Easter 2012

Once again, this year we decided not to travel to St. George to the BIG Easter festivities that have always been at my mom's house.  With Brieanna coming home the end of May, we just decided that the best thing to do was to wait until then to go home! Even though we weren't able to go, we still had a pretty good time here.



The town of Paonia has an Easter egg hunt every year in the park on Saturday.  It's sectioned off by age groups, so you don't have little kids competing with big kids.  Jordyn had a strategy this year.  She took off to the very back of her section and made quite a killing!!

I stayed with Aspyn in her age group. They had eggs and a few baskets that had little stuffed animals & other candies scattered everywhere.  She was more interesting in picking up the pinwheels than she was the eggs.  I think we ended up with 5 pinwheels, a few eggs, and a basket with a teddy bear! 

Both girls had a blast.  The event starts at 10:00am and is over by 10:05!  It's so much fun though!

Jordyn had a soccer game at 11:00, so we dropped off our loot at the house and buzzed out to the soccer field.  Her team won, of course!  She scored a goal and played very well.

Once we got home, we lounged around the backyard in the sunshine.  It was a fabulous day!

Abby, Ryder, Jordyn, Emily

The Reedy family invited us over to their house later that night for a nighttime Easter egg hunt.  The kids each had their head lamps, and buckets.  The eggs were put out on the lawn, some in the playhouse, and the hillside.  The kids thought that was so much fun.  Once in awhile, a couple of the kids would find an egg at the same time, so there was a little competition on who was able to snag it for themselves.  They all got along very well though.

Even Aspyn had her own little section to "search" for eggs!  With a little help from Abby and the rest of the kids, she found all her eggs, an Easter book and some $$$! Anytime she would see an egg she would just "ooo" and "ahhh" and get excited about putting it in her basket.  It was a great time. I'm so thankful for the Reedy's. This is the 2nd holiday that they've included us in.  It's really helped not being with our families during those fun times!

A few of Cody's co-workers came over once we got home.  Elizabeth, her brother Steven, and her boyfriend Robert all work, or have worked up at Oxbow! Liz has a daughter, Koraline, who is 2 mos older than Aspyn.  It was great to hang out with them and get to know them a little bit. 

It really was a pretty fun holiday.  Full of fun, friends and of course family!  We did still miss our families, but in just 7 short weeks we will see everyone. Can NOT wait!!

The next 7 weeks are going to be very busy and fun.  Taliah, Alan & Lyli are coming next weekend for a short visit.  The 12th of May is the Red Rock Relay, Jordyn will finish Kindergarten, and of course we'll finish up with soccer. 

Jordyn's 6th Birthday

This year on Jordyn's birthday, we stayed at home and had her favorite dinner & a cake that she had wanted me to make.  We opened presents & really had a fun time at the house.  Later in the month (after the school break) she finally had her friend party!

Keagan, Amelia, Jordyn, Jaylee, Emily, Nikki, Kaidence

She wanted to go bowling again with all of her friends. She had quite a turnout!  Everyone she invited came & all the kids really enjoyed themselves.  They bowled for about an hour, ate pizza & ate a very cute LaLaLoopsie cupcake-cake (my photographer aka Cody forgot to get a photo). They opened gifts, played a little bit longer & then a few of the kids came back to the house for awhile longer. It was great. Long enough that they had a great time, but short enough that nobody was bored, or was left out!!

It's crazy how fast time flies and how quick she has grown up.  She is an amazing girl!! Jordyn is such a good, fun, kind hearted little girl. She's such a big help with everything around the house, especially Aspyn! Her and Aspyn still get along very well. They are both so excited to see each other after a day at school.  Jordyn is doing really, really well in school. She is reading & writing above average!  Her teacher actually has her helping some of the other kids with their work after she gets hers done.  She makes and keeps friends very easily and gets along well with everyone. 

Some of her favorites are....food-tacos
                                             color-purple/pink
                                             animal-horse
                                             wii game-Just Dance
                                             book-any with horses
                                             friend-Emily Reedy
                                             TV show-Victorious
                                             sport-soccer, dance

Jordyn has such a fun personality! She has such a great sense of humor, and loves to laugh.  She's such a beautiful girl. Her brown hair is just about down to her waist, her hazel eyes sparkle all the time, her skin is flawless and tans with just a few hours out in the sun! Her smile can brighten any body's day!!

She does have a little stubbornness in her though.  If she has her mind set out to do something, don't try to change it, because it will be a battle!!

Sometimes I forget that she's only 6 years old. At times she just seems older.  She teaches us a lot about patience, how to have fun, and what it's like to be a carefree kid!!

Gorgeous Girl

We love this girl so much!!!!

Christmas 2011/New Years Eve

Christmas

Super Long...Sorry

Starting at about Thanksgiving, I was really dreading Christmas this year.  Don't get me wrong, I was excited because I knew Jordyn was excited and I was looking forward to seeing Aspyn's reaction to everything. I was dreading it because this year was going to be the 1st year since Cody and I first got married that we would be having Christmas alone and away from our families.  We've always had Christmas at my mom's house or like last year they came here.  Since my parents and Amberlee came here last year, it was time for them to spend it with Ashley's family.

We didn't want to stray too far from the traditions that we usually do Christmas Eve, so we had planned to still do the big dinner Christmas Eve with all the things we usually have and still just keep with the usual.  One day I had been talking to Audrey Reedy, who is Jordyn's soccer coach and friends' mom. She asked us if we were going to be going home for Christmas and if not what we were doing Christmas Eve.  When I told her we were staying here this year and that we weren't going to be doing much, she invited us over for dinner on the 24th.  She said every year their family gets together (about 12-15 of them) for dinner and then shortly after Santa comes with a gift for the girls. Audrey said it was pretty low key and that they would love to have us!

We decided Why Not! It actually turned out to be so much fun.  It really was low key and very comfortable.  For dinner we had Tri tip, twice baked potatoes, rolls, salads, green beans, desserts. It was so so good!  Mike's (Audrey's husband) grandparents have been here in Paonia for 55+ years. They are amazing & good hearted people.  Very down to earth and easy to get along with! 

About 1/2 hour after dinner there was a knock on the door and in walked Santa Claus! He did have a gift for all the girls. He visited for a little bit and told them that he would be back once they all were asleep.  Jordyn loved seeing him!

Abby, Aspyn, Jordyn, Emily

We returned home later that evening. Jordyn set out her Rice Krispie treats that she had made for Santa, sprinkled the reindeer food out on the snow and everyone went to bed!

Christmas morning we got up around 7am. Aspyn wasn't sure where to start. She ended up trying to bring everyone their gifts.  Jordyn got exactly what she wanted from Santa. Aspyn had a great time with everyone's gifts. Cody and I were spoiled by our families as well!

Some of the Christmas morning aftermath

The rest of the day we just hung around the house and played with the new toys. We did our "traditional" Christmas dinner that night. It turned out awesome! Monday my parents came for a visit for a few days.  Once they came it was like Christmas morning all over again!  Jordyn loved hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. It didn't take Aspyn too long to warm up to Grandpa this time! By the end of their trip they were the best of buds!

Cody and my dad went out to Crawford Reservoir a couple different days to do a little ice fishing.  They didn't catch anything, but still had a great time!  It was hard having my parents go home, as it always is.  We did make a "kind of" plan to have my mom and Amberlee come back in March!

Even though it wasn't our typical Christmas, it actually turned out to be great. We are now getting to be pretty good friends with the Reedy's and their girls. I'm sure we've started a few traditions of our own and I can now look forward to doing other things with just my little family!

New Years

Cody saw online that Aspen was having a big bonfire and fireworks for NYE.  We thought that it sounded like a lot of fun.  Something that we could do as a family, but not have to stay home.  We went up around 4 o'clock, walked around Aspen for a little bit, and got a bite to eat.  Then we checked into our room and hung out there for a few hours.  At around 10pm we went out to the bonfire that they had going in the center of the park. 

There was DJ who was playing some great music! It was so random, but so awesome.  The firefighters that were keeping the fire in control were really getting down. 

We enjoyed the fire for quite some time and then decided to do a little Celebrity Hunting around town.  We didn't find any and it was so cold just walking around, so we went back to the fire.  Jordyn didn't quite make it much past 11, but Aspyn was wide awake and making friends with EVERYONE!  She's quite the party animal.

 At midnight, we woke Jordyn up just in time to watch the fireworks.  Aspyn loved them, even though by then she was ready to drop too.  Once they were finished we loaded up and made it back to our motel and all of us crashed!

Even though it was so cold, we did have a great time.  I don't know if it's something we will do again with the girls, but it was a fun experience!

2011 was great! We had a good year getting to know so many people here in town.  We've all found new interests and are getting & staying active and healthy.  We've had a lot of Ups a few Downs, but it really was a great learning year!  I can't wait to see what 2012 brings.  There are already a few things we have planned or that we know are going to take place that are going to be amazing!

So goodbye 2011, hello 2012!! Can't wait!!

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving this year was in St. George with the Hone Family.  It was so much fun! We actually had a pretty good turn out.  My Grandpa and Jodell came from Wyoming. Chris, JoNell & all of the boys were there.  My Grandma and Ken came up from Vegas, and of course everyone in my family was there (except Brieanna of course)!

It's pretty much tradition to go out to the desert and do a little shooting.  I think everyone really looks forward to it.  We turn it into a "friendly" competition having an Annie Oakley shoot off! It's really is a blast! 

Amberlee and her "Christmas Present"

Armed and Awesome

One of the A.O finals

 We even took Aspyn out. I thought she might get a little freaked out with the all the guns firing, but it didn't bother her at all.  While we were out there, she tripped and did a little nose dive. She ended up with her 1st bloody nose.  I think she was more mad that I was trying to wipe her bloody nose than she was hurt.  After a few minutes she was fine and she was up and running around again!

 My dad taught Jordyn how to shoot the pistol. She absolutely loved it!  All she could talk about was when she was going to shoot again.  I love the fact that she's learning how to handle a gun responsibly at such a young age.  Guns and hunting are such a big part of our family, so it just makes sense to start this young!

Cody wasn't really into the shotguns, but absolutely loved shooting my Uncle's 9mm.  I think that I've found the next toy that I would like to have!

After we went through a ton of shells, & skeets we went back to my parents house and ate some A.May.Zing dinner!  I am never disappointed with any dinner with my family.  We all ate too much, but it was so worth it!  We really enjoyed seeing the Hone family again.  It's been awhile since we've seen everyone.  Everyone looked great! I can't wait until the next Hone get together.

The next day we went down to Mesquite to see Cody's family.  We went out to dinner with everyone and ended up back at Danie'l and Chad's house. We saw a couple other good friends that we haven't seen in awhile, it was great!  Aspyn and Jadon played together really well. Jordyn ended up staying at Grandma Sharon's.  I know Jordyn misses her Grandma and Grandpa Survis so it was great that she spent some time with them.  We really miss seeing Chad and Danie'l as well, but it's always so nice when we are all able to hangout again. 

We ended up in Cedar City for 1 night on the way back home. We stayed with Alan, Taliah and Lyli.  Jordyn loves Lyli, and Aspyn just loves playing with anyone.  We miss them a lot too!
Our Thanksgiving getaway was just what we all needed.  We haven't spent that much time in St. George for a long time!

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......!!!

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.



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!!

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!

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!!

What Day Is It Again?

Wow! Our lives have just gotten a lot more crazy! Jordyn now has something going every day of the week. This past week she has started Level 2 swimming lessons which she goes to Mondays and Wednesdays. Her 1st day she was quite nervous. They are now in the big pool and she can no longer touch the bottom, so she's not as confident as she was in Level 1. The 2nd day she seemed to do a lot better. Jordyn said she does like it and really wants to do well in it. The instructors have said that Level 2 is the hardest level to pass, so we'll see how it all works out.

 Tuesday 3-15 Jordyn also started soccer! She had a blast! Her good friend Carmen is also on her team. She has soccer practice Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's so much fun watching her learn new sports and try new things. She just isn't afraid to get in there and Just Do It! I'm very glad that she is one that loves to be outside and active. I would still support her if the things that interested her were inside, but we are just an outside family, so it's great!

 Jordyn still has dance class on Fridays! Yesterday they had their 1st dance recital. She wasn't even nervous! She marched out onto the court and performed her little heart out. She was smiling and really animated with her routines. I have to say she was by far the best one (ok I may be a bit biased)! After their routine they stayed and watched the Highschool girls do their routines. Jordyn talked non stop about them on the way home. She said she would love to keep dancing with Ms Linda (her dance teacher) so that she can be as good as the big girls when she gets into highschool!

I'm very proud of her in everything she does. She really is a talented young girl. I guess my career as a "soccer mom" is now beginning. I love it. It makes our days busy, but interesting. We all are pretty worn out at the end of the day, but it is so worth it!

Aspyn is now 4 months old. On her 4 month birthday we decided to let her try a little bit of rice cereal. She wasn't too sure about it. We all had a good laugh though watching her experience the texture of it. We now have switched over to Oatmeal, and she seems to like that a little bit better!

Yesterday we took Aspyn in for her 4 month check up! Wow! She weighs 15 lbs 3 oz (75-90%), and is 24 1/4" tall (50-75%). She is very healthy! Dr Moore is pleased with her growth and development and doesn't see anything we need to be concerned about. We still have her on Zantac, but we have not increased her dose. We are just going to let her wean herself off of it as she contiues to grow. We received the official ok to start solids but I think for now we'll just stick with oatmeal for a little bit and slowly add vegetables for quite awhile before adding fruit. We told Dr Moore about her "mad time" EVERY night. She said it's just colic and as long as she's fed and changed there's really not much we can do, but to let her cry it out. We do still try to comfort her and hold her, but she really does mainly just need to cry for 15 min to an hour then she's fine. Weird. Aspyn is so cute and watching the new things she does is so amazing. Watching the concentration it takes to pick something up or grab something is so cute. She just lights up our entire house!

Cody is taking an Emergency Medical Responder course for work. He goes to that class Tuesdays and Thursdays. He's really not into the whole medical thing, but he needs this class before he can take the Foreman test. Once he's done with the class he will get a raise (YAY!!) but he'll also be on the Mine Rescue team. I'm super proud of him for taking this class. It's been quite the challenge to go to the class, as well as go to work almost right after, but it will all be worth it in the end.

Me, well obviously I'm staying busy getting Jordyn to her various activities, and taking care of Aspyn. I've started jogging again and I feel great! I'm up to jogging 2 miles continuously! That may not sound like very far,but considering I've only been back jogging for a week and a half I feel like I'm doing great! I have 2 goals with my jogging. One is to do a 5k for sure and possibly a 10k by the end of the year. The 2nd goal is to jog 1 mile UP Electric Mountain. Electric Mountain is a steep road that does not level out at all until you get to the very top.  I'm excited!

Yes, we are very busy, but we are having a good time and we do still find time to spend together as a family. It's a very fun time in our lives and we wouldn't change it at all! I can't wait to see how the soccer season goes and how Level 2 works out. Stay tuned!!

11th Anniversary and Family Trip

Saturday February 19th was our 11th Anniversary!! I decided that we needed to "Get Away" for a night. We haven't gotten to just be together without the Girls, well....since way before Aspyn was born. We had already planned that weekend to go to St. George to see our families, so I asked my mom if she would watch the Girls for us, she said Yes! So, I booked us a room at the Garden's Bed & Breakfast in Toquerville for Friday night. It was so nice! The room was very cozy, and a pretty good size. It had a fireplace, a huge king size bed, and a HUGE jetted tub! It was decorated very, very nice. It didn't have a TV, so we actually got to just talk. Something we haven't really been able to do for sometime. It had an old record player that we never figured out! It was so relaxing just to be there together! I hope that we'll be able to get away a little more often together this year. We were long overdue!!

11 years seems to have passed very quick! We've had some really high Highs, and some very low Lows, but we are together and we are better than ever! We've definitely changed from the people that we were when we got married, but we have changed together. We've grown together has people, parents, and friends. I'm very glad that we worked through whatever was thrown at us, that tried to pull us apart. Every obstacle has made our relationship stronger! I love you Cody, and Happy 11 years!

 Ashley, Rusti, and Tanner were finally able to meet Aspyn. Rusti was so cute with her. She kept trying to give her the Mimi (binki)! She would give her hugs and kisses and just kept pointing at her and saying "baby"! I couldn't believe how grown up Rusti has gotten since October. She looks so much like Ashley (Gorgeous!), and her personality is so very cute. I miss her so much. Seeing Ashley was so great. She looks amazing being 32 weeks pregnant. I really hate being so far away from my family. Being there this weekend makes me realize just how much I am and will be missing out on. It's sad.


Rusti 18 mos

Saturday afternoon we made our way down to Mesquite. Cody's family had never met Aspyn and Cody had never met Jadon. Everyone finally met! Jadon & Aspyn "talked" to each other for about 5 minutes. They were so cute together. Jadon kept trying to grab onto Aspyn. It's funny how much they look alike. They both have this little pin hole thing on their left ear. It's weird, Cody, Jordyn nor Chad have one. Just the two little cousins! It was fun seeing the Survis family again. It has just been way too long! I hope that they will all be able to come over here in the Summer. 

Sunday we spent time with my family at my parents house. Had dinner, just relaxed and visited. I really didn't want to leave!  Monday afternoon we stopped by my Grandma Esmeier's house for a little visit, stopped in to see my Grandpa Taylor for a few minutes and hit the road to go home.

This weekend went way too fast. It was definitely worth the long drive to be able to see both families for such a short time. We miss them all so much, and really wish that we could see them more. I'm hoping that when the Summer is blazing hot there, they will want to come visit us in our cooler town!!

I Love My Families!! Thank you all for the fantastic weekend. Lets do it again soon!!