The Anderson Family

Carley's first day of school

2011-10-09T16:48:00.002-07:00

These pictures are of Carley's true first day of school. I can't believe that she is 5, but she is totally ready for school. She is such a social butterfly and loves school and loves learning. I have already seen a big jump in her learning and she loves coming home to do homework. She also comes home telling us about her new friend of the day

canoeing and catching fish

2011-10-09T16:43:00.002-07:00

After surviving Swiss Days, which I have no pictures of, we decided to go up in the mountains and go canoeing and fishing on Labor Day. We took a friends canoe and Eric took the kids and went fishing up at Mill Hollow Reservoir in the Uintas. The kids had a blast and were super excited when they caught the fish.

The first day of school

2011-10-09T16:38:00.002-07:00

Bryson is a big 3rd grader this year and has Miss Kelly. Carley started kindergarten this year and has Mrs Kohler. They didn't start school on the same day, but the day that Bryson started, Carley had kindergarten testing so I took pictures of her that day also.

Boating

2011-10-09T16:25:00.002-07:00

Before school was to start we asked Bryson what he wanted to do for a day. He said he wanted to go boating. Eric took the day off work and we borrowed our neighbor's boat and had a great day boating. We did it two days before school started and because it was the middle of the week, the lake was empty and the weather was hot and perfect for a day of boating. Just like swimming the kids love the water and love to spalsh around.

Eric and Maddy driving the boat

Bryson on the boat

Carley enjoying the bow of the boat

My kids love the tube and Maddy is no exception. Some of the time she was on her knees, but when she sat down on her bum she would say "my bum tickles" It was so cute

Eric and the kids on the tube

Because we drove slow when Maddy was on the tube, bryson and Carley were little dare devils and tried to stand up on the tube

Eric and maddy

Eric and Carley in the water

A summer full of swimming

2011-10-05T05:26:00.002-07:00

This summer we spent a lot of time at grandma's pool. (we are sad she has moved and can't go to the pool next summer) My kids love the water and have so much fun splashing and swimming around.

Maddy, William, Carley and Bryson

Maddy wanted to be just like Bryson and Carley so she wore the goggles

At the beginning of the summer Maddy was wearing the yellow tube you see in this picture. She held on for dear life and wouldn't let go of an adult. By the middle of the summer she would float and swim by herself in it and then by the end of the summer we put her in water wings and she would swim around all by herself. She didn't really like to put her head under water, but she loved splashing and playing in the water. She even liked going to the deep end with Bryson

Bryson got to be a very good swimmer and even swam the length of the pool all by himself. He was also learning to tread water.

Carley really learned to swim this summer with strokes and breaths. She could almost swim the width of the pool

Maddy, Grandma and William

Maddy in her water wings

Carley and Eric

One of our favorite swimming traditions is to take a boogie board to the pool and pretend like we are surfing. Eric did this as a child with his pool he has in his backyard. He and his brothers would run on the cement, drop the board in the water and then skim across the top of the water. We brought this board home from Hawaii when we went last summer. Maddy just likes to lay on top of it and get pushed around

Carley standing on top of the boogie board

maddy and Grandma

Bryson's baptism

2011-10-05T05:09:00.003-07:00

Bryson turned 8 in July and had a very special baptism in August with family and friends. A year or so ago a friend showed me a cute invitation for a baptism that I wanted to copy so I did. I got Bryson dressed up in Eric's suit (which also happened to be his Dad's) and took some pictures. I them used photoshop and made a cute invitation. I also made a cute wall display for his room that has 4-5 different poses and on the top it says "I hope they call me on a mission"

Eric and Bryson
Bryson and I before the baptism

Eric and Bryson all in white, ready for baptism.

My parents were able to come out and we had other family and friends which made it a very special day. I only wish I would have taken a picture of the whole group.

Bryson's birthday party

2011-10-05T05:08:00.002-07:00

This year for Bryson's birthday he wanted a plants vs zombies themed party. Because the game has plants vs zombies shooting at each other I thought it would be fun if they could make marshmallow guns and have a little fight. I cut all the pvc pipe and had it ready to go in kits and the kids assembled them and then had fun spitting marshmallows at each other. It was a fun inexpensive party favor. I also made some hats based on the game and let the kids wear them. I decided to just buy an ice cream cake, which made it lots easier for me. The kids had a fun time

Camping

2011-10-05T04:55:00.002-07:00

In July we went up camping in the mountains. The kids love it and I love it. We take the tent and the 4-wheelers and have a fun weekend enjoying nature dand outdoors. This year Kevin, Eric's brother, was able to come and also Eric's aunt and cousin. I love taking pictures of the kids even if they are all dirty and non-showered.

Bryson loves to ride his bike on the dirt and over bumps

Maddy with Eric on the 4-wheeler

Bryson had fun carving and whittling and learning how to use a pocket knife

Carley with Eric on the 4-wheeler

Maddy and Kevin

Bryson with his camel-back ready for the hike

Maddy enjoying the hike and sleeping on Kevin's back

Carley also liked to play with the saw and pocket knife

Eric and Maddy cuddling by the fire.

Camping each summer is one of my favorite family traditions

Finishing the basement

2011-08-11T13:04:00.002-07:00

So I mentioned in one of my previous posts that one of the things that kept me away from blogging was a big project of finishing the basement. Eric has put in a lot of work and done a wonderful job of finishing our basement. it is so nice to have the toys downstairs and extra rooms. We started this project back in the fall of 2009 with Eric and his brother framing the walls. Bryson got sick that winter and it got put on hold for a whole year until this last winter when eric started to work on it again. Eric had a strong push to get him to finish everything so the dry wall could be put up while we were on Spring Break without him. After that Eric put up the baseboard and we did the painting together and I went carpet shopping. I was also in charge of doing all the taping and prep work for the painting. Eric also pushed hard so it would be done for my birthday. Little did I know my parents were going to surprise me and would stay in the spare room downstairs. It has been a lot of work, but it is nice to have it done.
Good thing we were gone, because this is what our family room looked like over spring break. Everything that was left downstairs got put in here.

Framing, electrical and insulation

Delivering the dry wall

Hanging the dry wall

Taping and muding the dry wall

Eric after a coat of paint

I kept forgetting to take pictures when we were painting, but we did a coat of primer, 2 coats of paint and then had to tape and mask everything to do a coat of paint for the baseboards.

Laying the carpet

Everything is all finished, well mostly. The bathroom isn't finished, but it is plumbed so all eric has to do is tile and sink and toilet. Also the window sills aren't done yet and a shelves in the closets.

It was a big project and something I don't want to do again in the near future

Girls retreat

2011-08-11T12:30:00.002-07:00

In the middle of June I was in charge of a girls retreat for our relief soceity up at a cabin in timberlakes. We do dinner and a devotional and then anybody who wants to can spend the night and come home the next day. it was a wonderful evening. One of my good friends has written a book about their experience in a severe plan crash. it is titled "Divine Intervention A Story of Faith and Miracles" by Randy and Helen Hall. She spoke and told about her experiences. They are amazing and truely inspiring. The pictures below were taken the next morning as we woke up and ate breakfast one of the ladies looked out the window and noticed a mom and baby moose right outside. It was amazing.

They stayed there for a long time until we finally had to disrupt them because we had to load the cars. I love the mountains and seeing nature up close.

Discovery Children's museum

2011-08-11T12:19:00.002-07:00

After a rough morning at the dentist - Carley had three cavities and got so nervous that they had to give her some medicine to put her out, and bryson had a freunectomy (cutting the piece that connects the lip to the top of the teeth) - we decided to go to the children's museum. The kids love it and we hadn't been there in a couple of years.
Bryson loves the construction building spot. I didn't get a picture of Carley, but she spent most of her time in the pretend house with the babies and kitchen.

Playing at the water tables

Another favorite was the helicopter

Maddy loved the putting the balls in the tubes with the air.

Maddy's 2 year old pictures

2011-08-11T12:14:00.002-07:00

So even though her birthday was in March she got a cute dress that I thought would look great with the lylacs, so I had to wait until June. I also did lylacs in her blessing dress pictures so it was fun to do it again. She wasn't the most cooperative so I didn't get a picture that shows her true smile, but I still got some good ones.

I had to do some crazy shots so she could have a break

Her face is out of focus on this one, but I liked it.

Lagoon

2011-08-11T11:39:00.002-07:00

I look forward to Overstock's day at Lagoon each year. They rent out the park so the lines are short and the kids have a blast. This was Maddy's first year of really enjoying it and she loved the kiddy rides. Carley really loved the new ride Bombora and we rode it over and over again - good thing there were no lines. I love seeing the smiles on my kids faces.
One of Eric's co workers also does balloon animals. Bryson loved the alien guy. He reminds me of Mike W. from Monsters Inc.

Carley on the Merry-go-round

The girls on the little boat. Eric's mom showed a picture almost identical to this of her and her brother 50 years ago on this ride.

Maddy getting ready for the dinosaur roller coaster

maddy not too sure of the speed and bumps of the roller coaster

Carley loves the bumper cars

Maddy loved going with Bryson or Carley on the bumper cars. One time Carley was the only person on a car. She thought it was great

Bryson soccer spring

2011-08-10T11:38:00.002-07:00

Of course Bryson had to play soccer again this year and his dad was his coach and he had his friend/cousin McCrae on his team which made it fun. We didn't have the best weather for the games, but he still enjoyed playing. At the end of the season he even tried out for the Heber Storm Club team and made it. They had been practicing all summer which has given him sometime to do.

Carley graduates from Preschool

2011-08-10T11:34:00.002-07:00

Carley has been going to preschool all year with Miss Karen. She loves going and learning and playing. Miss Karen had a little graduation ceremony for the kids and sang songs and did the cap and gown thing. It was really cute.

Carley and her class singing songs that they learned

Walking in with her cap and gown

Going up to receive her diploma

Carley and her teacher, Miss Karen

Carley's spring dance recital

2011-08-10T11:29:00.002-07:00

For Carley's spring dance recital she was a pelican from Nemo and danced to the song Mission Impossible. It was funny seeing little ballerinas dance to this song. Carley loves dance and loves going every week

Disneyland Princesses

2011-08-10T11:26:00.002-07:00

Of course we had to see the princesses while at Disneyland and this meant not only one line, but two because Rapunzel has her own castle. The worst line of all was the 90 minute wait for the princesses, but the girls loved it. Maddy wasn't sure at first, but once she saw Belle she got excited and gave her a hug. Maddy loves Beauty and the Beast. Maddy was taking a nap when we stood in line for Rapunzel and when she woke up she had a fever and wasn't feeling good, that is why she doesn't look very good, but she still sang the song from tangled for them and still loved seeing them. Bryson also got a picture because Flynn was there.

Disneyland is one of our families favorite family vacations. We have been there every year for the past three years and Eric says it never gets old.

Disneyland

2011-08-10T11:18:00.002-07:00

So I am still way far behind on blogging, but I wanted to get caught up. Hopefully in the next month once the kids start school I can get it all done. We have had a great spring and summer and there is a lot to record and tell. After Ann's graduation, we took her to California and met other family and friends and celebrated at Disneyland. It is a tradition for Eric's family when they graduated high school so we thought it would work for graduating college. We had a great time at California Adventures the first day and then Disneyland the second. Although it was the beginning of May we hit the hottest days in Anehiem at 90 degrees both days. My kids love disneyland and had a blast
We did breakfast with the characters one morning and the kids had a blast

Besides the princesses, Chip and Dale were Carley's favorite. She even got the stuffed animals to bring home and still sleeps with them at night

All the grandkids with Grandma

Maddy and Dawnelle on the toy story ride. This was one of my favorite rides in Calif Adventures

Bryson the dare devil going on all the big rides and rollercoasters.

Carley meeting Jessi from Toy Story. She was just about to leave and trade with Woody after we stood in line. Carley got sad so she stayed an extra minute to take pictures with Carley

The group with Woody and the toy soldier

While at lunch one day Carley lost her first tooth. She was excited. it was even funny when she told the fairy godmother from cinderella and the fairy godmother told Carley that she just had tea with the tooth fairy the other day.

Our family with Ann and Spencer on main street in Disneyland.

The group on Small World

Ann's Graduation - Commencement

2011-06-23T12:34:00.003-07:00

The next day Lori, Aston, and Spencer came into town. We always have fun getting together and the kids love to play with everybody. 6 adults with 5 kids - 3 of whom at 2 years old is not fun on hard seats at the Marriott center for 2 hours. Thank goodness for technology - Maddy watched a show on the ipod and Bryson played his for a good portion. Eric also took Maddy out and they did laps around the Marriott Center. Even with a cast on she could still get around and it didn't slow her down.

Find Ann in the sea of graduates. Once again thank goodness for technology.

Maddy watching a show

Bryson, Ann, and Carley

Future Graduates

The Family

Ann's Graduation

2011-06-23T12:20:00.002-07:00

So on with updating the blog. the end of April brought a crazy week of graduation at BYU. Eric's Mom graduated with a Master's in Social Work. The first night we went down for a small party with the social work class at the Provo Marriott. Eric's sister Sarah did another wonderful cake. It was a great night especially when Bryson got to get a picture with jimmer (see previous post)

Spring Break

2011-06-22T22:08:00.002-07:00

So I am finally updating my blog and i have to go back to the beginning of April for Spring break. April, May, and June have just seemed to have flown by. We have been super busy running every which way. I think summer has finally calmed us down and we have finished our biggest project, finishing the basement (future post to with pics to come later). Another reason I wasn't blogging was because my laptop needed reformatted, but I needed to save somethings first. I finally did that and got it working again with a nice new solid state hard drive curtosey of Eric (He has told me specifically what this does, but all I know is that it makes the laptop so much faster)
So back in April the kids, my mom, and my aunt decided to get out of town and head to warm St George. (Eric was supervising the dry wall in the basement) I have never been to St George so it was fun to go and see the red rocks and the historical places. Our one slight disadvantage was maddy's broken leg, but we made due.
We went to Snow's Canyon and did some hiking and playing around on the red rock. We also went to Johnson's farm a dinosaur museum. And then we did the temple, Brigham Young's house, and the Tabernacle. Of course we had to go swimming and enjoy the beautiful sunshine that we were in so desperate need of.
The pictures were taken in Snow's Canyon. The kids loved to hike all over, but we should have left my mom at the hotel because she was a nervous wreck thinking my kids would fall and hurt themselves. No one got hurt and we had a wonderful time

No More Maddy's Jumping on the Bed

2011-04-26T13:33:00.002-07:00

So the Friday before spring break I lay in bed at 7:00 in the morning after the kids had woken me up and tried pulling me out to make breakfast. I was slowly getting out of bed when I hear a big thud and Maddy start to cry. Carley and her were jumping on their bed and I don't know if she fell of or was pulled off by Carley or tried to jump down to follow Carley when she got down. In any case, she cried and hobbled around for the morning. I finally decided to take her to the doctor, who then sent us to get x-rays. And yes her foot was broken. The nurse practioner put a splint on and suggested we shouldn't go to St George for Spring Break because she couldn't get in the water and we would have to cast it the next wednesday at primary children's, which would cut our vacation short. They wanted to wait until the swelling went down, funny thing that it really never got swollen. Needless to say I was bummed. later that night the doctor called to make sure she was alright and I told him our situation. After looking at the x-ray he thought it would be ok to be in a pool because there would be no friction and she wouldn't be standing on it. Also we could wait until a week from Wednesday and just have the splint on. So we headed down to St George. Traveling in the car was not fun because the weight of the splint was uncomfortable for her as it hung from her carseat. She did fine on Sunday and Monday morning, but as we got to dinner Monday night she wouldn't stop crying. For awhile she wouldn't take the motrin either. She cried for 5 hours straight crying for me and I was holding her. Nothing could console her. Finally we decided to take the splint off and see if that would help. She finally stopped and we had a little sleep. At least she wasn't crying. In the morning we looked at her foot and noticed a big blister on the back of her heel. Even thought she wasn't walking on it, because we made her crawl like a dog most of the time she still got a blister. We were able to bandage it up and then put her splint back on and she was better. We did have one more 2 hour crying episode, but other than that she was usually pretty good. We decided to not wait until the next Wednesday and made an appt with an orthopedic surgeon to get it cast Thursday afternoon when we got home. Since having the cast on she has been back to normal. She runs and plays and sometimes I don't even think she remembers that it is on. She hobbles when she runs, but it doesn't stop or slow her down. Little kids heal fast and we are crossing our fingers that she will get it off this Thursday.

These pics were taken in St George with her splint. The sock is covering it up

On a side note, I love Maddy's curly hair. I have never done it in a pony tail because I love the curls. Well a week or so before her fall I decided to put it in a pony tail after her bath. it looked so cute and it made the curls on the sides and back even curlier. I love it and she thinks it is fun too. She is looking and acting so grown up lately.

this is her "cheese" smile

Jimmer and Bryson

2011-04-26T13:13:00.002-07:00

So this post is a little out of order and I really need to catch up on spring break first, but it goes so well with the previous post that I just had to post it. Last Wednesday night we attended a graduation party at the Provo marriot with eric's mom who was graduating with a Masters in Social work. We were eating cake and taking pics when some girls came in and said that Jimmer was out in the lobby. Of course Bryson and I had to go and investigate. Yes he was in the lobby. He was taking pictures with someone else and I told Bryson to stand to the side and wait. Bryson didn't even have to ask him for a picture. Jimmer walked right up to Bryson and I was able to take a picture - that was after I turned my camera on. It had turned of automatically and I didn't realize it. Luckily I had a moment to turn it on and take two pics. Bryson is smiling one of my favorite smiles for him. He was so excited and couldn't stop talking about it for days. We still don't know why Jimmer was there that night, but Bryson was happy.

March Madness

2011-04-03T18:25:00.002-07:00

We have had March Madness in our house!!! Bryson has really gotten into BYU basketball this year. He was lucky enough to go to 3 home BYU basketball games and he got obsessed with Jimmer mania. For his second quarter report card he asked for a Jimmer jersey. After we bought it at the BYU bookstore we looked in the bag with the receipt and found that we got 5 free voucher tickets for home games. We were so excited. After the Colorado State game Eric and Bryson stayed after to see if they could get Jimmer's autograph. He never came out, but he did get Brandon Davies autograph the week before he got suspended.
Eric and Bryson also went to the New Mexico game and came home bummed.
We then were faithful watchers on TV of all the rest of the games.
As a joke early in the season I asked Eric if BYU went to the NCAA tournament and played in Denver, could we go. (My parents and brothers live in Denver and the drive is 8-9 hours) He said sure. Selction Sunday came and BYU was assigned to play in Denver. I was so excited, but Eric made me find a good deal for tickets. After I looked for 2 days, Eric got on the computer Tuesday morning and found a great deal. We snagged them and drove out to Denver after work on Wednesday. The tickets that we got included all the games on Thursday and Saturday. The seats were in the upper level, but we had a lot of fun. We got to see Morehead vs Louisville, Vanderbilt vs Richmond , Gonzaga vs St Johns, and BYU vs Woffard on Thursday. It was a long day at the Pepsi Center watching basketball. We were so excited when BYU won. Thursday night during the Gonzaga vs St John's game I happened to notice the BYU team come out and watch the game. Eric took Bryson down to the lower level and Bryson went down by himself and got Jimmer's autograph on his jersey. He was so excited.
On Saturday we got to see Morehead vs Richmond and BYU vs Gonzaga. The BYU game was amazing and fun to be at especially when they won.

Outside the Pepsi Center. We got 4 tickets to the games and my Dad was able to come with us. My mom and sister in law watched the girls while we were at the games.

Me, Bryson, and my Dad

BYU vs Gonzaga

above: Jimmer has the ball by the half court line

Final score BYU 89 Gonzaga 67

For the sweet sixteen game we had a party at our house and the kids dressed up in BYU. We were sad that BYU lost, but we had a fun season watching them and Bryson is still obsessed with Jimmer.

Bryson teaching Maddy the cougar fight song. this is where they roll their hands saying "GOOOOO Cougars"
The cheerleading outfit was Carley's from Halloween a few years ago.

Visit from Cousins

2011-04-03T17:52:00.004-07:00

In the middle of March my mom, brother and his kids came out to visit my Grandma, who isn't doing very well. They were only here for a short weekend, but the cousins had fun playing together and having a sleep over in the front room.
Little did we know we would see them in a week when we would take a quick trip to Colorado.

Spring Fever

2011-04-03T17:38:00.002-07:00

We have spring fever in our house and spring keeps teasing us. Some days it is beautiful outside and we can go play in warm weather. Other days it is snowing. On one of the beautiful days I took the girls and went down to Orem, which is a few degrees warmer, and went to the park with Sarah and William

Carley loves to swing. Maddy won't have anything to do with them

Train of people coming down the slide

Madalyn's 2nd birthday

2011-03-08T16:52:00.002-07:00

Madalyn had her 2nd birthday last week, but we weren't able to get together with family until Sunday so that is the day we had her party. Maddy is our independent little girl who doesn't talk, but lets her wants be known. She does say mama, dada, and bubu for Bryson. She makes most all of the animal noises. She loves to read books. Her favorite movie is any of the Toy Story's or just within the last week "Beauty and the Beast". She can hold her own against Bryson and Carley and she pushes and shoves when she doesn't want them. She loves to snuggle. She is an early riser and wakes up at 6:00 and usually we just snuggle in bed. She has the cutest giggle and I love to hear her laugh. She loves to play dolls and house with Carley. For her birthday we had Sarah make a toy story cake and because she was turning 2 - it was a toy story 2 cake. maddy recieved all toys related to toy story. She loves buzz and to say she wants to watch the show she does the buzzing noise like a bee.

Maddy running out excited and seeing the presents

Opening presents

A buzz lightyear. After opening the Buzz she didn't want to open any more and she even pushed the presents away. We helped her with the next one and once she saw what was inside she put her whole body in the bag to get the toys out. it was so cute. In the bag was a soft woody, jessi, and buzz doll

Undoing the stupid wrapping that held buzz in the box

there is still a wire attached because you had to take buzz apart to get it off and she wasn't patient enough

Sarah is her favorite person when she is around. She loves Sarah and we love the cake she did for Maddy.

Blowing the candles out

Yummy Orange Julius

2011-03-01T14:28:00.003-07:00

I feel like I don't blog very much any more so I am going to try harder to do more posts to remember what everyday life is like these days.
Anyways orange julius have been a tradition in our family since the winter after Eric and I got married. When he was younger and living in Bakersfield they used to go to orange orchards and get "juice oranges" and have fresh squeezed orange juice. So that first winter and every winter since whenever someone is coming up from Bakersfield we would have them bring oranges up. Some years we would get 1-2 boxes other years we would get 4-5 just depending. I always thought that i needed the oranges from Bakersfield, but this year Spencer wasn't able to bring any up so I started buying oranges from the store - I think the produce man thinks I am crazy. I figured that if oranges were less than $0.50/lb it is cheaper and TASTES LOTS BETTER to juice the oranges yourself than to buy the "fresh sqeezed" oj from the store. So far this year I think we have gone through 7-8 boxes of oranges. (each box weighs 40 lbs)
My kids love fresh oj and we make orange juilius at least 4-5 times a week. What started off as just oj, bananas, and ice cream has now added raspberries. My favorite is still without the raspberries, but the rest of my family loves it with raspberries. Also I just recently learned how to make homemade yogurt and I freeze it in ice cube trays and use that instead of ice cream. I love our healthy breakfast full of vitamins.
Oh and another thing that makes squeezing the oj fun is that I use my grandmother's 30-40 year old procter silex juicer that is the best.

Maddy loves the orange julius. She makes the funniest slurping noises as she is drinking and of course makes a mess all over her face. But she is so cute doing it.

Carley is 5

2011-02-15T09:40:00.005-07:00

Carley turned 5 the end of January and she wanted an ariel birthday party so for a present eric and I got her a ariel costume that she could wear to her party. She was so excited. She had a friends birthday and they could come dressed up as any princess. Also Eric's sister makes cakes (http://www.sarahjanecakes.com/) and made an awesome ariel cake for Carley.
My mom was in town the next week so we also celebrated with her and then we had a family birthday dinner the next week. Carley is a joy to have in our house and is the typical girl who loves princesses and dolls and all things girly

New Years Day

2011-01-28T17:45:00.002-07:00

We forgot to take a picture of all the grandkids on Christmas so we had to make sure and take some on New Years Day when we were all together. I have to do some editing, but to get that many kids to look at the camera a once and smile, I think we did ok.

the kids deserved a crazy picture after taking all the other pictures.

Bryson's first time snowboarding

2011-01-28T17:40:00.002-07:00

For Christmas Bryson got a snowboard so we went up to A-Basin in Colorado one day while we were there. I like the 20 minute drive to the resort in Utah not the 90 minute drive in Colorado. Anyways, Eric was teaching Bryson and they had a lot of fun.

two thumbs up at the end of the day. I think eric might have a boarding buddy

To get to A-Basin you go up over loveland pass. We stopped to take a pic on the way home.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-28T17:30:00.002-07:00

This year for Christmas we drove out to my parents house in Denver. We had a really nice drive over with great weather and the kids were good. There was no snow in Denver until the week after Christmas. the kids love playing with their cousins and had a blast Christmas morning
Bryson running out to see all the presents Christmas morning

Carley finding her pile of stuff

Bryson and his skateboard

maddy's favorite gift was the stroller and baby doll.

Carley in front of the tree

Maddy didn't want her picture taken

Bryson in front of the tree

Maddy and all her loot

Carley and her princess dolls

Bryson's cool jacket from Santa

Bryson with all his loot

Bryson's favorite present -- an Ipod touch. It is what he plays with first thing when he wakes up, first thing when he comes home from school, and falls asleep with it. needless to say we have taken it away a couple times because he should be doing homework.

Near the end of present opening Madalyn finally figured out that she liked to open the wrapping paper.

Grandma and madalyn

Carley and her pillow pet

Bryson still loves the legos and Aunt Debbie helped him build his airplane.
We had a great Christmas with family.

November and December

2011-01-12T11:37:00.002-07:00

So I am way behind on blogging and updating, so I thought I would combine a whole bunch of events from November and December into one post and then maybe I will get to Christmas sometime and posts about that.

Between November and December Bryson lost 3 of his front teeth. He would come home one day saying his tooth was loose and then within 24 hours it would be wiggled and pulled out and you could already see the new one coming in.

Grandma and Grandpa Denver came out for Thanksgiving and we took Grandpa to a BYU football game. We got season tickets this year and it has been so fun just to go with Eric and Bryson. Bryson is a crazy true blue Cougar fan. We had a blast at the game and had a fun time with Grandpa too.

While Grandma and Grandpa were here we decided to go bowling. Bryson thought he knew how to bowl, but little did he know the Wii doesn't help in real bowling. We had bumpers in and out of the whole family Carley won and Bryson got last place. We had a really sad looser and a real happy winner

Bryson had his piano recital in December and did awesome. He memorized Jingle Bells and played it very nice and then did an ensemble piece with some other kids and also did good. He loves playing the piano and can pick up on the music quickly and has it memorized fast. His favorite song that drives dad nuts is Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Carley had her dance recital and danced to Frosty the Snowman. She loves dance and has a fun time.

The Wednesday after school got out the Kelly's did a sleigh ride in their pasture. it was so much fun and the kids loved it. They had a small sleigh that I liked, but the kids liked the bigger sleigh that was like a flat bed being pulled by horses. It was a fun day even though it was raining, at least there was snow for the sleighs.

North Pole Express

2010-12-15T17:28:00.002-07:00

We had the opportunity to go on the North Pole Express today. Eric took off work and we took Bryson out of school. The kids had fun on the train and then we got to see Santa again at the North Pole. This was a good looking Santa. It was a fun day as a family.
Acting silly at the train station

Bryson on the train

Carley on the train

madalyn on the train

Bryson and Madalyn

Bryson and Dad

Bryson with Santa

Carley and Santa

Madalyn still wasn't sure about Santa

A beautiful picture of the north pole (aka soldier hollow) I love that I live in this beautiful valley. We had a fresh dusting of snow this morning.

Mom and madalyn

Carley, mom, and Madalyn

All three of the kids with Santa.

Town Christmas Party

2010-12-15T17:23:00.002-07:00

Each year, Midway has a town Christmas Party. At the end Santa comes. This was the first time Maddy has seen Santa so she wasn't quite sure, but after the candy cane she was happy. Bryson asked for a skateboard and Carley asked for a pillow pet.
Bryson and Santa

Carley and Santa

Maddy wondering who this man is

Maddy starting to cry

The candy cane makes it all better

christmas lights at temple square

2010-12-07T10:30:00.003-07:00

Monday night we were in Salt Lake so we decided to go to the lights on Temple Square. I love seeing the lights. The kids had fun too.

In one of the nooks of the temple. Maddy is getting to be a cheese with the camera

When Maddy rides in the stoller usually one child rides on the back and one walks. Eric was pushing the stroller because I was taking pictures and Carley asks if she can ride on his back. So he is pushing Maddy, Bryson and carrying Carley.

Bryson and Carley in front of the Christus statue

These pictures were taken before our ward christmas party

O Christmas Tree

2010-11-30T09:03:00.002-07:00

We put our Christmas tree up last night for Family Home Evening. My kids love it. Our ornaments are handmade or bought when we are on vacation or have special significance. Eric's mom gave us all of his from when he was little. The kids love putting them up and remembering where we got them. They fought over who would put the star on top of the tree so Eric had to lift both of them up at the same time. I also had to get a picture of Maddy helping although she really took the star off. We had a great night listening to christmas music and putting the tree up.

Beautiful Sunset over Mt Timpanogos

2010-11-30T08:59:00.002-07:00

I love my view out the front of my house. Mt Timpanogos is a beautiful mountain and I remember since I was little my Grandma telling me about the indian princess laying down. Her head is on the left and then her arms and then her legs are bent. It took me forever to finally figure it out, but everytime I look at it I love it. My blog header is of a sunset that was taken on an Easter night four years ago. I happened to be looking outside last week and this is what I saw. I love it.

San Francisco

2010-11-10T20:12:00.002-07:00

I love San Francisco. To give you a little background I was born and lived in the Bay Area until I was 10. A lot of my early childhood memories come from going to San Francisco with my Mom. She worked in the TransAmerica Building (or pyramid) on the 33rd floor. I used to love going to work with her on Saturdays or when I was sick. You could walk around the whole floor of the building and get a perfect panorama of San Francisco – the bay bridge, golden gate, Alcatraz, Coit Tower, and many other sites. I remember for lunch we always went to China town and got Chinese food. When I was little we went on the cable cars and to Alcatraz and to Fisherman’s Wharf. I lived there during the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake and will always remember watching the news and seeing the bay bridge collapse. It has traumatized me with bridges for life.
Eric had a conference in San Francisco in September, but it didn’t work out for me to go with him. When he got back he told me he didn’t see what was so special about San Francisco, it is full of crazies and homeless people all over the street. To me it holds the memories of my childhood
My Mom still goes back to the bay area for work a lot so I finally found a time to go with her and leave the kids. The last time I was there I went with my Mom, but I also took Carley with me and she was 5 months old.
This time my main point was shopping, but I also wanted to go and take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point. Out of all my memories I never went there. Fort Point is military fort that was built during the civil war to protect the city. When my oldest brother was in 5th grade he was able to spend the night with his school class and reenact parts of the war. I was excited to go and see the fort and see the Golden Gate Bridge. I knew the city always had fog, but I was so sad when I couldn’t even see the outline of the bridge when we got there at 11:00. We walked around the fort and then had lunch and walked around some more. We decided to watch a movie about the making of the bridge at 1:30 and when we came out the fog was finally starting to clear. I was so excited. I finally got my pictures. Even though my Mom wanted to walk across the bridge I told her I would never go. I didn’t even want to drive across – it terrifies me. After taking pictures we went and shopped and shopped and shopped some more for the rest of the weekend. We had a lot of fun and I had fun being in the city

The first picture I took

the fog starting to clear

Sail boats in the bay

Fort Point

Clear Skies

One of my favorite pictures

My mom and I on the roof of Fort point with the bridge in the background

A view of the city. The pointy triangle building or pyramid is where my mom worked

A big chevron ocean tanker was going under the bridge

A funny story with this. About five minutes before this picture was taken a guy had stopped with his bike to take a picture. I guess he didn't realize that the waves splashed on the land he got drenched. A convertible car also got drenched. It made us laugh

Halloween 2010

2010-11-03T10:12:00.002-07:00

This year our family did the star wars theme for Halloween. Bryson wanted to be Luke Skywalker so I had Carley be Princess leia and Maddy be Yoda. it worked out great. The kids had so much fun. We had a ward trunk or treat Saturday night, but it was raining the whole time so we moved it inside. Eric took most of the pictures while I was passing out candy. The kids loved going around and collecting candy. After the first candy maddy had a death grip, but then she realized that if she put it in her bag she would get more.

Bryson, Maddy, and Carley

The Snow Family

Maddy Yoda

A rodeo clown

I loved this costume. It was homemade and it was a tree.

These costumes were also homemade, the dad also dressed up, but isn't in the picture. Yo Gabba, gabba

Yoda running away.
We had a fun night. We didn't go around the neighborhood because it was raining, but the kids got enough candy that they were happy and on sugar highs all night.

Princess Party

2010-11-03T10:06:00.002-07:00

Carley had two princess birthday parties the week of Halloween. Good thing her Cinderella dress from last Halloween still fits. The first one she went to her friend Stella had a princess come. Her name was Princess Amerah. She read a book and sang and danced. The girls loved it. Maddy wouldn't sit still and watch as she read the book, but she had a lot of fun.

The birthday princess Stella

the first snow

2010-11-02T10:20:00.002-07:00

So on Oct 26th we got our first snow. Bryson woke up in the morning and wanted to go right outside and play and shovel before school. he loves the snow. I didn't get any pictures of the girls, but Maddy loves picking up the snow and playing with it. This is the first year she can really understand and play in it and I think she likes it. Carley also told me after it snowed that we shouldn't eat yellow snow and I asked her why and she said that it was pee. I asked her where she learned that from and she said her friend Jed. She makes me laugh

Fall Break we went to the Zoo

2010-11-02T10:13:00.002-07:00

So even thought I have lived in Utah for more than 10 years I have never been to the Hogle Zoo. I always seem to go to the Denver zoo when we are out visiting family. So over Fall Break I decided to enjoy the nice weather we were having and go to the zoo. The kids loved it. They had a baby elephant that the kids loved watching and Maddy loved getting out of the stroller and getting up close. I have to say the Denver zoo is better, but it was a fun day with the kids

Bryson and Carley watching the elephants

Maddy watching the rhino

Carley and Bryson with a giant tortoise in the back ground

maddy getting up close

Fall Pics

2010-10-01T15:27:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday we took a drive up the Alpine Loop to see the fall colors. And of course I had to have family pictures. We found a new favorite spot to take pictures. It was so beautiful.

This is the best picture of all three of the kids. I couldn't even photoshop it to make it better. Maddy was not happy. All they wanted to do was climb and hike around

Soccer

2010-09-28T20:13:00.002-07:00

It is soccer season again and i have finally figured out my camera and lens that have been giving me fits. Eric and I got some awesome pictures of Bryson playing tonight. he scored one goal tonight, but last saturday he scored 3 and last tuesday he scored 2. he is still one of the smallest even though he is one of the oldest. he runs his heart out and loves playing. he is always after the ball and loves playing every minute. Tonights game we happend to play against my cousin's little boy McCrae and he also scored a goal in the game.

Eric's favorite pic of the night

McCrae heading towards the goal

SCORE

Bryson scoring his goal

Cousins

2010-09-28T20:08:00.002-07:00

Lori and justin were in town last weekend and we had to take some pictures of all three cousins that are within 3 months of each other. it was so fun to get together even though we only saw them for a couple hours. Aston, Madalyn, and William.

The last swim day

2010-09-28T20:03:00.002-07:00

It has been a warm September here and they kept the pool at Grandma's house open for an extra week. This is our last swim for the summer. We played with the boogie board that we brought back from hawaii and everybody was screaming and fighting over it, including Madalyn. Bryson had so much fun trying to surf and Eric had a blast reliving his childhood days of jumping into the pool with the boogie board and surfing.

Madalyn loved being pushed on it.

Or sunbathing on it.

William and Madalyn

Just a fun picture of maddy. Just imagine the pool ring as a purse.

Carley Preschool

2010-09-28T19:59:00.002-07:00

Carley has started another year of preschool. This year she has a new teacher, her name is Miss Karen. She goes with two little boys that are from our ward and some good family friends. She loves it and is excited to go. She even waits outside for the carpool. She is learning so much already. She knew how to write and spell her first name from last year, but in the first few weeks she can now write and spell her last name. She wasn't very excited about her pictures and wouldn't smile nice so we either got a funny smile or a posed picture.

Maddy had to be in the pictures too.

Hawaii 2010

2010-09-17T12:13:00.003-07:00

In August we were lucky enough to have Make a Wish send us to Hawaii. While Bryson was in the hospital we filled out some forms. It took him awhile to finally figure out what he wanted, but in the end he wanted to go surfing. Who would have thought a boy living in a land locked state would want to go surfing, but that is what he wanted. We figured the best place to go would be Hawaii because the water and weather is always warm. We made plane reservations in June, but we didn't hear from Make a wish until a week before we were to leave as to where we were staying or what we were doing. We were a little nervous at first, but everything turned out wonderful and we had a great time. We did lots of fun things and had a lot of fun with the kids. It was a great family vacation, a good break, and a fun trip right before school started. We are so blessed that Bryson is healthy. It seems like so long ago that he was in the hospital, but everyday that I look at his scar across his stomach I am reminded of it. I am so grateful for him in my life. I tried to post in order, which means I had to do them backwards on blogger. Anyways, there are probably 5-6 posts below with a lot of pictures, so enjoy.

The Beach

2010-09-17T12:11:00.002-07:00

What is the first thing you do when you go to Hawaii - You go to the beach. What do you do every day that you are there. You go to the beach. Needless to say we went to the beach a lot while we were in Hawaii and the kids loved it. We dumped sand out of pockets and picked it out of hair for days. Oh well that is what makes it fun. Bryson even go to catch a sand crab.

Bryson and Carley

Bryson and Dad

Dad taking Bryson into the water

Dad taking Bryson even deeper

the sand crab

drinking the milk from the coconut.

The BIG DAY

2010-09-17T10:20:00.003-07:00

The main reason for this trip was because Bryson had a wish to go surfing. he finally was able to do that. he had a private lesson and the teacher was able to help him get up on the board. He had so much fun. We thought he would be warmer in Hawaii because the water is warm, but because he doesn't have much body fat he still got cold really easily. He got so cold they came back in and got a dry rash guard and warmed up and then went back out.

Carley being a surfer girl

Maddy on the board

Bryson and his instructor learning how to paddle out and stand up
Bryson learned shaka or hang loose.

Eric practicing on the board

The group lesson

Going out for the first time. Bryson had it easy

crashing through the waves

Bryson standing up on the board

Going back out after getting a dry rash guard

Family picture with the surf board.

Hanauma Bay and snorkling

2010-09-17T10:13:00.002-07:00

Monday we went the Hanauma bay and went snorkling. Bryson was a scared at first, but he finally went out with Dad and saw some of the fish.

Eric and I then both took turns going out and looking at the fish. It was cool. I love the colors and seeing what is hidden under the water. We stayed there most of the day. Even though it was busy it was a nice beach for the kids to play at. Carley found another little girl and played with her most of the day. She also loved to stick her face in the sand. Maddy loved playing in the sand and we finally got her to take a nap. Bryson loved splashing in the water

Polynesian Cultural Center and Laie

2010-09-17T10:06:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday we drove over to Laie. We first went to the temple and took a family picture.

We then went and had lunch at giovanni's and had their famous shimp. Carley loved the shrimp. Bryson and madalyn ate a hot dog.

After lunch we went to the PCC. The kids loved it. This is the guy that does the "act" for showing how to break and eat coconut.
They also liked watching the guy climb the tree.
The next show we went to Bryson tried to follow the dance of the Tahitians.

Carley loved the hawaiian dancing girls. We walked around and did some more shows, then we went to the luau. This is the pig we ate.

After I wanted to take pictures of the kids with their leis. They cooperated just enough so I was happy with the pictures.

We then went to the show. We were on the front row on the side and could really see the dancers. The show started at 7:30, but the kids still weren't used to Hawaii time so really it was 11:30. Bryson stayed awake the whole time. Maddy fell asleep at the beginning and Carley made it half was through. Bryson loved the fire dancers at the end and because we were so close to the stage he could feel the heat. The show went through the life of a boy. The next day Carley kept talking about the new born baby in the show and when he got married. it is funny the things she catches on to and like. It was a very long day and we didn't get back to the hotel until late, but the kids had a lot of fun and at the end of the trip we asked them what their favorite day was and Carley says the PCC and Bryson says surfing and then the PCC.

Wednesday

2010-09-17T09:54:00.002-07:00

First thing on Wednesday we went to the flea market at aloha stadium and bought all our souvenirs. We then drove up and got some shaved ice at Matsumoto's. The kids loved it, along with the adults.

We then went and found a beach that the kids could play at. I love writing the kids name in the sand and then taking a picture. I did this while we were in California too. I think I will do it everytime we go to a beach.

I wanted to catch the sunset on Waikiki one night and it happened to be that night. We barely made it in time and it was so crowded on the beach where we were that I couldn't get a very good picture of the kids.

The Dole Plantatiion

2010-09-17T09:45:00.003-07:00

Because this was out last day we had to stay busy because our flight didn't leave until 10:00 pm and we were checked out of the hotel. Eric took Bryson and Carley to the beach this morning until we had to check out. My kids love the water and sand and we love the beach. We kept toying with the idea of buying Bryson a boogie board, but we never did. About 30 minutes before they left the beach somebody gave them one because they were leaving. They got to play on it for a little bit and then Eric decided to pay the luggage fee and bring it home - it was his souvenir.
On our last day in Hawaii we went to Pearl Harbor and the Dole Plantation. Unfortunately it was really windy and they had closed the ferry that takes you to the USS Arizona so we didn't stay at Pearl Harbor very long. We went up to the Dole Plantation and went on a train ride and saw a lot of pineapple plants. I guess I have never seen any pictures of how pineapple grows because it is really cool. Anyways I guess you learn something new everyday.

After the train ride through the pineapple plants we went and had a pineapple whip. It was delicious. I love pineapple.

We were still really early after we left the Dole Plantation so we found a park to play at and then went and got some really yummy authentic Chinese food thanks to google maps. Most of the time google maps does a good job getting us were we need to go and finding good places to eat. Occasionally it took us through some funny parts of town. We were all exhausted by the time we got on the plane and were all ready to fall asleep. The kids did really good on the flight to Las Vegas. Then we had a 4 hour layover in Vegas and that about did us in. Finally we got to Salt Lake and we picked up some quick Cafe Rio to take home. We got home and Eric, Bryson, and Carley fell asleep, but Madalyn was wide awake because she slept in the car so i had to stay up with her. We finally got our time back in order after a couple days. It was such a great trip and a fun time with the family.

Busy, busy busy

2010-09-16T13:46:00.002-07:00

This time of year is busy one. I have been wanting to post pics and stories of our trip to Hawaii, but when I have a few minutes, blogger doesn't like me downloading pics. I have tried it for two days now. Anyways, I have been canning lately and taking kids places. This past week I canned 2 batches of tomotoes, 2 batches of salsa, and 2 batches of jalapeno jelly.
Bryson is loving school and Carley started preschool last week and it loving it. Bryson is also taking piano lessons and he starts soccer next tuesday. Hopefully one of these days I can get the pics to download.
It is starting to be fall outside. The mountains are full of orange and red. I can't wait for the aspens to turn light green. I love this time of year.

Bryson's 3 month check up

2010-08-31T10:05:00.002-07:00

Along with playing catch up I guess I better post on Bryson's 3 month check up yesterday for those of you who don't have facebook. He had a CT scan and X-rays last week and we met with the doctor yesterday and everything came back clean. There is no sign of cancer in his body and he is a healthy, active, energtic little boy. He has even grown 2 inches since January and is now 45 1/2 inches tall. He doesn't gain much weight so he is still skinny (43 pounds) and has no meat on his bones, but he is growing. We love him so much and even when he is testing my patience (which is everyday), I have to remind myself how lucky we are that he is healthy.

Catch up

2010-08-31T10:03:00.001-07:00

I am trying to play catch up and get all the things we did over the summer on the blog. Here are a couple new posts from the end of July and beginning of August.

Fair Days cont.

2010-08-31T10:02:00.002-07:00

Along with the demolition derby we also got to go to the rodeo the next week. We usually go to this every year and my kids love it. It is fun to get them dressed up and go. They love to watch the animals and I especially love the bull riding.

Wasatch County Fair Days

2010-08-31T09:58:00.002-07:00

I love when fair days come around in Heber. It is so much fun and lot of things to do. It also reminds me of when I was younger and these were the weeks that I would come and spend with my grandma and go to all these activities with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. My brother Nathan was in town for Bryson's birthday and the reunion and he wanted to go to the demolition derby. I haven't been since I was in high school, but I got tickets and we went. It was a little red neck, but we had fun- apart from the drunk people behind us getting in a fight. Bryson loved watching the cars smash into each other and couldn't stop talking about it for weeks. he would even go outside with his friends and get his cars and play derby.

Feher Reunion

2010-08-31T09:47:00.002-07:00

My Aunt and cousin planned a reunion with my dad's side of the family who doesn't get together very often. This was right after Bryson's birthday in July so my parents were able to go. It was fun to see Aunt, Uncles, and cousins who I don't see very often. Also to see all the cousins who have kids just like I do. We met at Vivian Park and had a picnic and played some fun games and talked. It was a lot of fun.

My aunt Jeannine blowing bubbles with Maddy and Carley

Jeannine helping Carley on the monkey bars

Jeannine helping Morgan, my brother's daughter on the monkey bars.

Carley

Morgan and Carley. They are about 9 months apart in age. They had fun playing with each other.

My cousin Tiffanie's husband Steve and their little boy Calum.

Maddy playing in the rocks

The adults playing some funny game that I can't remember the name to.

Jeannine and Natalie and her kids

Playing in the water
Thanks for a great time everybody.

Bryson's first day of 2nd grade

2010-08-26T15:32:00.005-07:00

Back to school. Bryson had his first day of 2nd grade today. His teacher is Mrs Hogan. As we were walking home from school he told me that he likes to go to school. On the first day of school
every year I do a candy gram. He reminded me this morning that he would be expecting one when he got home from school.

Bryson's bday invitation

2010-08-26T07:55:00.003-07:00

This video was too big so I had to upload it to youtube.

I am finally posting Bryson's birthday invitation. I love this invitation. Eric did an awesome job. When I was searching on the internet for ideas I came across an invitation similar and I asked Eric if he could figure it out. Of course he did and it only took him a couple hours to put it all together. it has taken me so long to finally post it because I wanted Eric to take the address and phone number off which he finally did. Anyways - enjoy!

If you didn't see Bryson fighting darth vader at disneyland, you didn't watch long enough - Eric put it at the end of the invitation

Bryson's Star Wars Birthday

2010-08-09T08:53:00.002-07:00

Because Bryson has gone through so much this past year and we are so grateful to have him be healthy we decided to do a big celebration for his birthday. I usually do a kids/friends party and then a dinner for family, but this year I decided to do it all together. We had it at the church which was nice because it had lots of room for the kids to fight. I loved the invitations. Eric did such an awesome job. I will put them up later, but when I was looking for ideas there were some on youtube which changed the beginning credits of star wars to make it invite the friends and talk about the birthday boy as a young padawan having a jedi training. We put them on a cd and delivered them to the kids. I made light sabers out of swim noodles and the kids loved fighting with each other. At the party we did a mock disneyland jedi training. Eric trained all the kids to fight against darth vader and then we had darth vader come and all the kids got to fight against him. (Darth Vader was a guy from Eric's work that also came to the hospital when Bryson was sick.)
Eric training the kids how to fight the jedi way

Darth Vader coming in

The kids loved fighting darth vader

Our family with darth vader

Bryson with his Star Wars cake. Eric's sister Sarah made the cake and it was awesome. She did a bunch of characters in fondant all around the cake and then darth vader is on top. Bryson loved it

Bryson was ready for battle

Madalyn and William fighting each other.

Bryson fighting with one of his friends

The whole birthday group with darth vader

William with darth vader. He had no idea darth vader was behind him or else he would have cried.

Bryson and darth vader

Bryson, Eric, and darth vader.

Bryan, Sarah, and Willaim with darth vader

Nathan, Debbie, Morgan, and Caden with Darth Vader.
My family was in town for a family reunion so it was nice to see them and have them come to the party and support Bryson

Sarah with darth vader and her awesome cake

The kids fighting with light sabers.

It was such a great night and the kids had so much fun.

Boating

2010-08-05T10:54:00.002-07:00

Continuing Bryson's birthday week my parents came out with my neice and nephews and my brother and his family also came out. Bryson loves going boating so we took them all out on the boat. The kids loved to tube.

Dawnelle wake surfing. My first time. It was a lot of fun.

Debbie wake surfing

Nathan wake boarding

Dawnelle and Debbie on the tube

Eric wake surfing - Bryson took the picture

Nathan wake surfing
It was a fun day out on the lake. We got pushed out because of bad weather, but we had a lot of fun. We got home and we planned for all the adults to go out to dinner. We got 2 babysitters to watch all 8 kids at my house and my mom, dad, Nathan, Debbie, me, and Eric went out to dinner at Snake Creek Grill. it was really good. It has been along time since just the adults went out to dinner. It was a nice relaxing dinner

We were getting everybody ready for bed out front and maddy decided she wanted to lay down with them. it didn't last long, but it was cute for a picture

The next morning Morgan and Carley with lovely crazy hair.

Bryson turns 7

2010-08-05T10:03:00.002-07:00

Bryson turned 7 a couple weeks ago and we had a fun birthday week. His actual birthday was on Sunday so we had family come over and eat dinner and open presents from Mom and Dad. He asked for turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, and rolls. It was good. We then did presents. He has been wishing for the Lego Death Star set. That is what he got. It has 3808 pieces. He was so excited. Eric, Kevin, and Bryson spent the next 2 hours putting it together. Eric and Bryson then spent the next morning working on it. It is still a work in progress. It is a fun project for Eric and Bryson to work on together.

Maddy and Carley helping Bryson

the instruction book for the "death star"

the first night working on it

this is what was completed after the first night

Seven peaks

2010-07-30T06:22:00.002-07:00

Last Friday Eric didn't have to work because of Pioneer Day so we decided to take Bryson and Carley to Seven peaks. Grandma watched Maddy at her house. It has been a long time since either of us had been there. We had a blast and the kids had fun too.

Bryson and the tube

riding the waves in the wave pool

Eric teaching Carley and Bryson how to surf the wave

Bryson sitting in the tunnel in the kiddie pool

Carley was grins all day

Carley on the slide

Bryson fell asleep around 4:00
The best part was that by 4:30 I was ready to go home, but Eric wanted to get his money's worth and stay until the end. We stayed for a little longer and then the power went off at the park, so no one could go on any of the slides. Eric stood in line and got comp tickets so we can go back again.
My kids are such fish. They love the water and everything to do with it, I think they get that from their dad. Bryson is a great swimmer and loves to swim. Carley is close to swimming by herself, but she likes to use a noodle to help her. They love to go to Grandma's apt pool and swim or to the kamas pool

A couple more camping pics

2010-07-27T14:43:00.002-07:00

I happened to be downloading pics from the point and shoot camera today and realized that Eric took pics when he took the kids on 4-wheeler rides. I thought a couple of them were really good and the scenery was beautiful. He has such a good eye for placement of people and scenery for pics. Here they are:

Camping Day 2

2010-07-26T14:16:00.002-07:00

Our second day of camping we woke up and made a wonderful dutch oven breakfast of omelets and muffins. We then went on a hike. Of course Maddy fell asleep. We took some good pictures of all three kids. Bryson also had fun riding and driving the four wheeler. We had a fun family trip and the kids keep asking if they can go camping again.

Camping Day 1

2010-07-24T10:54:00.002-07:00

I have always loved camping. I love being outdoors in the beauty of nature and I love that there is nothing to disturb you in the mountains, except for maybe some of the animals i.e bears. We decided last weekend was the best weekend for us to go camping. Eric took Friday off work and we went up in the mountains east of Heber and found a spot and pitched our tent. About 2 hours after we pitched the tent some other campers came and informed us that two nights ago a bear was spotted in the area. We didn't move campsites because we already had our stuff set up, but needless to say i didn't get much sleep and when Carley said her prayers she blessed that the bears wouldn't get us. We are thankful to say we didn't see or hear them.

Our campsite in the aspen trees.

Maddy and Carley

Carley camping

Can you spot Carley- she blends right in with the aspen trees.

Whenever I take pictures she always wants to do silly faces

All the kids love going 4-wheeler rides with Eric. This is what Carley looked like when she came back from a ride with Eric. I guess the vibration just put her to sleep.

Maddy also loves the 4-wheeler

maddy also loves smores. This was her first taste and she loved it and kept begging for more.

maddy in the trees. I love her smile and laugh

Madalyn escaping camp. She loves to wander and she was in heaven

This is the Place

2010-07-20T14:03:00.002-07:00

Also when my parents were here we took the kids to This is the Place Heritage Park. I have never been there before and it was a lot of fun. The kids loved it. They got to pan for gold and turn the gold in for candy. This was Bryson's favorite. He is obsessed with money and earning money and buying things. We also went to an "old days" school. They showed us what they did if the kids were bad. Bryson is showing that they had to stick their noses on the wall and hold books behind their backs. Carley is showing the dunce cap. It was a beautiful and not super hot day so we had a lot of fun. It was fun going with my parents and having them help out with the kids.

4th of July

2010-07-20T13:58:00.002-07:00

My parents came out to visit the weekend of the 4th. It was fun having them here. My mom, aunt, and I went to the Stadium of Fire at BYU with Carrie Underwood. It was really good and a fun girls night out. Our family has loved salmon, even the kids and when my parents are in town they love for us to grill it for them, so that is what we did for dinner. Of course my kids wanted to do the fireworks and sparklers so we had fun watching them. I had fun with my camera and sparklers.

Soccer Camp

2010-07-20T13:55:00.002-07:00

After we got back from Colorado, with a flat tire on the way home, Bryson had soccer camp. He had so much fun. It was also during the world cup play so one day the camp dressed up and he wanted USA on his face. He is getting to be a good soccer player and loves to play.

Fun in Colorado

2010-07-20T09:29:00.002-07:00

Here is some fun we had in Colorado a month ago. I was able to get together with a good friend from high school. We went with her and her little girl to Tiny Town one day. It is up in the mountains and it has a lot of different tiny houses and buildings and then a tiny train for everybody to ride.

We then went to the zoo another day with a group of people. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast.

Makena also had a roller skating party and my kids loved it. It was their first time and they had a lot of fun.

Makena's Baptism

2010-07-14T10:35:00.002-07:00

One of the main reasons we went to Denver was to attend Makena's baptism. She was baptized by my Dad and it was a beautiful day for her.

Makena's Birthday

2010-07-14T10:32:00.003-07:00

A few days after school got out we did a road trip to Denver to visit my parents and to attend the birthday/baptism of my niece Makena. She was supposed to have a swimming party, but it was rainy and cold so we did it inside my parents house and played some games, ate, and had fun. Denise made the cutest cakes. She made barbie dolls for the girls and little clown cakes for the boys and Maddy. They all loved them. My kids love to hang out with their cousins.

Carley's Preschool

2010-07-14T10:27:00.002-07:00

I just realized that I never posted about Carley's end of the year program for preschool. This was her first year in preschool and she has Miss Julie. She loved going to preschool and loved playing with the other kids. She would always come home singing the songs she learned and telling me all the stuff she did. We will miss Miss Julie next year because she isn't teaching, but we had an awesome year this year and just like Bryson I am sure Carley will always remember Miss Julie.

End of school for Bryson

2010-07-14T07:18:00.003-07:00

I am still so far behind in posting. Before school got out Bryson and all the first grade had a program. It was a tribute to Midway and it was so cute. My favorite song is a remake of John Denver's song "Country Road" They sang lots of songs and did some skits. I was so grateful to just see him up there singing after all that happened this school year. There was an awards assembly a few days later and they awarded people 100% attendance and I thought to myself, Bryson should have received the most missed attendance. I never counted, but I think he missed around 40 days of school. Even though he missed that much school he still ended up above normal on reading level and passed everything else for 1st grade. I am so grateful to his teacher Mrs. Miller and all she did to help him.

Lagoon 2010

2010-07-07T14:49:00.002-07:00

I am trying to play catch up with my blog. At the beginning of June Overstock.com, Eric's work, had a day at lagoon. This year was different because they rented out the whole park. It was so nice to have short lines and not be so crowded. We left Madalyn with one of eric's cousin's and took Carley and Bryson. They love the rides. Carley's favorites are the bumper cars. Bryson loves to ride the roller coaster and tidal wave. We had a fun day with the kids.

Carley dance

2010-06-05T12:24:00.002-07:00

It is the end of the school year and a lot is going on. Carley had her dance recital two weeks ago and she was a cute little bumble bee. Her dance studio does a really nice job and has a theme for all the little kids classes. This year it was Alice in Wonderland. Carley's class was the very first ones on stage and were the bumble bees in the garden. Miss Jamie was her teacher and she is so patient and kind with the little girls. It has been so fun to watch Carley dance and learn and have fun. It brings back memories of when I did dance as a little girl.

Memorial Day

2010-05-28T18:06:00.004-07:00

Eric was asked by Overstock to help with a tribute for Memorial Day. You can see the video by going to www.overstock.com and clicking on the memorial day tribute and then watching the video.
Here is the link to the video
http://www.overstock.com/53980/static.html?TID=C:MOD_B

Bryson's update

2010-05-14T08:18:00.003-07:00

After a stressful week of waiting and worrying we had scans on Wed and a drs appintment on Thurs we were told that Bryson has no signs of cancer in his body. It has been 5 months since it has all started and I am thankful to have some relief. We will have repeat scans in 3 months, but for now we are going to enjoy life and have a fun summer. He is back to his normal energy level and loves to go to school, rough house, play soccer, read, fight light sabers with dad, and play legos. I am thankful for everybodies prayers in his behalf. He is truely my little miracle and I love him so much. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for helping me get through this trial. I have learned a lot through the past couple months, but one thing that sticks out is to enjoy your children and to love them like you might not be able to do it again. I know I took them for granted before hand, but now I try and love a little longer, be a little kinder and enjoy the day with them - (Although some days it is easier than others)
On our way out of the hospital yesterday we stopped in the gift shop and found a cute doctors scrub outfit for him. And what better day to get it because his class what having a dress up day at school today so this is what he looked like going to school this morning. I love him so much!!

Mother's Day

2010-05-14T08:08:00.002-07:00

I was lucky enough to have my Mom out here for Mother's Day. On Saturday we got together with her family and had lunch and games for the kids. In the afternoon we went to Salt Lake and had a get together with Eric's family. Sunday we went to church and had dinner afterwards with Eric's Mom and mom. I am so thankful for my mom and for all she has done for me and I am thankful to be the mother of my children. I love them so much.

Emma and Maddy

Carley and Emma hula hooping

All the kids after they had won their medals for the games

Soccer

2010-04-27T19:52:00.002-07:00

We are once again in soccer season. The kids have had 3 games so far. Bryson is doing awesome. He might be the smallest kid on the team, but he goes after the ball with all the energy he has, which is often more than the biggest kids on the team. He scored two goals last Tuesday and one on Saturday. They didn't win tonight, but he played awesome. He loves soccer so much.

We also put Carley in soccer. She is still getting used to it and trying to focus on kicking the ball. It is so fun to go and watch the kids

Easter pictures

2010-04-27T19:46:00.002-07:00

Because we had General Conference on Easter Sunday I was unable to take pictures of the kids in their easter clothes. Then we were gone for 2 weeks so I finally got to them this past Sunday. The kids were so cute

I picked some tulips for the kids to hold and Maddy wanted to eat and tear hers apart.

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-20T13:04:00.002-07:00

For spring break this year we decided to do the Southern California trip again. We had a lot of fun with family and friends. My parents were able to come down for a couple days, we had some friends that live in Southern California spend some days with us, and we were able to see Eric's sister and her family and also his brother.

We drove and on the way down we split the trip and stayed a night in Las Vegas. It's a good thing because our ipod broke that showed the movies in the car. Luckily for the ride home Eric knows how to get things working so we stopped at the Apple Store and bought a cord so his iphone could show the movies instead. It was nice to have coming home because we didn't split it up. Bryson and Carley did good. Maddy had her moments, but did relatively well.

We did Disneyland and Legoland again, but none of us had ever been to California Adventure so that was new and fun. We also did a couple days at the beach and a day in Bakersfield.

What a great way to make new memories. We had a blast! I love taking pictures and they remind me of the fun memories, so you are forewarned that there are a lot of pictures. I separated the posts into the different days we were down there for my own sake.

Disneyland

2010-04-20T12:57:00.002-07:00

We had a fun day at disneyland. It rained a little in the morning, but we stayed inside while it rained and the rest of the day was nice. Bryson's first ride was star tours and he did it a couple other times throughout the day. Carley wanted to see the princesses first.

Mickey Mouse

Carley would go on any ride that she was tall enough for as long as Eric would hold her and protect her. Riding on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

We had some friends that live in southern california come with us. It was fun to Barbie, Josiah, and Gabriella come. The kids got along great.

We had to watch the jedi training show and Bryson didn't get picked the first time so we went back again in the afternoon and he got picked this time. They trained him in the Jedi ways and then he fought Darth Vader.

Mom and Bryson rideing Autotopia

later in the afternoon Carley was able to see Princess Tiana and dance with her. She was so excited

Legoland

2010-04-20T12:51:00.002-07:00

Even though we just went to Legoland last October, Bryson wanted to go there again so we did.

Legoland is located in Carlsbad and is known for flowers. I wish we could have gone and visited some of the flower farms, but this is one we saw from the road - the american flag is made out of flowers

Beach/surf day

2010-04-20T12:46:00.002-07:00

Bryson has been talking about surfing since Christmas when he asked for a surf board and santa brought him one. Unfortunately the week in California wasn't very warm for surfing and the ground was rocky, but he tried for a minute. Luckily we were able to borrow a wet suit or else he never would have gotten into the water.

Maddy loved to play in the sand. She was good and didn't eat it.

Barbie, Josiah, and Gabriella met us at the beach.

Of course we had to bury someones legs in the sand.

Eric surfing - he is the one closest

Another beach day

2010-04-20T12:40:00.002-07:00

My dad came in last night when my mom left. Someone had to stay with my Grandma. We did another day at the beach. I was so excited that I could do some sunset pictures. Even though I had to bribe Bryson with $5 he was a good model and was happy and smiling for the pictures

Carley was a grouch that day and didn't want to take her picture with her name in the sand

Grandpa and Bryson

California Adventures

2010-04-20T12:31:00.002-07:00

On Friday Lori, Justin, and Aston we able to come down and go to California Adventures with us. We had a lot of fun with them. Both Bryson and Carley love baby Aston. My favorite ride was Soarin' California and Toy Story.
Carley, Aston, and Bryson

The whole group

Bryson, Lori, and Carley

Dad and Maddy

Glasses on and getting ready to go on the Toy Story ride

Carley, Minnie, Aston, and Dawnelle

Justin and Maddy

Lori, Aston, Carley, Bryson, Maddy and Grandpa Denver on a Bugs Life ride

Eric took Bryson and Carley on Tower of Terror and they both liked it. Bryson even went for a second time. (picture was taken of the tv screen showing the pictures at the end of the ride)

Lori, Aston, Maddy, Eric

Carley and Aston

Bryson and Aston

Carley, Woody, and Bryson

Carley, Mickey, and Bryson

I don't have any pictures of the Electric Light Parade, but we stayed until 9:00 and watched it. (We also arrived at the park at 8:30 - it was a long day) Carley and maddy were asleep and Bryson could barely keep his eyes open.

Bakersfield

2010-04-20T12:26:00.002-07:00

Our last day we drove up to Bakersfield to see Eric's brother and sister. We had to stop at our favorite mexican restaurant and stuff our faces with chips.

Then later that night Lori had Aston's first birthday party so we could come. She didn't like everybody cheering for her when she ate the cake so she started to cry

Happy Aston before

Crying Aston when we all sang to her

Happy now that she could eat without interuption

Bryson and Eric skiing

2010-04-09T20:18:00.002-07:00

Eric had promised Bryson he would take him skiing this season and he finally did it. Bryson was so excited to go. These are the pictures from before. Eric took some while skiing, but I don't have them downloaded yet. Bryson came home saying he learned how to turn and stop better and had a lot of fun.

Bryson's recognition at school

2010-04-09T20:10:00.003-07:00

Bryson came home with this note the other day "Bryson was recognized as being an exceptionally well behaved student at Midway Elementary. As a result of this recognition Bryson is one of ten students that has won the opportunity to participate in a train ride activity with Mr Kelly (principal) on Friday." This is an opportunity to celebrate the good behavior of Bryson. Each week every faculty member in the school is given a limited number of tickets to give out to students. Faculty members spend the week looking for a student to give their tickets to who exemplify our three school rules of being Safe, Kind, and Responsible. To be awarded on of these tickets is a big deal. Not only does earning one of these tickets mean the school will call home with a positive report, it also puts them in the running to participate in the mystery motivator activity with Mr. Kelly. This time the mystery motivator activity is the train ride."
I am so proud of Bryson and he had such a blast riding on the Heber Creeper. His friend/cousin McCrae was also on the train.
Bryson also had his SEP conferences this week and his teacher says that he is doing really good. Over 7 weeks of spelling tests his overall score was 97%. He is on reading level M which is above the level I he is supposed to be on. He does need to improve on handwriting and a couple other things, but I am so happy with how he is doing in school. I am so proud of him and I love him so much.

Bryson and McCrae

The group of kids with Mr Kelly

While we were waiting for Bryson to show up on the school bus I took some pictures of Carley and Maddy

Easter

2010-04-06T09:28:00.002-07:00

Be prepared for a whole bunch of pictures. We had a good easter this year. Denise, Makena, Austin, and Hunter came to visit Friday and Saturday. So the Easter Bunny came on Saturday. The kids were so excited. We also decorated Easter eggs together. The kids had so much fun playing together. We wished we lived closer.

Dying Easter Eggs

Looking for eggs in the house

Sorting and eating all the candy. Eric and Denise were mad that the easter bunny brought peeps for all the kids, but they are one of my favorite easter candies.

maddy had fun playing with all the empty easter eggs.

Hunter and Maddy playing together

Austin loved Maddy.

Madalyn loves this rocking catipillar, we bought it for Carley when she was little but she never liked it. Madalyn loves it. She rocks it and moves it across the floor and makes noises and sings when she is on it. it is so cute.
Because of General Conference the kids weren't able to wear their Easter outfits I bought them so it will have to wait until another Sunday. Eric's mom came up for Easter dinner, but it was a nice relaxing day at home. The only problem is that is has been snowing all weekend. I am ready for spring and sunshine!!

Random happenings of our family

2010-04-05T13:45:00.002-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went to the dentist and Bryson took this picture of Carley in the dentist chair.
We then went to Eric's grandma's and waited for him to get off work and then we went to Market Street Grill - one of my favorite restaurants.

One day we were able to see Uncle Stuart's police car. Bryson had fun turning the lights on and we put Carley in the back.

Some pictures of Bryson and Carley playing with Eric.

Madalyn pushing the bucket around our house. She isn't quite walking, but very close

Carley's 4 year old pictures

2010-04-05T12:50:00.002-07:00

Since I didn't get a chance on Carley's bday (january) to take her pictures I did it a couple weeks ago. I found this cute idea online with the balloon and snow so I tried it with her. I had a hard time because I wanted it to be warm for her, but the lighting wasn't the best and she kept squinting her eyes and she was still cold. Anyways here they are

Madalyn's birthday pictures

2010-03-19T16:23:00.006-07:00

I was able to take some pictures of Maddy today for her 1 year old pictures. Here are my favorites. She wouldn't smile, but I still got some good pictures

Madalyn's 1st birthday

2010-03-07T20:22:00.003-07:00

Madalyn turned 1 last week, but we waited to celebrate her birthday until we could have family together. Eric's Mom, brother and sister's family were able to join us for dinner, presents and cake. Carley and Bryson helped maddy open her presents. Carley loved maddy's new doll. Maddy just loved the wrapping paper

Sarah made a cute cake for maddy. She made one that she could just eat by herself and dig into. She was very dainty at first, but once Bryson and Carley started eating she joined in. Don't forget to have the milk with the chocolate cake

Time to go take a bath!!

Maddy is a joy in our house. We all love her smile and laugh. She is getting so big. She is crawling and pulling herself up to things, but she doesn't walk yet. She loves to eat most things and follows you around and begs for food if you have some. She has a mouthful of teeth with 12. She goes off and on sleeping through the night. She jabbers all the time, but only really says dada. I can't believe a year has gone by since she was a newborn.

Bryson the Trooper

2010-02-20T20:36:00.003-07:00

Bryson The Trooper

It obviously has been a while since we have posted to the blog. Most of your are aware of the reason why but for those that we don’t talk to often or have gotten mixed stories I thought it would be appropriate to bring you up to date. For privacy I will leave out certain specifics about medical conditions, just give us a call if you have any questions. We like to hear from people too! Sorry if it’s a bit long.

On Dec 8^th we started the evening by attending our church Christmas party at around 6pm. We had got there early because Dawnelle had been asked to help serve food. Consequently I had all three kids at the table with me. Bryson had brought a tennis ball to play without asking or else I probably would have said no. But I didn’t prevent him from playing with it because it did keep him occupied and even the High Priest Leader started playing with him as well.

Right before we started to eat Bryson came back to the table after playing and said he had fell on the tennis ball and was crying very loud. I told him that he needed to be quite because we were just about to bless the food. Repeated requests failed and he kept crying. Usually I would just have taken him to another room to let him scream but for some reason I decided to take him home and leave the girls to friends at the table to worry about.

When we got home he didn’t want to walk, so I carried him into our bed where he could watch TV and hopefully think about something else then pain. He started making attempts to throw up an empty stomach and got very pale. So I called Dawnelle’s Aunt who lives 5 minutes away and is also a nurse at the IHC hospital here. On the way over he stopped crying, got even paler and started falling asleep. He lay on the couch while Dawnelle’s Aunt looked over him and found that the area he was complaining about there was nothing there to really be concerned about. Since it was not a head trauma she was not worried about him falling asleep.

I took him home and let him sleep. He woke up in the middle of the night for 2 hours in pain and we decided we would go see the pediatrician in the morning. But when he woke up at 7am he seemed to be much better (isn’t that how it always works). Usually I have a hard time going to see the doctor but this time Dawnelle was right that we still needed to go.

The pediatrician checked for the appendicitis of course which was a negative, but he found that he was really guarding the area that he had landed on the tennis ball. After calling Primary Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) they suggested we come down for a CT scan. Carley was in school and we had our 10 month old, Maddy with us.

We drove 60 minutes to PCMC and checked into the ER. The first thing they did was X-Ray Bryson which they came back and said that they still were not sure what was causing the pain. They suggested a CT scan to which I consented to an Ultra Sound. The Ultra Sound went well and they came back and said that they are concerned and need to do a better image to which I consented to a CT scan. Bryson had to drink about 6 cups of punch like fluid. When he got to the 5^th cup he threw quite a bit of it up and was pretty upset. They took him into the CT scan anyway where I was able to stay with him.

About 45 minutes after the CT scan the ER doctor came in to the small room that we were in and delivered the news that made that day the worst day of my life. They had found a mass and were not sure what it was. I can’t tell you what that felt like to have that message spoken to you, but I am sure some of your have had similar events in your life.

Thankfully my Aunt drove up and picked up our 10 month old as it was very difficult to keep her occupied and deal with the terrible news. They told us we would be talking to other doctors and Bryson would most likely be admitted to the hospital.

Our cell phones ran out of batteries after 20 minutes of finding out about Bryson and there was no long distance calling at the hospital.

They told us Bryson would be going into surgery that night to remove the mass. It ended up that the Chief of Surgery at PCMC took our case and actually did a laparoscopic biopsy the next after noon. They surgery went well and Bryson did awesome. They said they could not immediately tell what they were dealing with and said it would take some time to get the information back. 7 Days in the hospital and the answer came back. They don’t know. But they were sending things everywhere and had some ideas.

At that time they suggested that we go in and completely remove it and have a better chance at finding out more information, but that they would do it after Christmas and new years. Our plans to go to Denver were a no go and we had Christmas morning on a webcam with the grandparents in Denver.

After new years we returned to PCMC and Bryson got an MRI and underwent the very invasive 4 hour surgery. Afterwards he was in the PICU for 2 days and then at the hospital for 5 more days. He seemed to recover well after which the doctor came and talked to us again about what they had found out. She said they had determined that it was a very rare form of Pancreatic Cancer rare in Adults and even extremely rare in Children. She suggested that they go back in and remove 70 percent of his pancreas etc for less chance of reoccurrence.

A few days later Bryson went in for his 3^rd surgery. It was very similar to his previous surgery for initial recovery. After 7 days Bryson went home but this time with a few tubes still in him. At first he went to school and things started to get normal again. 3 days after school he was bleeding from one of his tubes and running a fever. Dawnelle took him to the ER at PCMC where they did tests but could not figure out what was causing the fever.

Two weeks later he still has on and off fevers with another CT scan and a PET CT scan. He doesn’t sleep more then a couple hours before waking in pain. It is ironic but Maddy just started sleeping through the night well. Yesterday they removed the two tubes from him and we hope that helps quickly with the pain and fever. Those hopes changed as he reached a fever of 104 and we took him to the ER yesterday. He was admitted and placed on antibiotics, but they still have not found the cause of the infection. He will be in the hospital for a couple more days.

We have been speaking with the Pediatric Oncologist and they do not have a good suggested plan for treatment. The PET CT scan has come back almost completely negative for any current tumors but it is really too early to tell. His case in adults is so rare that they don’t have very good studies that suggest any form of Chemo is successful, and in children it is almost unheard of, plus the fact that they are not sure if there is anything to treat at this point. So the good news is that there is no Chemo (as of today). The bad news is there is no good chemo treatment.

Here is a little information about Pancreatic cancer. There are 3 different types that have different diagnoses’; Bryson’s is the most rare. Pancreatic cancer is the 4^th largest killer but only represents 2 percent of total cancer occurrences.

Here are some articles if your still interested in reading more….

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Pancreatic+carcinoma

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/28/health/he-closer28

I couldn’t finish this with out saying thank you to the friends and family who have helped during this ordeal. Dawnelle's mom spent 40 days at our house with Carley and Maddy and making numerous trips to and from Salt Lake with the girls to visit Bryson. If there is one thing I suggest is that if you ever come across someone who has had something terrible happen to them, don’t ask what to do, just figure it out and do it. It takes someone special to go beyond asking what they can do to help and just do something. From clearing snow while we have spent nearly 2 ¼ months in the hospital. To food that has been brought over, and watching our children. It has been tough but it would have been 1000 times harder with out good people around us. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers offered.

Our family after Bryson's 2nd surgery

Bryson after his first surgery

Bryson's favorite visitor. He always smiles when Maddy comes. When we ask if he wants anything from home to bring to the hospital he always asks if Maddy can come and visit

Bryson has had some special visitors. Andrew George (a BYU football player who caught the game winning touchdown against University of Utah this year) came to visit and brought Bryson some special gifts. Bryson was all smiles with his presents

He also had darth vader come and visit. He is a big star wars fan and we had many star wars marathons at the hospital.

In the past two months while all of this has been happening Carley celebrated her 4th birthday and Maddy started to crawl. She also went from 2 teeth to 10!! The girls have also been troopers. We love all three of them!!

Carley's cinderella cake made by Aunt Sarah