Heaven on Earth

One of my places of refuge is definitely a library! When DJ got home from work we all had dinner, and then I went to the library for an hour and a half until it closed. I could literally spend all day there. I love taking my time and looking through a bunch of books to find my next favorite one. It's so quiet and I can sit down and read a little preview if I like. It helps me to forget everything and jump into a different world of new characters. Ever since I've been outta school, I feel like I'm not really learning anything new any more. As I've mentioned before, I felt like I wasn't really accomplishing anything besides being Addie's mama, but I can find all kinds of books for crafts, cooking, parenting or whatever my heart desires. It makes me feel alive to know that if I wanna learn how to do something, I can pick up a book. This time by myself was so relaxing and much needed. The weekend got off to a good start!!

Dinosaur Museum

Tuesdays in August are gonna be a lotta fun for us, since Thanksgiving Point has $2 Tuesdays for any venue. So we are definitely taking advantage of this! On the 4th we decided to do the dinosaur museum. We also did this last year when Addie was only 6 weeks old, but DJ couldn't go and he definitely wanted to go this time. It's the largest one in the world, and really cool for kids. There's so many activities for them to do. In that way....I wish Addie was a bit older to enjoy that part, but she loved touching everything and pointing to things hanging from the ceiling.

Colten and Addie



Tango with the dino


Head buttin'


Addie went around gathering all the paintbrushes, she liked to eat the sand too

Searching for fossils in the sand

Rockin' Out

July 23 we went to Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy to a country concert with DJ's stepsister Whitney and her husband Craig. It was our late anniversary present to each other. I was really bummed that Sugarland couldn't be here. The lead singer had vocal fatigue so they weren't able to come. I think I was more excited about them than the rest of them. Oh well....maybe one day I'll get to see them.

Waitin in the heat for Lady Antebellum to get started

Lady Antebellum - I LOVE them!!!

Miranda Lambert - She's amazing! She's such a firecracker, spunky lil thing.

Loved her pink guitars

Studs

Kenny Chesney here we come



We had a lot of fun with Whitney and Craig. They seriously crack me up, and I can't wait to hang out with them some more. It's always a hoot to watch drunk people, and we had some hilarious ones around us. I wasn't disappointed with Kenny, but for him having won entertainer of the year quite a few times, I expected a lot more. He did have an awesome set with a ton of screens. It was really cool when he sang "Back Where I Come From" cuz he put on a Utah Utes hat, and the video in the background was of Utah highway signs and different Utah landmarks. So that got everyone pumped. All time favorite was "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy". That definitely did it for me.

Man in Uniform

The weekend of July 19 my nephew Darin came up with his girlfriend Britany and spent the weekend with us. He had to check in at Camp Williams and get ready to start his training for his deployment to Afghanistan. So we went out to eat at Chili's on Friday night. Saturday he played Guitar Hero for forever and that was hilarious to watch! Then Sunday was his family day, and that was a lot of fun. I don't know of anyone who is more proud to serve their country and who looks so good in their uniform. (I'm extremely biased in this way!) At his family day, they fed us and then Darin took us around and showed us some of the weapons and one of the tanks. He just beams with excitement when he talks about his stuff, and you can totally tell he's in his element. Then he took us down to where they have a virtual game of different war scenarios, and 4 people can use 4 different weapons. It feels like the real thing, but instead of bullets it's air being pumped through. It was really loud in the room, but Addie enjoyed it. He leaves for Afghanistan in November. I was glad that he was able to spend the weekend with us, and it was really hard to tell him goodbye. But I know that he is doing what he loves, and that he won't disappoint the Marine Corps.

Baby gets sick.......Mama gets sick

Seriously....not even 10 minutes after writing my last post about feeling so great being able to hold Addie while she's sick, BAM! I start feeling yucky. I have never been so sick in my life. I couldn't keep anything down all night. I tried anti nausea, anti diarrheal, pepto, propel, saltines EVERYTHING and just couldn't keep it down. Poor DJ, stayed up with me and held my hair back and wiped my face with a cold rag. Needless to say, around 2 a.m. he starts throwing up. I can't stand being sick because I hate feeling so helpless!! Finally around 6 a.m. I started to feel a little better to where I could actually get a little bit of sleep. DJ called in to work and Krista offered to keep Addie all day so we could get some sleep and rest. I still wasn't able to keep anything down, and had no energy whatsoever. So around 6 p.m. we went to insta care and they hooked me up to an iv since I was really dehydrated and gave me a nausea pill. That works miracles! Then we came home and picked Addie up from Krista, and after not seeing my lil monkey girl all day she wanted me to hold her. I still was weak so I held her for a second and handed her to DJ. She started to pout and reach out for me. Another great feeling! If it wasn't for Krista saving me and helping with Addie, I seriously don't know what I would've done! I spent the next few days still feeling crummy, but much better than that horrid night. I don't wish feeling like that on anyone!

Nursing Back to Health

So after a LONG afternoon filled with Addie crying and whining, I let DJ get her ready for bed and put her to bed. I was done for the day. She wouldn't hardly eat her dinner or anything else so I let DJ have at it. After he laid her down she cried for 20 minutes which is unusual cuz she's usually down after 10 minutes if not before. So I told him to go get her. We tried to give her more food, but she refused. He gave her milk and she drank it up. So then I took her to her room and started bouncing her and she laid right on my shoulder. I knew she was exhausted, as I'm bouncing her I look over at her blanket in the crib and see something on it. I get closer and pull the blanket open more and I see some of her dinner on the blanket. So we change the sheets and her jammies and I start bouncing her back to sleep. Then she throws up some more all over me. I felt so HORRIBLE! I can't believe I had been bouncing her after she had thrown up in the bed. I wasn't even thinking of that!!! So we changed those jammies and I gave her a quick bath and then I just held her in the rocking chair with her blankie and she fell asleep. I can't even begin to describe the wonderful feeling I had of being able to comfort her. I felt so bad for getting so aggravated at her earlier. It's great to feel like you're so loved and that this little one is so dependent on you. Tonight was one of my favorite mama moments!

4th of July

We left our place at 7:30 a.m. to walk down to the parade, and it was fun to see all the hot air balloons taking off up against the mountain. It did rain a lil bit during the parade, but it felt refreshing since it was really hot. There were some really neat floats, and it was cool to hear cannons going off. I loved the atmosphere of the parade cuz everyone was so excited. Addie absolutely loved it; especially the bands cuz then she could dance. Aferwards, we went home and all took naps since we were exhausted. Then we went downtown and walked around and listened to music in the park and to all the booths set up. We had a spot by the stadium to watch the fireworks, but at 8:15 I knew she wouldn't make it another 2 hrs. So, we went home and put her to bed and we watched a few of the fireworks from our yard.


I have never been to a parade that was such a big deal, but there were people everywhere! They had put their chairs out the day before at noon and they would spend the night to keep their spots. Luckily some of Eric's family put out chairs for us and it was a great spot right on the road.

We went to the BYU Creamery to get ice cream, and I think Addie ate more of mine than I did! Then she was bouncing on the seats having a blast.

Take me out to the ball game

We went to see the Orem Owlz play with Krista, Eric and Colten. It was fun cuz they have a grass seating section where you pay $4 a person and set your blankets out. They even have a playground! Smart thinkers. We were sitting on a hill and all Addie wanted to do was climb up it. I didn't see much of the game obviously, but it was fun to be out. It's been a long time since I've been to a game, and I forgot how fun it is. Not as good as football mind you....but almost. We had to leave a lil bit early cuz Addie was getting tired. We did everything we could to keep her from falling asleep on the way home.



It's so funny to see her dancing! How do kids know how to dance?? It seriously amazes me. I'll have to get better footage of dancing another time.

Vacation Time

Diana's husband Gary has a houseboat every other year for a week, and our plan was to have all of our family get together. However, with mama's medical problems my parents and my older brother Bryan and his family weren't able to attend. But two of my aunt's and my brother Kenny and his wife from Georgia were able to come. There was also another family that came with us, and they were so much fun. So in all there were 17 of us. DJ's first concern about when I mentioned that we were taking this trip, was that he thought he was gonna get bored. Keep in mind, he's never been so he had no idea how much fun it was going to be or how beautiful and breathtaking it is. After we were there a couple days, he told me how incredible and overwhelming it was when you thought about how deep the water was. We went out about an hour away from Wahweap Marina, and we had a really cool spot. We had 2 boats and 2 jet skis, so plenty to keep us busy. DJ tried wake boarding, but wasn't able to get up. I think it was cuz we needed a bigger board for him. It was so nice to relax and not worry about anything while we were there. DJ found it VERY hard to come back to work.

The hike up to Rainbow Bridge


Rainbow Bridge


The dark clouds would have to indicate a storm that didn't reach those of us who went to Rainbow Bridge. Diana had taken her two kids out on the jet ski and she got caught in it. There were 3 foot waves that she was trying to go through, and eventually she was able to get some help from some people that were out on the water as well. She was able to stay on their boat until everything calmed down. My nephew Nathan was the only one that stayed behind on the houseboat, and he noticed that the boat was moving so he went outside to see and there was sand blowing everywhere. He saw that the anchors were sliding through the sand and he went to get one of them and just stood there trying to keep the boat from drifting. When it kinda calmed down, he went to another houseboat and asked if they could come help him get it tied down again. (it's funny he went to these people, cuz they had needed help a few days prior.)



Every time we took a boat ride, Addie would fall asleep. She loved the wind blowing her hair. (This was just before she was about to fall asleep.) She wasn't happy about getting in the water though. We tried a few different times, and I think it was because of the life jacket that she didn't like being in the water. Addie said her first words on this trip!!! She says doggie, thank you and kitty. It's sooo cute.



Scrabble game - from the top Ru, Diana, Me, Sarah, Kenny, Crystal and Kiai

Our Anniversary was during the week and DJ had arranged for us to have some time to ourselves on the top deck. He had sparkling cider, chicken n biskit crackers and easy cheese for us to snack on. It was a nice surprise, and I was really happy that he thought to do something for the day. I am really lucky to have such a great husband. He's such a good daddy and does all that he can for our family. Love you baby!

Addie chowing down on watermelon. She had it all over her.



The lookout from our spot

Birthday Girl

I can't believe that my Addie girl is one!! She's getting to be so much fun now. We had the party on June 13 at Diana's house and had family and friends over to celebrate. It was a swimming party and it had been cloudy all morning and we just knew we were gonna get rained out. However it managed to fly over us long enough to eat, open presents and for the kids to swim a bit. When everyone started to leave, is when it started pouring! She got some of the cutest clothes (her aunt's have AWESOME taste) and some really great toys that she plays with all the time. It was a nice day and we were so glad we got to have it in St. George so we could have it with family. We love you so much Addie, and so grateful to have you in our family. Happy Birthday Monkey Girl!

I was extremely nervous about trying to make her cake since I didn't think there was any way possible that I could do it. But I have to say I was EXTREMELY proud of myself, and I thought it turned out amazing! I made cupcakes for the ears and those turned out to be a hit with the kids! As you can tell, Addie dug into it as well and enjoyed it as well.


I couldn't have envisioned anything more perfect for this moment when it was her turn to have her own piece and have at it.

Addie squashing Lane

DJ's sister Dawne and her son Sven

Papi and Nana Kelly