{I}

is for ImAgInAtIoN!!

Haydn has a HUGE imagination and I find it hilarious! I wanted to get down some of his favorite imaginations.

First some of you may have heard of an imaginary friend, but what about an imaginary bug. Haydn has an imaginary bug friend named Doug Degee. Don't ask either Riley or I where he came up with this. One day he started talking about Doug Degee. Once I finally figured out what he was saying I asked what Doug Degee was and Haydn said his bug friend. The funniest part is that Doug Degee pops up out of Haydn's pocket or is conveniently located on the floor right by him. It is so funny. So the next time you see him you will have to ask about Doug Degee.

Recently Haydn enjoys being different animals. His favorite is a puppy, but he has also been a bunny, frog, cat and fish. I think he gets tired of Mom saying "Haydn do this or that" so he transforms into something else so he doesn't have to clean up his toys or finish eating his lunch. Clever little boy.

He also loves playing the part of whatever movie he is watching. He has run to fetch his sword during Sword in the Stone, Peter Pan, and Robin Hood. Of course the Light Saber is often a fill in for a sword and I finally let him watch the first Star Wars. (It still seems too grown-up for an almost 3 year old, but Riley says he saw Empire Strikes Back in the theaters when he was 3. How he remembers this is often in question?!)

{H} is for Hogle Zoo

Riley had meetings up in Salt Lake on Thursday so the boys and I tagged along. We were able to meet some of my friends from PT school and go to the zoo. It was so fun to see them all. When we first met none of us had kids and now there was a total of 5 kids there. Even though Summer borrowed hers. The animals were amazing. They were so spunky in the cooler weather. The giraffes are always my favorite, but the elephants, singing monkey and belly flopping penguins were a close second.

On Saturday Riley's dad took Riley's brothers Garrett (in town from Japan), Clu, Riley and I to the BYU football game. I know, I know, why was I going to a BYU game? Well I have two words for you BOX SEATS!! We had so much fun. We got to sit up in the box and rub elbows with former Govenor Olene Walker, Elder Perry, Elder Ballard, and Elder Nelson. They had tons of food and treats. We gave our best effort at the fight song "Rise and shout, the cougars are out, blah, blah, blah" and saying "another Cougar first down, roar!" I don't know how convincing we were, but we had a great time and the Cougars pulled out a win in the last seconds of the game.

THE YARD!!

It feels like this project has been going on FOREVER and we aren't actually finished, but we are finished for a little while. Here is a recap for those of you who have been biting your nails to see the progress. This is where we started - grass that grew in patches and a hard water stained brick wall.

Until July came and with the help of Riley's dad we tore up all the grass, put in new sprinklers, sod, a new patio and cement curbing.


By August we had beautiful grass, but were missing a few things. With the help of Riley's old mission companion, Brandon Reed, we got an awesome plan to plant desert trees and bushes. If anyone is in need of a landscape designer in the Salt Lake Area, The Landform Design Group is AwEsOmE!!

So when September came and the temperatures finally decided to go below 100 degrees we dug lots of holes and planted. Thanks again for your help Steve and Eric.


The day after we got all the plants in the ground 6 TONS of rock were delivered to our house! So in the past month we have been shoveling rock (thanks again for the help Eric and Colby), painting the brick wall, and building a shed. That brings us to where we currently are. All of the rock is down. Yea! We still have to finish painting, clear out dirt, and save enough money to get concrete poured on the side of the house for a play area to ride bikes. Like I said it is an on going project. We are SO HAPPY with the results. We feel like we have a real back yard that the kids will now play in. So next Spring/Summer we hope you will all come over for a BBQ in our back yard.

Baby Nash

Is there anything cuter than a newborn baby? Our good friends the Hales came down to St. George with their third baby. We first met Jared and Shelby in our married student ward at Utah State. Jared was our home teacher and also planned to go to law school, so inbetween spiritual messages Riley and Jared would fit in as much talk about the LSAT and different law schools as they could. They both ended up at the U, so we have been friends ever since. Shelby is one of those mom's we all want to be like. Thanks for having me take pictures of your new little one. I hope you like them.

More fun with Grandma

The fun just keeps coming when Grandma is in town. Sunday we took a walk to the park after church and let the kids play. Haydn HATES slides at the park and refuses to go down them, but wants to swing to outer space. Grandma had him giggling so hard. Taite is getting the Frankenstein walk down trying to walk on the wood chips. Mable even made a friend at the park.

Monday we had a quiet day at home playing with toys, games and play dough. That night we had an early birthday dinner for Haydn so grandma could give him his present. We went to Texas Roadhouse where he sat on the saddle. Then we went home to open his new scooter. It was a hit!

Today my mom left to go back to Minnesota. So sad, we probably won't see her again until March or April. No Grandma for Halloween, Haydn's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day. Ugh! Can you tell we are all sad.

{G}

is for Grandma Sherl!! My mom is here visiting for a few days. We are all excited, especially the boys. We have already had a lot of fun. Unfortunately the nice, warm St. George weather went away as soon as she showed up. She flew in late Thursday. Haydn would not go to sleep until he saw her inside the house. He also graciously gave up his bed and is sleeping on the floor so Grandma and Taite are roomies. Grandma got to tag along on a fairytale birthday party for Sonora on Friday. All the kids dressed up it was very cute. (No pictures of the costume until Halloween, but be excited to see the cutest cowboy EVER! Thanks to Alicia and cowboy Preston!) Saturday we went to Jumping Jacks otherwise known as the bounce house by Haydn. It was SO FUN!! We all had a ball jumping and going down the big slides. Taite was unsure at first, but warmed up and had fun with the rest of us. Then Mom and I got to go shopping while the boys took a nap. I can't remember the last time I got to go shopping with my mom and NO kids. I was so productive! We are having lots of fun and know the time is going to pass way too fast. We do miss Grandpa, hopefully he will come next time. I love when my kids get one on one time with their grandparents, it is so special to them and they are able to show their personalities without any competition. It is such special time and lasts for such a short time. Hopefully my boys won't ever think they are too cool for hanging out with the grandparents, but I'm sure the time will come.

Baby Tag

I haven't ever done a tag before. I like to read them, I just don't like to talk about myself if not in the context of my family. I haven't ever written down my kids birth stories so I thought this would be a good opportunity to get down some details. (Clarification for my dad - #1 is for Haydn and #2 is Taite)

1- Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant?
#1- At the physical therapy school
#2- At home in St. George in the bathroom

2- Who was with you?
#1- no one
#2- Riley was sleeping

3- How did you find out that you were pregnant?
#1- the hospital called me. We had been trying to get pregnant for just about a year and I had two miscarriages in that time. I had gone to the doctor to start the initial testing process. When they did the blood test they ran a pregnancy test. They called me the next day and said my HCG levels were elevated and they wanted me to come in for another blood test because there was a possibility I could be pregnant. The hospital called the next day and said my #'s had almost tripled and I was definitely pregnant!!
#2- I had been sick with the flu and just wasn't getting better. Than it dawned on me at like 11:00 at night that I could be pregnant. Well once I have a thought in my head I HAVE to know the answer, so I sent Riley to the store for a pregnancy test. The box said that it was most accurate first thing in the morning and not wanting to risk a false answer I went to bed. By 4:00 in the morning I couldn't take it any longer. I took the test and waited what seemed like an eternity to find out my suspicions were true and I was pregnant!

4- What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant?
#1- Yipee!!
#2- Oh wow! It will be a boy and we will call him Taite.

5- Your Husbands reaction?
#1 - He didn't want me to get too excited until it was further along
#2 - He didn't believe me.

6- Who was the first person you told?
#1-Riley
#2- Riley

7- Did you plan to get pregnant?
#1- Yes
#2- Kind of - we had planned on starting to try in January and I was pregnant in November.

8- Was everybody happy for you? Hope so

9- Did you go out and celebrate? No, but we totally should have.

10- Did you want to find out the sex? Heck ya! I'm way too much of a control freak not to know.

11- What was the sex?
#1 Boy
#2 Boy

12- Did anyone throw you a baby shower?
#1- Yes
#2- No

13- If yes, who? My mom and sister, and sister-in-law Carolyn

14- Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you weren't going to put on your baby? A yellow knit onesie set with ducks on it. Too girly for my boys.

15- How much weight did you gain?
#1- too much
#2- too much

16- Did you loose all of the weight that you gained?
#1- just in time to get pregnant again
#2- ugh - 15 lbs to go

17- Did you get a lot of stretch marks? Just at the end.

18- What did you crave the most?
#1- cheese tortellini
#2- snow cones - I had at least one everyday it was so hot!

19- Did you crave anything crazy? hmm cheese fondue, is that crazy?

20- Who or what got on your nerves the most?
#1- the constant throwing up - that was annoying
#2- My feet growing an entire size!

21- Were you married at the time? Yeppers!

22- Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
#1- little dehydration in the beginning
#2- gallbladder

23- Where were you when you went into labor?
#1- At the hospital
#2- At the hospital

24- Did your water break?
#1- after they broke it
#2- after they broke it

25- Who drove you to the hospital?
#1- Riley
#2- Riley

26- Did you go early or late?
#1- induced 4 days late
#2- induced a week early, Yipee

27- Who was in the room with you when you gave birth? Riley, the Dr., and the nurse. Anyone else please leave the room.

28- Was it video taped?
#1- No thank-you
#2- No

29- Did you have any drugs for the pain?
#1- epidural that stopped working an hour and half into my 3 hrs pushing.
#2- so much epidural I couldn't feel my legs for 12 hours

30- Did you go Natural or have a c-section? No c-sections thanks

31- What was your first reaction after giving birth?
#1- I cried then I thought, if someone doesn't get me a drink I am going to scream. The air in my room was broken and I was so hot and thirsty after not having anything to eat or drink the 19 hours I was in labor.
#2- Oh he looks just like Haydn

32- How big was the baby?
#1- 9 lbs. 10 ozs.
#2- 7 lbs. 13 ozs.

33- Did your Husband cry? I don't think so.

34- What did you name the baby?
#1- Haydn Michael
#2- Taite Delance

35- Did the baby have any complications?
#1- Jaundice
#2- Jaundice

36- How old is the baby today?
#1- 2 years 10.7 months
#2- 1 year 2.2 months

37- When is the next one coming? Ha Ha Ha

38-If you could, would you do it all over again? Of course, my boys are my best friends. They are a part of me and I can't imagine life without them.

{F}

FaLL FaMiLy FuN

We went out to Barclay Sunday afternoon for some fun family time. We were lucky enough to see two trains while we were there. The boys had fun exploring and Mable had a blast running and running. We all mastered walking over cattle guards and got some fun pictures with railroad tracks. Did you know there aren't any railroad tracks in St. George?






It is a beautiful place and was quite and peaceful time together as a family. What could be better.

I have to add in FoOtBaLL!! Love it! Can't wait until the boys get older to enjoy it with me, since Riley doesn't have the attention span. Go Vikings!!



FiRsT sTePs