2008 Highlights

Here are just a few of the highlights of our last year.

In March we went on a 6 mile hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls with my Grandpa, who was 77 at the time and had cancer. We didn't know until after that his cancer had spread to his back and tailbone, which was very painful. We fell so blessed to have got to spend this time with Grandpa and watch him enjoy this long hike with us, especially since he passed away in October. Liam hiked pretty much the whole way, and we all took turns carrying Tessa (she was only about 4 months).

In June, Liam got to play T-ball. He had so much fun, and it's a hoot to watch the little kids! One girl would always swing herself completely around when she was trying to bat. Liam preffered to play in the dirt when he was in the outfield.

We also have actual proof that he hit the ball...

Since my birthday was 08.08.08 and I turned 25, my family all went to Lagoon with me for the day. It was nice to spend the day with them doing something fun. And as much fun as it is to ride the rides, it was so much more fun to watch Liam as he looked at the big rides and got to ride some himself. He still talks about it and says, "I want to go to Lagoon", all mopey-like.

September was a great month. Liam was doing well in Head Start, Tessa started walking, Ryan & I got to spend our 6th anniversary overnight in Mesquite, and we moved from a 2 bedroom trailer to this ginormous house...

It's old and brick and has so many wood accents and a gorgeous wood staircase, and needs a lot of work, but I LOVE it!!! We are just renting, but we are hoping and praying that we can buy it. It is so fun being in a house with tons of room.

So, September was awesome, October, not so much. Ryan learned on his birthday that his grandpa and my grandpa were both hospitalized. Both had Prostate cancer that had metastisized to their bones and were dealing with complications from that. Two days later, my grandpa passed away, followed by Ryan's 3 days later. So we attended funerals that following Saturday & Monday. During this, Tessa was on antibiotics for a slight ear infection. The last day of her course of Amoxicillin, we took Liam in to the doctor because he was running a high fever. Our clinic was closed that day, so we had to take him to Panguitch, an hour away. Liam tested positive for Strep and was put on Amoxicillin. About a week later, on Tessa's 1st birthday, I noticed spots behind Liam's ears and on his neck.

So, to the docter we went again. She told me that it looked like what they call an Amoxicillin reaction, where the antibiotic was mixing with a virus he had, so she told me to stop giving him the medicine. Liam's spots turned into hives which swelled later that night and into the next day, til he looked like this...

So, we ran to Panguitch, again, to the ER. We found out that Liam is allergic to Penicillin. Liam had a Prednisone shot in the butt and a new antibiotic prescription (because he was suppose to use the entire 10 days, not just 7) and we were given instructions to keep him on Benadryl til the hives went away and on Tylenol to keep the fever down. Thankfully the shot cleared up the swelling and his face in a couple of hours, and the hives went away completely in about a week, just in time for Halloween.

We were able to see almost all the grandmas and grandpas within about 3 days of Christmas, so it was a great holiday season this year to be able to spend time with a lot of family. We are so thankful for the many blessings we have and look forward to a new year and new experiences with our fun family.

Random things

Well, we've been hit by a lot of snow (we have at least a foot) and it finally seems like it's Christmas time. Speaking of, don't you love trying to get kids to take good pictures to send people?

I tried making a hanger Christmas tree, and it looked more like a bush, so Liam helped...

Here's Liam excited to see Santa at his Head Start Christmas party...

and Tessa, less than thrilled...

Like I said, random things for now!

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas

So, all the snow we've seen so far was a little sprinkling of it the night before Thanksgiving. In fact, Liam has been riding his 4-wheeler almost every day.

This is so funny to me because he has wanted nothing to with it since last spring, until it started getting cold a couple weeks ago. He wouldn't even ride it during the summer. So anyway, this is how dry it is in town.

We went to get our tree on Saturday and got our first taste of snow, literally.

Liam just kept getting handfuls of snow and eating. He also decided to call where we were Snowtown.

And, yes, I realize I don't have a pic of our tree, I didn't take one naturally. But, as soon as it is decorated, I'll post a pic of it.

Here we go...

I guess the only way to do this is just jump in and do it, right? Well, here I go. Since we just had Thanksgiving, I'll start there.

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Cedar City with Ryan's family. We had dinner at Ryan's grandparent's house with as much of the family that could make it. It was nice to get together with a lot of them. We don't see the extended family much since we've moved away.

This is how Tessa looked about all weekend.

Liam & his cousin have a pre-dinner snack.



Friday, Ryan and I went shopping and got all our Christmas shopping done in one day. Never again, as I say every year.


Saturday, there was a family Christmas Party. The kids acted out the Nativity scene. My two little stars were an angel and a shepherd.

Liam got to see Santa. It was so much fun to see his excitement.

So, anyway, I'm way excited about Christmas, we have Liam's Head Start Christmas Party this week (can you imagine 18 3 & 4 year-olds seeing Santa?). It should be fun. I'll try to update every once in a while, if nothing else, than to show off pics of my adorable kids!

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