Scooter

Ben came to watch the kids for me while I went to physical therapy. Before I left, he was playing with Gabbi. She wanted him to ride on the scooter with her. He was too big for the one she was on, so he grabbed Kayden scooter instead and they rode side by side.

Memorial day

I'm so behind, wow. I'm just barely talking about memorial day.

Any who, Memorial day. We starting the morning off just relaxing at home while Ben did his homework. When he was done we gathered up the kids and the new wagon to go for a walk in the park and to have some lunch. We picked up some sandwiches from subway and then headed to the Lorin Farr park. We sat down at the pavilion to eat our lunch and when we were done the kids played for a little bit at the park. When we finally cleaned up, we loaded the kids into the wagon and went for our walk. The walk was a lot of fun, the kids had a lot to look at, they loved it. Owen enjoyed himself so much that he finally feel asleep. Poor boy, he needed his nap. When we were done with our walk, we packed the kids back into the car and headed to drop them off at my sisters. We had made plans to go to Rocky Mountain Raceway for the Military appreciation night. Jenny was awesome, she took the kids for us on a holiday. We were afraid we weren't going to be able to find anyone. We didn't want to bring the kids with us, we didn't really think that the kids would like all the noise and if they weren't enjoying the show, we couldn't enjoy the show.

After dropping the kids off we headed for fun. Ben had a buddy from work going, so we were kind of meeting them there. When we got there, they were already parked and relaxing. We just visited for a while before heading into the event. We ended up sitting in different areas, so it was good to be able to visit before the races. The races were fun. They had different cars then the last time. One of the races were cars that were the fastest on the track. They had a lot of them too. One of the drivers was a women and I thought that was amazing. She was in her twenties and this was her first race at a track like Rocky Mountain. She ended up coming in third place. It was a great race. The best part of the night, the main reason we came was the figure eight train race. There are three cars stuck together. The gas car (1) the middle car that does nothing (2) and the brake car (3). They have these train cars on a figure eight course. The best part is the see if they car survive the race without crashing. It was awesome. There were 8 train cars on the track and quite often they were braking. Everyone got through the race without getting scathed. It was such a rush to watch. So much fun.

Video coming once it finally works

Knee brase

Physical therapy has been going very well. The exercises are getting more advanced with each visit. The medicine is still working great and my knee is feeling so much better. My physical therapist said that I should be back to my life in no time. And he was right. I will occasionally feel a twinge in my knee if I bend it the wrong way, but other then that, it doesn't even feel like I ever hurt it.

In the mean time of all my physical therapy, the kids were in our room one night and Ben thought it would be funny to put my knee brace on Owen's head. He had a blast. Thought that it was pretty cool.

Air show

Ben came home very excited one day after work. I asked him why and he told me that the Air show was coming to Hill Air Force Base. He wanted to go really bad. The weather wasn't supposed to be the best with a possibility of 30% chance of rain. I told him that would be fine to go and we would just hope for the best. That morning came and it was off and on light rain. We decided to go just in case it cleared up. The ride there was just fine. When we got on base we had to wait in a line in order to get into the parking lot. While we were waiting in line we did get to see one plane do a lot of different tricks. It was actually pretty cool. I was looking forward to it. We finally got to the parking lot and got the kids into the wagon and we started to walk towards the venue. We got into the venue and the wind started to kick up and then it started to rain. We covered the kids in blanket that we brought. Gabbi was happy to hide under the blanket, Owen on the other hand was angry when I covered him with the blanket. He wanted to be out and watch everyone. Sadly he was drenched within 10 minutes, but was still hanging out of the blanket. He had the best smile on his face, even thought it was dripping with water. We were all getting drenched and decided not to wait out the rain. We started to head back to the parking lot. When we got back to the car, we tried to get the kids in the car without getting the inside of the car all wet. Once we were all in the car, we dried off as much as we could with what dry clothes we had, which wasn't much. We wanted to make the best of it and went out to a late lunch early dinner at Chuck a Rama. It was really good and very packed. While we were eating we could hear the planes again. So if we were willing to wait another hour we would have been able to see more of the show. But I wasn't willing to drown in the rain just to watch a few air planes. I told Ben he could go back, but I was going home. We decided to go home and just relax and watch a movie.

The pictures don't do it justice, but we were drenched!

Tooth

I was in my room watching the Price is Right. I know, I should always be watching my kids, but I just needed a me moment. While I was sitting there I heard a thump and then after a few seconds, a blood curtailing scream. Gabbi comes running in the room screaming that Owen is bleeding. So I run into the front room to see if she was telling the truth or whatever. She was right. He had blood dripping down his mouth and his lips were purple. I was so scared, I didn't know what to do, so I scooped up the kids and put them in the car and headed to the instacare. When we got there we had to wait almost 20 minutes just to get into a room. When we got back there we had to wait even longer. While I was waiting my dad came in. I had called my mom to find out where to take him, either the instacare or the emergency room. She told dad to come and get Gabbi, so I would only have one child to worry about. I was relieved to see him. He took Gabbi and told me not to worry, everything would be fine. After they left the doctor came in. He did a quick look around his mouth. He didn't cut anything open; he didn't need stitches, so there was nothing he could do. He told us that we would have to go to a dentist. I called mom to see if Dr. Creager was available. She told me that I would be better off actually going to a pediatric Dentist. Luckily the one she recommended was available and we headed straight there. Owen was being such a trooper during this whole event. He cried off and on, but it was a "mommy, hold me" cry. When we got to the dentist we of course we had to wait again. At least he had some toys that occupied him this time. When we were called back, the Dentist was really great with Owen. So was his assistant. He did a quick exam, as much as Owen would allow. He wasn't happy about that part either. He had to be held down so he could actually do the exam. We got good news, thank Heavens. He wouldn't need his tooth pulled, which is what I was worried about. He told us, that his tooth was pushed up into his gum pretty much perfectly. It didn't damage anything and it didn't affect any of his permanent teeth at all. He told us that it would come back out on its own and would fall out when it was ready. Owen was very glad when the day was done, but he won't be excited when we have to go back for his follow-up exam.

After looking at the pictures, this actually happened the day before the air show. If you look at the air show picture of Owen and Gabbi you can see how swollen his mouth is. That's why he had a bib on. He was drooling like crazy.

The saddest part about the air show picture is you could really see how swollen he was. Poor kid couldn't do much with his checks and mouth so swollen. He didn't even look like himself.

More knee updates

So after another round of anti-inflammatory, they pain came back again. Both doctor's that I had seen had mentioned that the next step could be a steroid shot into the knee. I really did not want to do that. But Ben took the incentive that I wouldn't. He called the doctor's office to see what needed to be done. They told him that a shot like that would have to be prescribed by my actually physician. So he called to see if he could get an appointment for me. He then called me to let me know that he would be home after lunch so I could go to my appointment. When I got there I relayed my story once again. He laughed just like the others and did a flexibility test as well. He said the MRI was not really needed unless the physical therapist had advised it. So he prescribed a non-steroid anti-inflammatory and sent me to physical therapy. When I got home we check online to see who was covered by our insurance. Luckily the physical therapist that my physician suggested was covered by our insurance. We made an appointment for the following day.

When I went into the physical therapist office the receptionist was really nice. I was scared; I have never had to do anything like that. When I went back, he was really nice and thought my story was so funny. He gave me exercises to do on my own and he had me do exercises there. He was really great. I did physical therapy for about 4 weeks, but I'm done now and my knee is so much better. Doesn't hurt anymore and that’s the one thing I wanted.

Coloring

I was in the other room cleaning up and when I came into the kitchen, I about frecked. I saw Owen up on the stool at the kitchen counter. I had no idea how he had gotten up there and it just scared me. When I asked Gabbi how he got up there, all she said was "He wanted to color with me." That was very cute. They were both sitting at the counter, coloring. Very cute. Even though it scared me out of my mind. I stood there till they were done, just to make sure he didn't fall off.

Truck

We bought Owen a new Tonka truck the other day. He didn't have any big trucks, so I was very excited for him to get this truck. One of the first things the kids did with the truck was to give each other rides in the back. Very cute, very funny.

Rocky Mountain Raceway

We were out one weekend just running our errands and of course enjoying the new car. While we were at a park eating ice cream and playing Ben got a call from Greg. They had received some free tickets to Rocky Mountain Raceway and was wondering if Ben and I would be interested. Ben of course was a very quick yes. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to find someone to watch the kids on such short noticed. Luckily my mom came to the rescue. So Ben called his mom and Greg back to let them know that once we had dropped off the kids we would head to their house. As soon as we got there we all pilled in Greg and Annie's car and left. When we got there, there was more people than I thought there would be. We found really good seats and sat down to enjoy the races. We were about an hour late. We had missed qualifying races and one or two others. The races we did see were awesome. My favorite were the mini stock cars. They literally looked like the NASCAR cars, but they were a 5th of the size. It was crazy. One of the cars stalled and wouldn't start. To watch the driver get out of the car was hilarious. He was at least twice as big as his car. Just picture a clown car. The whole night was just so much fun. We watched about 8 races, with each heat being a different type of car. Ben loved it. So much that when they announced a military appreciation night, he quickly said, "We're going." It was such a blast.

New Car

New car, new car, everyone loves a new car. We have been talking about getting a new car for a while. We wanted to get rid of Ben's car; I want to get rid of Ben's car. We have had to fix a few things every year it has been inspected and it has been a little too much for us each year. Ex especially for how old the car was. In all of our research and budgeting we thought that it would be best to trade in the Jeep. I was very sad, but really it made more sense. We had a loan out on the Jeep and we hardly ever drove it because it cost so much to put gas in it. Almost 70 dollars a tank. So we thought it would be more cost effective to get a better mpg car then to have two car payments with one that we never drove. We went to a few different lots looking at all types of cars and trucks. I have always wanted a Nissan Altima. I drove one on my mission and just loved it. Ben was leaning towards a Chevy Impala. Both were a little more expensive than we had discussed. We were up in Brigham City and thought we would look at some of their car lots while we were there. They were having a 3 lot sale in a very large parking lot. We drove around and then found an Impala and an Altima right next to each other. When comparing the 2 side by side, we decided to test drive the Impala. With that test drive we both fell in love. When we got back to the lot, we started filling out the paper work for the new car. We were very excited to hear that they were going to buy our Jeep from us for the exact amount that we owed. Everything just worked out perfectly. After an hour or so, we were finally done and headed home in the new car. The funniest part of the day was Gabbi. When we were done with the test drive and headed back over to our Jeep, she started to cry and told us no. She wanted to stay in the car and wanted nothing to do with the Jeep. When the salesman told her that she could keep the new car, she jumped up and down and was screaming "YEA."

Kayla's birthday.

It seems like the years go by faster and faster. It feels like she was just baptised, but nope, she was turning 9. She is such a sweet girl. She is very smart and loves to help me with Owen. They celebrated her birthday at the church house by her grandma's. Everyone from both sides were there. The kids have plenty of room to play and the adults get to visit. She got a lot of fun things. We gave her a skip it and a gift card for her to choose what ever she wanted. She was excited about the skip it. Jeff and Tiffany gave her a new bike. It was nice and she even had enough room to test it out. All the other kids chased her around it was cute. Her cake was yummy. Lucky for me, Owen didn't want his cake, just his ice cream and I got his cake. It was raspberry filled. Yum.

Knee update

So with the anti-inflammatory the doctor prescribed, I was doing just fine. I was living life like normal again. Then my prescription ran out. The pain came back 10 fold. It felt worse. So back to the doctor. My regular physician was not available so we went to the instacare again. I was hoping to get the same doctor, but he was out that morning. So I got to explain my story all over again. He did the same flexibility tests on my knee and I didn't do anything but cry it hurt that bad. He again prescribed the same anti-inflammatory and gave me a knee brace. He suggested an MRI if we were interested. We told him we would call and find out insurance costs and let them know. Once we were done with the doctor, his assistant helped us called some clinic that did MRI. Hold crap their expensive. Our insurance would cover some, but not nearly as much as I would deem worth it to have it done, if my x-ray was just fine. He also suggested physical therapy if we were interested in other options to help my knee. When we got home we call the insurance company to see what they would cover for physical therapy as well and it was big co-pay. So we decided to wait and just see is the anti-inflammatory would keep the pain away.

Family Home Evening at Toads

We like to be able to go out and have fun for Family Home Evening nights. We don't really get out that often, but when we do, we like to have fun. While I was going through the adds that come in the mail, I came across an add for Toads fun park. It had dinner, 4 drinks, 4 activities, and 20 dollars worth of arcade games. It was really a killer deal, so we jumped on it. When we got there we ordered our pizza and while we waited the kids walked around the arcade with very wide eyes. All the lights fascinated them. Once the pizza was ready we chowed down. The kids love pizza. They would eat it every day if we'd let them. When the kids had had their fill, we went over to the indoor golf course. It was newly added and we thought the kids would love the glow in the dark. They liked it for a little bit. Gabbi was excited to be able to play golf, but she didn't understand. Ben showed her how to hold the club, but it just wasn't sticking. She still had fun trying though and she got a fe good hits. Owen on the other hand was not so interested. He wanted to pick up his ball and just walk around with it. There were times when he used his gold club like it was a horse, that was pretty funny. Ben and I took our turns with the kids clubs. The kids were very done by the time we finally finished. When we were done with the golfing, we headed to the arcade. The kids had a blast. The best part was that some of the games they just sat on and pretended to be playing. The winner of the night for the kids was the meri-go-round. They rode that like crazy. One game that we played a lot was skiball. The had an adult game and a little kid game. We made out like bandits with how many tickets we won. With all our tickets we got Owen some soft balls to play with. Gabbi's prize was a stuffed animal. Ben played a giant crane game and won. I couldn't believe it. It was awesome and she was very very excited. It was such a fun night. We even have two more activitied left, since we only asked for 2 clubs for the mini golf. Ben and I will have a date night and will do something more adult oriented.

Stacking cups

While we were playing scum at mom and dad's the kids were playing. Jeff and Tiffany kids had gone to bed, but ours were still up. They were playing nicely. Some days that just doesn't happen, but when it does its one of those moments where you want to take a picture so you remember that they were actually nice one time or another. In this case, they were playing with Nana's stacking cups. They would build it up and then knock it down. It was very cute.

Mother's day Games

When we were done visiting, we went home and Ben made me a Mother's day dinner. I asked for breakfast. I love breakfast for dinner. He made me french toast, eggs, and sausage. It was really yummy and the best part was I didn't have to cook. When we were done with dinner we headed over to mom and dad's. It was supposed to be our regular Sunday dinner night, but because of mother's day we postponed. Mom thought it would be fun to get together for games at least. We came and Jeff and Tiffany came. We played the dice that Jenny taught us and then we played scum. I haven't played scum since high school. It was so much fun. Even Grandma loved it. It was awesome.

Cars and trucks

Our kids love to play with toys, just like any other. Our kids always want what the other has as well. In the case of Gabbi she will just take it from Owen. While we were visiting Annie, Greg pulled out a diesel truck for Owen to drive around. Gabbi of course wanted it, so Megan went and got her a barbie car with a Barbie in it. She was satisfied for about 2 minutes. She wanted the big truck. She not so nicely took the truck from Owen and left the car. Of course since the barbie car was just sitting there, Owen was okay with playing with it. So she's playing with the big boy truck and he was playing with the girl Barbie car. Kids

Picture quality not the best, it was taken on a phone.

Mother's day with Annie

On Sunday we decided to make our final visit to our moms. After church ended we headed to go and visit Annie. When we got there she wasn't home, but Greg gave her a call and said she was almost there, so we waited. While we were waiting Greg had on Planet 51. Its a really cute movie, if you've never seen it. When Annie got there Gabbi was excited to give her her mother's day gift. It was a book from President Uchtdorf, his new one: Forget me not. Annie loves to read and she said she was very excited to read it. We also were able to watch the slide show that Megan and Beth put together. They collected pictures from everyone to make a picture slide show for mom. It turned out really cute. Megan said that they weren't all the way done yet, but what they had were great. There were pictures of Ben that I have never seen. It was awesome.

Messy eater

While we were taking down the tent the kids were inside eating dinner. They had chicken nuggets with chocolate milk to drink. When we came back in the house this is what we found. A complete mess. His chocolate milk was all over him. His hair was crusty from it. Got to love kids.

Tent

We are ready and excited for summer. We got a new tent and tend to use it many times. We just hope out it works out that way. We found this tent at the BDO, an outlet store. It was really good deal. We were afraid to buy it there because they have a no refund policy and we weren't sure if there were holes or even if all the polls were there. We opened it up there to inspect what we could of it and decided to go for it. When we got home we set it up and its ready to go. There aren't any problems with it and now we can't wait to go camping.

Mother's day lunch with Mom

To celebrate mother's day, mom gave the job to dad to plan. Well all the guys. They decided that we would do a bar-b-que at the park. Grandma and Grandpa Hall came as well as Grandma Shupe. We went to the Harrisville park. Its a really nice park and it has a huge pavilion. We took a small corner and there were still plenty of room for all the people that were at the park that day. The guys cooked all the lunch and they were even in charge of the assigned sides to go with it. It was a nice relaxing lunch for the moms while the dads got things for the kids and such. When we were all done eating all the kids went and played on the playground while the adults played a new yard game. Jenny and Brian brought it, they got it from a friend. Its call the V King. It was so much fun. Its a lot like horse shoes just more involved. Ben and I loved it so much that we are going to make us our own set since the original set is very expensive. But everyone had a blast playing that game, even the little kids could play. It was a great afternoon.