Happy Birthday Darrick & Nathan!

Darrick & Nathan get to share their special day with one another. Nathan was born on Darrick's 30th birthday. When I asked him if he wanted me to try & stop the contractions his response was "no way....that would be the best birthday present ever!" So here the two are celebrating the big 38 & 8 years together.

It's hard to imagine that Nathan was born 8 years ago today. He has grown up so quickly & being the youngest of the family proves that time passes by way too fast.

He was born during the SLC 2002 Olympics & wanted to have an Olympic Birthday again this year. We are celebrating his friend party at the ice peaks skating arena (ice skating) & then dinner with our family afterwards. When asked where the two birthday boys wanted to go for dinner Nate quickly said "Village Inn because they have pie there." Darrick just smiled & said we'll see, but it looks like Village Inn is the place of choice. They better have good pie waiting :)

Afterwards we'll come back for cake (with the Olympic Rings on top) & ice cream (with friends & family) & watch the opening ceremony to the 2010 Olympics.

Happy Birthday to my Boys!!!

Between Shay & Nate (and now all of you!)

I know that I haven't updated my blog in a long while. I promise to update it soon. Life has been crazy & I always forget to write it all down.

Here is a conversation that Shay & Nate had on Sun. morning while playing the wii. (I had to write this down....hope you enjoy)

Nathan: "Shay would you rather marry an UGLY girl or marry a boy?"

Shay: "Um, that's easy Nate....an ugly girl."

Moments later........

Nathan: "Shay would you rather I not be married at all or marry a boy?"

Shay: "Not be married at all!"

Nathan: "Good answer Shay!"

I laughed so hard when I heard this conversation because it was spoken with such seriousness.

Happy 11th Birthday Shay Shay Man!!!!!

11 years ago at 12:14 a.m. you were born into this world & into our family. You were in such a hurry that you wanted to come 9 weeks early, but the Dr's & Nurses said "Not yet!" So I did what I had to do to keep you inside me. It meant over 25 shots in each hip, a long stay in the hospital, needles in both arms & strict bed rest for another 5 weeks, but guess what???? It was all worth it! We let you arrive 4 weeks before your due date because you just wouldn't give up the fight. That fight continued on from the moment you said hello! You were born 5 lbs 3 oz, 19 inches long & you were the most handsome little guy! You were in such a hurry that you forgot how to breathe & getting those little breaths took a lot of hard work from those little lungs that hadn't developed fully. So they rushed you from my arms & down to the nursery where Life Flight met you & proceeded to do the work that you needed help with. Each time the nurse would come in to report to me about your condition is became less & less hopeful. They feared for the worst, but I prayed so hard to have you fight & stay with us. I was not ready to let you go. For hours they worked on you & finally took you for a little ride to UVRMC for more medical attention at the NICU! Dad & I were so sad to see you go, so I hurried to get released from the hospital & we hurried to your side once again. We were told this would be your place of residence for the next 4 weeks. After many hours, prayers & blessings you were finally taken off the respirator,....then the oxygen.....& then off the feeding tubes & finally home with us after only 9 days in the NICU!!!!! You fought a good fight & we are so glad that you won, because you have made our lives happy & complete! Remember Shay......don't rush life......it goes by quicker than you think!!

We love you so much!

Thanksgiving 09'

Me & my cute little nephew Cohen took a walk after all that dinner I ate. Just me & Cohen time.....so precious!!!!

Naomi bottom left stuffing her face, my neice Lexi, then Grandpa Kent, Uncle Eric, Aunt Heather, Uncle Joel, Aunt Breanna, Uncle Jeff & Grandma Merlene.

It's finally Thanksgiving Day!!!! We have had a great time on our family trip & now it's time to eat until we can't breathe. That we did.....and then shoved in homemade pies afterwards.

The food was delicious & we enjoyed hanging out with the family & spending time thinking about all the many things we were Thankful for. We have been blessed in so many ways this year. I am grateful for our health, my Dad's recovery, our business, the work that has come in, all our many material blessings that bring us comfort, but most importantly FAMILY!

Hoover Dam 09'

Rubbing the toes of the statue for "good luck."

On the North side of the Dam. You can see how low the water is by looking at the rocks.

This is the bridge that they're building that will go over the dam. This will help to eliminate all the congestion they get from traffic going back & forth between AZ & NV. Can't wait to see it complete.

Our family & Grandma Merlene with the bridge in the background.

Inside the Dam in the Generator room.

It's been a long time since we have taken a "dam" tour so we decided while we were visiting family for Thanksgiving that we'd take the kids and show them a "dam" good time. A "dam" good time is what we got!

Zions 09'

Darrick & I at the top of Observation Point. The view you get of Zion's Nat'l Park from that point is breath taking! This is the 2nd time Darrick & I have hiked this trail & we loved experiencing it again with our kids this time.

I think this pic says it all! Mission accomplished.

This pic was taken on the trail of Hidden Canyon. We took off on another trail before finishing up Observation Point.

Self taken pic we took at the end of the trail in Hidden Canyon. We spent some time checking out the arch (that's behind us) and laying around on the log. :)

On our way to G & G's house for Thanksgiving we decided to stop in St. George & spend a couple of days visiting Darrick's cousins that live in Hurricane & hiking in Zion's. We spend a lot of time as a family outdoors & hiking is one thing that we all enjoy together. Zion's is beautiful & we have to make a pit stop there at least once a year. Darrick & I hiked Observation Point for our anniversary a couple of years ago & we wanted to do it again. It's an 8 mile round trip hike & we weren't sure how far our kids would make it. We started up the trail & took off to Hidden Canyon (also a hike we had done in our previous hike together) which added 2 more miles to our journey. We had so much fun climbing on the rocks, hiking through sand & making it to the arch at the end of Hidden Canyon. We then headed back & resumed our hike to Observation Point. The kids were getting tired towards the top, but knowing we were only a mile away....they kept going. When reaching the top they had climbed over 2200 ft. in elevation. It's not an easy hike. They made it!!!! And they all got to enjoy a Mtn. Dew for their accomplished climb. :) As far as the coming down part???? We all sang songs (no one was around but us) and talked about the hike, our day, some memories & most importantly......Five Guys Burgers & Fries!!!! That's what we had bribed them with in the first place.

We didn't make it 10 min. down the road before I turned around & saw all 3 sound asleep!

We did eat Five Guys & we all fell asleep rather quickly that night. My kids hiked 10 miles that day.....we couldn't have been more proud of them! Especially Nate...and those little legs of his!

"We are the Champions"

Shay is the one closest to the sideline. Championship game!

Before leaving for the game! Go #32

Grandma Merlene & Grandpa Kent happened to be in town! We loved having G & G, Uncle Eric, Aunt Heather, Aunt Melissa (Jake, Nick & Ali,) Uncle Steve & Aunt Brenda all being there. This was Shay's first year playing & he can't wait for next year to come around. Congrats to the T-Wolves on their Championship WIN!!!