Kami's Etsy Site

My sister in law Kami just created a new Etsy site. She has an amazing talent, and I love the things she's added so far. Soon she'll also be adding some of the cutest hand bags. I wish I had a picture to post of one, but they'll be coming soon. Below are just a few samples of what she has to offer, but she can do anything you want if you don't see something you like. Just click on an image to see it larger. Her prices are totally reasonable, the quality is great, and like I said, she's willing to do anything you want if you contact her. If you have favorite colors, styles, designs...whatever, she can do it. I've had a binki clip like these for both of my kids, and I love them. Also, she's made many, many bracelets for my little Avery and I loved putting them on her. I've added her site as a link on my sidebar, you can click here, or click on the title. If you like what you see, add her as a link on your blog to spread the word.

Bracelets for girls


Binki Clips

First trip to the pool

So, this has to be the coldest spring ever here. We keep getting teased with an occasional 70+ degree day, only to be back to the 40's and 50's the next. While Ryan's mom and sister were here this weekend, we decided to take them to our pool. We thought the kids were just going to play in the water fountains, but I guess despite the cold weather and wind they had other ideas. If the pool was heated, I would understand. But these kids just don't seem to mind.

Caden's 5th Birthday

Where did the last 5 years go? I can't believe our sweet little Caden is already 5. With the craziness of being out of town, we planned on taking the birthday easy. We were going to invite a few friends over to play, have family over for cake and ice cream that night, and keep it pretty low key. Well, Caden woke up that morning and wanted to know when his pump it up party was.? Last year we reanted a jump house for the backyard, but no go this year. I explained to him we were just going ot have a few friends over, but we came up with a back up plan. Apparently at the local pump it up party place, you can rent the facility for 1 1/2 hour for around $200...um, no. Fortunately today they have open hours that we can just drop in and pay $6 per child. So, we decided to take a couple of friends and head over. I was worried about being there late, having it already full, and not knowing what to do then. Well, we got there, nobody else was there, and we had the whole place to ourselves for all of $18...so glad I didn't rent it for $200 for the same thing:) The kids had a blast, I think we totally wore them out, and only had a few bumps and bruises.
Notice the tears in the next picture...of course they had to bonk heads on the one that I was taking a picture of. Tough boys though, they just shook it off.We had cake and ice cream with the cousins. I didn't know that kids could make so much noise. I'm sure our neighbors wondered what was going on, but at least no one got hurt.
Happy Birthday Caden!!! We love you!

Disneylend & So. California

We went to California to see my sister and her family. We had such a fun time and thank Deb and Greg for being so welcoming. Adding four more to their house for a week was a bit crazy to say the least, but we had so much fun with them. Greg works for Disney, so we got lots of Disney time in thanks to the benefits they get. Do people really pay what they ask for? I couldn't believe it!!! Besides Disney and the beach, Caden and Ryan hit the pool a few times, Ryan made it to a few of Greg's ward basketball games to play, and we ate at this awesome place called Cherry on Top...self serve frozen yogurt sold by the ounce with every topping you can imagine. You'll have to forgive the number of pictures. How do you narrow them down? We look half asleep in a lot of them, but who doesn't wear themselves out when you are supposed to be relaxing on vacation.

This was the first night there. We went to Disneyland to see the fireworks. I think the tram ride from the parking lot was our kids favorite ride.
Sunday we drove to Laguna Beach. This place was beautiful!!! Sitting high up on the cliffs, the view was amazing. Our kids had the most fun chasing the little bunnies around the park that was next door.
Could I look any more tired?
Monday we took the kids to California Adventures bug area. They have these fun little water fountains that the kids just ran around in for ever. We took their suits and let them at it. Little Max, Deb's baby, was so funny. He found a safe spot in the middle where he didn't' get wet and he didn't' budge. I can't believe I only took this one picture. As soon as I figure out how to post more video, I'll add those too.We went to Newport Beach on Tuesday. The water was cold, but Greg had found this quiet little beach that had parking right close, basketball courts, and beautiful waves. Caden is a water lover and had a blast. Fortunately for me, Avery didn't want to get her feet sandy so she mostly sat on my lap. It made for a relaxing visit. If only I could figure out how to pack a lunch the beach, and eat it without all the extra sand?!?!
Caden and his little buddy Max...he just adores him.
Finally, at the end of the day, she was willing to stand in the sand...shoes on of course.
Rainforest Cafe - this was the happiest the kids were all night. We sat at a table right by a huge elephant and Caden and Max were a little freaked out. Avery, as always, didn't mind. Every time the thunderstorm happened, our table was a little loud with tears and fears. The highlight of the night came when a balloon man came and made whatever we wanted, almost. he did the coolest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for Caden and Princess Aerial for Avery.
Wednesday we had breakfast with Minnie and Friends. Geez, these parks can get people to pay anything. It was worth it though because we didn't have to wait in any lines anywhere through the park for pictures...we got all we wanted here.
Avery dressed like Minnie for the day. She loves Mickey and Minnie more than any little (or big) person I know. Once Minnie walked in the room, I've never seen her so happy. Minnie was so sweet to her and held her for a minute.
Caden didn't care much about any of the characters but Pooh and Eeyore. Although his smile doesn't show it here, he was excited to see him.ToonTown...the cutest little place at the park. Here the kids were taking Mickey's car for a little ride.We finally got to see Mickey...who knew that going into his house would wind around and we'd find him here for a picture.Don't you love the hair. Avery was crazy...dancing her little heart out in the street while we waited for the Pixar Parade at California Adventure.
Waiting for the Pixar Parade.
While walking into the park, Kobe Bryant and his family walked right next to us. I scrambled to get my cameras out...I felt like such a tourist. I looked around and no one else seemed to care or notice that he was standing right there. He was pushing a baby stroller and had a few security with him. It was kind of fun to see him.
Thursday night we walked out to Ruby's on the Pier at Huntington Beach. We'd heard quite a lot about this place and it was fun. The shakes and Parmesan fries were good. It was a beautiful walk out there, and it looked like they had a pro volleyball tournament going on. The stands and advertising banners were all set up for the next day.

Finally, a picture of the kiddos at the end of the week. I can't believe we took one picture of them the day we got there, and one the day we left. I think I consumed my memory catching with our video camera, which of course I can't figure out how to upload here, but we'll take what we got.
Thanks again to Deb, Greg and Max for letting us come. We sure miss you guys, and hope to see you again soon.

Pre School @ Planet Kid

Caden had his preschool field trip at Planet Kid. What a fun place!!! The it's basically a huge McDonald's play place, like 3 levels high, but without the added ketchup smears all over.

ER VIsit

Ever had those moments as a parent that your gut told you one thing, but your conscience told you another. Well, we had a fabulous weekend. We got a trampoline that the kids absolutely wore themselves out on on Saturday. The weather was beautiful and we were just really enjoying the start of spring. Well, Sunday morning rolled around, and Avery woke up throwing up. What? We just had this 2 weeks ago, how can it be back? We started crediting it with the fact that she had eaten 5 pieces of pizza the night before for dinner and was just sick. Little Caesars does it to Ryan too. Then I started thinking it was heat exhaustion. We had been outside all day, each got a little sunburned, and didn't drink a lot. Could it really show that many hours later? Well, I then realized that Saturday I had picked up this little star off of our floor. It usually was stuck to our fridge as a magnet, and if you twist the back of it it starts lighting up. Well, Saturday when I picked it up off the floor, the back of it was gone. I didn't think anything of it at the time, until Ryan asked if it was possible Avery had swallowed the battery and magnet. No way...she doesn't do that. She never puts things in her mouth. But where was the magnet. We searched hi and low through our house, under the fridge, with flashlights, in toy boxes...we could not find it anywhere. All the while, Avery is still throwing up about every 1/2 hour, sometimes more, and now she has a fever. She isn't eating, drinking, she's totally lethargic. Surely it's just the flu. My gut kept telling me that...but what if? That stupid battery, why can't we find it. We drilled Caden and he had no idea. Avery was the same...couldn't tell us what had happened to it. After talking to our mom's, calling a friend who is an ER doctor and my brother in law Jake, everyone agreed it was potentially serious enough she should be seen. Of course, it's Sunday...these things always happen on Sunday. Dave Johnson called the ER for us and they said it was not busy. So, we headed over.

On the way, Ryan starts feeling sick. He's not nauseated, maybe it's nerves or the fact he hadn't eaten today. It seems to get worse the further we go. He actually wanted to turn around and go back, but I wasn't about to do the ER visit by myself. We finally check in and I just hold Avery on my lap. My poor little girl was so lifeless. It was starting to scare me. Ryan laid himself on the hospital bed, certain he was going to pass out. At this point, he's ready to throw up and I wonder why he didn't' start showing these signs 2 hours earlier...then I would have surely known it was just the flu. Oh well, we're already checked in. The nurse asks Ryan if he needs something to drink, to which Avery catches onto and wants something right then to drink, she just kept crying for something and the nurse said she didn't' think she should. Good thing another nurse came in because he promptly brought her a bottle (they were out of sippy cups) of Pedialyte and apple juice. I've never seen a happier child. She held on to that like it was her best friend and drank her little heart out. Then she wanted more, so we filled it up again and she scarfed that down. Poor little thing was dying of thirst.

The Dr.'s recommendation was to do an x-ray, and check for a urinary tract infection. That had never crossed my mind. I asked how, and he said they would do a catheter since she wasn't potty trained. I was not about to go for that, and told him I didn't think that was necessary. Are they just try to think of ways to make this traumatic for you? She's been throwing up for 10 hours with a fever, you you want to check for a UTI right away. I'd rather wait a few days and see, to which he agreed would be his decision for his own children.

Well, the x-ray went well, not so traumatic, and it came back negative. Of course it did...I knew all along it would, but I couldn't bear the thought of a battery leaking in her stomach and not doing anything about it. Still don't know where the battery is...

BTW, Ryan got worse and worse. The Dr. offered to write a script for anti-nausea. They gave him throw up bags, soda crackers, sympathy...he actually just took the other half of the Zofran they gave Avery. It seemed to hold him over till we got home and then it was a long night for him. Glad to say we're all doing better, hope it never comes back (is that too much to ask), and appreciating our health.

Easter

So, these are a little late, but better than never, right? We had a fun Easter this year. We started with the family Easter egg hunt at my mom and dad's. It was kind of small this year with out Dave and Lucy's family, or Becca and Jake's family. But the kids had a lot of fun.

Then we had our own Easter egg hunt at home after the Easter bunny hid the eggs we decorated.

Finally, they hunted for what they really wanted...their Easter Baskets. We tried to keep them a little more simple this year. Who needs more candy? We're still trying to finish off the candy from Halloween!

Tonights Prayer

Caden's prayer went something like this tonight.

First, he started by telling me I was really going to like it. Then he proceeded to mention each of the following.

I love Jesus more than anything.
I know President Monson will be the greatest leader ever.
(at this point, he looked straight at me and asked if Heavenly Father died or is he alive. I told him he is living)
Grateful Heavenly Father is not dead and that he is alive today.
Grateful that there are no Magalons on the earth
I'm grateful I can see President Hinckley and Grandpa Merrill after they died.
I know this church is true.
Grateful for our opportunities

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Avery's 2nd Birthday

Well, we survived the first two years. For those of you who know anything about our last two years with Avery, we sometimes wondered. She has turned out to be so sweet, funny, tender, strong (in many ways)...we just love her to death. We think she had a good party. For the most part...right up until she burned her lips on the birthday cake. Are we the worst parents in the world? I mean, it happened so fast. Soon enough she was fine and ready to dive into her cake. Two things I learned today (other than not to let your child's face get too close to the candle): 1) don't wait until the day of to decide that it would be a good idea to make a Mickey Mouse cake, and 2)you can't make black frosting. Other than that, the cake would have turned out great. As Caden put it, it tasted better than it looked.