The Heward Family

Sledding

2012-01-31T21:39:00.000-08:00

During our Christmas break we decided to take the kids sledding and got to go with some of Blair's family. We went up by Pomerelle to the snowmobile lodge. We got there and there wasn't that much snow so we were a little concerned we wouldn't be able to sled. Well there was just enough where the sleds and tubes run down the hill and it was just enough for the kids.

Here is Mckay and Lyann pulling some sleds up with Rhianna riding in the sled and Cameron pulling up the rear.

Cameron taking his first ride down.

Statton and Rhianna being pulled around the parking lot. I think us adults were still trying to get our gear on so the kids were waiting patiently.

What a good dad to make the effort to take us all sledding and pull his kids around on the sled. Madison enjoying the ride. It's his idea every year to go and he gets everything ready including finding all my winter gear as well. I kind of drag my feet about going but once I'm there I enjoy myself.

Good ole Uncle Mckay taking his niece and nephew down the hill. Rhianna kinda got slumped down in the sled and didn't enjoy that so much. You can't see it but Statton has the biggest grin on his face.

Blair taking his girls down the hill. The picture doesn't show it but Madison enjoyed the sledding even though she would sometimes get pouty she would still walk over and try to climb in the sled signaling to us that she was ready to go again. Cassidy's enjoyment is obvious.

Madison enjoying the snow. She's looks so cute all bundled up.

Here is Rhianna giving me a wave.

I believe this is Cassidy giving me a smile. She sometimes gives me the weirdest faces when I'm trying to take her picture.

Statton showing his usual enthusiasm. He always gives me the greatest faces!

Grandpa and Grandma with Rhianna trying to keep the fire going so we can stay warm inside the lodge. We had a great day and were all worn out by the time we were done. If I recall though not one of my kids passed out on the way home. I thought they would be exhausted but they laughed and chattered the whole way home. I found this trip funny because at one point Statton came inside and hung out for awhile saying he was cold while Cassidy stayed outside and kept going down the hill. This was so weird because usually Cassidy would wimp out and be inside while Statton is usually the die hard one who would be outside playing. It's was an interesting switch for them. Also, Blair had started sending the kids down in sleds by themselves and would have someone stand at the bottom to catch them just in case. I don't know if it was lack of snow or just the kids lack of weight but they would slow way down before the bottom so it was safe for them. Even though the first time I saw Blair send one of the kids down I went running over and dove in front of them to catch them midway down. Blair just kept telling me to let em go so I finally did and sure enough they slowed down so I felt safer letting them go by themselves. It was a fun trip.

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well we got to have a week off of work so we headed home to Idaho to spend Christmas with our families. We have done Christmas with my family the past couple of years since that's where we stay when we go home so this year we thought it would be fun to have Christmas morning with Blair's family. We sent a memo to Santa and told him to drop gifts off at Heward's house. Blair's dad wanted to call the kids Christmas morning and tell them that Santa dropped their gifts off there. Blair told him to call about 7:30 and atleast Statton should be awake. Well early the next morning at 6am Blair's phone was ringing and of course woke both of us up. Well it was Lynn wanting to talk to the kids. Since we were all in bed still Blair told his dad to call back in about an hour or so. Well little miss Cassidy had woken up and wandered into our room a little after 7 and Lynn called back. Well the little stinker wouldn't even talk to him. She must have been feeling a little quite and shy and still trying to wake up considering she's usually my one that sleeps later than everybody. So we woke up the other kids put their coats on and loaded them up and drove over to Heward's.

It was so fun to watch the kids open gifts this year because they are started to understand the whole Santa idea and they can dig right into their gifts and really enjoy what they got and be excited about things. Madison even enjoyed pulling strips of wrapping paper off her gifts. I don't think she was as excited as Cassidy and Statton but she seemed to enjoy the going ons of the day.

Grandpa and Grandma Heward were so helpful in helping all the kids open their gifts.

It was fun to open gifts with Blair's family even though it was crazy to haul gifts back and forth. After gifts the kids played with some of their toys while us girls got some things prepped and ready for dinner that afternoon. We then all got ready and went to church. They had a wonderful program of music and it was fun to see some friends and family. It's always nice to have Christmas fall on Sunday because it just sets a nice tone for the day and really puts the whole season into perspective. We then came home finished getting dinner ready and enjoyed a wonderful meal. I believe all of Blair's family was there for dinner except for lyann and her family. Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa in Thermopolis

2012-01-12T22:08:00.001-08:00

Blair had gotten transfered in December to Thermopolis for a month job. They had the most amazing library storytime! The lady who does the storytime knows all the kids by name, she does wonderful interactive songs with the kids, and they always have a fun craft afterwards. Well they were having Santa and Mrs. Claus coming to visit on the wednesday before Christmas so it was a packed house when we got there. After you sat on Santa's lap you got a candy cane and your choice of a beanie baby! I tell you what small town storytime is the way to go! Statton was the first one to sit on Santa's lap.

We had visited a Santa at the mall in Casper about a month earlier and the kids liked to wave and say hi but when it came to sitting on his lap there was no way! So after seeing a few Santa's around they have really warmed up to the idea and are now happy to sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. Statton always asks Santa for a Wac-a-mole game and Cassidy asks him for an Ariel dress. The only problem is they assume that because they asked for it Santa is suppose to give it to them right then and there. I have to explain to them everytime that you just ask for what you want and then Santa will bring it to them for Christmas.

Madison watched all the other kids sit on Santa's lap and thought it looked like fun so when Santa and Mrs. Claus gestured her up to them she was more than happy to go..until they picked her up and tried to sit her down then she wanted nothing to do with them. She was more than happy afterwards when she got her candy cane.

Notice the face

The kids are showing off the beanie babies they chose. Cassidy got a snail. Madison got a unicorn. Statton picked a duck. Those things have not left their side since. Except Madison. She was more than happy to give hers up come bedtime in exchange for her favorite yellow ducky. (she loves that thing)

Halloween in Casper

2011-11-01T20:40:00.002-07:00

Three weeks after moving to Casper we were celebrating Halloween! Statton wanted to be a pirate and Cassidy wanted to be a mermaid. Madison had no choice she was going to be a witch. I found these costumes online and ordered them a few weeks weeks ago. Statton picked his out himself. Cassidy had originally told me she wanted this one but as we looked at others that were not as modest she wanted those because they were pretty or reminded her of her barbie movies. So I convinced her to get this one and I would dye her hair red to look like Ariel. When we first got the costumes Statton of course loved his and Cassidy was so upset because she couldn't swim like a mermaid and the skirt was so long she was stepping on it.(I think she really thought she was going to be a real mermaid and swim like one.) So with some pinning and tucking we were able to make it work and after spraying her hair red she was a happy mermaid.

They are all very cute in their costumes. I felt silly about Madison's white shoes but footwear didn't cross my mind for her until I put her costume on that day. Sorry Madison! Other side note. My original thought was to spray Cassidy's hair and then I was going to twist the sides around her little seashell headband. I didn't want to spray the seashell headband red. Well once I got to spraying it with the red dye it didn't want to move and if you tried to move it flakes of red would fall and make a mess so I opted to leave it.

Moving to Casper gave me the opportunity to look up an old college roomate that I had at Utah State. Krista and I lived together for 3 semesters before she got married and then I got married and moved away so we lost touch. So it's been fun for us to see each other again and we were laughing about how after almost 10 yrs we just act like were good friends with no time lost. Krista invited us over to go trick-or-treating and participate in their tradition of decorating candy apples. So we met at her house and had some pizza and then the kids got to work decorating.

Statton's finished apple.

Cassidy's finished apple.

Cassidy loves Krista's little boy. He's about 6 months old and was a puppy.

My little witch.

Here was all the kids right before we left to hit the neighborhood. (Top-bottom L-R)

Kate and Cassidy Madison Statton Jonas holding Landry

Just a few pics of the houses we hit up. My kids have never been door-to-door trick or treating. We usually hit the trunk-or-treats. So this was a fun change for us.

You know it's cold when you can lick the snot off your face!

There were so many fun decorated houses in the neighborhood. Statton came away from this one just in tears because he didn't like the scary witch. After some consoling he was good to go. There was one house with a woman all decked out in a witch costume and the kids were pretty leary about going to the door so Blair had to take them up to the porch so they could get their candy. Ah sweet innocence. The kids had a blast and loved trick-or-treating. They also loved all the candy they got in their buckets. The next day they were both asking if they could go again because it was so fun. Next year babes, next year!

We love Halloween!

2011-10-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. I love the decorations, the costumes, baking fun treats, everything! So when I came across these cute halloween pajamas I couldn't resist. So I snapped a few photos of the kids in their new jammies.

I also loved them because they glow-in-the-dark. So it was absolutely adorable to see Madison glowing like a little skeleton baby in her bed. Cassidy's didn't glow-in-the-dark and I tried to tell her that at the store and tried to convince her to get the ones that did but she insisted on the ones she's wearing so needless to say she was pretty upset at bedtime when her jammies were the only ones that didn't glow. She cried and told me that we had to go back to the store and buy her the ones that glowed but I told her I wasn't buying her new jammies and she would just have to wear what she picked. She was over it by morning.

Statton still likes his jammies and wants to wear them every night. I let him go about a week and then he has to get them washed and he hates wearing anything else. Getting geared up for Halloween!

We loved Meeteetse!

2011-10-11T20:23:00.001-07:00

I have to say when Blair and I first drove into town I was a little hesistant about living here. Then when I was talking to the guy renting us an RV spot and was told the closest grocery store was 30 miles away I really didn't know how I was suppose to live like this. Honestly I cried all that night and I think Blair was a little concerned about me. Well I have to say being LDS certainly has it's benefits because you really get to meet some nice gals. Brenda was the first to befriend me and we planned a lunch date at the park with our kids and she invited some of the other girls from the ward. Then some of us planned to walk in the mornings at the local school's track and we had fun walking and talking while our kids played in the sand(long jump pit). So when Blair told me that his job had finished and we had to be moving again I was heartbroken. I had met some wonderful gals that I loved hanging out with and just the most amazing down-to-earth girls. Thanks to Brenda she arranged for all of us to get together and have dinner the night before I was leaving. It was such a fun night! We met for dinner at 7 and I didn't get home until almost 11pm. That's why I make this post so I can always remember those wonderful gals from Meeteetse!

Larissa Lapierre, Amberli Shumway, Brenda Allen, Kristen Heward, Jennifer Loveland, Catherine Leithead. (Thanks Amberli for getting one of drunkards from the bar to take our picture!)

Since we werent leaving until that afternoon the next day I took the kids over to Brenda's so they could see some of their friends one last time.

Statton, Ella (holding Lily), Lucy, Cassidy, Madison, and Anastyn. We missed some of the other kids since they were in school or gone that day.

We really ended up enjoying our time here and made some great friends!

Madison's Teeth

2011-10-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well Madison's bottom teeth just barely were breaking through when she turned one. Her top teeth came through a few months later. These pictures were taken on Sept. 9. I was trying to get a picture of her cute teeth coming through and her brother and sister wanted to get it on the fun.

Statton actually helped me get this picture he pried her lips up for me and then let go so her teeth were exposed long enough for me to get a shot. Thanks buddy!
What a happy little pair. Notice the death grip on the ducky. She loves that thing and packs it around everywhere.

What a great bunch of kids I have. For as much as we are moving around right now they are always so willing to do whatever. I just hope they can survive having me as a mom. Great patience is needed when you have children. Still wouldn't trade them for anything!

Visit From Grandparents!

2011-10-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well we had a busy September. Labor day weekend Blair's folks came and played with us. We met them in Cody on Saturday, had lunch and walked the shops and bought Cassidy and Statton a pair of cowboy/cowgirl boots.(gotta fit in) Went to church on sunday and decided to take a drive up to Kirwin. It's an old mining town that's only accesible a few months a year.

Cassidy just loved Grandpa Heward and always wanted to hold his hand. Statton found a big stick and walked around with it the whole time.

All these buildings are now boarded up and but it use to be a thriving town. From what I read the town was prone to avalanches and many people were killed. I believe that's why they eventually left because they got tired of it. It's tried to be revived a few times but never quite got going.

I also read the Amelia Earhardt and her husband fell in love with the area and she wanted a cabin built here. Her husband had just started on it when she took her solo flight across the atlantic and never returned. He then abandoned the building of their cabin. It was only a few boards high.

This was the mine shaft.

Monday was Labor day and Meeteetse has a parade in the morning. The kids had fun picking up the candy.

Madison was happy to take whatever candy someone would give her.

This boy makes me laugh. He was so insistant on wearing shorts with his cowboy boots. For some reason it works and he looks adorable.

This is our Bishop. What a nice guy! He just got put in a few months ago and I believe it's the first local bishop the ward has had in a while. The last few have been called from Cody, 30 miles away.

Look at the loot! These kids got more candy then I knew what to do with.

We were so excited to have Grandpa and Grandma Heward spend the weekend with us!

I made Blair go run in the races for the 30-60 year olds. It was pretty funny to watch.

Even better was having Lynn go run in the 60+ race. Well we finished off the day by going and having a bbq lunch in the park and then we sent Grandpa and Grandma Heward back home to Idaho. The kids cried.

The following weekend we got to have my parents and Grandma Merz (my mom's mom)come to visit. Since they arrived on a friday evening we had Saturday to play so we went to Thermopolis and went to the Dinosaur park. After that we went swimming, had a picnic in the park, and more swimming.

I can't believe how big my kids are getting. I think if I could freeze them in time this would be it. They still love ya, listen (most of the time), and can somewhat do their own thing. I love it!

Grandpa Darrington packing Madison and walking with Statton. Blair and Grandma Darrington (Grandma Pam as the kids like to call her) in the background.

This dinosaur was huge. It almost touched each end of the museum. The description on him is below.

Madison with Grandma Darrington. Sunday we went to church we fed them lunch and sent them back to Idaho.We had such a good time with both sets of Grandparents and happy to have people want to come visit. The kids certainly enjoyed it and also cried when my parents and grandma merz left.

Swim lessons

2011-08-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well since there is not much to do in Barstow I was getting bored and wanted something to keep us occupied for a few weeks so I thought swim lessons would be the best fit. The kids love the water and it would be something to keep us busy for a while. I didn't really expect them to learn much like I said I was more just wanting something to keep us busy. So our first day they tested the kids to see where their water ability level was and then broke them up into seperate classes. So 9am for swim lessons is pretty early and it's not the warmest time of the day so the kids weren't the most thrilled about being cold that early in the morning.

They took the little kids on the first day over into the kiddie pool just to let them blow bubbles and paddle on the edge. As you can see Cassidy mostly just cried that first day and kept telling me she was cold. Statton on the other hand wandered around the kiddie pool playing and splashing instead of listening to the lifeguard when she asked him to do things. Silly kids. I had to keep reminding myself that this was just for fun and not to get worked up that they weren't following directions all the time.

This was the end of day one.

Well the next few times after that first day went much better. I had a few talks with the kids about going to swim lessons and how they need to listen to their teacher and stay with their class. Cassidy assured me that she wasn't going to cry either. Thanks Cassidy that would be nice.

So by the time our two week session of swim lessons was over both Cassidy and Statton were floating on their backs and would paddle on their belly's and put their face in the water. I was proud of them for being good listeners and willing to try what their teacher asked them to try. Good job!

Disneyland...third times a charm!

2011-08-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Disneyland here we come...again! So we decided to hit Disneyland one last time before we left southern California but this time we would stay the whole day as a family. We woke the kids up around 6:30a.m. and got them fed and dressed and headed out the door. I had to snap this quick picture of the twins. When I went in their room to wake them up this is what I found. Statton was at the end of Cassidy's bed passed out. I had no idea when he crawled into bed with her because he was tucked away in his own bed when I checked on them the night before. It was pretty funny.

This was part of the jungle cruise. It was one of the first rides we decided to hit that morning. Since we had already seen the princesses and some other characters the last two times we wanted to just hit rides. The kids and I on the Tarzan attraction. Which Blair keenly pointed out to me that it use to be the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house.

For some reason when you go to Disneyland you just feel the need to do the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. In hindsight I wouldn't have let the kids go. The twins were ok but some of the loud noises they didn't care for but they didn't act freaked out with the creepy pirates and stuff. Madison on the other hand didn't like it when it got dark and she started crying when we went through the part where they were shooting fake cannonballs. Needless to say she was not a fan and I felt like an idiot parent for taking my small kids on such a ride. Live and learn...mental note made.

I believe this was the Winnie the Pooh ride. Super cute and the twins loved it.

My two favorite boys!

I believe both Madison and Cassidy had passed out at this point and only Statton was awake and he really wanted to ride the teacups. Since Blair gets motion-sickness easy with things like that he opted to stay with the sleeping girls while I took Statton on the teacups. He laughed the whole time and enjoyed spinning the teacup. Fun memories with my boy!

I think this hands-down was my favorite kid ride. The buzz lightyear ride. The kids enjoyed it and so did us adults. You get to ride around and try and shoot the aliens. I know the kids really liked it because they wanted to go again.

We took a break and got some frozen lemonades and went and found a spot on the sidewalk to watch the parade. The kids loved the frozen lemonades, even Madison was digging in but had a hard time with her spoon and the frozen lemonade. They were all sticky messes by the time they finished those but a great refresher on such a hot hot day! I didn't get a picture of it but Cassidy was so sweet and would get herself a bite and then get a scoop for Madison and feed her. Super sweet and it was so cute to watch. I beleive at one point Statton was standing by the stroller and Cassidy was feeding everyone a turn of lemonade.

Madison enjoyed the parade along with the other kids. Cassidy was a little busy stuffing her face at this moment.

Well we finished off our day going to toontown and riding the rollercoaster which the kids thought was way fun. We then went and waited in line for Dumbo and rode that at the kids request. They enjoyed all the rides and were a little sad to go. This is Statton sitting in the Dumbo ride waiting to go. We had such a fun day with minimum whining or Blair and I having to get after the kids. I thought it was so nice and glad we were finally able to make a full day of it together as a family. We decided though to wait until the kids were much older before we took them again. Then we can ride the really fun rides!

Seaworld...All Day!

2011-07-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about Blair and I planning things to do but we didn't decide to go to Seaworld until friday night at about 9pm. It seems like everything we've decided to do is very last minute and not a lot of preplanning. So we got the kids up at 6am, got some gas, got some donuts and chocolate milk and off we went to San Diego. They were running a special that I saw advertised on tv. Adults got in for the price of a child plus you got two days of Seaworld for the price of one and the second day can be used anytime before December 2011. So we are going to try and hit Seaworld another time before we leave. (Whenever that may be)

We ended up hitting the dolphin exhibit first and the kids thought they were pretty neat.

This was a fun little starfish pond that the kids could reach in and pet the starfish.

This is Madison at the Starfish pond. Happier now that she's had a quick bum change.

Just checking out the tortoises.

We decided to hit the Shamu show first thing that morning. We debated between dolphin show first or Shamu. Blair made a good choice and said Shamu which turned out nice because every single Shamu show after that was filled about 45 minutes before show time. The kids are busy eating fruit snacks while we waited for the show to start.

What a cutie! Yes Madison your cute too!

We noticed at the Shamu show that they didn't have any of the trainers in the water with the killer whales. I remeber they use to ride them around a little bit and at the end of the show they would come out of the water on the tip of his nose and get pushed into the air. They must have changed that after the death of that trainer in Orlando.

Blair went and bought some food to feed the Sea lions. Cassidy and Statton each got a turn feeding a Sea lion. They thought that was pretty funny. Those Sea Lions see that you have food and they come right up to the glass and stand on their tails and just beg.

I believe I took this picture with all the kids in front of the Piranha tank. Pretty fitting considering I think all my kids are biters! They come by it rightly though since my nickname growing up from my cousins was Piranha.

Looking pretty Diva at the Sea lion and otter show. That hat is suppose to be on Madison's head by the way.

This was a fun show to see mostly because before the show even starts they have one of the crew out making fun with the audiance and then he did a bunch of dancing to different famous songs. Mostly making fun of them and it was hilarious to watch.

Just a cute picture of Statton while we were waiting in line for the Shark exhibit.

It's a giant tube underwater and you stand on a conveyer belt to go through this tube. Kinda quick I wish you had more time to watch but the kids still enjoyed it.

This was probably the highlite for the kids. They have a Sesame Street area and it's all geared towards kids so they have a giant plastic mat where the kids can run around a play with blocks and it's all soft. This was a nice break between things plus it got everyone out of the sun for awhile.

The dolphin show!

Walking through the Wild Artic Exhibit.

We left Sesame Street early to hit the Dolphin show and the Wild Artic Exhibit so we went back so the kids could enjoy some of the other things before we headed for home.

Cassidy just insisted that she wanted to climb into the rope tree house. So I took Cassidy and Statton and we climbed up the giant rope made ladder thing to get into the Tree house.

We were having such a great day right up until about 2 minutes after this picture was taken. If you look hard enough and the end of this rope hallway there is a small twisty slide for the little kids to slide to another platform and then exit to the stairs. Well their is an attendant who guards the slide to make sure one kid goes at a time and apparantly you have to be atleast 37 inches to go on the slide and the attendant lady measures each kid. This slide is smaller than one you would find at a playground. Remember this place is geared for kids right! Well anyway we waited in line and the lady tells Statton to stand up to the measuring tape. Well he barely passes and gets to go on the slide. Cassidy(twin sister) goes up to go down the slide and the lady gently grabs her and tells her she needs to measure her so Cassidy stands up to the tape. Well poor thing is about 2 inches shorter than Statton and is told she can't go down .Well she doesn't understand what she's being told and goes to go down the slide and the lady tells her again "You can't go down" and so I had to pull her away from the slide and then pick her up while she starts sobbing because she doesn't understand why brother got to go and she can't. So she's crying on my shoulder saying "I wanna go on the slide" and I'm tearing up because my heart is just breaking! I told Blair what happened and he said I should have just hurried and pushed her down the slide anway. So as always a fun day ends in tears.

This was my last shot of the day. As we were walking out they had a small little area shooting water so I let the kids go and play a little bit which helped calm Cassidy down after the slide fiasco. I liked this picture because Cassidy and Statton are holding hands walking up to this place. I thought it was a sweet moment between brother and sister. The good part of the day is that we spend the Whole Day! Yep. Blair didn't get called to work all day. Good Times!

Disneyland... Sort of

2011-06-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Well we thought with the four day memorial weekend we would hit Disneyland. Well a day before we left we found out that Blair was going to be on call for work. Well the guys he works with said its pretty rare to be called in. Well we had already booked the condo for the weekend and it was too late to get a refund so we thought we would take our chances and try to go anyway. So we drove to the condo and got all settled in went to dinner and hung out a little bit before putting kids to bed. Well as luck would have it Barstow ended up having the most horrible wind storms that weekend. So at a little before 1 am Blair gets a call on his phone to come back to Barstow to work. Seriously?! So Blair left about 15 minutes later leaving me in Anaheim with no car and 3 kids. Ok no big deal I thought we'll just hang out at the Condo and go swimming or something. There was a bunch of eating places just around the corner so I thought I could atleast walk to food. Blair called early that morning saying he was done and would be back shortly. Ok great we can still go and enjoy ourselves. Then about an hour later he called back to say they got another call and to not expect him until super late. I was feeling a little abandoned and helpless at this moment but after feeling sorry for myself for about 5 minutes I decided that we were here and I was going to take my kids to Disneyland. With or without dad. So I bought some tickets for Disney and some tram passes and hit the bus stop with 3 kids in tow and one jogging stroller. Thanks to a lot of nice bus drivers and passengers I was able to get help with the kids and stroller on and off the tram bus.

Here is Cassidy and Statton by the Cinderella's Castle.

Here we all are meeting Mulan. We stood in line for about 1/2 hr waiting to see some Princesses. The kids were so excited to see them but once we got inside they got very shy.

Statton went right over to Belle and sat down next to her and just stared at her. It was pretty cute. Cassidy was my shy one.

I was able to convince her to go give Ariel and hug. I tried to tell Statton to go give her a hug but he just went and sat down by her and then got up and started showing her the fish on his shirt. What a funny boy.

Statton playing in the jail over at toontown.

Cassidy and Statton posing for a picture by one of the brooms in Mickey's house. Just passing the time until we got to meet Mickey.

They take you in groups to see Mickey. They first take you into a large room and then when the other group is done they lead you into a smaller room where Mickey is waiting. Well while we were in this larger room the lady opened the door and said "Who's ready to meet Mickey!" Well we were in the back of the group and Statton breaks rank and runs by everyone else to get to this lady. It was funny. I didn't realize how excited he was to see Mickey. Madison wasn't sure about Mickey she kept giving him funny looks and when he would lean in for a picture she would push him away.

Well the kids really wanted to ride the train so we went over and waited in line and rode the train that goes all the way around the park. Well by the time we got back to our original stop my featherweight traveler Cassidy had passed out on me. So here I am getting off the train with a baby on my right hip and a 3 yr old asleep on my left shoulder and another 3 yr old trailing behind me. I got a lot of looks. Oh well we managed. So to kill a little time and let Cassidy sleep a little bit we went over to Pixie Hollow. Statton is posing by the giant book full of facts about fairies. This place was really cute.

This is Cassidy and Madison at Pixie Hollow.

What a cute little boy!

Well after having some dinner and catching the parade I didn't think I could handle standing in any more lines by myself with 3 kids. So I decided to let the kids go back and play at Toontown for a little while. Here is the kids just playing in Goofy's car in front of his house. I love this picture of Statton I think I was telling him to smile so he was just saying it back to me and I caught him in some weird moment.

I guess Statton is playing Chauffer to Cassidy since she's riding in the back.

Well I was about done for the day but the kids talked me into letting them atleast ride the Carousel. Cassidy does this funny thing with pictures she always squints her eyes shut and smiles so I kept telling her to open her eyes and smile which results in her tilting her head back and opening her eyes really really wide. This picture I was telling her to put her head down so with all the direction of "Open your eyes, Smile, put your chin down." This is what we got. Not to shabby!

So Cute! I caught Statton trying to blow me a kiss!

Yep! Even Madison got to ride a pony. Can you tell she's going on 8 hrs with no nap and she's happy! What a die hard! We finally left the park a little after 8pm. I didn't want to try and wrestle with kids through fireworks plus deal with the after fireworks crowd on the tram.

Alright! Disneyland attempt Day 2!

Blair finally showed up back at our condo/hotel close to eleven oclock. Thinking that the worse was behind us with his call we decided to attempt Disneyland again the next day. So we got up early ate some breakfast and hit the tram to take us to Disneyland. Statton had been begging me the day before to see Goofy. So we decided that would be the first stop of the day and then we could go see Minnie like Cassidy wanted.

So here's the kids with Goofy! We only had to wait about 5 minutes that morning which was really nice.

So then we slipped over and saw Minnie. This is a little blurry but the only one I had. (That's what you get when you let some stranger try and run your camera)

After you took your picture with Minnie she directs you inside her house. Cassidy and Statton just loved her house! It took a lot of coaxing to get them out of there.

Statton is standing in front of the dishwasher that actually would turn on and light up and the dishes would swirl around inside. Both the kids thought that was great.

Next we decided to hit the Nemo ride. I thought the kids would really enjoy it and the wait wasn't too bad. Madison had fallen asleep as soon as we had hit the park that morning so I sent Blair on the ride with the kids while I walked around with Madison so she could get a nap. I gave Blair my camera to take some pictures and this was the only one he took. I guess I should be grateful for this one. Blair said the kids enjoyed the ride.

Well unfortunately this is where our Disneyland trip ended. While I was pushing Madison around I get a call from Blair who had gotten a call from his foreman saying that they needed him to come back to work. When Blair told me my heart just sank. I was very disappointed and sad that the kids wouldn't be able to do anything else. So after they finished the Nemo ride we headed out of the park went back to the condo and loaded up and headed back to Barstow. We decided that luck just wasn't on our side that weekend and we'll just have to try another weekend to come back. All in all the kids got to see a lot of the characters and meet some princesses. Hopefully next time we can see a little more of the park.

San Diego Safari Park

2011-05-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well we are off again on our adventures in Apprentice Lineman work. The California Apprenticeship office called the Mt. States apprenticeship office and said they would put some of their apprentices to work until work picked up back in the Mt.States area. So we got a call to ask if we would be willing to come to California and work for atleast a month maybe longer. Well heck yes we said. We are tired of sitting around waiting so California here we come. So we thought if we are only in California working for a month we might as well take advantage of the fun things they offer since we are close by. So we decided to hit the San Diego Safari Park our first weekend here.

They had these molded hand and foot prints of an actual gorilla and so I had everyone place their hands on the mold. We couldn't get Madison to cooperate so it's just Blair and the twins.

This is Statton's hand measured up to a gorilla. Looks like he's got some growing to do.

This is Cassidy's handprint. We hope she doesn't grow into that.

So as part of being the Safari Park they load you onto a train type bus and drive you around to see these animals in their "natural" (man-made) habitat. It was kind of fun. I've been to the Disneyworld Animal Park and it's so much better but this was still fun too.

Just a stop on the way looking at some of the different animals. It was a beautiful day. Supposedly mid 70's with a little bit of wind which helped keep it cool.

We stopped for a needed break and the Discovery Station. They have tables and chairs set up for the kids to color bugs, put puzzles together, and all sorts of stuff. They even brought out a rat for all the kids to look at and the the zoo lady told the kids all about them.

Blair and Madison getting some quality time. Madison is getting a much appreciated bottle. She is such a trooper. She took a nap that morning while we drove to the park but didn't nap at all that day while we were there. I think she whined the least out of all the kids.

I wish I could remember exactly what this thing was but it looks like some sort of giant lizard, iguana type animal. The twins thought it was funny to look at but only Cassidy was willing to stand next to the glass and take a picture. Statton wouldn't get to close before laughing and running away. We had an interesting day at the Safari Park. Glad to be close by to enjoy some of these fun attractions.

Baby Madison turns ONE!!!

2011-05-18T16:46:00.001-07:00

My precious baby girl Madison turned ONE on the 11th of May. I threw her a birthday bash the weekend before. We had balloons, a cake, party favors, gifts, and lots of wonderful family to celebrate with.

Blair and I got Madison an Alphabet train by VTECH. She has sure enjoyed the blocks to play with. You insert them into the train and they spit out the back into the caboose. It's pretty cute and she likes the sounds and colors of it.

I love this picture of Madison. She just seems so sweet and cute in this picture.

As always Madison had so many helpers opening presents for her and helping her play with her new toys. These are just a few random pictures of opening gifts. She got some new clothes, toys, dolls, a bracelet, and a book.

I really wanted a picture of Madison with Blair and I. It just seems like I never have enough pictures with both Blair and I with the kids.

Theres this wonderful website called cafepress that you can order pretty much anything off of. So for all my kids 1st birthday I like to get them some cute shirt or onesie to wear for their party. This is the one I found that I ordered for Madison.

I loved Madison's cake. It was pink and girly and it really showed that it was her 1st birthday. It was so hard to find a decent cake. Most cake places just have character cakes or winnie the pooh for little kids. So I was excited when I ran across this one. Here is Madison about to dive into her cake. I would like to say that this is her first taste of sugar but I really let my guard down with this kid. I usually try to be really good and not let my kids have any sweets before the age of one but when we were in Hawaii and she's begging to have a lick of my ice cream I couldn't resist such a cute open mouth and wide eyes. Plus with a Grandmother who's a pepsi-holic she's bound to get a drop or two!

Madison has always had these big blue eyes. I just love em!

Looking pretty messy!

Well she devoured her cake and loved every bit of it. Now it's time to get cleaned up but who wants to pick up that! Oh ok I will!Even though this little girl was a bit of a surprise I am so glad she decided to come when she did. I absolutely adore this little girl and she just melts my heart. Statton and Cassidy just love her and I'm so glad they are all close enough in age to really enjoy playing together. Madison just gets a kick out of her siblings.

Madison Doings:

-blows raspberrys

-Pulls herself up with things

-Gives open mouth kisses (mostly slobers on you)

-Loves to try and mimick things

-Loves her ducky

-Daddy calls her "super-pooper"

-Smiles so big

-Cheeser for the camera

-Loves to take baths

Hawaii 2011...

2011-04-08T20:25:00.001-07:00

So I got the amazing opportunity to visit Hawaii in February. My sister Sarah and her husband just moved over to Oahu in November and Sarah had her first baby in December. So my mom, grandma, me and Madison, my aunt and two cousins all decided that we must make a trip to see this new baby. Oh and Hawaii of course! So this cute picture is of my grandmother holding Madison, mom, my sister Sarah and her new little baby Kailyn.

This is my sister with her husband Stephen and their new baby kailyn. What a cute little family!

My mother and I sat next to a guy on the plane ride over to Hawaii who told us about this great place to eat called Dukes. He flies over to Hawaii a few times a year and actually owns a home there. He said all the locals go there and that we should eat there if we have the chance. So one night we got the notion for a night out and we went to Dukes. What a fun place. It's right off Waikiki beach and we got a nice table overlooking a pool and you could see the beach and hear the waves. We definetly would like to eat there again.

While walking down Waikiki Beach we passed this store and couldn't help to pause and take a photo opt moment. They had the funniest t-shirt sayings in the window and we all got a kick out of reading them.

Just a few shots of me boogie boarding at Waimea bay. Shortly after getting done boogie boarding the lifeguards came over the loud speaker and asked everyone to evacuate the bay because they had spotted a shark in the bay and it was acting aggressively. Talk about my worst nightmare come true. So the lifeguards went along the beach and posted shark sighting signs to warn people to stay out of the water. So of course couldn't help but stop and take a picture by the shark sighting sign. This was my cousin Kristi having her picture taken. Can you tell were tourists?!

Oh and these are just some fun pictures of my super cute baby loving the sand. She ate it, licked it, played in it. She absolutely loved it. I would set her on a blanket and she would just tug at it until she could get to the sand. Let's just say she got a bath every night and there would be sand coming out of every crack and crevice. Oh but she was so cute to watch at the beach. She turned exactly 9 months while we were in Hawaii.

Well my cousin Kristi and I being the adventerous ones of the group decided that parasailing on the ocean was a must do in Hawaii. So we called and place and us and 6 other strangers were off in a jet boat together. Ah good times! You had to pay extra for the guys to take pictures of you parasailing so we thought we would look at them first to see if they were worth buying. Well we didn't realize till after we were done you had to commit to them first before they would take pictures so you didn't know what you were getting. Oh well we will always have the memory of the experience. It was fun, right before they would pull you in they would slow the boat down so you would float towards the ocean and then right before they dipped you in they would start the boat and pull you back up. It was fun and worth it.

I read online that you can't go to the Dole Pineapple Plantation and not get one of their famous dole whips! So that's what we did. We went and all got a dole whip ice cream. Even baby Madison got to enjoy some of mine.

We went and hiked the famous Diamond Head. It's over a mile hike to the top with over 278 stairs. We all got our workouts for the day. But the hike was well worth the view from the top.

The day after Diamond Head we got the notion to do the Monoa Falls hike. This is the same area where they filmed the show "Lost" and "Jurassic Park III" They also have ongoing Wild Pig hunts in the area. If any of you have watched the discovery channel you know how mean those things are. Luckily no wild pig sightings for us.

Wow! Pearl Harbor! What an amazing and humbling experience to visit such a historic sight.

This is us aboard the USS Arizona Memorial. Like they say you can still see oil in the water that still leaks from the ship.

Friday we were heading to the Polynesian Center and decided to go visit the Hawaii Temple early that morning. What a beautiful Temple and they have the prettiest Temple grounds.

My sister Sarah, my mom Pam, and me

These pictures are a little out of order but the Sunday when we first got there we went to church. They gave us lei's at church in Relief Society and Sarah had bought us lei's when we first got there. So we wore them to church. It was fun to go to church in Hawaii and say "Aloha" during Sacrament after every speaker would greet us. The picture above is Stephen, Sarah, Pam (mom), Madison and I, and Grandma Merz.

This is my cousin Kristi, Aunt Diana, cousin Analee, and Grandma Merz.

These are just a few pictures of the Polynesian Center.

What a cute happy baby I have. She liked to eat the lei's.

I just had to take a picture of the huge smoothie drinks we ordered at the luau. They served them in a cut out pineapple. They were super delicious!

They taught us how to make fish out of palm leaves. So just a cute picture of mom and grandma with their fishes.

Just a picture of all of us at the luau.

Before we left some of us decided to get some of their spray on tattoos. While I was getting mine the girls doing them asked if they could give Madison one. They said they would do it for free. Well who could pass that up. So even Madison got her own spray on tattoo.

Well we had such a fun time in Hawaii and getting to hang out with my sister and her new little baby. It was even good to get to know her husband a little better. Since they've been married they haven't lived close by and Stephen doesn't get a lot of time off being in the army. So I've only actually met him twice. So this was a really good opportunity to get to know him better. Thanks to my ever wonderful generous mother who bought my Hawaii ticket and to my wonderful husband who stayed home and watched the twins while I went and played.

The Twins Turned 3!

2011-03-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Cassidy and Statton! My little ones turned 3 and I can't beleive how fast the time has flown. The twins turned 3 on February 17th but because I was away visiting my sister in Hawaii. I missed their actual birthday so we celebrated when I got back.
This was my attempt at being creative with their cakes. We bought Cassidy a Belle Barbie and used that as part of this barbie cake. Statton got an airplane for his birthday and this was my best attempt at making a runway with a plane on it. The kids both loved their cakes and thought they were just the best thing ever. Good thing my audience is so easily pleased.

Statton and Cassidy received many wonderful presents from their Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and cousins.

This is what Blair and I bought for Cassidy. A princess dress-up dress. We let her pick it out a few weeks earlier and I thought she was going to have a melt down if she didn't get it soon. Once she got it she was so excited and put it on right away. She's rarely taken it off since. Everyday after she gets dressed she wants to put on her princess dress and wears it all day. The poor thing is already falling apart. But she loves it anyway so I guess that's $20 well spent.

This was the gift Blair wanted to get Statton for his birthday. Blair received a similiar one for Christmas and really wanted Statton to have one so they could run around shooting each other. When we bought it we thought it was battery powered so it would be easy for Statton to shoot but it turns out there is a lazer light on it which required the batteries instead of the gun itself. But either way Statton's figured how to re-cock the gun by himself. Either way he still prefers Blair to shoot it at him while he runs as the human target. It's pretty funny to watch Blair chase him and Statton runs around laughing hysterically.

Heres Cassidy holding a barbie doll she got as a gift. Have you guessed yet that she LOVES barbies. Her cousin Quinn and Sophie are behind her.

Cassidy and Statton got these really cute books from Grandma and Grandpa Heward. It's their new favorite books we read every night before bed.

Heres Baby Madison just enjoying all the wrapping paper.

Statton with his airplane cake and Cassidy with her barbie cake. It's so hard to catch them both looking the same way and trying to smile that sometimes you take what you get which isn't always the greatest picture. (Statton what are you doing?)

Well I think we were able to capture all the kids together. Cousin Quinn and Wrigley. Cousin Sophie, Ellie (holding Madison), and Kensie.

Things about Cassidy:

-Loves Barbies and Princesses

-Loves wearing skirts

-Makes sure we say prayer and give kisses every night before bed

-Loves to brush her teeth

-Loves to ride the four-wheeler with her daddy

-Loves to help Grandma Pam clean the barn

-Loves to dance with Grandpa Heward

-Likes to have her nails painted

-Loves to go swimming

Phrases:

"Not your place"

"Don't ask me again"

Things about Statton:

-Loves to be outside

-Loves to ride the four-wheeler and snowmobile with dad

-Loves to clean the horse barn with Grandma Pam

-Loves to ride the tractor

-Always wants to go go go

-Likes to have his nails painted(I think mostly because Cassidy does it)

-Loves to rough-house

-Loves airplanes, trucks, tractors, and trains

-Loves to brush his teeth

-Loves to go swimming

I absolutely love these kids. They both have such cute personalities that really shine through the older they get. They are just so fun and I love how they always look out for each other. If they can't find or see the other one they will come ask me where they are. It's pretty cute to see them so concerned for each other. Happy Birthday to my two favorite 3 year olds!

Madison's 1st Christmas

2011-03-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was spent at my parent's house opening gifts with Grandpa & Grandma Darrington and Great-Grandma Merz. The big gift this year for the twins was battery powered four-wheelers. Oh and were they a hit. Blair and I have been excited to give them to the kids for months. I'm surprised we made it to Christmas. Since Madison was only 7 months old at the time we figured a toy and outfit was about all she needed.

Heres Madison just chillin with her mom. She actually had a slight cold at the time so she wasn't feeling all that into things.

Great-Grandma Merz

As usual Blair's on the clean-up crew.

Heres Grandpa and Grandma
Darrington.

Madison liked the paper and tried her best to claw open her presents. She of course looked at her toys and clothes and could care less. But I like to think she enjoyed the overall fun of things.

Heres Cassidy with her new barbie and barbie castle. The night before she was so excited because she had asked Santa for a blue barbie. So Blair and I were debating if we needed to make a run to Walmart and make a switch. It didn't matter she ended up just as excited about the pink barbie she got.

Statton really enjoyed his hot wheels track. He loved to watch the car jump off the end. He would get a little frustrated becaused he couldn't get the lever to pull back to launch the car. But with a little help from dad and mom he was just fine.

Just a cute shot of the kids with some of their gifts. Doesn't Cassidy look thrilled to be having her picture taken.

Statton's cooperating nicely.
Both the kids are trying so hard to be patient while mom snapped some pictures. As usual we had a fun Christmas. Everyone got just what they needed or wanted. We had dinner later that day with my brother Carl's family. We went later that night to Blair's parents and opened some gifts with them.

Christmas Eve..

2011-02-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

Well I know this post is really behind but our internets been on the fritz and finally have it working properly. We had a great Christmas Eve spent with my folks and brother Carl's family. We even had a special visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. Santa was nice enough to let the kids stand in his bag and pretend they were gifts.

Statton in Santa's bag.

Cousin Ellie with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Cousin Kensie in Santa's bag.

Baby Madison didn't even seem to mind the man with the white beard. She seemed more curious than anything. All my kids are wearing their new pajamas they got from Great- Grandma Merz.

Poor little cousin Sophie was still a little scared of Santa so to try and coax her to sit on his lap her dad (my brother Carl) tried to show her that sitting on Santa's lap was fun. Poor Santa!

Cassidy was still a little unsure about Santa but willingly sat long enough for a picture. Doesn't look too happy about it though.

Kensie and Ellie taking their turns telling Santa how good they were this year.

Statton didn't seem to mind at all sitting on Santa's lap but had a hard time telling him he was good this year. He mostly just smiled and stared at him. Maybe that means yes.

We had a fun Christmas Eve and enjoyed spending it eating wonderful food and visiting with family.

Thanksgiving in the Trailerhood!

2010-11-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

So our original plans this year was to drive to Utah and spend the holidays at Lyann's house with most of Blair's family. Well the job Blair's working on is really behind schedule so they told the guys that they would be working thanksgiving. So our plans got derailed and suddenly we found ourselves stuck in Delta having Thanksgiving in our trailer. So to make the best of it we got together with our friends Luke and Michelle who also live in a trailer right next to us and planned a Thanksgiving meal for those of us stuck here for the holidays. (Luke is also an apprentice working the same job as Blair.) About a week before the guys got told that they would atleast get Thanksgiving day off but were working the day before and the friday and saturday afterwards. So atleast the guys ended up getting the day off.
Here's Stuart(another apprentice, he's from Montana) practicing his foreman skills as he overlooks blair's carving technique.

Thanks to Michelle for taking on the task of cooking the turkey. It was her first time cooking a turkey and it turned out great!

Heres Luke holding Madison. He was sweet to hold her while I got my own plate ready. I think he likes to hold her because he's ready to have his own little girl.

Heres just a few shots of the kids making a mess with their own dinners. Cassidy and Statton are enjoying mostly the whipped cream off the jello.

This is Luke and Michelle's little boy Hudson. He's such a cutie. Cassidy and Statton just love "Hudson Buddy."

Trying to get Cassidy to hold still for a cute picture. Obviously jumping on the couch seems more fun.
I was trying so hard to get a picture of Statton and Hudson sitting in the chair together but that proved to be impossible.

Hudson in the chair.

Statton in the chair.

So heres all the guys together. They work together everyday but still don't mind spending the holiday together. Stuart(far left) was such a good sport to be single and spending Thanksgiving with two married couples and all their kids. I love this picture because he somehow ended up with two of my kids on his lap and he doesn't seem to care.

Good job boys now we're all facing the camera. It's good to see that one of them has a smile on their face.

So even thou we didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with our families we had a good time and wonderful food. We enjoyed spending the holiday with some good friends.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Since we are so far away from family and really don't know anyone that well in the area we are currently living. We thought it would be fun to drive over to Utah and spend Halloween with Blair's sister Lyann's family. Their ward was doing a dinner and then trunk or treat. After the ward party we went around and visited some homes that Lyann knew. After that we went back to her house and her kids decided to go trick or treating in their neighborhood but we opted out since our kids were worn out and their buckets were full anyway. Poor things could hardly carry them halfway throught the trunk or treat. They kept trying to give them to me because they were getting to heavy. Really, how much candy does a 2 yr old need?!

Madison went as a cute fluffy pink bunny.

Cassidy went as a witch again. We even painted her nails black and sprayed her hair purple.

Statton went as a spider. We also painted his nails black and sprayed his hair purple. Cousin Rhianna went as Belle from Beauty and The Beast. I think Cassidy was a little jealous because she kept asking to wear a yellow skirt. I guess next year I know to go princess instead.
Imissed out getting a picture of all the cousins together. Their were two older boys dressed up as well.
We had a good time playing with the cousins and all their toys and enjoying the company.

Leaves and Pumpkins..

2010-10-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well Fall is upon us and its been a cold week but today wasn't too bad so we bundled up and went outside to play in the leaves and finally carve our pumpkins. Blair got home soon after that so he was happy to help throw leaves on the kids.

Here we are starting our pumpkins. Cassidy and Statton were so helpful in cleaning out the "guts" of the pumpkins.

I had some disposable gloves on hand that I had bought for potty training purposes so we put those on our hands so we could clean out the pumpkins without getting too messy. Sorry I know thats part of the fun but cleaning out pumpkins with my bare hands grosses me out a bit. The kids had spoons to clean out pumpkins but they thought using the gloves looked like more fun I guess.

Well these are the finished product lit up and everything. I think the kids really enjoyed seeing them all lit up.

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

2010-10-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

We got a special visit from Grandpa and Grandma Darrington this last weekend. For some reason they thought it would be fun to drive for 8 hours just to see their grandkids for a day and half. Silly people! But the kids certainly enjoyed seeing them even if it was for a short time. They got in really late friday night so the kids didn't get to see them until Saturday morning. Stattons face was priceless. I let my parents stay in our room and I slept in the living room with the baby. So Grandpa came out of our room and peeked his head around the corner while the kids were eating cereal and Statton sees him first. He got this funny look on his face like he wasn't sure if he was seeing what he was seeing and once he realized who it was his whole face just lit up and he yells out Grandpa! It was too cute and I'm sure that moment was worth the 8 hours drive to my dad. Blair unfortunately had class that same weekend so he missed out on the fun. So we went to Grand Junction for the day and visited the Botanical Gardens. We had lunch at the Olive Garden and then went and visited the pumpkin patch where Grandpa bought each of the kids a pumpkin. We certainly miss living close to our grandparents but its certainly fun being spoiled by them when they visit. Thanks again Dad and Mom for the fun weekend!

North Pole

2010-08-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

So we had this little amusement park about 5 minutes from where we were staying called The North Pole. It's a themed park that has everything to do with what Santas workshop at the North Pole might look like. They are open from mid May to December 24th. Santa is also there everyday. All the rides are made for children. So it was nice because Statton and Cassidy could either ride by themselves or with either Blair or I if they were not quite tall enough to ride alone. Where Blair is standing with the kids in the stroller. That pole that looks white is actually frozen ice. It stays frozen all year long. So below is just some pictures of the kids enjoying themselves on the different rides.

It's been a long time since I've ridden a Ferris Wheel. It was actually a lot of fun. More fun than they look. Supposedly the one we rode is the tallest in the world. So the sign said.

This little candy cane coaster we rode was actually a pretty rough ride. Blair warned me before we got on to tuck Statton's head in my armpit so his head wouldn't bump against the seat. These pictures are a little out of order. Blair rode with Cassidy first while I watched Madison. Then I rode with Statton while Blair watched the baby.

Here's Blair cheesin it up for the camera!

I have to relate the funny experience of the day. Blair's not much for amusement parks because the rides give him motion sickness. Looking at rides will sometimes give him motion sickness. So amusement parks arent' usually his thing. But because I love them he's put up with a lot of years of them. So to ward off sickness he's found that dramamine(motion sickness pill) helps him to endure them. Well considering this whole park is mostly kiddie rides Blair opted to leave his magic pills home thinking he wouldn't need them. Well he did pretty good until I left him to take the kids on the swinging ship ride while I went to find a deserted corner(or less populated one) to nurse the baby. Well lets just say about 15 minutes later here comes my smiling 2 year olds running towards me while their father comes slowly walking behind them rubbing his forehead. Really!? That ride made you sick? He nods his head in response. Well good thing it's time for lunch. Let's go feed the man who's not feeling well a bunch of greasy food. But despite that Blair started feeling better awhile later but he refused to ride any more rides. That's ok though, good thing mom's tough and can handle the rides.
It was another long fun day. You know it was good when the kids pass out in the car before you've even left the parking lot.

2010-08-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

So we've been having all sorts of fun this summer. I try to take the kids to a swimming pool atleast once a week when the weather cooperates. The pool doesn't open until 11:00 so we usually hang out at the house all morning have lunch then load up and go and spend the afternoon soaking up sun and getting the kids comfortable in the water. So I decided to get some pictures of all three kids in their swimming gear.

Madison is pretty darn cute in her little swimsuit. This swim suit was given to me by my sister-in-law Andrea. Her girls wore it. This was Cassidy's swim suit when she was little. Now Madison gets to have her turn in it. It's just fun that so many cute little girls have worn this suit.

Statton was so cute and wanted to climb up on the couch by Madison and have their picture taken.

Heres some cute pictures of Statton and Cassidy in their swim suits. Statton looks like he's posing for some sort of gangster picture.

Here we are at the pool. Cassidy and Statton were just happy to play on the stairs. This is really their first time in a pool on their own. Last summer I just bought a little kiddie pool for them to splash around in. I would have liked to put them in swim lessons. Because of their age they only qualify for the parent/child classes. Well lets do the math on that one. Two toddlers, one new baby, and only one mommy. Yeah thats not going to work. Maybe next year. That's ok it's just nice for them to get use to being in the water and getting comfortable. It's a great activity that wears them out and takes up the day. Plus I love to take them to Sonic afterwards and buy us all shakes. You gotta have ice cream after swimming!

The Denver Aquarium

2010-08-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

This the final blog entry from our 4th of July weekend. We had gone to the aquarium in Denver that monday. We thought the kids would just love seeing all the fish but Cassidy was in kind of a bad mood and Statton got a little whiny. We must have worn them out from all the other activities that they were just tired.

It was a fun aquarium and all indoors so we weren't out in the heat that day which was nice. Heres Madison doing what she does best. She fell asleep as soon as we got inside. We had her sunhat on her because we were waiting outside for quite awhile to buy tickets.

I caught a great underside picture of this stingray as it swam overhead.

You can pay extra to go scuba diving in the tanks with the fish. One of the instructors came over to the glass to play with the kids. It was funny to watch him interact with Statton.

They had these big glass circles on the floor so you could see the fish and sharks swimming underneath you. Blair's trying to show the kids the sharks swimming in them. The kids were a little unsure at first about walking on them. Soon they were running and jumping on them.

This was probably the highlight of the whole trip. The stingray pool. Where you can feed and pet the stingray. So blair went and bought some food so the kids could feed them. Well they each took a turn but of course they don't understand the concept of holding the food between your fingers they just wanted to chuck it into the water. Well Statton didn't like the feel of them very much it kind of freaked him out so he was just happy to stand and watch. Cassidy on the other hand absolutely loved them. She couldn't get enough of touching them. She probably would have climbed into the pool with them if I didn't keep a good hold of her. She was so sad when we finally had to pull her away from the stingrays.

Well it was another long day and we wore those poor kids out. They slept the whole way home from Denver. So it was a good time for Blair and I to talk without any distractions. It's certainly been fun living in a bigger area with a little more entertainment options. It was good to have Blair off for 4 days to spend some time with the family.

Seven Falls

2010-07-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

So they have this place called Seven Falls. It's a big waterfall that hits the rocks seven different times on it's way down before it pools at the bottom. They also have a Teepee set up there and a stage where the local indian tribe does shows. It's pretty neat. We ended up going on an evening when it was pretty windy.

This is me and and the kids at the bottom of the falls. Back in the day it use to be a favorite place for people to come swim and bathe under the falls. Now they have built a rock foundation around it and made it a tourist attraction.

They have two different areas to view the falls from. One is you walk through a long tunnel and take an elevator to the top to get a faraway view. The second, if you can see from the picture, is a long set of stairs that you can walk up right by the falls itself. Since it was pretty windy and the kids being so little we decided not to walk up the stairs by the falls. We took the elevator up and these are the shots that I took. Inside the elevatore they have all sorts of history about the falls. They also have pictures and signatures of all these famous people that have visited the falls. The one I recall was Babe Ruth.

Just pictures of the kids at the bottom of the falls.

Fun at the Zoo!

2010-07-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

Blair had 4 days off over the 4th of July weekend so we thought we would take advantage of the nice weather and take the kids to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. They certainly enjoyed the animals. Madison slept through most of it.

They had this little train for the younger kids to ride. Statton and Cassidy just thought that was great and even cried when we tried to leave.

They had a cute baby albino wallabee that the kids could touch. They were a little unsure of it but we eventually got them to quickly pat it on the belly.

You could buy birdseed on a stick so the birds will come up and eat. Blair was able to coax one on and bring it down so the kids could look at it. Statton and Cassidy thought that was pretty neat. There was also some tiny birds that would land on the ground. The kids thought it was fun to try and chase them.

Even baby Madison got to see some of the animals. Don't ask me why but Cassidy wanted so badly to wear her brother's hat and she insisted on having it put on backwards.

I loved this picture of Statton. We are at the Grizzly bears and they were playing with each other in the water. Blair held Statton up to the glass for a better view and he just laid his head up against the glass and just let his arms dangle.

This was also another funny picture. Statton was excited to go over and look at the gorilla but as soon as that gorilla turned and looked at Statton he got scared and started running back toward Blair and I.

This was probably the highlight of our trip. Cassidy and Statton got to feed the Giraffes crackers. We had seen them at the start of our day but there was so many people feeding them that they weren't even hungry. So when we were finishing up our day we happened to walk by the Giraffes exhibit again and saw that no one was hardly there.
So we decided to head over and buy some crackers and see if they would eat. Oh Boy! We got a hungry one and the kids loved it. They thought it was so neat to have those Giraffes stick out their long tongues and take their crackers.

I had to take my turn to feed the giraffes. I can't let Blair have all the fun. Besides I told him that I wanted some pictures with my kids so they knew that mom did exist. (I'm always the one behind the camera.) So Blair was nice enough to snap some pictures of me with the kids.

We had such a fun day. The kids enjoyed the animals and that's what it's really all about.

Colorado or Bust!

2010-07-01T13:07:00.001-07:00

I just thought I would put a quick update on our little family's status. Sorry no pictures but I will try to get some posted. We finally made the move and after 8 long months of Blair being a Bachelor in Colorado we were finally able to join him. I got me and three little kids packed up and ready to go tuesday night. Got up early Wednesday the 23rd and picked Blair up at the SLC airport at 10:30 and hit the road. We arrived at our lovely new Fifth Wheel home at about 11:30 that night. The kids did great. Despite having never traveled very far before they did great. Thank heavens for portable DVD players! Even Baby Madison did great sleeping most of the way. This was big changes for the twins. They had to move to a new place, leave grandma and grandpa, and learn to sleep in big boy/girl beds. Well so far so good. They did great their first night in the beds (mostly because of our late arrival time they were already exhausted). The second night though Statton fell out of bed(good thing it's not a far drop) so needless to say the next day I was busy putting together the child safety bed rail for his bed. So far no more bed gymnastics. So were doing good and adjusting well to our new surroundings. Were happy to be together again and excited for our new adventure.

Madison's Blessing Day!

2010-05-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

So even though Madison wasn't quite two weeks old we went ahead and had her baby blessing on Sunday May 23rd at church. This was the only weekend Blair was going to be here. So, thanks to my dad's suggestion we decided to get her blessed. We were lucky that most of our families were able to accomodate our last minute plans and make it for Madison's blessing. We had a small lunch afterwards with just the immediate family and it was nice to see everyone and let them have a chance to see the new baby.

Blair and I holding Madison

Statton and Cassidy holding Madison. What a proud older brother and sister. They adore her.

Grandpa & Grandma Darrington

Grandpa & Grandma Heward

Madison is wearing the same dress that I blessed Cassidy in.
I think it probably fit Madison a little better since she is almost twice the size Cassidy was. Well theres no hiding the fact that we just absolutely adore our new little addition. Blair did such a wonderful job with her blessing. I always love to see Blair exercising his Priesthood. It just makes me proud to be married to such a good man. What a precious little girl!

2010-05-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post some pics of everyone in the family taking turns holding the new baby. Heres Daddy and Mommy each holding baby Madison.

Cassidy and Statton absolutely love her! We never brought the kids to the hospital to see her so the first time they saw the baby was when I came home from the hospital. All they wanted to do was to hold the baby and they didn't stop asking all night. They even woke up at 5a.m. that next morning asking where the baby was and if they could hold her. They are pretty cute with her and always giving her kisses.

I can't believe that we have 3 kids. I hope I can handle the chaos of 3 kids under the age of 2. It's been so nice having Blair to help run interference with Cassidy and Statton so I can concentrate on Madison. It might get super interesting once he has to go back to work. Thanks to Carla and Lynn for watching the kids for us for a few days while I was in the hospital.

What a cute bunch of kids!

Introducing Madison Heward

2010-05-19T20:13:00.001-07:00

Well we finally had our little baby girl! She was born monday 4 seconds after midnight which puts her birthday on tuesday, May 11th. I went into the hospital monday night at 8:00 and had her 4 hours later. She weighed 7 lbs 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. After a day and half of deliberation we finally decided to name her Madison.

Wow look at those cute cheekers!

Adenoidectomy and Ear Tubes

2010-03-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well we had finally had our fill of chronic runny noses and ear infections that take forever to clear up. Statton was also so congested all the time and I hated hearing him struggling to breathe at night. So we decided it was time to take him to the ear nose throat doctor in Twin Falls. We decided to go ahead and have surgery done. The doctor was going to put in ear tubes and remove his adenoids. They tested his hearing at the doctors office and found that he's hearing fine but his membranes in his ears don't move much when sound is bounced off of them. Which means he hears fine but not clearly. Kind of like being underwater. So Statton and I got up at 5 am on March 4th and headed to the hospital in Twin Falls for his early morning surgery. They do the little kids early since they don't want them to have anything to eat or drink before surgery.

Here Statton is in the recovery room after surgery. What a trooper. He didn't cry when they took him away from me and was completely passed out when they gave him back. We sat in recovery for over an hour until he finally woke up and drank a little juice. He looked so cute in his little hospital gown top and bottoms.

These are pictures of us getting ready to leave the hospital. Poor kid and his bloody nose. He had a watery bloody nose for the rest of the day and part of the next. Which is normal after removal of the adenoids. The doctor said we should see a dramatic difference in our little boy and his breathing and shouldn't see much for runny noses either. The doctor said he removed a massive amount of adenoid tissue.

Statton was finally waking up a little bit come evening time and actually playing a little bit. He was doing pretty good until Cassidy whacked him in the face with a toy truck. What a nice sister. So we spent the rest of the evening laying in bed and watching movies and just taking it easy. Statton is feeling so much better and he breathes so much better at night that I sleep a little easier also knowing he's doing ok. Thanks a bunch to Andrea for keeping Cassidy for me overnight and part of the next day. It really was a big help. It was nice just being able to take the time with Statton and give him the love and attention he needed.

Happy Birthday Cassidy and Statton!

2010-02-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Well the twins officially turned 2 years old on the 17th. I can't believe they are that old but yet they still seem so little to me. Blair was able to fly home for the weekend of valentines so we celebrated the kids birthday sunday night with some family and had cake and ice cream. Blair and I had gone to twin on saturday and picked up some inexpensive trikes for the kids to push around outside. They woke up from naps that afternoon and had found them hiding downstairs so they were trying to ride them around in the basement which wasn't working so well. So we bundled them up and took the kids outside to try out their trikes. They had so much fun. Statton is a little more coordinated pushing his around more than Cassidy was. It was still fun to watch them try so hard.

So here are the kids opening their gifts and trying on all the fun things they got.

Heres Statton trying on the dress-up shoes that Cassidy got. He's just not as coordinated walking in high heels as his sister.

We got some fun sing along cd's from Grandpa and Grandma Heward. We've had a fun time listening to them and dancing to the music.

Cassidy and Statton had a lot of help opening their gifts from their cousins. They were a big help opening gifts for the kids and it was cute to watch them together. Here is Elllie and Sophie helping Cassidy.

Statton was getting help with his gifts from his cousin Kensie.

We had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse them for the twins birthday. It's the one show they both love to watch that I don't find completely annoying.

They both thought it was fun to have everyone singing happy birthday to them .Statton even clapped for us when we were all done singing.

Imagine that they love their cake.

It's been such an adventure raising two kids the same age. They are such cute kids and have been so much fun. I thought I should list some of the cute things that they do and like.

Cassidy

- Loves to walk around in high heeled shoes

- Refused to go to bed at night without her black dress shoes

- Loves to watch the Wizard of Oz

-Loves to say "no" to everything (bath-no bed-no get dressed-no you get the idea)

-Wants to dress herself which is usually some type of skirt

- loves to play with baby dolls and her stroller

Statton

-Loves to throw balls and play catch (actually he likes to throw anything he can find)

- Runs to greet my with a hug when I come home from work

-loves to wrestle with his dad and mimick his wrestling moves

-loves to play outside in the snow, dirt, whatever he can find

-thows a fit when you get after him for doing something bad

-loves to splash around in the bath and play in the bubbles

Happy 2nd Birthday to my two beautiful children!

Christmas Vacation with Dad!

2010-01-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

I thought I better update the blog and catch everyone up on all the changes going on in our lives. Blair graduated from Lineman College in August. He came home and worked home for about 6 weeks and then got him a groundsman job in Utah. In the meantime he interviewed for an apprentice lineman position with The Mountain States JATC. He interviewed on a tuesday was called thursday saying that he received a position and to report to a job starting Monday.......in Colorado. So thats where Blair has been for the past few months. We miss him terribly but was so excited to have him come home for a week and a half over Christmas.

The kids had lots of fun wrestling with dad. He was even a good dad and got them all dressed up in their winter gear and took them outside to enjoy the snow. He even pulled them around on the sled. Mom's too big of a wimp most of the time to go outside during the winter. I'm trying to take a lesson from Blair and take my kids outside more to enjoy the winter weather. Just a side note. Cassidy has now developed quite the personality and insists on wearing certain things. So as you can see in the pictures she has a skirt on over her pants. Not my doing but her own stubborness. I'm sure a lot of you with girls of your own understand the "I want to wear what I want to wear phase."

We enjoyed lots of time with family during the Christmas break both blair's and mine. It was fun to watch the kids open gifts this year. They opened one gift and wanted to play with that so you couldn't hardly pry them away to finish their other gifts. It was still fun. We sent Blair back to Colorado on Jan. 3rd. It was hard to say goodbye but hopefully we will be out with Blair in just a few months and be a family again. I hope all of you had a good holiday season!

Curlers, Curlers, and more Curlers!

2009-11-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

So Cassidy was being quiet so I went to find out what she was doing and found her in the bathroom. She had gotten into my grandmother's drawers and pulled out her velcro curlers and stacked them on top of her head. It was pretty funny and I just had to capture the moment for memories.

We were watching my neices for the day and Sophie wanted to have her picture taken with all the curlers in her hair also. We had quite the girly day playing with those things.

Here is Statton, Ellie, and Sophie. Don't ask me why but my kids have toothbrush fetishes. Any toothbrush they can find they will pack it around. This is why Statton has a toothbrush in his mouth.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

So for Family home Evening last week we decided it would be fun to visit the pumpkin patch and get our pumpkins for carving. We went with my brother and his wife and their three little girls. We met at their house and had homemade chili and cinammon rolls. YUM!

Wee Witches Weekend!!!

2009-10-13T12:55:00.001-07:00

So the Weekend of Oct. 2-3 we went down to Utah to Gardner Village to their Wee Witches Weekend. Your kids dress up in their Halloween Costumes and they have all sorts of activities planned geared toward your kids. We do a big girls weekend every year with my aunt and her daughters. This year we thought we would bring the kids and do this weekend to see what it was all about. We went down friday and did some shopping and then we go eat and some fun place for the night. We went and ate at The Mayan because we thought the kids would enjoy the cliff divers. Here are all the kids Saturday morning after they were all dolled up and ready to go.
L-R Back: Macy,Ellie, Kensie, and Kayla Front: Sophie, Statton, and Cassidy

Here is Ellie dancing with Cassidy up on the stage dancing to the music.

Statton didn't want to keep his spider hat on and Cassidy never would wear her witches hat so she got piggy tails with hair bows.

They had music playing all the time and Statton just loved bouncing to the beat.

Cassidy is enjoying a snack while the other kids are dancing. Just FYI I found this pattern and with the help of my mother I sewed her Witch Costume. I thougth it turned out pretty good.

Overall I think all the kids had a blast. I think all of us adults were worn out by the time the weekend was over. Next year we will go back to the no kids just the adults girly weekend. More shopping and more relaxing.

1st Camping Trip

2009-10-13T12:19:00.001-07:00

I know this post is late but I don't care. I wanted my kids first camping trip documented on my blog. We finally decided to take the camper and actually put it to camping use. Blair had been living in it all summer. It was the first time I had ever stayed in it and also the kids. We finally had somewhat of a free weekend the end of august so we loaded up and went camping with some of Blair's family. I had to work Sunday but had saturday and monday off so we camped overnight on Saturday and I got up early and went to work all day and then drove back that night. It actually worked out great from my point of view. I'm not much of a camping person. Sitting around all day in the dirt bores me. Blair keeps trying to tell me that it's suppose to be relaxing. So to just hit the highlights of the food, campfire, and playing games was just perfect for me. As you can see the highlights of the trip for Cassidy and Statton were just playing in the trailer.

Poor Mckay still had his jaw wired shut so he was still on the all liquid diet.

Here is Cassidy and Statton enjoying their breakfast Monday morning.

Heres Cassidy trying to help her daddy with something on the trailer.

Statton enjoyed playing with the cooking pots.

Overall it was a short fun little trip. I enjoyed sleeping in the trailer rather than in a tent. Blair's been trying to convince me for years if I had a trailer I would enjoy going camping more. He's probably right. It was nice being able to take a shower and bathe the kids. I did learn a lesson about owning a trailer. When I turned on my hair straightner and put in by the sink in the bathroom and it started to melt into the side of the sink, blair was quick to remind me that the sink is just plastic not porcelain. OOPS! no bad damage just a slight mark. Learn something new every day.

Blair's graduation!

2009-08-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

We went to Boise on Aug.14 for Blair's graduation from the Northwest Lineman College. We had to be there at 9:00 am so we could see him compete in their lineman rodeo. Each team member had a timed event they had to do. Blair's event was Pole-Top Rescue. Not sure what that means but you basically run up your pole and rescue the "dummy" at the top of it. It was kind-of fun to watch him in action.

The last event they got to do was the "mystery event" which turned out to be that each team member was blindfolded and had to tie their five special knots they learn at school while being timed.

Heres a picture of Blair with the kids in between events.

This is Blair walking across the stage accepting his certificate. Side note. Blair also won the overall skills award for his class.

This last picture is what we call the "Trailer Park Boys." Blair found a guy who rents out trailer spaces to guys going to this lineman college on his small ranch. These are the other guys that also had trailers on this guys property. They all got to be pretty good friends and really looked out for each other. L-R Blair, Mckay, Mike, Kevin, and Patrick.

"Superman"????or just Blair

2009-07-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

So Blair wanted me to post some pictures of him at Lineman College. These are a few pics of him working on the poles.

This is a manuveur they call the "Superman." It's called this because your back is to the pole and you can lean out like your flying. He's supposedly the only student who can do this manuever. He feels pretty special.

Here he is again doing the same "superman" manuveur while installing EPZ grounds. (I really don't know what those are but he talks about them ALOT!)

This is just a wide photo of their lineman pit. This just shows some of the big transmission lines he works on everyday. Granted they are all "dead" or not energized. So I don't have to worry about a phone call saying my husband went up in smoke that afternoon.

Summer fun and Runaway Wheel Lines!

2009-07-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

So I bought the kids a fun little pool to play in this summer. We set it up in my parent's backyard and the kids have enjoyed splashing in it and playing around it. It's fun to be outside and enjoying the sunshine and a little bit of water fun.

So I grew up out in the country surrounded by fields and all sorts of farm items and never had any weirdd incidences. So I'm back living in the country for less than two weeks and I have a small run-in with a wheel line. We had a small windstorm and it must have blown a loose section of wheel line out into the road. Well I didn't see it sticking out into the road until it was too late. luckily my windshield took the brunt of the impact. So be careful all of you country folks. Watch out for those wheel lines!

Cocoa Beach and Florida!

2009-07-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry my computer was having issues and wouldn't let me post all the fun pictures I wanted to from Florida. So heres just a few more of the kids at Cocoa Beach and some more park pictures. Poor Statton he looks so tired in this first picture.

We went to a Character breakfast one morning over at the Polynesian resort. It was so fun to see the characters interact with the kids. They got to eat mickey mouse waffles. Statton didn't like the characters, he would cry when they came over to him. Cassidy could care less and would just keep eating.

This last picture is of Cassidy. We got to the beach and ate lunch and she ended up falling asleep so we laid her on the blanket and covered her up with some towels to protect her from the sun. She had such a tight little grip on the blanket to cover her face because it was slightly windy and she didn't like it blowing on her.

Florida Vacation!

2009-06-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since I last blogged anything. We've had a lot going on since. Blair has started at the Lineman college in Boise. We put our house up for sale in anticipation of having and wanting to move once Blair finishes. Our house ended up getting an offer the next day after being put on the market so we have been getting moved out and a few things repaired. It's been a crazy busy month. I also got the opportunity to go the Florida with my family. Yes- I took the twins with me. It was busy and fun and lots of work but well worth the effort. Blair was unable to go because of his school schedule but that didn't stop me from going and having a good time. So here are some fun pics from Florida.

Happy 1st Birthday!

2009-02-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

So on Saturday the 14th we celebrated the twins 1st birthday. Now officially they don't turn one until the 17th but we wanted to do a party during the day. We had some family over and had a lite lunch and then stripped kids down to their diapers and let them dive into their own little cakes. It was quite the site. We had lots of fun and can't beleive we survived a year with twins.

My new sweet baby - Gertrude!

2009-02-07T16:17:00.001-08:00

What do you think about my little new baby Gertrude?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

So I found this funny website from a another girls blog and I couldn't help but try it and get a little laugh for the day.

Statton gets a haircut!

2008-12-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

So my cousin Analee was kind enough to cut Statton's hair when she met me at my house so we could go to SLC for our girly weekend. It was pretty cute since it was his first haircut. I'd been hesistant about cutting it myself so I left it to someone who's been trained to cut hair. He liked having his hair combed with the water but wasn't sure about the trimming with the scissors.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We've been enjoying the holiday season. We went to Pocatello to Blair's sisters house for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed spending some time with Blair's family. I recently got back from a weekend getaway to SlC with my mother, sister-in-law, Aunt, and some cousins. We've started a tradition where just us girls (no kids allowed) go to Utah for some fun shopping, eating, and just a good ole time! We had a lot of fun this year and rented a suite with enough room to sleep all of us. We thought next year it would be fun to go down during October when Gardner village has their Witches night. We hear it's a lot of fun so we think we'll check it out. It was the first time I had been away from the twins for more than a day so that was different. Blair's such a good dad to stay home all weekend watching 9 month old twins. What a man! Well I hope everyone's having a fun and safe holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Halloween Pictures!

2008-10-25T09:56:00.001-07:00

Well Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays. Even though I don't get dressed up usually for it I just love the whole fun atmosphere of the holiday. So I couldn't resist and I took the kids to kiddie kandids and had their pictures taken in their Halloween costumes. They're only little once, right?!

Just in case you were wondering Cassidy is a bunny and Statton is a frog. I really had a hard time finding a cute costume for Statton so I was glad when I ran across this frog costume online. Cassidy's was a no brainer.

I thought the pictures turned out pretty cute and I'm glad I did that with them. Statton did great and smiled for the ladies but Cassidy has been a little unsure about strangers lately so she got pretty teared up during the pictures. The ladies were nice enough and photo shopped out some of her tears for me. Well Happy Halloween to everybody.

October Update

2008-10-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't put a post out for quite awhile. So I thought I would do just a quick little update on our little family. The twins had eye doctor appointments down in Ogden the first part of the month. They both checked out fine, no lazy eyes or cross eyes which I guess is common in premies. We'll take them back in a year for another checkup, they like to keep a close eye on them(no pun intented.) They put some drops in their eyes to dialate them and then we had to sit for 20 minutes for the drops to take effect. They both cried for just a minute when the drops were put in their eyes but then they were over it. Then we sort of celebrated Blair's birthday on Oct. 4. I had to work that weekend so we wouldn't be going out to dinner or having much of a birthday celebration. I figured he celebrated his birthday the day before by going to the BYU vs. Utah State football game. He went with my dad and brother a couple of uncles and cousins that all met in Logan that morning for a round of golf and a late night football game. They had a fun time. It's kind of becoming a yearly tradition. That's pretty much been the highlights of the month. We are so excited for Halloween. Cassidy is going to be a cute pink fluffy bunny and Statton is going to be a cute froggy.

How many babies can you spot?!

2008-08-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

So we had the opportunity this last weekend to get a visit from my cousin Glenden and his wife Paty and their cute little twin girls. Paty and I were both pregnant with twins at the same time and due just one day apart. Well we know my story but Paty was able to carry hers almost all the way. What a woman! So our twins are a little over a month apart. Anyway so we tried our best to get some pictures of the two sets of twins together.

This was hard work trying to get all four kids to look up at the same time.

(Aubrey, Cassidy, Statton, Naomi)

What a good little boy to put up with all these women.
These were probably some of the best pictures I was able to get. Paty and Glenden we'll have to do that again when the kids get a bit older. It'll be fun to watch them grow together throughout the years.

Cousins Are Here

2008-08-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well it's certainly been a fun few weeks. My sister Sarah flew in from Missourri to spend some time with her family before she starts nursing school. My brother and his wife and their kids flew in from Maryland to spend a week. So we've had most of the whole family together.(Sarah's husband couldn't make it.) So we decided since we were all together we would get a few quick shots of all our kids together. So we went to Kiddie Kandids and took some pictures of all the cousins together. After that I did a few quick shots of Statton and Cassidy since they are about 6 months old now. We had just gone to the Temple open house that morning so we had some tired and hungry kids. All in all the pictures turned out pretty cute considering what we had to work with. Those girls at the photo place I'm sure don't get paid enough to do their job.

Gooey Geysers!!

2008-07-30T10:23:00.001-07:00

Blair and I thought it would be fun to get away for a few days and go somewhere close by. So neither one of us had been to West Yellowstone since we were young so that's where we went. Blair's sister Lacey and her husband Brett and their two kids came up thursday night and went with us into the park the next day. We drove out to Old Faithful and walked around and saw some of the mud pots while we were waiting for Old Faithful to explode.
We certainly had a lot of fun. Our little nephew Tyler kept calling everything we saw a gooey geyser.It was pretty funny so I had to title my post gooey geysers.
We were also able to take the kids swimming for the first time. It was cute to see the kids in their little swimsuits. It was a fun but short trip and the first away from home I've had to do with the kids. So it was a good trial run with the twins.
It was pretty hot that day and we wall got sunburned so in the pool you can see our nice little farmer tans.

Out and About!

2008-07-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

So the kids and myself were all a little tired of being in the house all day so we loaded up in the stroller and went for a little walk. Statton has to sit in the front since he can hold himself up better and the front of the stroller doesn't lay down like the back does. Cassidy gets in back laying down and usually ends up falling asleep. Either way it's a nice outing for all of us and a nice change of scenery. I didn't think I would end up using the stroller very much but now after having the kids we have used it more than we anticipated. Certainly a good investment.

4 months old

2008-06-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well the twins are 4 months old so I thought I better post some new pictures of them. It's been awhile since I've put anything on my blog, it's hard to find the time to get things like this done. We took Statton to the cardiologist the first part of May. The doctor said that he still has a small hole in his heart but it's not causing him any problems. She said from what they know about the size of the hole it's small enough that it should be completely closed by the time he's 4 years old. So she'll see him again when he's 4 to check on it. So that was some good news. Both Statton and Cassidy have both been just fun little babies. They are both starting to smile and make those cute cooing noises. I just love watching them grow and reach these fun milestones. I've gone back to working part-time. I work two days a week. It's bittersweet going back as most of you working mom's probably know. I like to have a little break even though I miss them but I think it makes me a better mom. My sister-in-law Andrea has been kind enough to watch them for me when I work and Blair gets to have them when I work a weekend. I think Blair has re-thought his idea of me working full time and him being the stay-at-home dad. A few days in a row of watching two little babies certainly makes him appreciate me more. So working a little bit certainly has some nice qualities to it. So the pictures I'm posting are from an idea that was given to me by my Aunt Marie & Uncle Mike. It said to take a picture the same day of every month in the same chair with the same stuffed animal. It's a good way to see how your children grow. So heres the picture I took for June to show them at their 4 month mark.

Blessing Day!

2008-05-09T16:29:00.002-07:00

On Sunday May 4th we were able to take Statton and Cassidy to church and have their baby blessings. We blessed Cassidy first and then Statton. We thought this only fair since Cassidy was the first to be born. Everyone kept asking Blair if he was nervous about doing the blessings and of course he just laughs like it's not a big deal. Well he got up their and did a wonderful job, a little fast paced, but it was still very nice. He said afterwards that he wished he would have slowed it down a little bit and taken a little more time. Mister macho was a little more nervous than he thought he was. It was a good time and the kids both slept through the whole thing. Whew! I was nervous they would scream the entire time. We went out to my parent's house after the blessings and had a Barbeque with the family. I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get any cute pictures of our little family all dressed in their nice clothes. So we have the kids looking cute but the rest of us are pretty casual. The booties on Cassidy are ones that Anita had given me for the kids to wear when they got blessed. I didn't get a picture of Statton in his because he had kicked his off and I didn't find the other bootie until I got them home late that night. Anyway enjoy the pics.

A Tribute to Anita Heward

2008-04-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

On Friday April 4th, 2008 Blair's mother Anita suffered a massive heart attack and returned home to our Heavenly Father. She was only 55 yrs old. Blair received a call from his dad around 11:30 a.m. that she was in the hospital and it didn't look good. She went quickly and didn't suffer which is probably how we would all like to go when our time comes. We will all miss her very much and wish she didn't have to go so soon but when the lord calls us home theres not much we can do about it. She was a wonderful woman and always treated me like one of her own kids. She really helped Blair and I out a lot during my extended hospital stay and with the kids in the NICU. She came and stayed with me a couple of days when I was first in the hospital just to keep me company. She told me one time that as a mother you can give service that is needed freely to your own daughters, but as a mother-in-law it's hard because you have to sit back and wait to be asked to give service to your daughter-in-laws. I think she really appreciated being able to help me out and do what she was able for me. I'm grateful for my good relationship with my mother-in-law and that she was always very sweet to me. Blair and I and the rest of her family will miss her dearly. Blair and I are grateful she was able to see our kids before she passed we are just sad that our kids won't grow up knowing their grandmother. It's good to know that we will one day be reunited with her and that there is life after this. She was a good wife,mother, and grandmother. We love you Anita!

We're HOME!

2008-03-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

So the rumors were true and the kids were released home Sunday. It was four weeks to the day. Blair met me in Ogden at the hospital that morning and we loaded up all their stuff put them in their car seats and onward home we went. Needless to say they are sooo small for their car seats that they look uncomfortable. I was jumping over the seats about every 15 minutes just to make sure they were both still breathing. We made it home a little after 5:00 that evening and it was so nice to finally be home. Now we have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of us.

Were Breaking Out of Here!!!!!!

2008-03-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

These are just some pictures of Cassidy and Statton getting tub baths. Can you guess who is who?! These were taken about 1 1/2 weeks ago.
So we thought the day would never come but it looks like we finally might have proved ourselves worthy to get the heck out of here. The doctors and nurses have been talking to me about releasing the kids on Sunday. Statton is finally meeting his minimal feeding intake requirement. The nurse told me that his little light bulb finally went on but I'm still wondering if it's more of a dim switch. He eats so good for the nurses and then mom comes along and he'll only take about 2/3 of what he needs. Whats up with that?! All in all he's doing well and has really picked up in the past few days. I'm pretty proud of the little guy!
As of right now we have been getting things in the works so that the kids and myself can all finally go home. This includes discharge worksheets, shots (yuck!), and teaching me how to mix up their formula cocktails. I haven't seen my house or even Burley in 2 months. My family and Blair's were super nice and went and cleaned my house this last weekend in anticipation of us coming home. Either they didn't think Blair was the best housekeeper for 2 months or that we have a filthy little dog. Probably both. Anyway I was very grateful and touched by the sweet gesture. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that this all isn't some cruel joke and that Sunday afternoon/evening we will be on our way home to Burley.

Blair's got his hands full

2008-03-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I needed to get a picture of Blair holding both of his children. The top one is of Statton. I just thought it was a super cute picture.

Still hanging out

2008-03-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to think that I've taken up permanent residence at the hospital. I've been contemplating if I should go see if they have any job openings in the Radiology department to help pass my time and help pay for these soon to be outrageous hospital bills. Maybe they would give me an employee discount!? The nurses here keep promising me that they've never kept any babies past kindergarten age. That makes me feel better(roll eyes here.) Thats my little tangent for the day so heres the update.
Cassidy is still eating like a champ. She doesn't care if the food is cold or warm she just wants to eat. She is currently sitting at 4 lbs 7 ounces and 18 inches long. WOW! She started having some specks of blood in her stool again. The doctor thinks that the inflammation she had is still healing but isn't concerning. To be on the safe side they are switching her to yet ANOTHER type of formula that is designed specifically for babies with blood in their poop. We will just have to keep an eye on her.
Statton is the one who might be the death of me. We just can't get the kid to want to take all of his food. He eats a little bit and then passes out and I can't wake him up enough to finish the rest. When he does eat he gets so excited that he puts all the milk he can stand in his mouth before trying to swallow and then forgets to breath. Then we have the monitors going off because he dropped his heart rate and his oxygen levels. ARGH! I've been trying to be the patient mom but it's been hard to watch your child choke on his food and not eat what he needs. At the rate he's going I just might have to take a job here. All joking aside he's actually improved from the previous week. I keep praying that the little light bulb inside his head will flip on and he'll learn to eat overnight. I'll let you know how that goes.
Either way I couldn't ask for two healthier little kids. I'm just so glad to have them here after all these years that I should be able to handle a few weeks of waiting for them to come home. I'll work on that.

Let's try sharing again.

2008-03-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

This morning the twins seem to be doing great. Cassidy's taking well to the new alimentum formula and her poops are looking yellow/green. Who would of thought we could get so excited over the color of poop. She's back up to her full feedings and not needing her IV anymore. So once again the nurse has capped it off and she will probably take it completely out later today. Cassidy's out of her isolette AGAIN, and will once more try sharing a crib with her brother.
Statton has been trying to take a bottle for a few days and he's very sporatic in how much he takes each time. This morning the nurse told me that he's been taking all his feedings by bottle through the night and tolerating them well. So I got to feed him this morning with a bottle and he took it great. I didn't even feel like I was drowning the poor child. Hopefully he can keep that up and get his feeding tube out of his nose. Sister pulled hers out last week so the nurses just left it out since she was eating so well.
I'm hoping they can both keep this up for a few more days and possibly get released.
Cassidy weighs 4 lbs 4 ounces
Statton weighs 4 lbs 14 ounces

And up again we go!

2008-03-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

So as always things are up and down from day to day. I got back to the NICU after lunch today and Cassidy's xray of her abdomen is looking much better. The doctor is still going to withhold her feeding for another 24 hours and see how her xray and labs are looking in the morning. So good news this afternoon so I hope things stay that way. If things look good in the morning they will start her on a formula called alimentum(i hope i spelled that right) This is suppose to be very broken down formula with little to no cows milk in it. It's suppose to be very gentle on her tummy. The doctor wants her to be on that for atleast 3 weeks before I can reintroduce her to breastmilk or regular formula.
Cassidy is now weighing 4 lbs 1 ounce. We finally exceeded her birthweight. YEAH!
Statton is now weighing 4 lbs 10 ounces. What a chunky baby!ha ha
-It's funny how they've started to not look so little to me anymore.
It's turned out to be a pretty good day so I hope it continues.

Rollercoaster Ride....

2008-03-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

Well having two babies in the NICU is certainly a roller coaster ride. Saturday morning we arrived at the hospital only to be told that Cassidy's eating so good and doing so well that she'll be ready to go home as early as monday but Statton was dragging his feet in the eating department so they would probably release her before him. Well talk about panic mode. How do I take care of one baby at home without the other? Who would watch her for a bit while I ran to the hospital to take care of him? So the doctor was having us get things arranged in order to make this new series of events feasible. Blair and I had to make a quick panic run to the Baby store and pick me up the items I would need to take care of a newborn here in Ogden. All my stuffs at home in Burley. This wasn't how this was suppose to go. AAGH! Well then Sunday evening I had come back to the hospital only to find out that Cassidy has started having bloody stools again. So she was taken off the milk, IV was put back in and back in the isolette she went. :( The xray of her abdomen was showing a concerning area where it might just be inflammation. So once again were back to square one. The Dr. is going to try and rest her belly again and see if that spot will clear up on its own. Were hoping thats all it is and nothing serious.
So once again we are on a rollercoaster ride. Good news one moment and within a few hours your whole situation changes and your back to worry and feeling helpless. Statton is slowly taking to his feedings but keeps dropping his heart rate once in awhile. It was scary on Sunday evening when the nurse had to walk over and rub his back a little bit and give him oxygen because he had dropped his oxygen levels and wasn't coming back up on his own. We continue to worry and pray for these little babies. We thought things were going well enough that these babies might be home by this weekend but with all these new turn of events it's looking like it might be longer. Everything changes from day to day so you never know what might happen. We are certainly grateful for the blessings we have received and continually pray to Heavenly Father to help us get through this difficult time and help these babies.

Together at last!

2008-03-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

The twins finally graduated out of their isolettes(plastic cages) on wednesday into an open crib together. It was so fun to walk in Wednesday morning to see them both bundled together and sleeping contently with one another. Well the togetherness didn't last too long. Cassidy started having some blood in her stool so they took her off her formula to give her belly a rest and put her on some pedialyte. The doctor thought since she was on antibiotics for her first 10 days that she didn't have a chance to develop the natural bacteria in her colon to digest things well. So she had to have her iv's put back in and given fluids and put back in her isolette. Friday afternoon she was doing much better and letting everyone know that she was starving so she's been taking her milk by a bottle. She was taken out of the isolette and put back in with her brother. Saturday morning we came in and she was being bottle fed again and taking it like a champ. The doctor seems to think if she keeps eating like this for another day or two she'll be ready to go home. Whoa! that was a lot sooner than we had been planning. We just need to get Statton eating good on his own and they'll send them home together. If it looks like he might take longer to grasp on to this eating on his own concept they might just send Cassidy home before Statton. We're crossing our fingers that he'll pick it up soon so they can go home together. They are going to start trying to bottle feed him today. Statton has exceeded his birthweight as of yesterday he weight 4 lbs 6 1/2 ounces. Cassidy is still a few grams short of her original birthweight but shouldn't be much longer. All in all things are looking good and we've been very pleased with it all. There's been a few bumps in the road but can't complain when theres a lot of babies in here with more problems. We definetly feel blessed and glad to finally have our babies here.

Twins are doing well

2008-02-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Statton
Cassidy

The twins are progressing right along. They figured out on wednesday that Cassidy had an Ecoli infection in her blood so then they were able to know exactly what kind of antibiotics she needed to be treated with. They also did a lumbar puncture on her later that afternoon to make sure it hadn't gotten into her spinal fluid. If it had they would just have to treat her a little bit longer. So far the results of the lumbar puncture came back negative so she just has to be on antibiotics for 10 days. She has been receiving her antibiotic since the sunday she was born. They drew her lab levels early this morning and they came back within normal limits but they will still give her the last dose of medicine. They have both been getting fed by a feeding tube thru their noses. They have both been tolerating the feedings well. Since they have tolerating feedings well and are taking a certain volume of milk the nurse took them off their fluids that go to their IV's. They will leave them off for 24 hours and if they tolerate that well they will be able to have their IV's removed.
The nurses weighed them saturday night and Statton weighs 4 lbs 1 ounce and Cassidy weighs 3 lbs 11 ounces. They had both lost some weight at the beginning of the week which is normal for newborns. They are finally starting to turn around on their weight gain and starting to put it back on. Blair and I are just both thrilled with how well they've progressed in just a weeks time. It seems like every time we come in to see the babies the nurses always have a tidbit of good news on their progress. I was talking to the nurse this afternoon and she thinks at around 36 weeks they should be ready to go home. They were 34 weeks on Saturday so hopefully only another 2 weeks and we can have these beautiful little babies home in their own beds. I was discharged from the hospital on thursday afternoon and have made arrangements to stay with my cousin Scott and his wife Becky. They have been gracious enough to take me in for a few weeks and I'm glad to have some family close by.

The twins have arrived!

2008-02-19T22:10:00.000-08:00

Cassidy
Statton

February 17,2008 our twins were born. They were taken by c-section at about 4:18 sunday afternoon. I went into active labor at about 1:00 that afternoon and the nurses and doctors weren't able to get me stopped so I was prepped and whisked off to surgery. Blair had just arrived home in Burley when I called him and told him that our kids were coming tonight sometime and that he needed to get back to Ogden. He didn't make it in time because things moved a lot quicker than anticipated. He was going over Sweetzer summit when I called him to tell him he was a dad.Our little girl came first and weighed 4 lbs and 16 3/4 inches in length. Our little boy came about 5 minutes later and he weighed 4 lbs 5 ounces and was 18 inches in length. They were both taken to nicu right away and I was told they were doing well. I was taken to recovery for about 45 minutes and then they wheeled me into the nicu to see the babies before taking me back to my room to rest. She was intubated right away and given some surfactant for her lungs. He was intubated awhile later and then was taken off late that evening. She was able to have her intubation tube and oxygen taken off late monday night. They did some lab work and found that she has an infection in her body so they are currently treating her with antibiotics but are still unsure exactly what kind of infection she has. The Nurse Practioner told us for as sick as her lab work says she is she doesn't act sick at all. She's very active and responsive. They will keep checking her labs and will treat her with antibiotics for atleast 7-10 days. He isn't showing any signs of an infection so were hoping he'll stay that way.
I ended up running a high fever sunday evening so they took some blood cultures and also started treating me with some antibiotics. My blood work came back showing a high white cell count which means I've also got an infection somewhere so they are going to keep me on antibiotics for awhile. The doctor figured that between me having an infection and our little girl, between the two of us that's what probably put me into labor. So all in all it's probably a good thing I had the babies when I did so they could get our little girl treated. We've officially named our twins. We named our boy Blair Statton Heward, he will be called Statton. We named our little girl Cassidy Heward. They were born at 33 weeks and 1 day. We all did pretty good!

ultrasound

2008-02-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

So I had my ultrasound on wednesday. They checked the amniotic fluid levels to make sure they were adequate and evenly distributed. Fluid levels looked good. They also checked placement of the babies. Our little girl is still breech and our boy is now more head down than transverse. They figured that's what might have saved my water from breaking a few weeks ago because she was sitting breech instead of head down which wasn't putting as much pressure on things. They want to wait atleast another week before doing measurements again but they figured the babies should have gained atleast another 4 ounces each. That would put our little boy at about 3 1/2 pounds and our little girl at almost 3 pounds. The doctor came in later and checked me again, I'm still sitting at 4 cm and 90% effaced. He was thinking of cutting my meds back to every 6 hours instead of 4, but after looking at things he said they feel they need to keep being aggressive with my meds. The doctor did say that IF I make it to 34 weeks they would probably think about taking me off the meds completely and see what my body decides to do. That would only be about another 2 weeks which gives me a timeline to look forward to. So far things are pretty boring. I'm getting in plenty of tv time and try to nap when I can. I appreciate everyone's emails and postings. I look forward to reading them and having contact with the outside world.

31 weeks!

2008-02-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

Yeah- as of Satuday Feb. 2 I am officially 31 weeks along. I'm still on bedrest in the hospital and they are giving me a drug called Procardia every 4 hours to keep the contractions under control. So far this seems to be doing the trick. They will be doing another ultrasound on wednesday to check on the babies growth. They did an ultrasound about 2 weeks ago when I first got here. The babies were looking good, our little girl was weighing about 2 lbs 10 ounces and our little boy was about 3 lbs 3 ounces. So it will be good to see how much they've grown in 2 weeks. Our next mini goal is to get me to the 32 week mark. This last weekend was nice. Blair came down for the weekend and my parents came down on saturday. I was allowed to go down in a wheelchair to the cafeteria where we all had lunch together. It was so nice to be out of my room for just a short little bit. It's funny how simple things like that get you excited when you've been stuck in a hospital room for so long.

Thought things were fine

2008-01-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

We have been very excited for the arrival of our twins. Our little boy and little girl. My original due date was April 6 but because of twins usually arriving early we were expecting them sometime in March. I had been having braxton-hicks contractions for the past few weeks. The doctor said they were normal as long as they didn't show a pattern. He told me to let him know if they became more frequent, more than 4 in an hour. Well sure enough on monday Jan.21 I had been noticing that I seemed to be having quite a few, more than normal. After a few hours of these I decided to call my mother and partake in her expertise as a former labor & Delivery nurse to see if it was worth making a fuss about and going into the hospital to be monitored. She assured me that with my high-risk status that it wouldn't be silly at all. So I called into the hospital and my doctor happened to already be there on another delivery. He told me to come in and we would check things out just to make sure things were fine. So I waited for Blair to get home from work so he could go with me to the hospital. Well once I got there the nurse hooked me up to the monitor and I was showing contractions about every 2-3 minutes. The doctor came in and checked me and I was diliated to 4 cm and 70% effaced. I was only 29 weeks and 2 days along at this point. They quickly decided that I needed to be in a higher care facility and it was arranged for me to be life-flighted to Mckay-Dee hospital in Ogden. After being given numerous pills and shots to stop contractions and a steroid injection to help with the lung development of the twins I was bundled up like a burrito and was fixed-winged to SLC airport where they transported me to the helicopter and flown back to Ogden to Mckay-Dee's. Blair and my dad followed down in the car, arriving about 4:30 tuesday morning. I spent the next 2 days in Labor & Delivery where they were able to get the contractions under control. I am currently stable but will be in the hospital on bedrest until I deliver at which time the twins will spend their time in the NICU until they are well enough to come home. I reached me 30 weeks mark on Saturday Jan. 26. I met with the perinatologist on tuesday the 22nd and he thought things were looking goood with the babies and that they should do fine once they are here. Blair and I are so grateful for modern medicine and having the facilities to be able to help with problems like these. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers.