Hopelessly Devoted to You

Cannondale Synapse 7 Red

Cannondale Synapse 7 Black


So, I am anxiously awaiting the day I can purchase one of these bikes. Alli and I are on a strict spending plan these days. Not because of a lack of money, but because of our desire to be financially stable should a crisis occur. We are doing the "Total Money Makeover" plan by Dave Ramsey. We have been able to pay off all of our debt other than our house to this point. Our next step is to build up six to twelve months of salary in case of a hardship or job loss. But this road biking thing has become my obsession. I have not ridden a bike in at least 15 years, but I keep reassuring Alli that I am going to love this new sport. I have set up an account in my wallet should anyone out there want to contribute funds to my fantasy. Deposits can be made at your local Stryker Orthopaedic Doctor's Office. In all seriousness though, Red or Black? Please give me your opinion. I just can't decide.

Disney Live

For Blake's birthday I got us tickets to Disney Live at Energy Solutions Arena. Blake is such a TV watcher I knew he would love it. The show was supposed to start at 1:30. So we left our home in Herriman at 12:30. You would think that would have been plenty of time to get there on a Saturday afternoon. Think again. As we got on to I-15 at Bangertor HWY it was smooth sailing until we hit 12300 S. The freeway came to a complete stop. From 12600 S. to 7800 S. the freeway was a parking lot. It took us about 40 min. to get from 12600 S. to 10600 s. I was going crazy. It seems like any time I try to do something fun with my kids all heck breaks loose. So anyway, it is about 1:15 and we are getting off of the freeway at 10600 S. I took some side streets to try to get to 5400 S. and get back on I-15. When we were at the light waiting to get on the on ramp I hear a little voice say "POO POO" from the back seat. Great! So we pulled a Uturn illegally and headed to the nearest gas station. Blake was able to hold it till we got there thankfully. The men's room was occupied so we broke the rules again and hijacked the women's room.

So we finally got to the ESA at about 2:00. There were tons of parents sprinting through the parking lots carrying their toddlers. I felt better knowing that things like this happen to other parents. By the time we got to the show it was in the first intermission. Blake saw someone eating popcorn so we went and got some. There was this little boy sitting next to us. I guess he liked popcorn too. He started eating it with Blake by the handful. His mom didn't notice for a while. When she did she was so embarrassed. It was not a big deal at all. As long as Blake was willing to share I was cool with it.

So once the intermission was over it was time for Little Einsteins. That is not Blakes favorite show, but he still liked it. Then Mickey Mouse came out and Blake got so excited. They did the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse routine and the kids all got up and danced. Blake had a ton of fun. So we saw may be 25 min. of the show, but it was still fun.

After the show Blake and I let the place clear out and we went down to the stage that was covered by a big curtain. He wanted to go find Mickey Mouse. He was so sad when I said that he was all gone. If we weren't planning on going to Disneyland before we are now. We are going in October. I think Blake will really love it. Since Mickey was gone I took Blake and bought him a Mickey Mouse from the souvenir stand.

After the show we went to Chucky Cheese. If you sign up on their website they send you a free coupon on you kids birthdays. So we took advantage of the coupon and went a played for free. Blake is in love with Chucky Cheese now. He sees the commercial and goes nuts.

So over all we had a great time. Next time I will just plan on all heck breaking loose and leave earlier.

Happy Birthday again Blake. Love Dad.

Daddy and Me Basketball

This is a very long post, but I want to document it for our family journal. Please bear with me.

Blake and I are going to a Daddy and Me basketball class on Tuesday nights at the Riverton City Building. So far it has been a challenge. The class is for kids ages 3 to 5. There is about 25 kids in Blake's session. Blake is the youngest kid in the class by far. He is so funny. The first week we got there like 10 minutes late because I got home late from work. Blake had a very hard time joining in with the class that week. We pretty much just threw the ball for a couple of minutes then he looked at me said " Watch Backpack (Dora)" "Chocolate milk" and decided that basketball was over for the week.

This week I made it a priority to get there at least 10 minutes early. We made it there early. The coach was there setting up and there were a few other kids there playing with the basketballs. Blake surprised me. He ran to the big red bag and grabbed a ball. He went over to the hoops and stood directly under the hoop and closed his eyes. He gets so shy around other kids in this class. I kept encouraging him to just have fun. After a while the coach gathered all the kids in a line to take a few warm up laps around the gym. I told Blake to go get in line and he did. I could not believe that he did it. It was one of those moments as a parent when you are so happy to see your child trying to socialize in a big group on his own. Maybe it is a bigger deal to me because I feel like Blake is really shy, but I was so proud of him joining the group. Then the coach had the kids start running. Blake followed the rest of the kids for about 10 feet then he got nervous and closed his eyes and trailed off. Once he opened his eyes he realised that he was very far from dad he came running to me all excited. I had him wait for the other kids to pass and then encouraged him to follow the last kid and he did. Then the kids were instructed to spread out and do some stretches. Blake stayed with the group and tried his best to follow the coach's instructions. He touched his toes reached for the sky and ran to Dad. Then the class broke in to groups to do the station drills. Our station was running first. Blake was not interested at all. At the gym where the class is there is a Balcony. Blake loves the balcony. So for the rest of the hour long class Blake hung out up in the balcony playing with the turned off computer and yelling "Daddy Go". I just ignored him for the most part and tried to act like I was have such an awesome time throwing the ball up in the air to my self. All the other parents must think I am nuts. But some times Blake will get sick of yelling at me and he will come down and play for a minute. So after 10 trips to the balcony and 6 trips to the bathroom class was over. The kids, including Blake, all lined up and gave the coach five and got their treat. Blake may not be into sports and I am learning to accept that. I just consider this hour a week "Blake and Dad time". He can pick how he wants to spend it. As long as Blake is having fun that is all that matters. If I forget that please remind me.

I really enjoy our time together Blake. I love you so much.

Time for an update

On us.

Tyler: Ty, Mr. T, Baby T. Say it how you like. Ty is almost 10 months now. Can't believe it! (I say that a lot. don't I?) I think the 2nd child grows up faster than the first... Tyler is always going. His personality is starting to shine more and more every day. He has started walking around furniture and behind toys really well. He'll stand for a moments here and there. Just the other day he started going down the stairs. I didn't even have to teach him. He loves his tongue and is always sticking it out and jabbering. He claps, drinks from a sipper, and always, let me emphasize always has something in his mouth. I've gotten better at making sure everything is off the floor, but I regularly find carpet (yes carpet) and lint (yuck I know) in his mouth. Sometimes its nice though....he keeps my kitchen floor clean. (gasp. I know. so gross) Oh and lets not forget the sock in the mouth. He carries it around like a dog with a toy. Tyler loves to cuddle and I love it too. He loves playing with Blake and even teases him. It's fun to watch. Tyler is such a smiley guy...love it.



Blake: Well Blake is 3, like I said before. Lately he loves taking pictures. I frequently find my memory card full, and usually of the same picture. Yesterday I tried to teach him to take pictures of objects (or people)and not just the floor or tv (his favorite thing still). Also, Blake's new thing is to dance. He loves it. He'll come up to me and say dance (well, some word that sounds like dance) and he will go turn the radio on. So we've danced a lot the pass couple of days. The kids take turns with me, and I love watching them. Their smiles are so big and I love hearing them laugh. Its also a great way to burn our breakfast off :) Blake is growing into such a big brother. He loves to play with Ty and read him books. Yesterday Chris found them in Blake's room under a blanket while Blake was reading to Ty. It was fun to listen to. Blake has also become quite the helper. He loves to vacuum, and I love it too!

Blake vaccuming and his picture of the bowl. He got the bowl from the dishwasher and set it up to take the picture. So funny.

Chris: Has been so busy with work and with church responsiblities. This weekend Chris has been back and forth from Park City. He put together a booth for the Podiatry Institute Conference and it has been really successful. He's been able to meet a lot of Podiatrist from the area, and has even gain some business from it. Also last Tuesday there was story on the news that aired all because of Chris. Did you watch it? It was all about wrist injuries. I wish there was a video clip, but there's not. You can read about it here. Anyway, Dr. Grobes is a surgeon that Chris works with and all the product he showed is Stryker product that Chris sells. I was pretty proud of Chris. He works so hard for us and is successful at what he does. When Chris isn't working, he is looking at bikes.(Okay and playing with the kids) Biking is his new interest and he can't wait to start.

Me: Well this will be short. I feel like not much is new with me. I take care of my kids and am trying to take better care of my husband. anyway, hopefully I'll be blogging more now. I feel a little bit more caught up now.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to my Blake!

Blake's birthday was last week, better late than never right? Anyway, Blake is 3! I can't believe how time flies! This last year has been quite the eventful one for Blake. At 2 years old, he was still having trouble sleeping through the night, and snoring horribly! He ended up getting his tonsils and adenoids out. Happy to report he slept beautifully after that! Shortly after (4 days to be exact) he got a new brother! Which he loves very much now...Ty cried too much for Blake in the beginning. :) In the summer we had Blake evaluated for early intervention for his lack of speech, and he qualified for their program, which has been so great. He started his toddler school in August and has loved it. His teacher, Julie, came to our house twice a month, which was such a great learning experience for me and for Blake. Blake has also become much more social with people. Blake took his first trip up to Primary Child's too this past year. Not the most fun experience, but was put on asthma medication since then. Let's not forget the worst experience this year too....the burn. Many trips up to the U, but glad to report that it all healed up perfectly. Christmas was so much fun this year too with Blake; he loves to open presents now, which before it was just work for us. Blake has grown up so fast this year and has been such a blessing to us. We love you Blake!