbing something there.  They had left by the time we got there though, so we went inside and played in the playground.  Nyles thinks it's so fun!  We played for a few minutes, then came home to get ready for bed.  Steve and Rob made good time w/ good roads, and got up there around 11pm.

Nyles asleep after coming back from the cabin the week before.  
Playing at McDonald's play house in the digger.

The next morning Steve, Rob and my dad went out duck hunting.  They had a good time.  They actually got some geese, so they were pretty happy about that.  They were planning to come back that night, but after getting in late and getting up early, I suggested they stay another night to get some sleep.  They decided to do so, and went to bed early.

Dad and Rob out in the field.

My dad sitting in his blind.  My dad was pretty excited to get out of the house for a while after being home the past few weeks from his surgery he had at the end of December.

Steve and Rob showing off the geese they got.

Saturday night we got some snow which continued through Sunday.  Luckily by the time Steve and Rob got down here it had stopped and the roads were good.  It was Stake Conference that weekend, so Nyles and I headed to the Stake Center Sunday morning.  When we got there they informed us the parking lot was full, so we could either park in the street, or go up to another church where they were broadcasting it.  I decided to go to the other church, in hopes that it wouldn't be as busy and we wouldn't be distracting others as much.  I wasn't sure how Nyles would do for 2 hours sitting, let alone just me trying to help keep him busy and quiet.  When we got to the other church, the parking lot hadn't been cleared from the snow, but we managed to park ok.  We then hurried into the church and sat in the chapel.  For some reason after the opening prayer, they turned off the lights in the chapel (I guess so we could see the broadcast better), and only had a small light in the gym on.  Ironically Nyles did REALLY well.  I'm not sure if having the lights out helped or maybe he just had a good day.  Nyles played w/ his toys, ate snacks, and read some stories.  We actually were able to stay the whole 2 hours!  I was really impressed!  Steve and Rob got home that afternoon, just after Nyles went down for his nap.  It was good to have them home.

Nyles has been doing really well in SunBeams as well.  He just started at the beginning of the new year.  There are 2 other boys in his class, both of them are 6 months older than Nyles.  Nyles got to give the opening prayer today in Sharing Time as well; he did great.  He's been adjusting well for the most part.  He seems to have the hardest time with singing time, mainly because he doesn't pick up on all the words at once.  He love the fun songs though, like "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" and "Once there was a snowman."  We sing those every night lately as well. 

The start of the snow storm.

We went over to Chris and Pauline's for dinner the last Friday in January.  Chris asked if I could help him w/ his 401k, which I was glad to.  It was a good excuse to get together as well.  On the way back we filled up w/ gas.  We had some gas points to use at Smith's this month.  Gas was $1.67 plus the 60 cents we had off, so we filled up for $1.07 a gallon!  Awesome!


We ate at Red Robin's this past week for my free Birthday burger! Nyles loves getting the free balloons!  The other day Nyles thought it would be funny to wear Steve's slippers and my shoes around the living room and be a stink bug.  Silly kid!
 

Nyles hiding in some boxes at Grandma Joann's.  Surprise!

 Now watching Curious George at the beach.

Steve and Carrie went to the Aquarium to let Nyles and Lynsie run around and get some energy out.  
Steve said they had a great time and literally ran around most of the time.

This past Thursday, February 4th, we headed down to Provo to meet Pauline and Rose to go through the Temple open house at 7pm.  Pauline had her in-laws in town plus Chris's brother and wife, so we had a good size group.  It was really neat to see the inside of the temple and all the craftsmanship that was put into it.  Nyles thought it was really neat as well, and kept asking where Jesus was.  He figured since it's the House of the Lord that we would see Jesus there.  Charlotte also said she felt the Spirit in the Temple.  I'm glad we can attend the Temple, and glad we have open house's to take the children through too.  Such a great experience and opportunity.  It truly is His house.


Saturday, February 6th we attended Charlotte's baptism.  There was a special spirit there as well.  We're glad we could support her in this decision.

Penny, Steve, Nyles, Chris, Charlotte, Pauline, Ezra and Rose.

The Graysons Family.

Aside from that we've been busy looking for a house still.  3 times we were outbid, then the 4th we went under contract.  After doing the inspection this past week though, I wasn't feeling the best about it, so after talking it through we decided to cancel our contract.  So, we are back to square one in looking.  Our appraisal for the condo came back well, so we don't have to come down on our price, which is a relief!  We are scheduled to be out of our condo by the 19th of February.  We are then planning to go to Dave/Joann's place until we find a house to buy.  We're praying we'll find the right house, in the right neighborhood, at the right price.  We know it'll work out; it's just a matter of time.  Patience we keep telling ourselves. :)

The pregnancy has been going well.  I've rarely been having morning sickness now, which is great.  The main thing has been my sciatic nerve and sacroiliac joint (hip) have been bothering me.  It mainly hurts when I bend my leg or try to get up from standing, and sometimes just while walking.  I've been going to the chiropractor to get it adjusted, which has been helping, but it won't completely go away until after the baby is born.  Fun!  The baby has been pretty active as well.  Nyles loves to feel my belly, and whether or not the baby actually kicks, he says, "oh the baby kicked me."  Silly kid.  He's getting pretty excited to have a his brother, though we still have a few more months.

Well we hope you're all doing well.  Supposedly the groundhog did NOT see his shadow this year, so here's to hoping for an early spring!  Love ya!

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Winter Cabin Trip

Last week we went up to the cabin.  Before we left though we had 2 pieces of good news.

First, Thursday night, January 14th we went under contract with our condo!  Someone who had looked at our place one of the first days put in an offer.  She actually offered us full price!  We of course excepted!  It was exactly a week from when we listed that we were under contract.  Ironically we had 2 showings that day, and another request Friday and Saturday, but had to decline them since we were already under contract.  We had our inspection this Thursday the 21st and things passed just fine.  Next is the appraisal, then we'll close around February 18th-20th.  We're still trying to find a house though.

The next exciting news we had was Friday morning, we found out we are expecting another BOY!  He wasn't shy at all; we saw right away that he was a boy.  He made himself known may times during the ultrasound too.  We were all pretty excited to have another boy.  Steve and I both thought he was a boy, but it's always good to officially get confirmation that he was.  Everything looked great and he was growing just perfectly!  After the appointment we went across the street to Zurcher's to get a balloon to announce what we were having.  While Steve and I were getting the "boy" balloon, Nyles found another balloon in the bin next to us, and proceeded to put his mouth on it and tried to blow it up.  So needless to say, we ended up buying both balloons, the second which said "Just Married."  :)

Steve w/ our "I'm a boy" balloon.

Nyles w/ it also, and the "Just Married" balloon.

After getting the balloons, we went up to Dave/Joann's, then proceeded to head up to the cabin together.  We had all our stuff packed before going to the Ultrasound appointment so we were ready to go.  We met Stacie and Phill up in Heber as well.  After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed the rest of the way up.  There was a lot more snow this year than last year at this time, so we had to ATV in w/ the tracks from the parking lot (instead of driving half the way in like last year).  

Nyles playing w/ my coat, in between the 2 layers.

Nyles all ready in his snow gear, waiting to go into the cabin.

Nyles driving the car while waiting.

Conor and Nyles sitting on the ATV ready to go.

Icicles coming from the bottom of the deck at the cabin.

Nyles and Conor playing on the mattress at the cabin.

Nyles loves this stuffed fish animal; he loves to play w/ it and took it to bed w/ him every night.

We played in the cabin the rest of the day.  It takes a while to run all our stuff in.  Rob showed up later that night after work as well.  That night we also watched the movie "The Martian."  It was good, better than I thought.

The next day the boys were excited to go out fishing of course.  So, after breakfast they got all the ice fishing gear together and headed out.  We brought the kids out next.  We got a few fish while out there, but the wind picked up, so the kids didn't last too long.

Steve pulling out a fish.  
Rob getting another pole ready, and London and Nyles watching Steve.

Nyles waiting for a fish.

Steve, Rob and Dave getting the poles ready.

London watching Steve get the fish out.

Steve w/ the fish he caught.

Steve, Nyles and Rob.

London and Nyles waiting for a fish to bite.


London anxious for the fish to bite.

Another fish caught!

Since the wind picked up, we ended up not going back out to sled w/ the kids.  The boys of course headed out again anyway to fish though.  Stacie brought some stickers and paper, so we made Valentine's boxes.  It was a lot of fun, and kept their attention at least for a few minutes ;)  Thanks Stacie for bringing some fun activities.

The next day we did some sledding, since we weren't able to the day before.  We also filled the wood pile since we were using a good amount of wood to keep the cabin warm.  The first day was a little cool, but after that luckily the cabin warmed right up and we were able to keep the temperature nice and cozy.

Steve filling the wood box, Phill, Nyles, London and Rob helping.


Conor and Nyles running around the deck.

We tried sledding on the back side closer to Uncle Mike's cabin.  
It worked pretty well until the wind picked up, then the kids got cold.

Steve and Nyles on the ATV.

Rob pulling Stacie and Phill back up the hill.

Dave and Conor pulling up Steve and Nyles.

Stacie enjoying some sledding.

Steve and Nyles coming down now.



Stacie and Conor.

Rob and Steve coming down.  Rob getting snow on his beard.

After coming down the hill, Rob's beard was all covered in snow!
It was pretty funny!

Dave riding w/ Conor and Nyles, pulling Stacie back up.

After the wind picked up, we went back inside for lunch and naps.  Steve laid down w/ Nyles and took a nap, along w/ Phill and Conor.  While they were sleeping London played "Go Fish" w/ Grandma Joann.

That afternoon Carrie and Lynsie showed up as well.  After Conor and Nyles got up from their naps, we frosted graham crackers and put sprinkles and M&Ms on them.  The kids mostly wanted to eat the frosting, but it kept their attention for a little while.  Thanks again Stacie for bringing the supplies :)


After frosting, we went back out to sled some more.  This time we went right by the cabin. Thankfully the wind wasn't blowing as much this time.

Carrie making a snow angel.

Steve taking Conor, Nyles and Lynsie down together.

Carrie and Stacie going.

Steve went many times w/ the 3 little ones.  
They were loving it and didn't want to stop!

Lynsie eating the snow ;)

London coming down, and Phill driving Stacie, Carrie and London back up.

Steve again w/ the 3 year olds.  Conor liked to cover his face while coming down.
 

Carrie and Stacie together now!

Carrie w/ Lynsie and Nyles.

Beautiful sunset!

Rob pulling Steve, Lynsie and Nyles in.


Back in the cabin we played.  Rob was laying on the floor and Conor and Nyles jumped on him.  They thought it was a lot of fun; imagine that!  After the kids went to bed, we played "Cover Your Assets" and "CatchPhrase".  It was a lot of fun as well!  Good times. :)

Monday morning, the guys went out fishing for a while.  Nyles didn't want to go, so while he played, I packed up our stuff and cleaned.  We were all planning to head out after lunch anyway.

Lynsie, Conor and Nyles eating some chips.

Now eating some fruit roll-ups: London, Conor, Nyles and Lynsie.

We were the last ones out since Nyles was having fun playing at the cabin, and I wanted to make sure I could use the bathroom if needs be.  We all had a great time, but of course we were glad to get back and be able to shower (since there was no running water in the cabin).  Until next time....

Steve and Nyles on our last load out, back to vehicles.