HE's a Broncos Fan

This ultrasound picture is of his right hand holding up his pointer finger- cheering for the Broncos already!!

This is the card we took to the ultrasound with us-

We are so excited!! When we thought about having one more little baby, a certin name kept coming to mind. It was really the reason that we decided that maybe there was one more little one suppose to be in our family. The Lord has His ways of letting us know. So here's to our little Everett Roe that will be joining our family in April of 2009!!

Merry Christmas!!

Here is a pre-post to tomorrow's BIG news, but we wanted to wish all our wonderful friends and family a very Merry Christmas!!

We love you all.

Ultrasound

Yes we did indeed have our ultrasound today- however we do not know what we are having yet!! I am making my family wait until Christmas morning. Our wonderful ultrasound technician was so awesome. I took in a card and asked her write on it what we are having, and then Christmas morning we will open the card and find out. I know it is a bit cheesy, but Jamey just won't let me have this baby as a surprise like he did with Jamison. So this was my comprise. (see mom- I CAN comprise!) Despite all of Jamey's best efforts, he was not able to see either- so it will be a surprise!! We left Jamison home with our great neighbors, but we took Spencer along. He really enjoyed seeing the baby in mom's tummy and he was so good at naming what the parts of the baby were. He was able to point out the head, spine, heart, hand, and feet. He loved watching and listening to the heart beat. He was really good and it kept his attention probably longer than anything I've seen in a long time- except video games of course.

So those of you who are dying to know what the gender of this next baby is; tune in on Christmas morning and we'll post it. Until then- start making your bets!!

The Funeral

It has taken way too long for me to post this. The funeral went well- about as good as funerals do. Everyone did such a good job on their talks, poems and singing. My sister and dad sang Because I Have Been Given Much, and it was beautiful. Then Ashley sang a song by herself. I am continually amazed how well she can perform. I was crying all over the place while I was giving the eulogy, but Ashley has such a way of holding everything together so she can perform. My dad also gave such a wonderful family prayer. I love when he prays, he just has such a way with words and it was the most beautiful prayer. Since there were a couple of my cousins (and one of my brothers; who is on his mission) that couldn't make it to the funeral, Jamey was asked to be a pallbearer. It was kind of neat that he got to be one for my grandma and also he was one for my grandpa who passed almost 2 years ago. Thanks again to all my wonderful friends who helped me with babysitting my children, and have called or sent emails. It means so much to know that I am in your thoughts and prayers.

I just thought that this picture was so darn cute- here are the three little boys, having one last look at grandma Lee. (Reid, Gavin & Spencer)

Thanksgiving 2008

I know that this post is really late- but as you can see from previous posts I have been a bit preoccupied after Thanksgiving. But I didn't want to not write about our fun weekend. This years Thanksgiving started with running the Banner Health 5k Turkey Trot. I ran it with my sister-in-law Amanda and a sister missionary from Greeley. My sister and her husband walk/jogged the 2k with their little boy Reid. I did not do my best time, but I did run the whole thing and felt a huge sense of accomplishment considering I ran it 5 months pregnant. I was only 2 minutes slower than my best, so really not bad. It was pretty cold but by the end I was so hot- then we finished and all the sweat just made us freeze! Although I was so grateful that it had not snowed like last year. While I was running the 5k, Jamey was here at home playing in the annual Turkey Bowl that both wards have hosted for many years. He said that there was a great turn out, however not from our ward but from the other ward. He said he had a lot of fun and boy did I hear about the pains and aches for the next few days. :)

I then booked it back home to host Thanksgiving dinner at my house. We had over the Briggs and the Crapos along with Shannon and Corrin. It was so laid back and easy going. Ammon for sure wins the award for craving the best turkey. We told him that he is welcome to Thanksgiving dinner any time. We ate and then just rested while the kids ran around screaming and playing. After a little rest we played a game and then had some really yummy desserts. It was so fun doing Thankgiving with other people and seeing what their holiday dishes include. There wasn't any pumpkin pie, but that is only because Kris made the most amazing pumpkin cheesecake!

After everyone had left and the food and house was all cleaned up, I made an earlier exit to bed. I met my sister and sister-in-law at 4am at Kohls to do a little Black Friday shopping. Yes I said 4am which meant that I had to be up at 3:30am to make it to Loveland to met them in time. Crazy as it was- I love doing this once a year. After we shopped at Kohls for 1/2 hour and then stood in line for an hour to purchase our stuff, we headed to Target to stand in line for 1/2 hour and wait for them to open at 6am. Man it was COLD! But we made it in, and felt like that was one of our best stops (at least I thought it was). We finally finished our day at 9am. That is some serious power shopping- but I am done!! Well almost- I have one more small thing to get for Jamey, but then the shopping is done. I love getting it done so early, then I don't have to think about it any more. It seems like a big relief to me. We really had a fun weekend- thanks to everyone that came for dinner, ran and shopped with me!!

She's Gone

At 4am this morning my grandmother passed. Thank you for all the prayers and support.

Grandma

Amidst everything that goes on in my life on a daily basis, I am dealing with the scary and true reality that very soon my grandmother will no longer be here on this earth. On Sunday I talked to my mom and something drastic had happened and my grandmother has taken a very bad turn. We are no longer hoping for months, but waiting for the hours and days until her passing. When I saw her 2 weeks ago on her 82nd birthday, she looked very fragile and weak, but was getting along good and was able to somewhat have a conversation. February of this year she was diagnosed with liver cancer. I can not tell you enough how many times I have heard 'cancer' in my life. I have only had one experience where someone I loved deeply was able to overcome it. How very grateful I am that the Lord spared my mom's life so that she is able to still be here with me.

I was talking to my mom yesterday morning about her mother and the decision to stay by her mom's side or to go home and visit with my family and enjoy Thanksgiving. At this point there is no time frame. Like I said it could be hours that we have left with her or it could be days, maybe even a week or more. I tried to explain that with as hard as it will be to miss Thanksgiving with my family and miss seeing my brother (who is moving to Indiana), being with her mother is a once in a lifetime moment. I think she needs to be there with her- and later my mom did agree. Since there is just a lot of sitting and waiting, I asked if I could go down and give my mom some projects to do. She said yes- and asked if while I was there if we could also go the nursing home and see my grandfather and give him a haircut. Of course I said yes, so I piled my kids in the car and met my great husband who was willing to leave work early. I spent the rest of the night talking with my mom and visiting both grandparents. My dear grandmother looks so done. That is the best word that I can come up with. She is nothing but bones, and she is no longer talking. When she does it doesn't make sense and you can hardly hear it. She is very agitated and incoherent. When I went into her room, she kept calling me Jane- who is her sister- and I would say no I'm Erica and she would then just moan. At the end of the night, when I finally decided that I better head home, I went back in to tell her my final goodbye and tell her that I loved her- she did answer back saying I love you honey. So I feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to actually say goodbye. What an amazing blessing that I will cherish forever!

About a week and half ago, my grandmother called me and asked me to give the eulogy at her funeral. I have felt many thoughts- much like inadequacy, fear, honored, etc. My grandmother has lead a really great life. I have offered many prayers and will continue to offer lots more- in help and direction to say what needs to be said and to be able to get through it properly. Several years ago, my grandma decided to write down some of her history for her daughters. She then asked me to type it up for her. I have had the immense pleasure of reading her history and getting to talk to her about many things that happened in her life. Although there is a bit of sadness that she didn't get very far- there is so much more I would have loved to know. This is a true testament to writing and keeping a journal for me! Going backwards is so much harder and there is so much that gets missed. My grandmother has been very close to me. I grew up close in distance to her and my grandpa, so there is a rare Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Father's Day, birthdays, etc that we didn't spend with them. Plus there was the occasions in school like Grandparents Day, and when we were learning about WWII when my grandpa came and spoke to my whole seventh grade class. It has been so awesome to get to have them here to participate in these things with me. Then there was the time that I lived with them for over a year while I was attending cosmetology school. They were the first ones to met any of my dates and especially my most special one- my husband. I have had many opportunities to help out with their hair- such as haircuts, and perms. At times it seems like so little, but I loved the times that I got to sit and just talk with them when I was working on their hair. These are several of the moments that I remember. I am so grateful and I will cherish all of them forever.

Christmas- Here We Come

I just finished my Christmas advent calendar today. I just love how it turned out. I had some great friends who helped me- and did it with me. Check out Kris'. I think it is so neat how each one of ours had our own personal touch- but each one turned out so beautiful! If you want the directions check it out here.

Well It Happened!

Some older boy on the bus told Spencer that Santa Clause was not real! When he got in the car from the bus he told me about what they had talked about, but then followed it by saying- "but he really is real mom." I just think that he is a bit too young to not believe anymore.

Also the weather seemed just too windy and cold today and so for an afternoon treat we made hot chocolate for the first time this season. My favorite for sure, and I think I have 2 boys who agree with me.

Spencer's Special Day

Spencer came running into our room this morning at 6:30 saying "It's my birthday today." Only 6 short years ago Spencer was born into our family. He has been such a joy- and trying of patience- but we love him none the less. All we've heard this morning from him is; "Since it's my special day..." and then he proceeds to tell us what he wants. We have a busy day planned with school this afternoon and then his 'friends' party this evening. We are so blessed to have Spencer as a part of our family.

Happy Birthday Spencer!!

Oh the DISAPPOINTMENT...

... as Spencer stepped of the bus and declared "Mom, I voted for Barack Obama!" I feel as though we have failed!! :)

Spencer's school had a little election today- which I thought was really neat. I don't think children are too young to talk to about politics. Although the reasoning for this 6 year old on why he voted for Obama was so funny. He said- but there were two boys (Obama & Biden), the other one was a boy and girl (McCain & Palin). I like the girl, but I wanted the one with 2 boys. I took the picture of Spencer right after he got home- you can see his little sticker that says, 'I VOTED'.

The Word is OUT

We were waiting to see how long we could go before either, people started noticing or we had to tell people. We didn't make it quite as far as our friend- (Tami), but we did pretty good. Yes we are having yet another child in the Spring. I am due the end of April, but will most liking be having the baby near the middle, if not the beginning. We think we are excited- we feel a bit like crazy people though!! What in the world are we going to do with 3 kids?!! We are still trying to decide if we want to not find out the gender is again, like we did with Jamison. It was so fun right after he was born to hear 'it's a BOY'. Spencer and Jamey really want to find out; they want to know if we are having a girl. We only have 5 to 6 weeks until we have to make the decision. Until then- I'll keep praying for another little boy. :-)

Here is our utlasound picture from our 7 week visit. It is so AMAZING to hear a heart beat at only 7 weeks.

Halloween

Here are some cute pictures of the boys. They had so much trick-or-treating. Jamison really got into it this year- he loved his little pumpkin and was happily saying "trick-or-treat". We had a busy but very fun day. We started the morning off with a friends party, then Spencer had to go to school. Jamison and I came home and I laid Jamison down for a very quick nap until it was time to go back to Spencer's school party. The school doesn't let the kids dress up, but they didn't seem to mind. They made a little craft project and ate lots of goodies. Then we came home and relaxed only for a bit until the real fun began and they got to go from house to house collecting all the candy they could carry. It was a very nice night, and wasn't too cold. I think that made the trick-or-treating even funner.

And then there was our annual adult Halloween party. Here is Jamey and I in our Matrix get-up. We had a fun evening too.

Politics suck!!! (Jamey’s Rant)

I know some reading this are Democrats, don’t take offense, there are plenty of sites, news channels, and media outlets representing your side. The truth gets skewed so much by the liberal mass media. I think most of America thinks they are hearing news, when really they are hearing biased commentary. I mean really, we’re about to elect a Junior Senator to be the President of the United States of America. How dumb are we?

I’m so tired of these stupid political commercials, one great reason there should be a really small limit on how much candidates can get in donations. They all lie and stretch the truth to further their cause (both sides). There should be a law about lying on TV if there’s not. And the penalties should be steep like $10 million. That might help them tell the truth.

To start, I’m tired of hearing that Bush’s economic policies are the cause of this bank rescue package problem. The problem started in 1999 when Clinton was President (Democrats). His administration (Democrats) started pushing the banks to give more loans to people who can’t qualify. Then they (Democrats) denied any kind of possible action by Republicans to stop the problem. Several people tried to blow the whistle in 2003, but everyone thought as long as the economy keeps going up it will all work out. Well every economy slows occasionally. And here we are the Democrats blaming the Republicans. Tell me where is there any truth to it?

Next, $700 billion dollars for financial rescue. Where did that number come from? Paulson admitted he just made up the number. He wanted a big shocking number that would get attention. Are you kidding me? Then as if that wasn’t bad enough, his original proposal was 3 pages, once the politicians got their hands on it, they expanded it to 451 pages, and added an estimated $150 billion of unrelated pork!!! From what I can tell they didn’t expand the money to $850 billion, they just took the $150 billion of unrelated “provisions” from the $700 billion. Essentially shrinking the rescue to $550 billion.

To put that amount of money in perspective, if possible, Bill Gates the richest American is worth about $60 billion (not even 10% of this price tag). To put it another way, for those of us that dream of a 6 figure salary, if I put $100 million (more than a 6 figure salary) a year at 6% interest it would take me over 100 years to earn that kind of money. That’s roughly $4,500 per working American. We’re talking about a huge amount of money. With as fast as our government is spending money, they can’t tax enough for us to pay it back.

Talking about taxes, Obama wants to lower taxes on 95% of American’s. Great, I’m all for it. I will never turn down a tax break. But did you know, part of his proposed tax plan would actually give money to low income earners who don’t pay taxes! Now I think that goes into a whole new realm of stupidity. He really is taking from the rich and giving to the poor. I don’t have a problem paying my share of taxes. I do have a problem being forced to give my money to the poor. If I choose to give to the poor, that’s my choice, but I’m not OK with someone else taking my money and deciding where he thinks its best spent.

If Obama gets in, he will appoint the most liberal judges we’ve ever seen. And they will act like they are the founding fathers, and rewrite laws. Even though they can’t really write laws, they set precedent, and that will be a scary thing if liberal judges are in. Some examples that they could pass judgment on, Homosexual marriage, banning the public display of the Ten Commandments, banning the Pledge of Allegiance, denigrating Christianity to a secondary status. www.stopliberaljudges.com www.afa.net American Family Association, Pro-Family Action site.

Who proposes some of these bills? I don’t mind raising taxes on oil companies, but not right now, the timing is bad. However that being said, I would only vote for a tax increase that the money goes to a truly underfunded program, like transportation. I will never vote for a tax increase that goes to pet political projects (nature conservancy). On one hand people say we need to be energy independent, but if you take the tax benefits away from domestic oil companies, they’ll stop drilling. To think the oil companies won’t just pass that tax onto us is ridiculous, of course they will. They have a set profit margin that their investors and shareholders expect, and if that percentage dropped, the shareholders would go elsewhere, therefore also slowing growth and our march to independence.

The Democrats have an opportunity with this election to really seize our government. Personally I think this should never be allowed (no real way to stop it, but in theory it sounds good), but if they get Obama in, and gain 9 more seats, I think, they have a filibuster proof government, which means they can pretty much do anything they want, and no one can stop them. Imagine if they pass national healthcare. We already have failed Social Security, failed welfare, failed Medicare, do we really need another failed government program? I know I don’t need another line item in my paycheck going to the government, that’s worthless, and I can’t do anything about. I don’t know of a single national healthcare program that works. In the U.K. the big companies still offer private healthcare to their employees because the national healthcare sucks so bad. Just like with Social Security, I pay in now, but I also have to save to my own retirement account, because relying on Social Security would be foolish. But I put the same amount of money into my 401k that they take for Social Security. Instead of a piddlly amount of money from Social Security, by the time I retire, I’ll have millions of dollars. Which is better? Why do politicians think I need them to take care of me? Am I too dumb to make my own choices? Do we need the 5% of rich Americans to make the decisions for the 95% of that aren’t rich? I say no. Let us live our lives, let us decide how to spend our money.

Sorry to vent, I’m just fed up with the government wasting my money. I’m tired of having to vote for the lesser of two evils, instead of the best candidate, because the best candidate never makes it to the ballot.

Pumpkin Patch 2008

This is the third year that we have gone with my sister and parents to the pumpkin patch. The first year we went just west of Loveland to one at Ellis Ranch. We all really enjoyed that one, but in 2007 they weren't holding it so we tried one closer to home. We went to Anderson Farm- we too enjoyed that one, but this year we wanted to go back to Ellis Ranch. So on Saturday we all met up and headed there, only to find out that they again this year were not holding a Fall Festival. What do we do now? My sister quickly started to do some research and found one further north/west in the mountains. We thought we'd give it a try. After 2 hours in the car driving back and forth we made it to Tip Top Ranch. The kids had so much fun. I am glad that we found another to try again this year. Where will we go next year? For sure Ellis Ranch is out of question!

Mexico

We arrived home at 5pm on Saturday the 11th, and promptly headed to my parents to pick up our children. Since it was Jamey's birthday my mom had made us a wonderful homemade dinner, ice cream cake included for dessert. We spent some time with my parents talking about both of our weeks, until we had to finally leave to get the boys to bed.

To say that we had a good time is a bit of an understatement. We had so much fun!! Kris did a good job posting on her blog the day to day activities, so if you want to read more check hers out. This is going to be quite the post- so don't feel like you have to read the whole thing, just glance at some of the pictures.

When we first arrived on Saturday we were greeted by about a hundred people either trying to get us to take their taxi, go to a time share presentation or let them carry our bags. We finally made our way through the mass amount of people and found an ATM. Now at first when you look at the ATM and it asks you if you want to take out $2,000. We freaked out and Robb even said- be careful not to push that one. Well after selecting only the $200 we found out that we had only taken out $20 in US money and $200 Pecos. Needless to say we found out that the money was listed in Pecos not US dollars and we needed more, so $2,000 Pecos really was what we wanted. After that we got a cab and headed for the condo. Thanks to my parents we were able to use one of their weeks and we got a pretty nice set up for the week. It was a two bedroom condo, and we both had our own space. We got settled in the rooms and then decided to head to the pool and beach for the afternoon. The waves in the ocean were so big that Kris and I had a hard time with our suits. One wave came and Jamey and I both got taken out by it, the problem was that I was under him- so I got a bit of ocean bottom rash on my arm. Not really that bad- but enough that I had to give him a hard time about it. We then got cleaned up and headed to Burerias for dinner at Mason Bay. This is where Robb and Jamey had their marlin tacos. They talked about those tacos all week- they must have enjoyed them.

On Sunday we went to a time share presentation at our resort. We didn't think much about it, because Jamey and I have done several of these- but man those Mexican people are pushy!! That took most of the morning and then gave us things to laugh and joke about the rest of week. After escaping that we headed to Puerto Vallarta for our Dune Buggy adventure. Adventure is just the start of it. We went up into the mountains of Puerto Vallerta and through a REAL Mexico village. It was so neat to see. On the way up I didn't want to get too wet so I asked Jamey to take our dune buggy slow through the water and mud. When we got to the top everyone on the tour was making comments about how Jamey needed to just go for it and ask for forgiveness later. I could tell that I was holding him back from having fun- so on the way back I was SOAKED! Not only from the ride back, but at the top of the mountain there was a waterfall- I decided to be brave and I jumped off it. (Yes I am holding my nose.)When we got back to the condo we got cleaned up and took our evening walk down the beach back into Burerias to get some dinner. When we first saw that it was a Greek restaurant I think we were worried about finding something that we would all like to eat- but it was decided that that night was our most favorite meal of the week. The funny thing that happened that night was while we were waiting to order our food, a cat jumped on the roof just to the left of us- not only was it just sitting up there but it was doing some serious bathroom business. I asked the waiter if we could change tables it grossed me out so bad. After dinner we got the chance to visit the Mega. It is a giant store, much like a super Wal-Mart. We bought a few things to have for breakfast and snacks. Kris also was able to buy her Coke Light which she kept saying was not as good as Diet Coke.

Monday morning was spent in the pool of a near by hotel taking our scuba diving lesson. We decided that our teacher, Penny had to be at least 75 years old and boy was she a bit loopy half the time. Although she was the nicest person ever. Rather than having us take a taxi back to our condo she drove us- the only problem was she was about to run out of gas. Just after dropping us off she did run out of gas, I felt so bad for her. That night for dinner we had plans to do a dinner cruise. It had a musical show and then dinner after. It was lots of fun. On the way back, the cruise boat had music playing and people dancing. I think Robb and Kris got a serious kick out of Jamey- who does NOT dance. When the two of them hear music they immediately start moving- so the fact that Jamey just stands and watches made them laugh.

Then on Tuesday we just took it easy and went to Puerto Vallarta to see what there was to see. We did a little shopping- which the boys LOVED. :) We walked down the beach front and saw amazing sand creations. We visited our scuba teacher at a jewelry store that she works at, in which she told us about running out of gas and falling out of her house. ? We weren't sure what that meant, I told you she was funny. We went to a very famous and big Catholic church right in the heart of downtown. It was so beautiful- lots of gold. Then we found a restaurant that one of Jamey's co-workers suggested that we visit. The drinks were huge, and the guacamole was made right in front of us- it was really good.

Wednesday was our early morning. It was the big scuba diving day. Kris was so scared and we kept trying to calm her down and tell her how much fun she was going to have. Our scuba master was a nut case!! He kept ranting things in Spanish that even Robb and Kris couldn't understand. Although outside of the water he was a bit crazy, I have to say that in the water he was so good. He helped to keep Kris calm and didn't leave her side. Robb and Jamey has so much fun that they decided to go out again, while Kris and I just rested on the boat. We thought about snorkeling, but we decided to just hang out.

After we got off the boat and back on land we again went to see Penny at the jewelry store. Kris wanted Penny to know that she did scuba- we were all proud of her. I know she was super scared. Again while talking to Penny she told us that the day before she had ran into a ladder that knocked her out for about 3 minutes. Are you getting a picture yet of our scuba teacher? The boys really decided that they enjoyed the scuba thing so much that they wanted to get certified. Penny helped them get all the paperwork done so that they could finish up. They went home with some DVDs to watch. So while they watched the DVDs, Kris and I headed for the pool and discovered the Bahama Mamma. We were hooked for the rest of the week.

For Kris and I, Thursday was totally relaxing. We started off the day with an amazing massage at the spa. Then we went to Burerias again to see their Flea Market. We picked up a few more things. The boys spent the WHOLE day getting certified. They did two more scuba dives, some pool work and took the test. I am not really sure when Jamey is going to get the chance to go again, but he will be ready for it when he gets too. That night the power went out while we were eating dinner at the resort. That was pretty funny finishing up our bill and running to our rooms in the pitch dark.

The last of our adventures was on Friday to the zip line, Canopy Tour. I have to say that this was the one that I was scared about. Me and heights don't really mix well. At times we were 500 feet up in the air and over water!! Again the boys were a bit crazy and had so much fun. In this one picture (which is a bit hard to see) Jamey is hanging upside down spread eagle. I was freaking out. The last zip line was a double and so Robb & Jamey and Kris & I raced. It was pretty funny.

We definitely had a wonderful week- I was ready to get home and see my kids, but I would have not ever traded a moment of the week. Being away from my kids for a week helps me to appreciate them more and I have really done pretty good with my patience with them. Thank you so much GG for watching them!!!

Happy Birthday

After a week of pure entertainment, Jamey is welcomed home to our two cute boys awaiting us with an ice cream cake.

Happy birthday- DAD!!

Hasta Luego

Things that I am not going to miss:

* Screaming at 6:30 in the morning
* Taturm over the dinner choice
* Yucky diapers
* Bedtime routine


Things that I am going to miss:

* Snuggling Jamison
* 'I love you mom' from Spencer
* Jamison's excitement when Spencer gets off the bus
* The funny things Spencer says
* Jamison's new words- Go, Go Deigo, Lighting McQueen, Mater and the Ghost Light (all things that he asks to watch about 10 times a day)
* The boys laughing and playing together


I can't wait for:

* Mexican food for a week
* Time with Jamey
* Laughing and late nights with friends
* Trying out my new camera

Grandma Update

Earlier last week my grandmother saw her doctor following her MRI. The news was awful. The doctor has given her 2 to 4 months. She lost 6 pounds in one month- which is just not good. The doctor told her that if she keeps that up, she might even have less time. Although optimistically he did tell her that he hopes she proves him wrong. The MRI showed that there is not any signs of cancer in her spine, like originally thought. Instead come to find out, the reason that she is in so much pain is because the MRI showed that she has many little fractures all up her spine. She has also decided to not continue the chemotherapy, because it has only made her weaker and it wasn't working.

After talking to my mom this afternoon, she said that when she last talked to my grandma- she had told my mom that eating has become very painful. Thirteen years ago I lost my paternal grandmother to cancer as well. In the end it became very hard for her to eat because the pain was so bad. So the result was her just not eating and essentially she starved herself. When my mom gave me the same news about my grandma today- I couldn't help but get a bit scared thinking that my grandma's time left is very limited. She seems to be getting worse faster than the doctor had even suspected. It is a great possibility that she might not even make it to the end of the year. She has lived a good life- she is in her early eighties, but cancer is just a horrible way for someone you love to pass.

2nd Tooth

This has taken me entirely too much time to post- but no big surprise. Spencer lost his second tooth last Monday. When Jamey and I had dentist appointments, he was going to ask the dentist (aka- grandpa) to pull it out. It was so loose that it was turned sideways. The dentist told him the same thing that I was told as a child- no you pull it out. So we left the dentist with the tooth still in. Then we went and visited aunt Ashley to give her, her birthday present and while he was showing Ashley the tooth he pulled it out. There was a bit of blood, but it was good for him to see that sometimes we bleed and it doesn't hurt. Ashley kindly got us a baggie to put the very small tooth in for the tooth fairy. Unfortunately Spencer was not good going to bed that night, so the tooth fairy did not visit. But on Tuesday night he went to bed very well and she came. Just before going to bed he told me that the tooth fairy had a magic wand and could take the tooth out of the baggie but put the money in it. Very excitedly he ran into our room on Wednesday morning shouting- she is magic, I told you mom. He was also so happy to see that she finally got it right and gave him coins, not green money. Later in the week I took him to Target to let him spend his $4. He was so happy to find General Grieves (a Star Wars character) and he has not put it down since.

Colorado Rockies

We had the chance to go to a game tonight and watch the Rockies play the Dodgers. My friend Shannon is in the Colorado Mormon Chorale and they sang the National Anthem to start the game. She was able to get us some cheap tickets to enjoy the game. With the kids at home with a babysitter we took full advantage. It wasn't a wonderful game; the Rockies lost 1-5, and in the middle of the 7th ending (or the 7th ending stretch) it started to rain a bit and wind kicked up. It wasn't bad until the middle of the 8th ending. I forgot my coat- although I was smart enough to wear long sleeves- so I was getting quite chilled. But to me the best part of going to a baseball game is to chat with friends and cheer on your team. We had a good time and of course stopped for ice cream on the way home!!

Running

I haven't ran since I ran my last 10K back in the end of July. My friend Michele motivated me to go today and I ran 2 miles. It was nice to run again and to have a friend to talk to. I have plans of running the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day which is a 5K so I need to get moving and get up to speed. The last 5K I ran, I ran it in 32 minutes. I have a goal of running this one in under 30 minutes. So with the help of several other friends I hope to be back running at least twice a week, but maybe three times. Thanks girls for the encouragement!!

Steamboat Springs

Kris was way more on top of this than me. She had a post up the next day after we got home, but it is taking me until today to post about our Labor Day weekend camping trip. We had a wonderful time visiting Steamboat. I have lived here my whole life and have never visited, so it was a real treat. Especially when you get to go with friends. We had a beautiful camping site, right next to the playground and bathrooms. What more could you ask for?


We got up there late on Friday night so it was lots of fun setting the tents up in the dark. This was only our second time with our new tent, and I must say- we did pretty good. After all we did beat the Briggs. The next morning we got up and finished setting up camp, ate breakfast and headed for the Alpine Slide. Both boys rode down twice and loved it. Then we had Jamey and Robb race. It was not a fair race, because Robb got hung up by a kid in front of him. But the guys enjoyed being able to go as fast as they could without children riding with them. After that we went back to camp for lunch and to play in the Yampa River running through our camp. Robb had each of the boys practicing casting with the fishing pole. Spencer had such a good time doing that. The next day we went to Steamboat Ski Resort and rode the gondola up the mountain. We did a short hike and got caught in the rain on our way back. Other than it being a bit cool, the boys did a wonderful job and we loved being in nature. After we got back and the rain stopped the dads took the boys mini golfing while Jamison slept and Kris and I talked. Well- I guess I just talked, and she listened. (Sorry you missed your nap. :)) The last day we cleaned up camp and then went to Fish Falls to see an amazing waterfall. The kids had a good time climbing on the rocks and playing in the water. From there we separated ways and headed for home. It was tons of fun and we love living so close to the mountains and all the beautiful things that there are to see.

Olympics

I know that I haven't posted in a while. The reason? Nothing exciting is happening around here. We spent the last 2 weeks like most of the world watching the Olympics. The USA team is amazing. While watching one night (after the Cuban taekwondo kicked the ref) the news reporter said something like this; 'Because after all the number one rule in taekwondo is, you can not kick the referee in the head.' Jamey and I started laughing, uh duh. I looked all over NBC's website trying to find the clip because hearing him say it was pretty funny.

Jamey found it- Enjoy a good laugh. How did Jim Lampley say that with a straight face?!

First Day of Kindergarten

Well the day has finally arrived, and Spencer is at school- ALL DAY!! His school schedule is all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then in the afternoon on Fridays. He was just as excited to go to school this morning as we were. He decided what he wanted to take for lunch- which wasn't hard since his favorite food is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then after breakfast he cooperated so well in getting dressed and brushing his teeth. Jamison then wanted to brush his teeth as well. So I got him started and walked in Spencer's room to get him his shirt when I heard Jamison throwing up. Yep- ones off to school and the other one is whiny and sick. I just hope that means that his nap today will be a real good one. I decided that for the first day I would take Spencer to school and then starting on Thursday he can ride the bus. He is very excited about that. We just hope that he has a good day and listens well to the teacher.