October Fun

October has been a fun and exciting month for all of us. My mom and Amberlee came to visit for Cody's birthday. We had a great time! We shopped, ate at Texas Roadhouse, just had a fun visit.



Amberlee & Aspyn



Amberlee and my mom helped the girls carve pumpkins!

Amber decided to take a "traditional" approach to her pumpkin!



Heather, Me, Taliah, Laura



On October 22nd we took a very quick trip to St. George so I could run in the Save A Sister 10k with my cousins, Heather, Clint, Laura (Clint's wife), Sarah (Kyle's wife) and Taliah! We had a blast! I finished in 1hour 3 minutes. It wasn't a very quick pace, but I ran the entire thing & I finished. I call that a success! Now that I know I can do it, I've been working on "picking up the pace"!  Sarah, who has ran a lot of races, said that the course was kind of a hard one. There were a ton of uphill parts. I felt better hearing her say that it was kind of challenging!  Now we all are training for the Red Rock Relay in Moab in May!!

Jordyn has finished the Fall Soccer Season. She can't wait until Spring to start all over again. Her team lost only 2 games and every kid on the team scored at least one goal for the Season. Jordyn scored the final goal in the final game!  It was great. It was such a great team.

All the kids really worked together as a team. They learned how to pass to each other and how to really function together.  There aren't many U6 teams that play as well together as they did!

The Saturday before Halloween, we went to one of the Corn Mazes. They had a little scavenger hunt where, as you walk through you find different numbered items. If you find them all you got a little prize at the end. It was great!

This year for Halloween, Jordyn wanted to be something other than a Disney princess. She wanted to be a "Girl Vampire".  After looking at a ton of costumes she saw this one and said it was perfect! She was such a cute Vampire! We both agreed though that whatever she decides to be next year we will be finding a wig instead of doing the spray painted hair! Aspyn was a cute Lil Lady Bug! It took her awhile before she would leave her wings alone though. Both girls had a great time Trick or Treating. Jordyn got a ton of candy, and loved passing out our candy after she was done with her Trick or Treating.  I am so glad that Halloween is over!!

November is already gearing up to be an interesting month! Fun things and another change is happening! Until next time......!!!

Just an Update!

Wow! Time completely has a way of slipping away! It seems like quite a bit happens in just a short time!

Jordyn

Jordyn absolutely loves kindergarten! She is doing so well. She's learning to read a little bit, and learning so much about a lot of different things. Lately they have been learning about the Native Americans.  Everyday she has came home with different "facts" or stories about them.  She gets so excited when she tells me about what she has learned in class.

She is also loving soccer!  Her coach is amazing, the kids on the team are a lot of fun and all get along quite well! She has practice on Mondays & Wednesdays with games on Saturdays.  I can't believe how much she has improved from Spring.  She seems more confident with the game and her skills have improved so much.  She has scored quite a few goals in her games. It's so fun to watch her run around the soccer field with a smile on her face.   I love watching her improve, learn and grow!

She is such a big help with Aspyn and they get along so well!

Aspyn!

Aspyn is just about 11 months now!  She is walking everywhere. She started walking about 2 weeks before her 10 mos.  She is down to 2 bottles max a day. Sometimes 1 in the morning (sometimes not) and one right before bed. I think that one is going to be the hardest to break!  One thing that hasn't been hard to get rid of is her pacifier!  She actually took herself off it.  She just decided one day that she didn't want it anymore.  She would chew on it and let it dangle out of her mouth, but wasn't really sucking on it.   If I would try to give it to her at night she would take it out and throw it on the floor.  So we just put it away and she hasn't really cared since. It's been so nice not having to worry about having one around or with us when we go out.  It's also been nice not having to worry about us taking it away from her!

She no longer is eating baby food. She just eats what we eat or a slight variation of it.  She is down to one nap a day, usually 1-3 hours depending on the day. Aspyn loves books! She has 3 favorite ones that she will find on the book shelf and bring to us to read.  Her favorite toy is still her stuffed Monkey and now she has a favorite cell phone! Yup, she's starting early on the cell phone thing. She will walk around with it holding it up to her ear saying "Hello" and chattering all around the house.  It seems like everyday she is learning new words or some new thing.  Jordyn is still her favorite person. She loves her dogs and still loves being outside.  When we are outside she will walk around the yard, crawl on the dogs or play in the grass, the sand or the leaves! She loves (& prefers) to drink from a straw.

She has 4 teeth, 2 top, 2 bottom with one of her eye teeth popping through very soon. She is happy 98% of the time.

It's so much fun watching my girls grow!!

Cody

Cody has had a change in departments at work.  He is now in the Survey/Engineering department.  He's doing more drafting and working with numbers, more of what he went to school for.  He still goes down in the mine, just not for as long during the night as he used to.  It's been a very nice change.  He leaves to go into work at 11:45pm (to start at 12:30) and gets home about 9:00am.  He usually sleeps until about 5pm.  It's been nice to have him home at night, to have dinner, spend time with the girls, and help put them to bed.  Then we are able to spend some time together before having to leave.  The girls love having him awake and home more consistently. I do too!  It's really done a lot for our relationship being able to spend more time together.  He seems a lot happier in this new department (even though it does have it's down sides) doing more of what he's comfortable doing!

He was supposed to take his Electrical test in November. However, the paperwork to take it was needing to be submitted by October 5th. In order to submit the paperwork you have to have been working for a year. His year hire date is October 6th. They would not make an exception for 1 day. So, the Electrical test has been pushed by to February. That will just give him a little while longer to study so he can pass 1st try!!!

Me

I am adjusting to the changes and all the things that are going on in our family. I love having Jordyn in Kindergarten, Aspyn growing and changing  everyday and Cody's new schedule.  I have started taking time for myself everyday by either going to the gym or running.  It's been great!  I feel a lot better!  In 2 weeks, Taliah, Clint, Laura, Heather and myself are going to be running a 10k in St George.  It's for breast cancer awareness.  It called Save a Sister! I am pretty excited to do it.  That is 1 more goal of mine that I can cross off my list. This race all I want to do is finish the race. I'm not going for an awesome, amazing time. I just want to be able to say that I finished a 10k.  I guess this is just one more stepping stone on my way to my big goal of running a marathon and hopefully (eventually) a triathlon!

All in all we are doing really well.  We are getting excited for Fall/Winter to be here!

Next post there will be pictures.....I promise!!

Off To Kindergarten

Yup, it's that time in every mother's life that they dread. Monday August 22nd was Jordyn's 1st day of Kindergarten. She has been very excited to go since her last day at Preschool. We were able to go into the school the week before and meet the two kindergarten teachers, look around the school and finish any registration. Once we were in the room she got a little quiet and a bit nervous.  On our way home she was a lot more talkative and still very excited.

Sunday night, she picked out what she was going to wear the next day and said that she hoped she could sleep!



Her new Kindergarten backpack

Monday morning she woke up on time, with no problems or complaints! When we got onto the school grounds she looked around and said "There really is a lot of kids here". I walked down to Mrs Mohr's class with her. Her teacher was so friendly. She gave her a little name tag to help her learn the kid's names, showed her where to put her backpack and showed her where all of her supplies were. From that point on she seemed quite nervous.  A boy from her Preschool, Kelly is also in her class and he was feeling a bit nervous as well.  Once me and his mom got them sitting together looking at books, they both were more at ease.  I said my goodbyes and left her for her 1st day of school!!

I will admit it was harder than I thought it was going to be.  I always thought that since she has been in Preschool from the age of 3, that it was going to be an easy transition. I was wrong.  I got a bit teary eyed walking out of her classroom. It just seemed really weird leaving her there all day long.  I know she's looked forward to going to Kindergarten for quite awhile, and that she was going to love it! By mid morning I was feeling better. 

Jordyn absolutely loved school! She even said that "hot lunch" aka school lunch wasn't that bad!  The girls in her class are going to be fun, even if the boys are a little mean (her words). She said her teacher was very nice, and Yes, she is going to love it!

I still can't believe that she is in Kindergarten, and that very soon she will be reading and writing! Watching her grow up is so much fun. I can not wait to see what this school year brings us!

9 Months Already!

I can not believe that Aspyn is 9 months old. It is CRAZY how fast time passes! It has been so great having her in our family. Her and Jordyn as so cute together. Aspyn loves being around her big sister. She is so happy when Jordyn will play with her (which is a lot). The 1st thing Jordyn does in the morning, is give Aspyn a hug and kiss. The last thing she does before going to bed at night is give her a hug and kiss! I hope that the bond they have now continues as they get older.

Aspyn also loves her dad. Anytime she hears his voice, she starts smiling and bouncing. When he comes into the room, she reaches out for him. It's so cute! Of course if he's not home, she will look for him and keep saying "Da" It's so stinkin cute!

It doesn't matter what we are doing outside, Aspyn just enjoys it all. She loves the water, playing in the sand, the grass, it doesn't matter as long as it's outside!  Her favorite animal is dogs. She has a little book that has different animals in it.  She'll open it up to the dog page and smile and say over and over "Daw"! When she hears a dog bark, she'll stop whatever she's doing and say "Daw". She loves them!  She also likes her little bath duck. Anytime we are in the bathroom, she looks at the tub and says "Duh"! If you give her other bath toys she just ignores them and plays with her "Duh"!

She really loves saying her D's, but you can definitely tell a difference with the vowel sounds. She knows what she's saying!

She loves music and dances (or bounces) to just about everything. She sleeps very well, day and night. She eats anything and everything, but lima beans! She crawls everywhere and has lately been trying to climb the stairs. She's standing very well on her own and walks around the furniture. She's tried taking a few steps between furniture, but no out on her own. She'll throw her arms in the air when you tell her "So big" and actually tries to imitate the words and voice tone! Aspyn will most of the time wave bye-bye and give you an open mouth kiss if you ask. She is so cute when she stops what she's doing and claps her hands, and looks at you like she did something awesome!

Her little personality is so dang cute. She really brings a lot of entertainment to our house.

At her 9 month appointment she weighed 19 lbs 13 oz, and was 28" long. Dr  Moore said she is absolutely perfect and doesn't see any concerns at all.  She's meeting or exceding the milestones set for her age!  I can't believe that in 3 short months she'll be a year. I am not quite ready for that! 

1st Camping Trip in Colorado & Rusti's Visit

We finally went on our 1st camping trip here in Colorado! My dad came over August 8th for a little vacation. We all decided to head up and check out the Colorado Mountains. We ended up at Island Lake. It was so pretty and so much cooler.

Jordyn and my Dad did a little fishing. They caught a few, but only ended up keeping 1. Jordyn absolutely LOVES fishing with Grandpa. They really have a good time together and have such an amazing bond. I never thought Jordyn would like to fish, but she does and she's pretty good at it. She knows more about fishing and the different baits than I do!


1st Camping Trip

Aspyn really, really enjoyed her 1st camping trip. She did so well. She loves being outside so it wasn't a huge surprise that she had some fun. She loved crawling around in the dirt, trying to eat it and playing with the rocks and leaves. Aspyn loved watching the fire at night . She was just so content to sit on our laps and enjoy being up in the mountain. I think we have another camper in the family! I love it!

We had a great time. We fished a little bit, drove around a little to find other camping spots that are a bit more secluded, and really just relaxed! It was great!  Next Summer, we will be doing a lot more camping!!


Aspyn in Jordyn's shoes

Thursday the 11th, my Mom flew over to spend the weekend with us and drive home with my Dad. We had been trying to talk Ashley into letting Rusti come with her.  Ashley finally agreed, but my Mom told me that she couldn't get the airline stuff figured out for her to bring Rusti. When we picked up Mom at the airport, she comes walking out holding Rusti! Jordyn was so excited to see Rusti, and Rusti was so very excited to see JoJo! She is such a cute girl, and we really really miss her. It was fun having her. Jordyn and Rusti played all weekend. We loved having her visit!


Aspyn, Jordyn, Rusti



 All the girls were so cute together. It's really hard knowing that they don't get to see each other as much as they want to. Hopefully we can keep getting all the cousins together as often as possible!

It was a great week having my parents here, and being able to see Rusti! It's always hard on us when they leave, but I'm so glad that they make the trip out here as much as they can.



Family Vacation to Denver

Jordyn has been wanting to go to Elitch Garden's in Denver for a very long time. Every time she would see the commercial on tv she would beg to go. Cody & I decided that it would be fun to take a family vacation for a few days there and finally check it out. It was a VERY interesting trip!

We left Thurs July 21st after Jordyn passed her finally day in Level 2 swimming. We made it to Denver around 5 o'clock, checked into our hotel and decided to hit the mall and then get some dinner.  We went to eat at Yard House which is Cody's all time favorite place to eat. We order an appetizer 1st, then dinner not too long after.  Cody is never one to really venture out once he finds an entree that he likes, but that night he decided to. Our appetizer came 2 minutes before our meals. The waitress felt bad that it came so close to our meals that she said she was taking the appetizer off our bill. My meal and Jordyn's meal was so amazing. Cody's meal had absolutely no flavor, and was very very dry. Cody told the waitress about it and she ended up taking it off as well. He ended up ordering what he normal does (it was amazing) and we still weren't charged for it. We were completely prepared to pay for it, but she said no!

Dad & Daughter being goofy

 Friday morning we had to stop at the School of Mines so Cody could get some Alumni gear! We had a great breakfast at a little shop in Golden and then made our way to Elitch's!

Poor peanut not feeling well

Aspyn wasn't feeling very well when while we were in Denver. She slept alot Friday. It was so hot, so the time that she was awake she mainly drank her water and wanted to be held. 

Jordyn and the Rasta Bananas

 We saw these "Rasta Bananas" and immediately thought of Brieanna!

Jordyn loved these Tea Cups. I was ok with them for the 1st minute. After that I was about to get sick. Jordyn was able to do a lot of the rides there that were for people 42" and shorter. Luckily she was wearing her "tall flip flops" so she was just that much taller! Most of the really fun rides that Cody and I wanted to go on, you had to be 48" and taller, so we didn't go on very many "adult" rides. Cody did go on the old wooden roller coaster. I have no desire to go on those old wooden things. Way too creepy! After we went on all the rides that Jordyn could go on, we decided it was time to check out the Water park part of Elitch's. Everyone else had that same idea. There was absolutely no place to sit, NO shade, no lockers and Jordyn couldn't go on any of the good water slides. She was pretty limited to the kiddie pool that had small slides and water sprayers. Cody and I decided to not change into our suits, but let Jordyn get into hers and let her play in the water for a little bit to cool off. She loved it and had a good time! She was in the Wave Pool and loved jumping over the waves. I can't wait until she can actually do that in the Ocean!

After awhile, we rode on one more water ride and decided to call it a day. Aspyn had had enough, Cody was on the verge of heatstroke and I was just plain tired. Jordyn would've gone for another 5-6 hours I'm sure, but she was happy that she had been able to go.

Our plan was go back to hotel, cool off & change, then go to dinner. When we got back to the hotel we were notified that the power in that area was out and that it wouldn't be on until about 8:30pm (it was about 5). Since we were still very hot and just wanted to cool off, we hit the mall for a very large iced tea and Sprite for Jo, some cold water and cereal for Aspyn. Once we were finally cooled off we found our way to On The Border mexican restaurant for dinner. We ordered and sat there and waited, and waited and waited. We mentioned to the waiter that we had been waiting for about 45 minutes from the time we sat down until then. He went to check on our food and were told that the kitchen had lost our ticket! He was very apologetic, told us he could ring it back in and we would be 1st in line to get our food. Since we really weren't in a huge hurry, and Aspyn had fallen asleep we re-ordered and patiently waited for our food. It actually came out pretty quick and was so yummy!  The manager came and told us that for our inconvenience we were getting our entire meal comped! We tried to at least pay for something, but he would have nothing of it!

Once we got back to our hotel around 9 o'clock the power still was NOT on and that it was now going to be at least 11:30 before it was.  A security guard let us into our room (since our key cards weren't working). The room was so hot and muggy. So, at 9:30 Jordyn hit the pool in the dark! She loved it! Around 10:30 the power came on & we all were able to finally get to bed.

The next morning we went down to the office to check out. The hotel was giving out vouchers to guests  for the huge inconvenience of the power outage that they could use at a future date and any of their hotels. Well, when we got there to check out they had already ran out and wasn't able to get anymore. Instead of mailing us one, they said that they were able to refund us 1 nights stay! The night that they refunded was actually Friday night which was the more expensive night!

Since Jordyn didn't get to do a lot of swimming and water theme park time at Elitch's, we thought it would be fun to maybe hit Waterworld (an all water park theme park). But 1st we made our way to Idaho Springs to eat at Tommy Knocker Brewery! They have the BEST buffalo burgers, root beer  & Cody's favorite beer is brewed there! Plus it's an old mining town and very fun to walk up and down Miner street and look in all the fun stores! Then we made our way back to Denver. We got to Waterworld and could not find a place to park. People were illegal parking, parking on the grass, on the baseball field. The line to the ticket booth was so long, as were the lines for the water slides. After discussing it with Jordyn we decided to skip Waterworld and go back to the mall and do "glow in the dark" golf! It was so much fun (and cool)! Jordyn had so much fun! Toward the end she figured out what she needed to do and did really well. Cody and I hadn't mini-golfed in a long time, so it was alot of fun for us as well! After 18 holes of glow in the dark mini golf, we let Jordyn go to Build-a-Bear Workshop and make an animal! Of course she loved it and fell in love with the cat that she created!

We finally made it back home Saturday night at about 10pm. We were exhausted, and so glad to be home! It was a fun trip! We all had a great time and enjoyed being around each other as a family! We've never really gone on a vacation with just the 4 of us, so it was something new. Jordyn can't wait until we go back to Elitch's and Waterworld again. She definitly says that we aren't staying in that same hotel again! We only complained about Cody's yucky meal that 1st night, everything else was just luck that it was comped. It all ended out ok though!  We can't wait until next year when we go again!

The next month is going to be just as busy as the 1st part of the Summer. We have a couple of festivals these next 2 weekends, then my dad will be coming over for the Delta County Fair. My mom will fly over during the Fair so us girls can do a little school shopping for Jordyn. Jordyn will start soccer again mid August.  Toward the end of August we will be driving to Vegas to go to the Drift races with a bunch of friends and then Jordyn starts Kindergarten! WOW!!

I'll definitely try and keep up with all our happenings! Until then......adios and lots of love!!

Playing Catch Up

These past couple of months have been extremely busy! My Mom & Dad came over on my birthday for a small visit.  We went over to Glenwood Springs for a little swimming at the Hot Springs Pool. That was Aspyn's 1st time in the water. She loved it! She just kept kicking her little legs and splashing. She wore herself out! Jordyn loved the warm water & showed off her underwater swimming skills!  The rest of that weekend was mainly spent in Grand Junction for my dad's Uncle Don's wedding and the Hone Family reunion. It was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of family that I haven't seen in a long time. So it was great to be able to visit with them.

I always enjoy having my family around and I know they love being around the girls & us as well!

4th of July was fun as usual! It was Cherry Days time again in our town. Jordyn loves going to Cherry Days and seeing all the people and booths AND the carnival! This year there were no broken bones so she was able to ride most of the carnival rides with her friend Carmen. She had a blast! It seemed a lot hotter than last year, but we still spent most of the day there. Most of the weekend we hung out with a few good friends, had a few bbq's and was able to go to a friend's parents house and watch the fireworks that they lit off.  It was a great Holiday weekend!

Happy 4th of July

The Survis Family came that following weekend. We picked them up at the Grand Junction airport on Thursday July 7th. EVERYONE came-Don, Sharon, Chad, Danie'l, and Jadon! Friday we had a wonderful turkey dinner at Bonnie's house. Saturday Jordyn went with the adults into Montrose while we took Chad & Danie'l on a winery tour! It was fun to hear the history of some of the wineries & their wine. We found the most amazing Chocolate Merlot Wine sauce. It tastes so great on strawberries! We really didn't go a ton of places and do a lot, but being able to spend some time with them and for them to finally see where we live was a lot of fun! I hope they will come out again soon.

Since the last time that I posted, Aspyn started crawling EVERYWHERE! She's crawling, pulling herself up, cruising around the furniture and standing alone for a few seconds! All this started and progressed in about a week and a half! Somedays I miss the time where she would just lay on the floor and play with toys. It's fun to watch her practice and try to do new things though. Now if I could get Jordyn to not leave little things all over the floor we would be ok!  Aspyn is also eating anything and everything. She LOVES everything she tries, some more than others. She is napping a little better during the day and still sleeping well at night. She still only has 2 teeth & I am not seeing anymore trying to come in yet. She is mainly very happy all day and into the night. We have not given her the reflux medicine for a couple of weeks and she seems to be fine without it! She's 8 1/2 months old and still just as cute as ever!

Jordyn repeated Level 2 swimming lessons. She did so much better this time around. You could just see it in her that it just clicked! She does not have any fear with letting go of the wall, treading water and doing her strokes down the lane. She does still need to work on floating on her back for a little bit longer, but she has done so well!  Her instructor told the kids if they swam the required length to pass, then they could jump off the diving board. She loved being able to do that! She's hooked on jumping. She keeps wanting to do it over and over!

Level 2 PASSED

We've had a pretty fun and busy Summer so far! It's been great seeing our families, spending time with friends and spending time with our girls. Its all going by so fast!

St George Utah Trip 5/22-6/2/2011

****Super Long (Sorry)****

May 22nd the girls and I flew out of Grand Junction to Las Vegas! It was Aspyn's 1st flight and she did very well. She slept the entire way. Going through security wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The only thing that held us up was, even Aspyn had to remove her little tiny baby sandals. Mom and Amber met us at the airport in Vegas and we were on our way to St George.

Monday 5/23 we had dinner at Ashley's house and she colored and cut my hair. We just mainly hung out as a family. I was finally able to meet my niece Rylin! She is such a doll! She looks so much like her dad, Tanner. I absolutely love her!! Rusti has gotten so big. I wish all these kiddos would stop growing up and changing!

Tuesday 5/24 Amberlee graduated from High school.  It was a good ceremony, kind of sad, but very exciting.  I couldn't believe that my baby sister finally graduated! It just doesn't seem right that she is 18 and now on her own! It was fun to watch her walk through the "D" just like the 3 of us did before her! I know she was definitely ready :-)



My beautiful sister on her Graduation Day

 Wednesday 5/25 We moved Amberlee up to Cedar City so she could start her new life as a college student there. Luckily she didn't have a lot of things, and that she had already taken quite a bit up. Mainly it was just getting her clothes moved up and a little bit of decor!

Later that evening me and the girls went down to Mesquite to visit the Survis Family. It was so great to see them again. We went out to dinner that evening with everyone! Jadon is getting so big. I don't know why I didn't have my camera out taking pics of Chad, Danie'l and Jadon, but they all look great!

Grandpa Don with his Girls

 I was finally able to get some pictures of Don and Sharon with the girls! It took a little coaxing, but I got them!!

Grandma Sharon with the Girls

Thursday 5/26 Jordyn stayed down in Mesquite with her Grandma & Grandpa and helped Sharon with Jadon! I heard they had a fun time. Jordyn was laughing the entire day! It's so much fun that she was able to spend some time with her cousin, Aunt, Uncle and Grandparents.

Aspyn and I took the afternoon and went over to my Grandma Virginia's house. She and I went and had lunch at Applebee's! Following lunch we went back to her house and spent the afternoon visiting. Most of the time when I am in St. George I'm not able to spend as much time as I would like with her. So it was great to be able to do that. My Grandma Virginia and I have always had a special relationship! I love & miss her so much!!

Great Grandma Virginia with Aspyn

 Friday 5/27 In the morning my mom and I watched Rusti & Rylin.  Jordyn and Rusti ran through the sprinklers and had a good time with each other! Later in the afternoon, everyone but myself went up to Cedar City for my cousins Lacey Wilkerson and Cody Hone's Highschool Graduation from Cedar High.

That night Taliah Erickson and I ran a Midnight 5k! It was so much fun. When you checked in they gave out glow sticks that you could either make into Mickey Mouse ears, or glasses. As well as some that you could make necklaces out of! We both are proud to say that we finished the race! I ran it in 32.34, and Taliah in 33.54. For me it was definitely an improvement from the 5k that I ran here.  With this 5k I ran the entire thing from start to finish. It was amazing! I was very proud of Taliah for running with me and finishing!! We are both wanting to try a 10k in October!

5/28 & 5/29 Was spent with all the family on the Taylor side. We went hiking Saturday afternoon, swimming later that afternoon (until someone pooped in the pool-gross!) and then had a family dinner that night.  Only Brieanna, Cody and my cousin's husband Kyle were missing.  Our family is so fun! I love it when we get together. Especially now that a lot of the cousins are married and a few have kids. When we get together it isn't a small intimate gathering, but I wouldn't change it at all. It's just a lot of excitement.  This is probably one of the last times we would see my cousin Shawn, his wife Michelle and daughter Kylie.  Shawn is in the marines and being transferred around Thanksgiving or Christmas. We'll miss them at the get-togethers, but it's only temporary!

Sunday we went to Orderville for Rylin's baby blessing at Tanner's aunt Dott's house. His dad Ricky blessed her. It was a great blessing and he did an awesome job. She looked beautiful in Amberlee's 18 year old blessing dress.

Following the blessing we met back in Cedar for another family dinner at Aunt Debbie's! Awesome food as always!

5/30 Monday It's been a family tradition that on Memorial Day we all meet out at the Cedar City cemetery and take flowers and pay our respects to those family and friends that we have lost throughout the years. I know most of us think about those we've lost throughout the year, but Memorial Day is just a day that the entire family is there together!

6/1/ Wednesday We got Aspyn's ears pierced! She looks so cute. After Jordyn got hers done she wouldn't take them out for about 2 years. We decided not to go through that again with Aspyn, so we got hers done early in life! She did great. Cried for a few minutes afterward but we haven't had any issues at all since!

I took Jordyn back down to Mesquite for another overnight visit with Grandma and Grandpa Survis. They hit the arcade at the Virgin River, ate McDonalds and laughed!



I got to hang out with Rylin & Rusti! Rusti played with Aspyn, gave her loves and was very very good with her. Rylin is a good baby. When she was awake she never cried. She smiled at me (love baby smiles)!!

I love these 2 girls. I wish I were closer to watch them grow up!

6/2 Thursday Early in the morning we stopped in Mesquite to pick up Jordyn, say good bye to Jadon and Sharon and hit the road for the airport in Vegas.  Jordyn wanted to stay for a couple of more weeks with my family so Cody and I agreed that it would be fine.  Aspyn and I checked into the airport, made our way to the gate, and sat.  We were finally able to board the plane about 45 min later than scheduled. Once we were on the plane, we sat for another 30 minutes before we heard from the Captain. During inspection they found a dent in one of the wings so it was going to be a little while before someone from Boeing could say whether or not we could fly on that airplane.  Luckily the Captain let us off the plane to sit in the air conditioned terminal instead of on the plane. We were only back in the terminal about 15 minutes before we were able to  re-board the plane. From there on out it was smooth sailing! We made it to Grand Junction in about 55 minutes and we were finally able to see Cody! It was great to see him after a week and a half!

This trip to St. George was not relaxing, but it was so worth it. I had a really good time seeing both families and a few friends! I know both families had a good time seeing the girls and spending time with us.  Aspyn's 1st tooth came in while we were there, so that was fun too.

In the next couple of weeks, my family is coming here for the Hone Family Reunion and then the 1st part of July the Survis family will be flying over for the 1st time. We are so excited to see everyone again!!

Our Girls Are Growing Up

 Yesterday was Jordyn's Preschool Graduation! I will admit I did get a bit teary eyed.  Jordyn has absolutely loved preschool.  She loved going every day and made so many new friends there.  She loved her teachers and loved learning. 

The ceremony started with all the kids (am, and pm) walking in to Pomp and Circumstance graduation song. Then the kids one by one stood up and told us what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Jordyn said she wanted to be a Horse Rider when she grew up. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that her good friend Taneal said the same thing right before her!! After everyone told about their "dreams for the future", they performed some songs that they have learned througout the year. The teachers then put up a slide show of the kid's activities all year long.  It's so funny to see how much the kids in her class changed from the beginning of the year to yesterday. 

Last night after we had been home for about an hour, Jordyn started crying saying she wanted to go back to preschool.  It was kind of a sad moment for her finally realizing that come Monday she was no longer going back to school (well until September) and that she wouldn't be seeing her teachers very often.  She is very excited for the summer so she can do all the fun things she couldn't do last summer because of her broken arm.  Even though she is sad that preschool has ended, she's very very excited to start Kindergarten and to be able to go to school all day! I'm super proud of her and the progress she has made this year.  I can't wait to see her learn to read and write next year! I'm sure it too will be an adventure.  I can't wait


Jordyn receiving her Diploma from Ms Christy



Jordyn and Ms Branndie



Jordyn and Ms Jenn




Just a few things from Grad Night



Aspyn is now 6 mos old! She is so busy. Most days she is content to play with her toys or play in her Exersaucer for quite awhile.  She loves drinking from a water bottle and really likes water.  I've been making most of her baby food. So far she LOVES avacado, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce (I haven't made this yet, but have just bought no sugar added applesauce-that works), bananas, apple-blueberry and squash. We have tried peas, but everytime she eats them she gets really cranky.  So we are thinking maybe those don't agree with her belly yet.  We are going to hold off on those for a little bit longer.  It really doesn't take as much time as I thought it would.  I think the 1 thing that has taken me the longest is the sweet potatoes because of the time it takes to get them soft enough to puree. I've saved quite a bit of money so far by making our own baby food and I know exactly what she's eating! Aspyn loves standing up, still with help of course and she loves being outside.  We spend a lot of time outside just sitting on the porch letting her see everything that is going on in our busy world. 

Aspyn loves Jordyn and Cody so much.  When Cody gets home from work in the morning she gets so excited just from hearing his voice.  Then when she sees him she gives him the biggest grin and starts  kicking her legs and swinging her arms.  It's so funny!  When she sees Jordyn she starts squealing and smiling so much.  Jordyn most always seems to be able to cheer her up and keep her happy! She is such a good babysitter.  Aspyn goes in for her 6 month checkup and shots next Friday.  I know she's growing and developing just fine, but I can't wait to see how much she weighs and her height!

It's so much fun watching these girls change and grow!

Cody is now finished and passed his Emergency Medical Responder class. He is also going to be starting another class for work.  This time it's his Electrical class, so he can be a carded Electrician down in the mine. This class will be 2 or 3 months, so he'll stay super busy.  In October he will be able to take the test.  Hopefully he'll pass.  There aren't very many people that pass their first time taking it. 

Aspyn and I ran our 1st 5k on May 7th.  It was fun!  I ran it in 35 minutes.  That's not great, but its not horrible.  I decided to try it out just to see if I could do it....and I DID!! I walked maybe a 1/4 mile at the beginning and maybe 30 sec at about 2.7 miles, but I ran it!  I felt great after finishing.  I now can't wait until the Midnight 5k in St George in about 2 weeks!

Coal

 We have been watching the tv series Coal on Spike tv lately.  Cody had been looking forward to it since he saw the previews months before it actually aired. Since we've been watching it, I've actually been able to see kind of what he does on a nightly basis.  It's kind of scary.  Now, this mine is a lot smaller than the one he works at and there are a few differences, but the idea and the work are still the same. It's amazing the work these men (and a few women) do and the kind of danger that they deal with each and every shift.  It's scary to think that these people are so far underground, under miles of rock, coal, dirt etc. This show has definitely opened my eyes.  I knew going into this line of work it was going to be very dangerous, but it was something that had to be done! Not only do they deal with cave-ins, explosions, but also methane gas and carbon monoxide.  I know that they take their safety very serious, and there are strict safety codes and procedures that have to be followed.

 I've had people ask me if I worry while he's at work.  Well, yeah I do. I try not to think about it though. Things can go wrong in every job. I know Cody stays aware of his surroundings and tries to stay as safe as he can.  I also try and remember that coal mining is actually in his blood! Cody's Grandpa, Jack Moser was a coal miner for a very, very, very long time. He is actually still known and respected here in these small towns even though he has passed. Cody's Uncle Terry (Sharon's sister-Bonnie's husband) has also been a coal miner for a very long time. It's a great job, not for the weak (physically or mentally).  It's challenging and exhausting most nights.

Not everyone likes coal miners though. There is actually a restaurant here in town that will not serve coal miners.  It is owned and operated by people that are "one with nature" (not that there is anything wrong with that). All I can say about it is "You have power to operate your business don't you?" Anyway, I know there is a lot of controversy on coal mining, but right now that industry is providing for my family. The mines around here employ most of the people here. Coal miners are hard working, decent people. They aren't the poor, redneck people that the stereotype portrays.

My eyes have definitely been opened living among these awesome people, and getting to know them and their families.  I have a greater appreciation for what they do to make an honest living. If you have a chance, check out the show! It has been "enhanced" a little for dramatic effect, but you can definitely get the idea!

Oh and yes, they do come out as black as it shows on the tv show! Jordyn was pretty amazed (or disgusted) by that!!

Can You Hear That? It's Way Too Quiet!

This week Jordyn has been out of school for Spring Break. My parents had invited her to come to St. George and spend the week there with them.  She misses them all so much, so we agreed to let her go. She is having a blast! Monday she was able to go over to Ashley's house and spend the day helping her with Rusti and Rylin. Tuesday her and my mom went shopping and hung out together. Wednesday & Thursday Jordyn went to a preschool that is in my parents neighborhood. It's ran by some really close friends of the family. She loved it! They were learning about Jungle animals and the letter X. When I talked to her Wednesday night she said "Can I please, please, pleeeeaaasse go back tomorrow?" She went back Thursday and had a Safari! She said that all the kids were very nice to her and she had fun. For show and tell they had to bring something that started with X or had X in the word. She took an "Extra large Penny"! She's just so funny! Friday, her and my dad hung out all day doing miscellaneous activities. Then the family went to the movie Soul Surfer. That was the 1st time she had been to a movie theater (other than the Drive-In), my mom said she did great and that she loved the movie. Saturday she went to lunch with Chad, Danie'l, Sharon & Don. I'm so glad that they came up to St. George to see her. I know they miss her and I know that she misses them. Jordyn said that lunch was "Very fun"!  So as you can see she has had a very busy week. I know she's had fun!

While Jordyn has been gone, our house has been so quiet. It's actually been too quiet. I haven't realized in a very long time how much joy Jordyn brings to our home.  She livens up the house and when she's not here it just isn't fun around here. Some days the silence was just too much. I am so glad that she is coming home tomorrow. We need some excitement around here!  Even Aspyn hated having her gone. The 1st 2-3 days Aspyn was so grumpy.  It was almost like she knew she wasn't here and was voicing her disapproval! It will be very interesting to see what she does when she sees Jordyn tomorrow!  I can't wait!

Cody and I didn't really do anything exciting this week. We did a little yard work, a little house cleaning. We went on a lot of walks around town.  Cody changed the starter & the brakes in the truck. We did go to dinner one night! Mainly we had a pretty boring Spring Break!

Thank you mom, dad & Amber for meeting us in Green River to make the exchange. Thank you for letting her come spend the week with you. Thank you Survis family for taking the time to go to lunch with her! I appreciate all of you!

Just Dance!!

 Today was Jordyn's final dance recital for Beginning Jazz!  She was so dang cute!  When we first got there and she saw the stage she was so so so nervous.  She kept saying that she was cold (it was so hot in there) and when I asked her to smile I got a very nervous smile.  I asked her if she was scared and she said "It really is a BIG stage!"  I told her she would do great and that I was very excited to see her do her dance!  After we found her other friends she seemed to relax a little bit.  I left her in the hands of her instructor and went to find Cody so that I could get ready to film it.

 The girls were all set up behind the curtain, so when it was opened up you see all these little girls in their cute costumes. The whole audience just "Ahhhed"!  Jordyn did really well!  The name of the song was "Just Dance". You could tell that she was nervous. She didn't smile her big flashy smile, but she seemed to remember the steps for the most part! Afterward, she said she had a good time, but she couldn't see what video camera was mine! She's so silly :-)

I was super proud of her for quickly getting over the nervousness that I know comes with performing for the first time on a big stage in front of a packed house.  I am so proud of her for taking a dance class and having a good time with it.  I'm just so proud that she feels good about herself and is willing to participate in activities that may follow her throughout school. I asked her if she wanted to do dance again in the fall when Ms Linda starts up again.  She was definitely excited about that and said that she can't wait!

Jordyn, you did a very, very good job with your performance!  We love you and are so proud of you. We can't wait until the next performance (including the one's just in the living room)!!

Rylin June Crofts Is Here!

This morning at 8:21 am, Ashley, Tanner and Rusti welcomed a new baby girl into their family! Her measurments are exactly what Aspyn's were when she was born. She weighs 6 lbs 3 oz and is 19" long! She looks beautiful and I can't wait to meet her!

Last night I couldn't sleep so I was lying in bed looking at some of my previous posts on my phone.  I came to the entry that I had written when Rusti was born and I just had this feeling that I would be gettting a phone call or a text very soon telling me that Ashley was going in to have the baby. It was about 30 minutes later at 1:09am that I received a text from Ashley.  All it said was "Baby Alert"!  I was so excited I could hardly text her back.  Finally I ended up just calling her!  She said that she had been at the hospital for about 2 hours. She was still at a 4, but contracting every 3-4 minutes.  She needed to have 4 hours of antibiotics before the baby was born, so they were going to get that going pretty quick.  I told her to keep me posted and told her that I loved her.  It was so hard not being there this time with her.  I was there to see Rusti being welcomed into the world and it was amazing! I didn't mind not seeing Rylin being born, but just not being able to be close this time really made me quite sad.

Somehow I fell asleep and woke up to a phone call from Ashley at 6:07am telling me that she was only at a 5 and that Dr Chamberlain was going to be there in a bit to break her water. She said she was feeling ok now that she had received her epidural!  It was a short conversation, but I'm glad she kept me in the loop.  My mom called me at 7:54 to  let me know that her and my dad were on their way to the hospital and that she was still at a 5.  At 8:30 she called me back and let me know that Rylin had arrived!!

Ashley had 4 Ultrasounds throughout her pregnancy and each time they weren't able to determine the sex of the baby, so Everyone was so anxious to know what she was having.  I just knew it was going to be a girl. I was so confident that it was a girl that I had boxed up the newborn & some of the 0-3 month clothes that Aspyn had already grown out of and taken up there for her in February! 

I am so excited that I now have another Niece to love! I'm so glad that she is here, she's healthy and she is going to bring so much love and joy into our family!  While it's girls=4, boys=0 my dad is so excited to have another little girl that he can spoil rotten!

Rylin June Crofts we can't wait to meet you and love you!  Welcome to our family!!

Soccer Saturdays and Sitting Pretty

Today was Jordyn's 1st soccer game! She did great! She was one of the 1st one's the coach put in. She wasn't at all nervous. Jordyn just went right in and started playing the game.  Since this was the 1st game, the coaches on both teams had to do a lot of coaching.  Most of the kids have never played before, so it was a new experience to all. There were a couple of goals made by the wrong team, but every kid seemed to have fun! Jordyn was really close to making a goal! Her team did end up winning. I'm not sure what the final score was. I don't think anybody was really keeping track that well! I didn't really care as long as she had fun! Jordyn's jersey number is 23! Jordan's # for Jordyn! Yeah we're pretty creative!



Jordyn's almost goal



Carmen & Jordyn going for the winning hug!



Yup, she's pretty excited to be there!



Stylin!

Aspyn loves her sunglasses! It's a good thing too. She wears these glasses every day when we go jogging. I thought they would bother her, but no! Cody hadn't been off work too long before we had to leave for the soccer game, so yeah he still looks a little "rough"! He won't miss any of Jordyn's activities. Even if he just got off work or has to go right after. He's always there. Such a great dad!

3/26/2011

Aspyn is now sitting up pretty well by herself. It's just been the past couple of days that she's really had the balance to do it. Before she was quite wobbly and wouldn't last too long, but now she'll sit and play with her toys for quite awhile before toppling over! She still can't get herself into sitting, but she is doing quite well.  Now we can't get her to lay down! She's just growing so fast. It's all just so fun!

Next Friday is Jordyn's final dance recital and another soccer game! So stay tuned for another update!