Excited

(Dallin playing with Grandpa Hansen)

We are so excited for Grandma and Grandpa Hansen to come play. Dallin can hardly wait. He misses you guys!

Hard worker

I LOVE JOE!!!

Plain and simple statement, but it is the truth. He is such an amazing father, husband and priesthood holder. He does so many things for Dallin and I, and so many others around him. He works hard, long hours on our business and sometimes I know I don't give him enough thanks. I love him so dearly and I am so thankful for him. I think the men in our lives deserve so much more praise and gratitude than we give them at times. I am always quick to thank him when he does something for me...but I know I can say it more often and with more sincerity. I found evidence of just how hard these men in our lives work....enter exhibit A.

EXHIBIT A

Do you see how sleepy eyed these two fathers look? Joe on the left looks like he is about to snooze and so does Brian on the right. After a long days work, both these men took the time to play with their children and let their wives talk with each other and hang out.Then look at our children behind them. Dallin on the right is wide eyed and bushy tailed, full of energy and pizazz and so is Tyson on the right. They are exhausting, even if you didn't just work a long 10 hour day.

Their fathers love them and play with them and make them feel special even after a long days work. Joe doesn't just come home and say, " I am exhausted, so I am just going to lounge for a few hours.." Nope, he plays with Dallin and wrestles with him. He helps him learn new things and keeps him entertained and out of the kitchen so I can do dinner. What a wonderful man he is.

Joe, if you are reading this, Thank you. I love you. Thank you for all you do. You are the best husband and father and we are so lucky to have you.

Christmas in November

Our tree giving our living room a nice warm glow...I just love it!!!

This year we put up the Christmas tree a little earlier than usual. We put it up on November 18th. If I'd had it my way, it would have been up sooner...like that day after Halloween. I LOVE Christmas, I love everything about it. The lights, the trees, the music, the snow...it is just all fantastic. Dallin was such a delight putting up the tree, he loved it. He wanted to help do everything.

Dallin helping me fix the branches

Dallin copying mommy

Don't worry, that is not the ghost of Christmas present...it is just me, a blur in front of the camera. Joe had the flash off, and it made a cool ghost out of me.

Dallin and I had so much fun putting the tree up, he was such a good helper. Joe had fun taking pictures and playing some Christmas music to set the mood. Putting up a fake tree is soooo much easier than a real one. But don't worry, I have been burning pine oil all week to make sure that house still smells like fresh pine trees. Love that smell.

The Pole

This little boy makes me laugh. Seriously.... doesn't this picture make you just bust up laughing? Now imagine all the things I get to witness this silly boy do in person. I think I burn 500 calories a day, just laughing.

Strike a Pose... lol

We did the Monster Mash

Happy Halloween!

The Friday before Halloween, Joe and I and Dallin went to a pumpkin patch with our friends Brian and Ashley and their son Tyson. It was fun to walk through the patch with Dallin. Every pumpkin was a "ball." He had fun...I think. Joe and Dallin found their pumpkins...which Joe later exchanged for some better ones by the cash register...lol.

Dallin was a Dragon for Halloween. I bought the costume without him there, and found out later that the costume was much too small. But there were no exchanges, so I had to make due. Dallin was growling all night. It was adorable.

Dallin loved the candy. His Grandma and Grandpa Johnson gave him a bunch of candy. His favorite was his very own bag of candy corn, which he carried around with him for the first 20 minutes after arriving at their house.

I made sure to brush his teeth really good that night. I think he ate his body weight in sugar.

We took him trick or treating. I loved to hear his little voice say "tant tou" after each person gave him some candy.

I loved to watch Dallin and his daddy walk hand in hand while Dallin's dragon tail swayed side to side with each step.

I love the look on Dallin's face when he poured out all his candy after the night. It was sheer joy.

I most of all loved how he was just so excited to have his candy that he could not sit still for even one picture.

( us trying to take a family pic, but Dallin wouldn't stay still and Joe's eyes are almost always closed...hahaha)

Thankful

Thank you for all the wonderful comments. They have lifted a heart that was in dire need of some uplifting. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes. I feel so loved and so blessed. I think I have the greatest friends and family in the whole universe...ever in existence.....ever.

Smiles....*sigh*

These two boy are what get me through the day lately. I sure do love them. I mean, those smiles are just to die for.

My little man makes me smile every hour at least. Probably multiple times actually. I love how curious he is. I can't wait to watch him grow and learn more everyday. I am so lucky.

Our Loss

Right now Joe and I are feeling a huge loss. Wednesday I went it for our 12 week checkup for the baby. They couldn't find the heartbeat with the sonogram, so we went it for the scheduled ultrasound like normal. I wasn't too worried, but had a knot in the pit of my stomach, like I knew something wasn't right.When the ultrasound started I knew at once that the baby was gone. I saw a perfect, little, two inch baby, with little arms and legs, a little spinal cord and it was all so perfect, but...there was no heartbeat. I knew this instantly. The tech left to get a second opinion. She came back in and looked for a good 10 minutes, but I knew what they were going to tell me already. Finally the doctor came in, and told me he was sorry, but the baby was gone. There was no heartbeat. I cried. Dallin got scared and the nurse took him out. The Doctor told me there were two options. I could take some medicine to help me pass the baby, but with how large the baby already was he was worried that I wouldn't pass it all naturally and that they still would find some residue left behind. My other option was to have surgery, a DNC to remove everything cleanly and to be sure I could conceive again was almost a 100% certainty.

I left the office with those two options in mind. I was alone and Dallin was crying. I had to call Joe and tell him the horrible news. It was awful. Neither one of us knew what to do.

I got a blessing from Joe and dear friend. I knew what to do and I felt at peace with it. I went in for surgery yesterday morning. Everything went well. I have been in a lot of pain, cramping and lots of physical discomfort, but it is getting better and better each hour. I grieve this baby, but I know and Joe knows that it will all be fine. I struggled with feeling like it was my fault, but that too is subsiding and I know that things like this just happen. You can't explain it, but then again, you don't have to. I have faith in the gospel and know that everything is going to be fine. I wasn't expecting this to happen, but I take a lot of comfort in knowing what I know. Families are forever and the gospel is true. I felt this baby, I felt it's spirit. I don't know that I will ever raise this baby some day, I don't know how all that will play out, but I do know one thing. That I was privileged enough to carry this sweet spirit for 12 weeks and I am thankful for that.

I think until you experience something like this, you don't realize just how hard it is. But my Savior did experience this, and He does know. I can turn to Him in everything and He is there for me now.

I am so thankful for a wonderful husband and a wonderful family. I love all my friends and the wonderful support they all have been. I am blessed, truly blessed.

If I have learned anything from this experience it is this....Love. I have felt it, pure and undefiled from my Father in Heaven, My Savior and all my family and friends. I am so thankful.

Our stressful journey To California

Me infront of the hotel I would have loved!!! to stay at, The Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island.( I don't know what I am doing here though...haha)

Joe and I at the beach in front of Hotel.

Wow! Things have been super crazy around here. With the business, a new pregnancy, a crazy 18 month old and house troubles we have had our hands full. I realized just last week that I never wrote about our family vacation in August or about Joe's 28th birthday. Shame on me! I will first write and post pictures about our vacation. I think I will have to put these into a few posts as a lot happened and I don't want to upload a bazillion pictures to one post. So let's start with our arrival and journey to California.

As always, I didn't pack until the night before. Not always a good idea, but that's me. I use almost everything that I would take with me in the suitcase, so I always figure that it is easier to just pack the night before. As always, things were a little hectic in the morning. We planned to leave at 9 am and we made our goal. I was so proud of myself! With a toddler sometimes things can take longer than planned, but I was good and stayed on schedule. However, Dallin decided to throw our plans to the fan. Bless his little heart, but not more than 30 minutes into the drive our little guy threw up all over the place. It got all over the car, all over him, all over his car seat and last but not least, all over his doggie, that he must have for naps and for sleeping.

Joe quickly turned around to head back home. That 30 minute drive seemed like forever as Dallin threw up one more time. I tried in vain to keep it all contained, that wasn't what happened at all. Poor guy was not feeling well and was now covered in vomit. I too was now covered and felt like I might puke from the smell. I prayed we would make it back before anymore vomit could come. I felt just awful for him. We finally got home, got Dallin cleaned up and down for a nap. Joe and I washed the car, his carseat, his doggie and his blanket. We had to wait awhile for it all to dry. Dallin soon woke up from his nap and we got all packed up again. We were now 3 hours behind and knew there was no way we would make it to California today. We decided to stop for sure at aunt Margies. We were glad we did. We got to go to Michelle's baby boy's blessing and see Margie.

We headed out the next morning. So far Dallin hadn't thrown up again, but alas, we were too soon hopeful. He threw up just into the drive, but lucky for us, we were able to clean it up and keep it contained rather easily. I sat in the back with Dallin and made sure he was okay the rest of the way. Then traffic got horrific!!! We came to a complete stop just an hour outside of Las Vegas. I mean a complete stop. No one had told us about the awful traffic going into L.A. on Sunday morning. I mean, NO ONE warned us. We had no idea how awful it would be. After 2 hours of not moving, Joe decided to get off and blow some steam. We were right by the outlets, so we stopped to give Dallin a breather. Poor guys was sick, and cooped up in a hot sticky car. After an hour of a break we thought that maybe the traffic had improved.

We were soooo wrong. After 4 more hours in stop and go traffic, it started to pick up. It was the oddest thing, it just started moving after 6 hours of not moving. Joe and I decided it was all those California drivers who don't know how to just give someone some tail room. They ride each others butts like there is a fire behind them or something. We finally get into the area we are supposed to be in and it is 10 pm. WE were exhausted, Dallin was being super patient and was now sleeping. We got the GPS out to find our hotel. We started heading up a Canyon....What??? I had Joe double check the coordinates and double check. I was so confused. As we headed deeper and deeper into nowhere, I really started to get worried. We wound up a very narrow canyon. I think I almost threw up a couple times it was so scary. Thank goodness Dallin was asleep. After an hour of driving up the canyon it finally evened out and we could see lights ahead. We were litereally in the middle of nowhere, but we did find out hotel.

It was sure out in the boonies, but it was beautful. We checked in and got into our room. It was huge, spacious and very nice. Joe and I were elated. After a long, stressful journey, it was nice to arrive in such a lovely place. Dallin was put down for the night and cleaned up. He was zonked out before I could even say I love you. Needless to say I as hoping that after that awful trip that our vacation would be less stressful and filled with fun. Well, it was filled with fun....but not void of more stess. I will fill you in on the rest tomorrow.....

Joe and Dallin on the grounds of the condo we stayed at. Literally in the middle of nowhere it is it's own little oasis of fun.

What's that Ya say??

I say...what exciting news do we have???

Guess.....





Yep! We are having another baby! Baby number 2 is on it's way. I am only a couple months pregnant, 8 weeks to be exact (well maybe, I'll explain). It is still super early but we are way excited and hope that we didn't spill the beans to early. We go to the doctor's today to get an exact due date. With all our problems trying to get pregnant I had no idea how far along I was supposed to be, so I guessed when I went to the doctor for my first visit. But we get to see the babe on the ultrasound today to measure him/her and see just how far along I really am, so I guess being unsure has it's perks sometimes. I could be farther along or not as far as I thought, but either way, I am excited to see that baby.

WE are so excited for this baby and hope all goes well. So far I feel great and have only had a few bouts with nausea. Mostly after I workout or in the evening if I wait too long to have dinner. Beisdes that I am peachy:)

So far this pregnancy has been easy peazy....but it is still way too early to be making any assumptions about how the rest will go.

But I'll just end by saying..... WE are sOOOOOO excited!!

Zumba

Hooray! I am finally a certified Zumba instructor. I went to a 9 hour certification and test to become one on Saturday and I made it through. I am now officially an instructor! Yahoo!

Now I just need to get me some classes to teach and things will be perfect. LOL

I love Zumba and you will too! Come and join me....okay I know most of you who even read my blog are pretty much mostly out of state, but hey if you are ever in town I can totally show you how awesome it is.

Dallin loves it too. I was choreographing yesterday and the little man was dancing right there beside me. The boy can move. I think he gets it from me.....

(dallin dancing on the patio on vacation....naked!) lol We were airing out his severe diaper rash.

Sorry, It was just too funny not too post. Sorry Joe, I know how much you hate naked pictures....but remember how funny this was???

Family Photos

We had a family photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. My sister-in-law took them. I think she did a great job. Here are a few of my favorites. There are some funny ones, ones of just Joe and I (since we never have any photos of us together) and some just cute family photos. Dallin was not in the mood to have his picture taken. We had to bribe him with marshmellows, hence the photos of his mouth wide open. He was waiting for another mallow. Funny little guy. I think we still got some great shots though.

All in all it was fun and turned out great. I am going to have to replace my family portraits that are on my walls right now, with some of these. The last ones we had printed were when Dallin was 2 months old. Yikes! I better get crackin' on these. Thanks Rileigh for taking them!

Carnival- schmarnival

Yikes! So I totally didn't make my goal of posting everyday for two weeks. Who was I kidding anyway? I knew I couldn't do that...alas, I was very wrong. But....I am posting now, so all is forgiven right?
Well anyways, so that past few weeks we did some pretty fun things. I think the most fun we had was going to the carnival. I had a fun time going on rides myself, but even more fun going on some little kid rides with Dallin. He was so FUNNY! I was laughing so hard. Not because he was scared, not because he was excited and not because he was making funny faces....he did none of that. I was laughing so hard because he did AB. SO. LUTE. LY NOTHING. haha.... He sat on every ride, completely straight faced. No emotion whatsoever. He could have been sitting on the couch at home with how much excitement he showed. It was so funny to me, I don't know why...but it was.

Dallin on the carousel with me...as you can see he isn't very excited. Not sad, either, just plain...bored maybe...????

This is us again, I was having fun, even if Dallin wasn't. His little face still makes me smile though.

Joe and I went on a ride that was super nauseating. I think Joe almost threw up...close, but not quite. This pic was taken just as it finished. I am all smiles, but Joe was not too thrilled that he went on that ride with me. He was a good sport though, I sure wanted him to go with me and he did:)

This picture of Dallin makes me just laugh so hard! It is so classic Dallin. I love how his eyes aren't even looking at me. He is so aloof! haha....

Family pics. I love the yellow hue of this one, gives it sort of a old feel...don't ya think? Once again, Dallin is so serious...

Our happy little family. Dallin was a good sport even though he didn't show much emotion, at least he didn't show anger, frustration or tears. I was sure thankful for that. It was fun going to the carnival with Joe and Dallin, they are pretty good company...not that I am biased or anything.

Joe went on a ride with my brother in law Kraig. It was so funny to watch two big strong men, get all nauseated and scared....okay, maybe not scared, but hey, I think I saw a little bit of fear in their eyes. Classic Joe shot though. He had a blast. This ride went all the way up and down, twirled and whirled and spun. I think I might have thrown up if I had gone on it. There were lovely little patches of acidic smelling goop all over the place beneath this ride. YUCK!!! I guess there were many carnival goers who were very nauseated riding this giant.

All in all it was a fun day.

We are headed to California for a much needed vacation tomorrow morning bright and early! I can hardly wait! I will take tons of pictures and promise to post about it when we get back....cross my heart.

My friday night

Under the stars, with fresh air, homemade popcorn, fresh squeezed lemonade, an air mattress, blankets, pillows, and a projected movie on a white sheet.....

so awesome.

That is how we spent our Friday night. We watched "Up" out under the stars in our backyard. It was like we were dating again. We snuggled under the blankets. I cried at alot of parts....what can I say, that cartoon movie really gets me to tears.

The wind kept blowing our movie screen (aka. bed sheet) off the brick wall. But we didn't mind. We were just happy to be outside, watching a movie and acting like kids.

It was pretty awesome!

Where you been???

WOW!

I haven't posted in awhile. There has been a lot going on lately and I guess I just got forgetful about posting on here. I have meant to over and over, but alas, it has escaped my ever changing schedule.

Things are great though. I finished my tennis league up. I didn't do so hot, but then again, I was the biggest greeny out there. Everyone else had been playing at least 2 years and I was a whopping 4 monther. I think I did okay, for my skill level anyways. I mean, I pretty much didn't rock it, but whatever. It was fun!

I am working for the business again. Hard to find the time. I think I get most of what I need to get done finished and squared away while Dallin is napping. I find time throughout the day to work anything else that comes up. It feels good to help out, but it sure is tiring being a full time mom and trying to work for the business a few hours a day too. As long as I get my hour workout in each morning I feel like a steam engine going full steam throughout the day. Zumba just lights my fire, what can I say.

Dallin is getting so BIIIIGGG! He just loves to be independent. No more holding his hand, holding him in my lap, giving him hugs and kisses. He won't have any of it. He just wants to do his thing, but of course he wants me paying attention to him ALL. THE. TIME. I was researching it online, because well, I was a little concerned he had attachment issues. But I found out that his age is the time when they want you to pay attention to them, even when they don't want you touching them or holding them. Dallin is like this to a tee! He is always looking over at me while he is playing. If I am not looking right at him, Man alive, he gets so frustrated.

He is such a good boy though. Even though he doesn't like me to hug him and kiss him, he is sure willing to give them out himself. He loves to kiss and hug now. He will come up to me during the day and give me hug after hug. It just warms the cockles of my little heart it does. It is so great watching him grow and learn. He says quite a few things now, but of course, I am the only one, with expection of Joe every now and then, that truly understands what he is saying. He recently learned how to say, "where did it go?" It sounds more like, "where-it-ssooo", but I get the idea when he says it. He loves to just babble. I know he knows what he is saying, but it sounds mostly like jibberish. He is so funny when he looks at me, puts his hands out face up and to his sides and just starts into a monolouge of jibberish. He definitely thinks, I know what he is saying.

He loves the water and just about drowns himself every time we go to the water park. He has no fear and just loves it! He loves bubble bathes as the picture below shows.



Joe is doing great. Working as hard as ever on the biz. We just love him, Dallin and I. He is a great father and husband, and we just couldn't be luckier. I have the best two men in my life and I couldn't be happier. Joe is so smart and so innovative. He is always finding new ways to make money and make our business grow. I am so proud of him.

Okay, so that about sums it up. We have had a great summer so far, lots of playing and lots of loving. I promise I will post more often. In fact, I think I will try to do a post everyday for the two weeks. Hmmmm... let's see if I can do it. Starting today until the end of August. Wish me luck! ;)



And last but not least. Just a couple of pictures to keep you laughing throughout the day. I totally look like a conehead in the second one. Just love it eh? Joe and I are goofballs, or oddballs, whichever one fits better.