HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEPAYNGA!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR PANGA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Here's a few pictures of our cute little 6 year old!

Have a great day kiddo!

Camping is the Best!

We love camping and hiking-here's proof!!!

Loving the ICE!

Our girls got to be in an awesome Ice show at the Eccles Ice Center and loved it! They did a great job and still love to watch themselves and others on the DVD! Dallin will soon be on the ice too! Can you tell he loves it?

To the moon and beyond!

Our family had the opportunity to go Clarke's Planetarium in SLC and the kids thought it was great to be able to stand on the moon and mars! Guess which picture is which? The girls are also being weather women on the news! They actually got to be on a tv screen in the museum! We have also had the opportunity to go 4-wheeling with my family now that we are closer and the kids just love it! All of us kids!!

Playing The Catch Up Game!!

Well, since I haven't posted for so long, here is some pictures to show what we've been up to!

Boating with dad and getting dirty; Dallin broke his elbow and it was great for his birthday with a new bike! Tepaynga is 6 as of tomorrow and I can't believe it! It's been a crazy and difficult summer for all of us, but we've had some fun memories that we'll share and update on as the days go by! I'll have to post more pictures later when my camera battery isn't dead!

GUILT SETS IN!

So I feel GUILTY that I haven't updated for SOOOOO long!! So much to update that it's hard to know where to begin! Well, a lot of my pictures lately are on my new phone so I have to figure out how to put them on here!!
Our biggest news lately is that we've MOVED out of the apartment and into a rental HOUSE! We are enjoying the much needed added space and storage! It is still a 3 bed. but the master is huge enough to be at least 2 rooms! The down side is that it has only 1 bathroom but it is right around the corner from the girls new elementary school which will be really nice!
Brett is recovering great! He no longer wears a brace (except for more physical activities) and his pain is very minimal now! The kids have hurt him from time to time coming to tackle him or what not but overall he is doing great and his scars are even fading! He goes to the doctor today so we will have to see what he has to say about his knee! He got "promoted" at work to a different "Q" is what they call it or section of the place where he is able to make more on commissions! His sales have been awesome and he is actually enjoying it more now because he doesn't have as many mad or complaining customers in his new area!
I am now over 18 weeks and counting with this pregnancy! I have felt the baby kick for a few weeks!! Its fun when I can finally feel movement and not just be feeling fat!! The move was hard on me, but we are starting to get settled and things are getting better! My back hurts,
I'm tired all the time and I cramp occasionally but other than that I'm good!!
The kids are loving the BIG backyard! Dallin knows how to open the sliding glass door out to the backyard and sneaks out quite regularly! He has become pretty sneaky opening doors and getting into stuff! But he is sooo stinking cute that sometimes it's hard to get mad at sometimes! We have ducks that come by the house a couple times a week and the kids just love it!
We have another family living with us for a couple weeks until they can find their own place. It has been interesting with one bathroom and 10 people!
Well I will update with pictures soon and will hopefully be able to update sooner than later!

BAD NEWS

Well, we got the bad news today when we went in to find out what all the pain has been for sure. The MRI results were in! The bad news is that he has a torn ACL and miniscus and a few other tears in the back of his knee! He will have to have reconstructive surgery on April 16th. He is really bummed out and had tears in his eyes and just kept appologizing to the kids and I how sorry he was to ruin another summer for us here! His recovery will be about 6 months but the doctor said it could be as much as 9. He'll under-go physical therapy for the first two months after surgery and it's supposed to be in that period that its the most painful as well! The doctor did say he can go camping and walking, but no hiking and that is what's bugging him a lot because he loves to hike with the kids in the summertime! We'll get through this and hopefully see the big picture of things at the end and why he had to go through this! The good thing is that he was able to wait to have surgery until after Mekayla's spring break in April, so we can go down and go camping for Easter and my birthday in Monticello with my family! We'll have fun before it gets to painful for him!

Lucky us! HA

Well, we are doing good, except for the pregnancy woes and the fact that Brett injured himself again! He was playing basketball and ruined his knee this time! We are looking at surgery and are going in for an MRI today! I can't believe his luck since we moved here, first the ankle and now this! He's going to have to be six weeks non weight bearing after the surgery! We'll keep you updated and as soon as I take more pictures, I'll post some!

CRAFT IT FORWARD EXCHANGE!

Craft It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it forward".I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the CIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and sent out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive! What you need to do in return, is craft it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'CRAFT IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL CRAFT IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG.

I'd love for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Craft It Forward recipients. Come and join me who doesn't love a gift or giving gifts???This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!2- What I create will be just for you.3- It'll be done this year.4- You have no clue what it's going to be or when.5- The catch is that you must post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog.Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!Who's in? (If you are one of the first three to comment, leave me your email so I can get your mailing address.)

EXCITING NEWS!!

While we were in Washington we learned what we've been suspected and were able to share it with family while we were up there! If you can't guess, then I'll say it out loud! I'M EXPECTING OUR FOURTH BABY!!! I'm due sometime the beginning to mid November, so I'm just barely, but I guess it's public news now that family knows! So now you're in the loop and up to date on our happenings!

ICE SKATING

We had our first experience with ice skating competitions last weekend and it was a great one to have first! It was really laid back and enjoying for the kids! They did AWESOME even though they were freezing in their little skating outfits! They left their jackets in the locker room instead of wearing them up until it was their turn, but I guess they learned for next time! They both ended up placing second in their division! They both got silver medals which was exciting for them! They got to go out on the ice with the big girls afterwards and had fun "learning" or rather watching how to to new things! Tepaynga did a spin and is continuing to do her own moves as we go ice skating as a family! We were so proud of them and want to thank our families for supporting them and us!

We got to have the opportunity of having our nieces Kelly and Nicole stay with us after the competition when Brett's parents took our girls back to Washington for a few days! We had fun and took them to the Fun Park and spoil them a little! We joined our girls again in Washington on Wednesday and visited with family and friends for a relaxing trip, but long drive to get there and back!

SUPERBOWL TIME!

Sunday was the SUPERBOWL and it was an AWESOME GAME! We got home from our trip and prepared all the goodies and necessities for it! It was a great family affair and the kids really got into it! We all love the STEELERS and were way excited when they made it to the Superbowl! Everyone was cheering together and had a great time! Dallin did especially as he would yell "GO, GO, GO!" and wave his TERRIBLE TOWEL! He loved it and got extra excited when Daddy did! We were all on the edge of our seats the whole time as it was a very suspenseful game! The girls were eating constantly and at one point Mekayla said, "Oh I can't eat anymore, but it is SOOO GOOD!!" She wanted to eat and eat but her stomach wouldn't allow her to, so we would find her over at the goodie table picking at things here and there throughout the game! We had kind of thrown in the towel by the end because our team didn't seem to be doing so hot, but then here came the TOUCHDOWN that won it all! Brett was running and screaming and throwing Dallin up in the air and even if he doesn't admit it, I saw some tears building in his eyes as he tried to hide his head! Anyway, WE WON! And that's # 6 for the Steelers and we are all still very proud of that fact! Arizona put up a great fight for it, but in the end the Steel Curtain won! YEAH!

Our family the last few months!

Wow, Okay it's been a long time since I've updated! Sorry! Well here goes the latest in our neck of the woods! Brett and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on Jan. 4th and can't believe how quick it's gone by! It's been a great 8 though! We managed to get to go out to dinner the day before and then just this last weekend Jeremy and Stacy were nice enough to watch our kids for the weekend so we could get away! Thanks guys! We went down to Orem to where we began and had a great time reminising about how much fun we've had!

We are excited this month because our girls are going to be in their first ice skating competition. You are all invited to come! It's Feb. 21st at the Eccles Ice Center! It's called the Beginner's Cup and they can actually win a medal. They have been taking private lessons for the last month and are really excited to perform and dress up while "dancing" on the ice! They are so adorable out there and are loving watching each other succeed!

Dallin is sure a handful, but I've noticed that he gets to be more so when he is tired! I'm learning his tricks! HA HA! He's discovered how to turn on the dishwasher to his mother's dismay and I get so frustrated having 1 1/2 times clean dishes! He's started the timeouts and knows when he's done something wrong because he will just sit down where ever he is! He's quite to sports fan too! He'll watch sports center with Brett and say BALL at least 100 times! He's really glued to it and just watches for his chance to see a ball again! Brett just loves it!

I just recently did a contest like the biggest losers only it was smokin' hot mamas with my mom and home town girls! It was a challenge, but I came in 6th place I guess and that's not bad for a beginner in this madness! I lost 7 pounds and 1 1/2- 3 inches in some places! I was pretty excited to be getting back into shape and having success at it! It's a cool contest that not only encourages you to get in shape but to have a healthier out look on life! Anyway, that's been my latest achievement!