Sleep

Here is what happens to your 18 month old when she gets up way too early in the morning...

This morning Molly got up at a quarter to 6. That is just a bit too early for our household! Later during the morning we were doing a few things around the house and I realized that it was very quiet. I asked where Molly was and then quickly went to search for her. Lilly finally told me that she was on the couch. I looked on the couch and there was Molly fast asleep. She slept from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm! That is one long nap! She still went to bed at a decent time too - luckily! Maybe she is growing. She is getting bigger everyday now. She has been changing a lot lately especially now that she can walk. We love you Molly.

Yard Sale!

We had our first ever Yard Sale! I was kind of nervous about it and really didn't think that anyone would want our stuff. It was really nice that we had 2 other families join us. We had so much stuff, it was a little ridiculous! It took a lot of work to get everything cleaned out of our house and outside. Then we had to organize and get everything ready to go. We originally were only going to have the sale on Saturday, but after we saw how much stuff there was, we decided to have it on Friday and Saturday. That ended up being a pretty smart decision. Friday we had way more people stop by then on Saturday, and that is also when we made most of the money. I ended up selling my bows there as well, which did pretty well. All in all we came out way on top of where I though we would be. Every family did great and I couldn't have been happier with the results.

Our New Toy

This year for our anniversary we decided to get a gift that would keep on giving. A gift that the whole family could enjoy. A gift we would all love. That gift was a Wii. We are so excited about it. It has been so much fun! Unfortunately for us Lilly is way too good at bowling already and beats us almost every time. Anyone want to come take her on? She'll definitely give you a run for your money!

Fourth of July

We had a great Fourth of July this year. Our day began with a trip to my Sisters Ward so we could be there for the blessing of Ava. It was a really special experience. Then we left her Ward early so that we could make it back to our Ward for Primary and so on. Nelson and Nikki came to visit us and they were very gracious about us dragging them all over town! After church we went home and got ready for lunch. We had a few friends over and we had a great meal, great conversation and a ton of fun. The menu this year included ribs, rainbow jello and a trifle bar for dessert.

After lunch we played a few games and then headed out to do fireworks. We had a blast and it is always a lot of fun to combine 3 families worth of fireworks. We did decided that maybe we should just buy less of the little stuff and more of the fountains. Those were the favorite all around this year.

A few pictures of everyone at lunch

from top left: Jasen and Aaron, The kids - Molly Lilly and Braden, Nikki and Nelson

from bottom left: Molly having obviously enjoyed her meal, Jemma, Heather and Sarah

from top left: All of our fireworks, The boys - Aaron, Nelson and Jasen.

from middle left: One of the fountains, Braden and Lilly - they just love each other!

from bottom left: See the lump? That's Molly and what she did the entire time, The girls - Nikki, Heather, Molly, Lilly, Sarah and Jemma, Lilly with her sparkler

6 Years!

Six years ago today I married my best friend. Now after many moves, changes in schools, children, surgeries and so on.... here we are happier than the day we got married. More mature (we hope) and on the path to a life filled with love, laughter, family and joy. Thanks for the wonderful ride babe. Even though I know there will be trials along the way, I know that I wouldn't want to weather the storms with anyone else but you! I love you.... here's to many more wonderful years!

Surgery....The Full Story

As you read in an earlier post, Aaron had another ear surgery. Here's what happened. Aaron had previously had a tube in his ear. We went back to the doctor to check on things and it was determined that he needed another tube in his ear. So on the day of that appointment Aaron headed to get the procedure done. The doctor thought that he saw a recurring cholestetoma. He wasn't 100% positive so he told Aaron to wait a month with this new tube and see if it took care of itself. One month later we sat in the doctors office and the doctor said that it was in fact a cholestetoma. Well shoot! We scheduled the surgery, which we were able to get done in the surgery center this time instead of the hospital.

Two weeks later Aaron was ready to go. Of course the surgery took longer than expected. The doctor thought that he would be able to remove it through his ear canal and that all would be fine. Unfortunately that was not the case. The cholestetoma had actually grown larger than expected and so the doctor had to go in the same way as before. The surgery went great. Aaron had a little trouble when it came to waking up so they had to give him additional medication. It made him sleep a lot longer and he was totally out of it. He finally woke up enough and was moved to another recovery area. After a little while we were able to take him home and put him to bed. It has taken longer than the last surgery to recover (Aaron swears it's because he is 30!).

Today he went back to the doctor and got all his stitches and some packing removed. He says he can hear a little more everyday and his ear is waking up a little at a time. We are hopeful that this will be the last of his surgeries, but you never know. We had to go and get some ear drops from the pharmacy...they cost like $54.00! for like 2 oz. of ear drops! The lady was almost apologetic when she rang them up and I just said that we do what we have to do. I think she was a little surprised by my response. Is that wrong? I am of the opinion that we just have to do what we must to keep ourselves healthy, complaining isn't going to change anything. Is my opinion off?

Right after surgery

Home and feeling good...maybe!?!

The girls knew that Daddy had an owie. While we were taking off his bandages, Lilly just sat there acting like a total girl and being thoroughly grossed out, while Molly watched intensely and almost like it... So totally different from one another.