Jim's Work Christmas Party {2012}

Tonight we went to Jim's work Christmas party.  

As part of the Family Readiness Group, we were asked to bring some cupcakes for the kids.  The boys and I made funfetti cupcakes and frosted them red and green.  Ryan and Jake were just dying to get their hands on one of the cupcakes.  I actually let them both eat one before they were frosted.  But they just couldn't wait to eat some of the frosting, too.  After I was done frosting all of the cupcakes, I told Jake he could have some frosting.  SO, he dug right in!  I was going to send this picture to Jim--he would've been disgusted!

Prepare to get jealous--they had the recruiters mechanical bull at our Christmas party.  We got to the party a bit early so there wasn't any one on the bull.  At first, my boys just wanted to jump on the pad; they weren't really interested in the bull.  But as more kids came and they started running the bull, they decided to give it a try.

Ryan rode the bull first.  It was so slow--I told the guy to go a little faster, but he couldn't hear me.

 For some reason, he started to get a little scared and wanted to get off.  We told him to just jump off and land on the pad, but he wouldn't.  Jim had to get on the mat and help him get off.  

I had to leave to go to a wives meeting and the party was starting so Jake didn't get a turn riding the bull.

After our wife brief, there was a change of command and then we ate dinner.  We decided to wait until the line was shorter to go through.  By that time, the food was pretty much gone.  I don't know if there wasn't enough food or people took too much.  Whatevs--it wasn't anything spectacular anyway.

During dinner, Santa Claus made an appearance. Jake sat on his lap first.  He told Santa he wanted a Buzz Lightyear sword.

After throwing a fit and seeing that Jake got a cool super hero puzzle from Santa, Ryan finally went and sat on his lap.

 The party was pretty much over after everyone got to sit on Santa's lap.  We stayed and helped clean up.

 Jake and Ryan both liked these cones that were part of a pinata.  

We had a good time at the party.  

We just had to go home after and have cereal since we didn't get any dinner :)

30 Week Ultrasound & a Preschool Fieldtrip

Today, I had another ultrasound to see if my placenta previa had corrected itself.  Ryan wasn't able to come to the first ultrasound we had so I scheduled this appointment in the morning so Ryan would be able to experience it.

I was pleased to hear that everything is the way it should be, and the baby is right where he should be.  That's always nice to hear. Oh, and he is definitely head down, or as the guy that did my ultrasound said, "He is locked and loaded." :)

Baby Nielson #3 at 30 weeks

Ryan had preschool after the ultrasound.  They have been learning about safety so they were visiting the fire station and police station today.

Now that we have a bigger vehicle, we were able to bring one of Ryan's classmates in our car.  Jake was so funny and talked this little boy's ear off.  I asked the little boy, Porter, where his mom was today because sometimes she comes to the field trips with the class, and he said she was at home with the baby.  Jake immediately piped in and said, "Ohhh, is your baby in or out?!?" meaning has your baby been born yet.  I almost died laughing.  He also told Porter that his dad had an office and whiskers.  Too funny.

We went to the Salem Fire Station first.  The kids learned about fire and not to be afraid of fire fighters even though they look kind of scary in their fire gear.

Jake thinks he is just part of the class when we go on field trips with Ryan.

The fire fighter in all of his gear.  He was so sweaty when he took it off. I can't imagine wearing all of that hot, heavy gear and being near a blazing hot fire!

They got a good look at the fire fighter.

Jake soaking in all of the information, ha ha.

The kids got to sit in the fire truck so they were pretty happy about that.

Ryan's preschool class (and a few siblings) by the fire engine.

Jake and Ryan looking cute.  This is a step up from last year--Ryan refused to be in the class pictures last year.

Next, we headed to Spanish Fork police station.  Jake fell asleep on the way there and he even stayed asleep when I got him out of his car seat.  I had to pack him around for the first 20 minutes or so.  It about did me in. I was really glad when he woke up and wanted to get down.

Jake woke up just in time to see the holding cell.  Ryan was so happy to have Jake come see this room with a potty in it!

All of the kids checking out the police car.

The preschool class by the police car.

After touring the police station, the kids sat out on the lawn and had a snack and ran around.  Then we headed back to Miss Tiffany's so Porter's mom could pick him up.

We had a lot of fun on the field trip today.  

I think Ryan is really learning a lot and Jake is benefiting from it, too.

Jackson is Officially Elder Roper

I called my mom this afternoon for whatever reason and she said she was going to drive up to see Jackson be set apart.  He wasn't being set apart until 9pm so I told her I would ride with her.

After picking Ryan up from preschool today, I tripped walking up the stairs into my house.  I grabbed the back door to try and catch myself, but all I did was push the door into the back door closet putting a hole in the closet door!  I was so scared Jim was going to be so mad.  I texted him a picture right away to show him what I had done. Luckily, he didn't get too mad.  But I am mad at myself for doing it.  Now we have a big, trashy hole in the closet door, ugh.

I had a hair appointment at 4p for a cut and color.  I had Jim and the boys take me to my appointment and drop me off. My mom picked me up on her way to Salt Lake.  We did stop at Target on the way up so I could do a quick return--story of my life :)

We made it to the Roper's house right on time.  Jackson was just getting in his missionary clothing and then ran out to watch some last minute sports on Sports Center.  I thought that was so funny :)

Jackson's stake president, President Schulte, showed up around 9:15pm.  He introduced himself and then proceeded to tell us that this is one of the blessings that cannot be recorded.  He encouraged us all to listen carefully to what he had to say and as soon as it was over we should write down all that we could remember.

Jackson with President Schulte

After the blessing, Jackson immediately got a pen and a piece of paper and sat down to write down what he could remember.

President Schulte said some very nice and inspiring words in Jackson's blessing. 

We all did our best to help Jackson remember what we could.

We got a few pictures of Jackson and his family before we made our way south.

The Roper's

Jackson with Grandma Mangelson

The Roper boys.  It will be interesting to see how different these three look in 2 years :)

We are so excited for Jackson and wish him the best of luck. 

Library

My boys love going to the library.

When we first got our library card, they were content with going and getting new books to read at night.  

Then they discovered the computers (and the movies).  

The computers have fun, kid friendly games so I don't mind that they play them.  I just get irritated when they won't stop playing the computer games to help me pick out books.  I end up picking out the books anyway in an attempt to get out of the library sooner rather than later.

We also used to go to the library for story time until my boys stopped listening and would just run around.  Maybe we'll have to try story time again sometime.

Ryan and Jake having some computer time at the library.

We continue to go to the library on occasion because it gives us a fun, free activity to do :)

O' Christmas Tree

Today was the day.  

Ever since it snowed before Halloween, my boys have been begging to put up the Christmas tree.  The snow has melted now so that has helped with the constant questions of it being Christmas.  But Christmas is definitely on Ryan and Jake's minds.

I was too tired from Black Friday shopping to much of anything yesterday so we told the boys we would put up the tree today.

The minute Ryan and Jake woke up, they asked when we were going to put up the tree.  I told them we'd have breakfast first and get dressed then we would get started on the Christmas tree.

Around 9am we were ready to put up the tree (only because Ryan and Jake decided to get up at 6:45a this morning, ugh).

Jim, Ryan, and Jake put the tree up while I took down the Thanksgiving decor and dusted.  We all decorated the tree together.  Ryan and Jake put 95% of the ornaments on the tree.  There are some branches with 3 or more ornaments on them.  I tried to be sneaky and move one, but about 10 minutes later Ryan spotted the move and got really upset.  So there will be no rearranging :)

I literally have 3 different tree toppers and each one is too heavy to stand up on our tree.  I think we're going to have to make one out of paper for our flimsy tree.  I don't know what the deal is.  SO, we do not have a tree topper--never have.

We also added a train to our tree this year.  That was Black Friday find this year.  My boys love it.  I hope it makes it until Christmas without getting broken.

Our house is officially ready for Christmas.

Now if I can keep on top of the wrapping...

My Three Sons

I have yet to officially post on my blog that we are expecting baby boy #3 February 2, 2013.  Today I am 30 weeks so I decided to post about the newest addition coming to our family.

Jim and I had been throwing around the idea of maybe trying for another baby sometime this year.  I decided to finish out my birth control prescription and just not renew it.  I stopped taking birth control late March.  

I ran Ragnar in mid-June with some friends.  Before going, I felt kind of queasy but I didn't dare mention it to Jim for fear that he wouldn't let me go run :)

I got home from running the night before Father's Day.  The next day I was dying.  I told Jim I was so tired and did not feel good.  He thought it was because of running Ragnar (I was in Van 2 and my 2nd run was in the middle of the night so I didn't get a lot of sleep).  I told him I thought it was for another reason ;)  I just happen to have a pregnancy test in my bathroom drawer so I took it.  

Sure enough it confirmed what I had been thinking.

I got on the computer and tried to figure out how far along I was and when I was due.  

When I ran Ragnar, I was 7 weeks.

I went to my first doctor's appointment with Dr. Nance on June 29th.  Dr. Nance confirmed that we were having baby #3 and our due date was February 2, 2013.

At my first appointment, Dr. Nance asked how I was feeling.  I told him I didn't feel well but that I could still function.  He asked if I wanted any medication to help with how I felt and I told him I would just "tough it out".  Those were my exact words.  My appointment was on a Friday.  On Sunday, I laid on the couch all.day.long.  I felt like death!  

On Monday, I called to see what I could get to help me so I could function.  I was given a prescription for zofran--an anti-nausea medication.  I felt instantly better, but it definitely has it's downsides.  It gives me headaches every now and again and the worse part is it causes major constipation.  It was so bad I was ready to throw in the towel and just be done--I wanted to jump off the roof it was so awful.  Dr. Nance's nurse Marilyn told me to try this fiber stuff called konsyl.  You mix it with water or any other beverage and it helps you have a bowel movement.  It tastes awful.  I have to mix it with apple juice to even be able to gag it down, but man has it saved my life.  Every time I drink it Jake says, "That will make you go poop, huh mom."  Yep, sure does Jakey ;)

My next appointment was July 30 and I was just over 13 weeks so we would be able to hear the heart beat.  Dr. Nance couldn't find a heart beat.  I was so nervous yet confused.  How could I feel so horrible with all of the normal pregnancy symptoms but not be pregnant??  He had me go to the hospital the next day for an ultrasound to confirm that the baby was viable.

I couldn't get in for an ultrasound until 4pm the next day.  That was the longest day of my life.  We hadn't announced that we were expecting baby #3 to anyone yet, and we didn't have a legit excuse for someone to come and watch our boys so I went to the ultrasound by myself.  I was relieved when the ultrasound tech was able to find a heart beat right away.  He also checked everything else to make sure all was well.

At 16 weeks, I ran the Oak City 5k and got my best time yet--26:45.  At my next appointment, Dr. Nance told me it wasn't the best idea for me to run.  I guess it's because your joints start to become more flexible in order for your body to prepare to give birth so it's alot easier to injure yourself.  So, I quit running and just stuck to my normal gym classes and weights.

On September 12, we had our second ultrasound of the baby.  This is where we found out we'd be having another baby boy.  I actually expected another boy so I was fine with it.  The best news was that our baby was healthy, right on track where he needed to be, he had all of his parts and organs.  I was relieved.  

Baby Nielson #3.  We are never lucky enough to have one of those super cute profile shots at our ultrasounds :)
This is as good as it gets for us, ha ha.

I am now 30 weeks and everything is going as good as it can be.  My pelvis area already hurts--Dr. Nance was sure it was because the baby's head was down there but nope he's breech so it's just pressure that is making me hurt.  I still have to get up in the middle of the night, every night to go pee.  I guess that's just preparing you so you can get up with the baby at night, right? :)

I'm still going to the gym about 4 times a week although it's getting harder and harder for me to do all that I want to do.  I may have to quit going to my favorite group exercise classes and just do weights for the next 10 weeks.  Me and jumping around don't get along right now :)

I've tried to quit taking my zofran twice now.  Every time I try to quit, I throw up several times in a short time span.  The last time I tried to quit, I had missed three doses of the medication.  I threw up 6 times in 3 hours.  I gave up and took the damn pill.  I can't wait for February to roll around so I can say good riddance to zofran!

Ryan and Jake are so excited to have a new brother.  Jake tells me that he is going to teach his new brother how to fight and punch.  I think Jake thinks his new brother is going to come out of the womb ready to wrestle.  We had to give them some landmarks so they could gauge when their new brother would be making his debut.  We told them we'd have Halloween first, then Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, then we'd get our new brother.  We just had Thanksgiving so we only have one more major milestone until we get our new baby brother.

Last, one funny story that I haven't forgot.  While getting ready one morning Ryan asked me if my "bumps" would go away after I had the baby.  I've got a lot of "bumps" going on on my bod right now so I asked him to clarify.  I thought he might be referring to my big belly or my out of control boobs.  He walked over to me and proceeded to point to my BUTT!  He said, "Those bumps mom."  Oh man.  I knew I was big but even my butt is getting big.  Gripes.

We are excited to welcome baby boy #3 to our family in 10 weeks or less!

 (but who's counting) :)

Black Thursday/Friday Shopping with Lacy

I went Black Friday shopping with Lacy last night/early this morning.  The stores keep opening earlier and earlier so I'm not sure if it should be Black Thursday or what.  Actually, a lot of the stores even opened up their deals online as early as Monday of this week.  It's just getting ridiculous yet I still enjoy going.

Lacy and I left Spanish Fork at 7pm Thanksgiving Day.  Jim, the boys, and I got home from Levan at 6:55p so I just had time to change my shoes, brush my teeth, and grab my coat and gloves.  Jim stayed home with the boys and got them in bed.

Our first stop was Toys R Us.  Lacy had some Legos that she wanted to get and they were supposed to be 40% off.  When we pulled up, we were wondering what the devil people were in line so early for at RC Willey.  Turns out, it was the line for Toys R Us, gag.  We decided to get in line, grin, and bear it.  The line kept getting longer and longer and eventually went past RC Willey all the way to the street!

All the poor folks in line behind us at Toys R Us!

 There were people there trying to make a buck selling polish dogs and hot chocolate.  There was also a food truck that pulled up selling crepes.  People think of everything :)

Toys R Us opened their doors at 8pm, but they only let 50 people in at at time every 10 minutes.  We didn't actually get in the store until around 8:45pm or so.

When we got inside, we went for the Legos first.  Turns out, only the Legos pictured in the ad were 40% off, not "all Legos" like the ad made it sound so Lacy didn't get any Legos after all.  After shopping and grabbing a few hot items that we were both looking for, we split up and went for different items that we needed.  

The check out line was starting to get out of control so I got in line while Lacy continued to get what she needed. We ended up waiting in that line to check out for over an hour, ugh.  It was so hot, too.  You wear your big winter coat, scarf, gloves, etc. because you have to wait in the freezing cold for hours.  Then when you get inside to shop you die of heat!

I had picked up a Scooby Doo movie for my boys.  It was marked $16.99 but had a sale tag on the shelf that said $6.99, $10 off.  When the girl rang it up, it still rang up at $16.99.  I told her there was a sale tag on the shelf and she told me that the only things that were on sale today were Black Friday items.  Well good hell, take your old sale tags OR tags for items that aren't on sale down!  Gripes!!

I also got an Imaginarium easel for my boys as one of their gifts.  One of the deals was if you spent $20 or more on an Imaginarium easel, you would get a stencil, stamp, paint set for free.  I couldn't see the stencil sets anywhere so I figured they would be at the check out stands.  The girl first told me that they weren't doing anything like that; that her screen would tell her if I was supposed to get something free.  So I found it in the ad and showed her.  She then told me the free item would've been back by the easels so I should have grabbed it there.  I had asked three different employees and none of them knew so I took my chances with the check out stand.  I was wrong and there was no way I could go back and get the free item now.  If I had to wait in that check out line again it definitely wouldn't be worth it.  Those two things really ticked me off.  Lacy had a few issues with stuff like that checking out, too.  It's very irritating.

We pulled out of the Toys R Us parking lot at 9:58pm and headed to Wal-Mart.  Lacy wanted to try and get a Nook that was a door buster deal at 10pm.  When we got to Wal-Mart there was NO where to park. We had to stalk people coming out to find a spot.  The first two people we stalked were just bringing stuff they had bought to their cars and going back in.  What the hell--who does that!?!  We got lucky the third time and finally parked.

Wal-Mart was a mad house.  We were able to find some of the stuff we were looking for, but other stuff we were looking for was long gone.  I did find a train to go around our Christmas tree for $30.  It was just an item that I wanted to get if I could find one--nothing too serious.  Lacy spotted it on the shelf so I snagged it up. 

Wal-Mart had advertised specific DVD/Blu-Ray combo packs on sale for $8.96.  One of them was the Madagascar 3 combo pack.  Lacy and I thought we had scored when we found a few copies of this particular movie.  When we got to the check out, the movie was ringing up for $24.96.  We showed the girl the Wal-Mart ad where the Madagascar 3 DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack was specifically pictured with $8.96 clearly printed by it, and she told us that there were specially packaged DVD/Blu-Ray packages packed specially for Black Friday for that deal that had completely different UPC's.  Ugh.  So irritating. 

Kohl's was our next destination after Wal-Mart.  They opened at Midnight and we were leaving Wal-Mart a little after 11pm.  Of course I was getting a little famished so I had Lacy stop at McDonald's right there by Wal-Mart so we could grab a delicious bite to eat.  The fries were actually good--nice and hot, but my cheeseburger was disgusting.  I mean, they are never fabulous but it was exceptionally gross tonight.

Lacy had ordered a peppermint hot chocolate.  When we pulled into Kohl's, it some how spilled all over her leg and butt.  It was scorching hot and burned her leg, not to mention got all over her pants and butt.  I grabbed napkins as fast as I could--I wasn't much help though.  About 80% off her hot chocolate spilled out.  It was awful.  To make matters worse, her pants were wet so it made it even worse to stand out in the freezing cold.

The Kohl's line was super long when we got in it, too.  It went past the University Gold's Gym and wrapped around the side of the building.  We were wrapped around the building so we weren't sure what kind of deals we were going to be able to get.

We were able to get what we were looking for and more.  We got some pretty good deals, too.  Kohl's had put out an extra 15% off coupon that we both had.  They had also put a $10 off a $30 purchase coupon on the newspapers that we both had.  The check out line took forever at Kohl's though so we didn't leave there until 1:45am or so.

Our next destination was Target, but our "deals" didn't start until 4am so we had some time to kill.  The mall was open so we went over there.  We went to GAP first.  They had sent me a text that made it sound like the entire store would be 60% off.  Well, it was only specific items that were 60% off.  Most were only 40% off and some things weren't even on sale.  I was starting to get tired and my lower belly was starting to hurt from standing so I sat down while Lacy shopped.  She was able to find a few things that she needed.

Next we went over to American Eagle.  I looked around for a bit, but I didn't need anything there so I told her I would go out and sit on a bench in the hall.  I was stricken tired so I decided to lay down on the bench.  I was OUT within minutes.  Lacy came out of AE and wanted to run down to PacSun.  I told her I would keep her bags and she could go shop.

This is what Lacy found when she came back.  Sleeping Beauty a.k.a. Chubbs was fast asleep.  I am 1 day shy of being 30 weeks pregnant with baby #3 so I have a bit of an excuse :)  At least I had secured her bags to my wrist so no one could steal them while I was snoozin'.  I have no idea how long I was out, but it felt so good to sleep.  I didn't sleep so red hot the night before.  Then Jake came into our room around 5:30am and I never really went back to sleep before I got up to go to the gym at 6:30am.  I didn't get a nap on Thanksgiving either.

Lacy shopped her little heart out and even got us a snack from of pretzel bites, cheese, and lemonade.  It was really tasty while eating it, but it ticked my stomach off for some reason.

After the mall we went to Target.  They were pretty much wiped out.  We didn't get much that we were after or that we wanted to at least look at there.  We left Target around 4:30am and then went to K-Mart for their deals that started at 5am.  I didn't need anything at K-Mart, in fact, I hadn't even looked at their ad.  There were some other Legos that were going to go on sale at 5am there that Lacy wanted to check out.

I didn't think I could stand in line again so Lacy got out and braved the cold and stood in line by herself.  I felt bad but my poor bod was just not having it.  I went and got in line with her at 4:58am--I'm terrible.

We got inside and K-Mart's Lego selection was pitiful.  After waiting in that line, freezing to death, Lacy didn't end up getting anything nor did I.

Lacy started to lose steam from waiting in that line at K-Mart.  She just wanted to check Sportsman's Warehouse to see when they opened.  We got to their store around 5:30am and there were a few people in line.  We figured they opened at 6am.  Instead of waiting in line, Lacy decided to run into the K-Mart next door to see if their Lego selection was any better than the previous store.  But, no such luck.  After that, she'd had it and we decided to head for home.

It was a good thing we didn't have to drive past Spanish Fork because I don't think we would've made it.  We unloaded my stuff from Lacy's car and she went home.  I took the stuff I had bought downstairs, used the bath room, and went upstairs and went to bed.  I know I got in bed at 6am and was OUT in seconds.

I remember my boys came in, but I have no idea what time it was.  Jim was kind enough to take them downstairs and let me sleep.  I slept until 11am and then got up.

I was pretty much worthless for the rest of the day.  The balls of my feet were so sore--I'm not sure if it was just from standing or the shoes I wore, but they hurt so bad.  I was like I was physically ill, too.  But with this pregnancy anytime I get overly tired, I feel sick.  It's so weird.  

My boys took a nap around 1:30p so I went down for a nap right along with them except I slept longer than them waking up around 4:30p.  The rest of the night I sat on the couch and did nothing. 

I did end up taking a shower around 8pm and helped put the boys to bed but that was the extent of it.

I LOVE to go Black Friday shopping--this is my third year going.  But it definitely takes a toll on me and my body!! Some people wonder if it's worth going and I would say yes.  I just think its fun to go out and see what you can get.  This year, I didn't go with any specifics or anything I just HAD to get so that made it that much more fun.  And I had actually ordered a few things from Target.com before we left to go to Levan for Thanksgiving dinner so that made it less stressful, too.

I know you can find a lot of the same deals online, but it is so much fun to go out and brave the crowds and see all of the crazies.  It's so much fun, I think I'll do it again next year :)

Ryan and Jake's Check-Up with the Dentist

I took the boys to their 6 month dental check today.  They were so excited to go and play with the train table.  Whatever gets them there without crying and throwing a fit, right :)

The boys got to play with the train table for only a few minutes before they were ready to take us back.  They were really good about leaving the train table though, I was surprised.

First thing they did was weigh both of the boys.  Ryan weighed 38 pounds and Jake was 37.  

Then they got x-rays.  Ryan was really cooperative and said he would go first and hopped right up in the chair

 Ryan sat right up and got his x-rays.  It only took a couple of seconds and he was done.  

Then it was Jake's turn.

 He also sat right up in the chair and got his x-rays like a champ.  He struggled a bit with keeping his mouth closed and biting down on the x-ray film, but she was able to get it done after the third try.

Then we moved to the cleaning chair.  Ryan let Jake go first this time so he could play with the horse toy and brush his teeth :) 

Jake watched Wall-E while he got his teeth cleaned.  He picked strawberry toothpaste. 

Ryan was up next and picked watermelon toothpaste.  

As soon as he was done, he asked if he could go play with the trains again :)  But we had to wait for the dentist to come and check out their teeth.

The dentist came a few minutes later to check their teeth and make sure they didn't have any cavities.  He said both of their tooth looked great and neither of them had any cavities.  Woo hoo!

As soon as they were done, they both raced to the train table.  I stayed behind and got their tokens to ride the horse and their new toothbrushes. 

Seriously, why do they love this train table more than the one we have at home??  I think maybe we need to set up the tracks and glue them down like they have here and maybe they would play with it more.  Who knows.

The boys played with the trains for about 10 minutes then we went outside to ride the horse. 

The horse is so slow now compared to carnival rides, but they still love riding it.

We met Jim for lunch at McDonald's and then went to the bank and Wiggy Wash before heading home.

I'm glad my boys don't throw fits at the dentist anymore.  It makes it so nice and easy to take them myself.  

Next time we go we'll have another little hooligan to bring along with us :)

Birthday Lunch & Shopping for Emilee and Paula's Birthdays

My mom, sisters, and I went to lunch at Archibald's in Gardener's Village to celebrate Emilee and Paula's birthday's that were in October.  Yes, it's November but it was the first weekend we could all get together.

Yesterday was the big snow storm and it was even still snowing a bit this morning so we were worried about driving up to Salt Lake and being out and about in the snow.  It turned out fine; it was just really cold.

Lunch was really good at Archibald's.  I would have to say our desserts were by far the best.  We got a yummy bread pudding and an apple crumble dessert.  The bread pudding was seriously so delish!  It would be worth it to drive up there and just get some bread pudding, ha ha.

Me, Paula, Mom, Emilee, Molly, and Amy after lunch at Archibald's

All of us at our table.  The picture was really dark so I tried lightening it in photoshop.
This was as good as I could get it.

After lunch, we did a little shopping around Gardener's Village.  We usually go to Gardener's Village for Witches Night out.  It's fun, but its just so darn crowded that the shopping is miserable.  Shopping today was so nice.  There were people there but nothing compared to the crowds at Witches Night Out.

We decided to head up to Fashion Place Mall and do a little shopping at Nordstrom and a few other stores.  Molly had a BYU football game that she had to go to with her drill team so she left after looking in Nords.  The rest of us stayed at the mall for a few hours before we decided to head home.  Amy went home from the mall, but Emilee wanted to stop at a Kohl's so we stopped in Draper.

It was almost 6pm and we were a little hungry.  My mom, Paula, Emilee, and I stopped at The Corner Bakery and got a little bite to eat for dinner :)  We stayed there and chatted until almost 8:30pm!

I had a fun day out with my mom and sisters.  It's always hard to get us all together at the same time, but when we do, we have a great time.  I'm looking forward to the next birthday lunch :)

First BIG Snow of the Year

We woke up to massive amounts of snow today!  I knew it was supposed to snow, but I had no idea it would be this much, wowza!

The boys asked to get dressed this morning so they could go outside and play.  I usually have to beg them to get dressed and they usually fight over who had to go first.  They really wanted to get out and play in the snow :)  

After the last small snow storm, we realized Jake's coat wasn't going to cut it so we got Ryan a new coat and Jake gets Ryan's coat.  Thank goodness we got Ryan's coat in time for this snow storm (I ordered it online).

Ryan and Jake ready to go outside and play!

Jake was outside for about 20 minutes before he was cold and ready to come inside.  Ryan was dying to make a snow man though.  Jim took one for the team and headed out to help Ry  make a snow man.

The snow was so heavy and it stuck together really well for the snow man.  We didn't have anything to make a snowman face though.  His mouth is made out of a piece of licorice, his nose is an actual carrot, his arms are two sand shovels, and we were able to scrounge up two rocks for his eyes.

Jim and Ryan came in after about a 1/2 hour of playing outside.  Ryan went down the slide and Jim showed Ryan how to make snowballs and throw them.  Jake was just wanting to get suited up to go back out, but Jim said they were coming in.

The rest of the day, the boys kept asking to go outside.  They loved playing in the snwo.

The snowman didn't last too long though.  Later in the day it fell over because it was so heavy.

I swear we got more snow in this one snowfall than we did all last year. 

I wonder if this is a preview of the kind of Winter we are going to have...

Wreck It Ralph

Jim had drill this weekend so we were on our own during the days.  I have a Family Readiness Group on Sunday so I had told my parents that we would come down today to visit since we wouldn't be able to come down tomorrow.  Plus, I wanted to get the boys' hair cut  :)

The boys and I went to the gym in Orem before heading to Levan.  While I was at the gym, my mom sent me a text to see if we wanted to go see Wreck It Ralph this afternoon with Emilee and Dallin (the rest of the Eyre's were in St. George with the Eyre's for a little vacay).

After the gym, we stopped at the house so I could get some clothes and stuff to get ready with in Levan and then we headed down.

My boys must have been really tired for whatever reason.  They rarely fall asleep this early in the day.  It worked out fine though to have a little cat nap so they didn't get tired for the movie.

The movie started at 3pm and we didn't get to Levan until about 12:30pm so we gave the boys hair cuts first thing. 

After hair cuts, we had lunch with my mom and dad.  Max and Katie were also in Levan, too.  By this time is was about 2pm.  We needed to leave around 2:30p and I still hadn't done anything about getting ready.  I hustled to get ready, we got all the kids ready, and we left for Nephi.  My dad was nice and got lunch cleaned up for us since we were running late.

We made it to the movie in plenty of time.  Emilee and Dallin were already inside and had saved us some seats.

The boys both sat through the movie pretty good.  Toward the end, Jake kept asking if it was almost over, but they both did really well for the most part.

I tried to get a picture of the kids after the movie, but the only kid who would cooperate was Dallin.  SO, that is the only kid who got his picture taken.  The darn sun was right in his eyes, too, darn it.

After the movie, we made a quick stop at the grocery store and then went back out to Levan.  We stayed and visited for a few hours and then went home.

We had a fun day and are glad we were able to see the movie.

Flu Shots

The Monday before Halloween, Ryan had a little throw up scare.  

Monday night October 29th, Ryan still needed to do his homework.  He has been a little turd about doing his homework lately.  When he told me he didn't feel good and couldn't do his homework, I thought it was a ploy to get out of doing it.  He ended up doing a little of his homework, but didn't finish.  I left it on the counter and told him it would be waiting for him the next morning and that he'd have to finish it before we left for the gym.  

I hate when he doesn't finish his homework because we usually go to the gym Tuesday mornings.  If we have any errands to run after the gym, by the time we get home we don't have time to sit down and do homework before it's time to get lunch and get up to school.

Anyway, Jim got the boys in the tub and we got the boys in bed.  About 5 minutes after putting them to bed, Jake came into our room and told us Ryan had thrown up.

Sure enough, Ryan had thrown up in his bed and all over himself.  I got Ryan cleaned up and in the tub while Jim got Ry's bed taken care of and put new sheets on it.

Ryan threw up three more times by 11pm that night.  I was feeling awful because I hadn't taken the boys in for a flu shot because I was nervous to give them a shot.  Stupid, I know.

Ryan didn't throw up any more that night and woke up fine the next morning.  We didn't go to the gym, but I did take him to preschool because he was eating fine and acting just fine, too.  It was so strange.  I wondered if he had eaten something, but Jake had the same thing for lunch as he did and we all had the same dinner.  

As soon as I knew both boys were well, I called and scheduled flu shots for the boys,  We were able to get in that Friday.

Jim had drill during the day.  My mom actually came up and rode up to Salt Lake with us to return/exchange some items at the Carter's store in Sandy.  We also stopped and got my mom some shampoo at the beauty supply store and a few other errands.  We were home by 4pm and our flu shot appointments were at 4:50pm.  Jim came home a little early from drill to help me take the boys to get their shots.

As soon as Ryan knew where we were going and why, he started to freak out saying he didn't want a shot.  Jake was completely fine with it, but he hadn't recently had IV's in his arm either.

Jake actually got his flu shot first.  He winced a little, but was fine as soon as he got his band aid on.  I went second.  I was nervous because Lacy had got a flu shot and said it felt like cold pudding was being shot into her arm.  To my surprise, it didn't hurt at all.  It was just a little sting.

Ryan was sitting in the corner of the doctor's office pleading not to get a shot.  We had to pick him and up, put him on Jim's lap, and hold him to get his shot.  He screamed when they put the shot in but was fine shortly after.  He just had to be a turd and was mad all the way to the car.

Jake asked if we could go get an ice cream.  Since he was so good, we decided to take the boys to get ice cream at Polar Queen in Payson.  That seemed to make Ryan cheer right up.

After ice cream cones, hot french fries, and Sprite, the boys seemed to forget all about their flu shots.

Ice cream does make things all better :)