GLEE!!!!

If I have never confessed this before, I am going to now.
I am addicted to TV.
Yes... I watch over 10 shows religiously!
Its bad.
But I embrace it, and would like to share my 2 new favs with you!

1. GLEE--- Glee is great because first off its hilarious, and second its sort of a musical. I love comedies, and musicals... so this is one of the best shows this fall in my opinion. Here are two clips from my Favorite episodes!





2. VAMPIRE DIARIES---- Now I know what you are all going to say.... Its a lame knock off of Twilight. I was afraid of that too!! But it is NOT! I repeat..., Its NOT...It is quite different!!! It is based on a book by L.J. Smith and the book was published WAY before Twilight. (look it up if you don't believe.) I was first attracted to this show because BOONE from Lost is on it, and he plays a bad Vampire. Very Scary, but I have found the plot to be very interesting, and recommend it for lovers of Vampire stories. They never get old!!!

Biking and the Hospital..... again

This past week has been very busy and exciting. To start out I started my new job at Wal-Mart. Yes I am working there again, but I work overnights stocking HBA (shampoos, deodorant, hair color etc.) and I love it!! I was scared that it would be not only a hard adjustment for me, but that I would hate working for them. I am pleasantly surprised that I DO like it. The people I work with are nice and it is very non-stressful!! So YAY!!!

On my 2nd week working Dylan and Parker went on a camp-out with Dylan's co-workers. I stayed behind while they went down near Santaquin, UT where there are a bunch of sand dunes.
They had such a great time!!
It was Parkers FIRST time Camping!!



This is Dylan's New Dirt Bike in the back of his Truck.
he loves it so much....

Parker got to hang out a lot with Ashlee Chambers and her dogs Dakota and Bell.

Parks liked to take Bell around on a leash because she is a little dog. A "Parker sized" dog, as Parks puts it.

He liked Ashlee soooo much that he started calling her his "girlfriend"!!
This is him giving her a kiss on the cheek.
(how cute!)

Parker got to go on a ton of rides with the guys! He loved being with the boys, peeing outside, sleeping in the back of the truck under the stars, looking for shooting stars, riding, and just being with Dad.

They both did not get much sleep that night, and were looking forward to coming home to my welcoming arms, a nice meal and warm beds.

But that did not happen.

The day they were leaving from camping I woke up with some serious stomach cramps!! I took some meds, got a heating pad and went back to sleep for a couple hours. I woke up to the pain a little less dull, but still very sharp on the Right Lower Quadrant of my stomach. After some research, I decided that I needed to go to InstaCare. I believed that it was my appendix.
To make a long story short, It ended up being that and I had to go into surgery that night.
So Lindsey (Dylan's sis) took Parks that night, and cleaned my kitchen for me!! Thanks Sis!!

I got out of the hospital a day after the surgery, which was a week ago. I thought that it would be a quick recovery, but I was wrong!! It was harder than I thought it would be. So my lovely Mother came to stay and take care of me and my family.

She cleaned my ENTIRE house, did all my family's Laundry, and played with Parks non-stop.
She took him to the Park everyday. Took him on about 3 bike rides a day, and just basically wore the crap out of that little boy!!
He fell asleep on the floor or in someones arms every night he was so tired!!!
2 of those nights without dinner!


On their way to the Park

I had my week check-up this week. The Doc said that I was healing up very nicely and I should see some major improvement with in the next few days. So... Grandma left today. Parks cried so hard. His favorite friend for the week was leaving, and It was hard on him.


He has been confused with me being fragile, sick, and sleeping so much.
He kept asking to see my bandages, and kept saying that he missed me while I was in the hospital that night.
I was just glad that she could be here to keep him company.


He was happy though when he saw his goodbye note from Grandma Apes.
He loves her so much and keeps telling me that he "misses her".

Thanks Mom for all of your help! Dylan, Parks and I could not have made it through the week without you!!
Your Awesome!!!

Cruise 2009

This year we went on another cruise to the Mexican Riviera (3rd time!)

It was the best one we have been on yet. Not only did we get to go with our friends The Chambers again, but we got to go with The Dearings and a ton of other friends!

Dylan and I going onto The Mariner of the Seas

Pic of our boat I took from Cabo

The first day of the cruise you are on the boat all day. So that day mostly we just worked on our tans. (well... we did that mostly everyday).

Everyone who came on the first night of dinner


Dylan and I on Formal Night (2nd Day at sea)... I love Formal Night!!

Our next day we ported in Puerta Vallarta
There we just hung out on a resort by the pool.
The guys played a little water Volley ball and the girls worked on their tans mostly.


I was so afraid of burning my face... that I wore this hat a lot. But it was so cute and fun!
I love hats now! (and im sure my face appreciates it).

Also in Puerta Vallarta The Chambers, Dylan and I got some Tattoos!!
(henna tattoos that is..... they are not real)

If you look closely you can see that Ashlee's is on her wrist.


Kipp and Dylan

Here is a better pic of this hunk!!

I also got this one on my back. In this pic it is a little faded... but it was so cute!!!
(dont look at my horrible tan lines... oh excuse me, burn lines)

The next day we ported was in Mazatlan.
This was the Best Day of the whole trip!!


First we rented ATVs

We then rode to a beach where we could ride them in the sand!!
We also got to swim in the ocean when we got there. It was sooo warm in the water!!!

We then went to a resort there where we all played some pool volley ball, and had some lunch.

Me drinking my fabulous drink.... Dylan eating his....

Our last Port day was Cabo. We went on a glass bottom boat tour and this is our group.
There was 16 people, all friends and co-workers. You can see why this cruise was so fun!!!

Dylan and I on the Glass Bottom Boat


Some more Highlights of our Cruise were Dylan and his buddies winning a dodge ball tournament!!


Dylan won a Poker Tournament

The Towel animals they leave in your room!

After noon snacks!!

New watches with Dylan's Black Jack Winnings!!! Yeah!!!

Trying to fit everyone in the elevator!!!

And one of the best highlights of my cruise... was when I saw my little boys face again!!

He missed us so much, he cried when he saw is. It broke my heart!!
We love this little boy so much, we are just going to have to take him next year!!!

He had a ton of fun with grandma!!
Thanks Grandma Linnell and Grandpa Monte for making his time away from us a blast.
He came home doing, and saying some of the cutest things.
(Pic above: He winks, clicks his tongue, and points at you....)
Soooo funny!!!

But we missed him too much!!

Happy Cruise 2009!!!

Two Hospital Visits

FIRST HOSPITAL VISIT:

On Aug 23rd my sis-in-law had her baby!!
They named him Jackson.

He is so cute!!! April was so nice to let me witness the birth.
I just bawled through the whole thing! It was such a special experience to see a baby being born!
Thanks April for letting me be a part of that special moment!!!

Markham, Katie, New Baby Jackson, and the Lovely April!!
[ She looked so awesome after giving birth... got to hate her :) ]

Anyways.... Congrats to the Carroll's on their new addition!!! We just love him so much!

SECOND HOSPITAL VISIT:

On Wednesday the 5th Parker had his tonsils and his adenoids taken out.
(Don't ask me what adenoids are... i have no idea!!)
But he did really awesome.
During the week before, in order to prepare him, I talked to him about going to the doctor to have surgery on his mouth.
He was pretty brave about it but kept saying that he did not want to get a shot.
The morning came, and he was just so chill about the whole thing.

We got there at 6:45 am.
Dylan and Parks were just sitting in the waiting room reading Sports Illustrated!!
With not a care in the world.

We got him in his hospital gown and socks.... He is so happy!!

Here he is showing me his socks with the paws on them.

He got a little cold in the waiting room.

The Anesthesiologist said that he did great. We walked him to the door where they go to surgery and he just went with the anesthesiologist. No crying no nothing. They said that he hopped up on the table and laid right down.
The surgery only took about 20 Min and then they brought him to us when he woke up about 5 min later.

That was the hard part. Parks was so freaked out! He was shaking and screaming. Plus he had blood coming out his nose and his mouth. And you could tell his mouth had been so stretched that it was getting really dry and cracked.
They gave him some pain killers... and he just went right to sleep in my arms.

We then got to take him home about 50 Min later. He was way crazy and on drugs... so he was being pretty weird... but since then he has been recovering really well. After a 4 hr nap, he was talking, and screaming, and he was jumping from couch to couch!! He was also doing head stands and pretending to be Buzz Lightyear while watching Toy Story. He was jumping off the couch onto the floor yelling at the top of his scratchy lungs "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!", Needless to say he has been watching that and Transformers OVER and OVER, and OVER again.
I was really not expecting him to get so well so fast!!
But I am happy he is not in pain!

Afternoon Tea and Crumpets

April (my sis-in-law) is due to have a baby very soon. So as a celebration for her 2nd child I thought that the girls should go do something.

So I decided on Afternoon Tea!!
I was a little nervous because I have gone to tea before with the Halgren family when I was younger... and you just never really know if the tea is going to be good or if the snacks will be good.

But I found an awesome place in SLC called The Beehive Tea Room!!
It had a ton of Awesome reviews on-line (the only one with good reviews by the way).
So....We made it an afternoon of it.
April was wonderful and got a sitter for the kids and we set off for an afternoon with just the girls!!

We each got our own Pot of Tea (can you hear my English accent?),


4 Finger Sandwiches,


2 Scones with butter and an excelent berry Jam, then for dessert there was the Rich Chocolate fudge thing and black berries with cream on top!!


So yummy and soooo filling!!!
You would think that all that little food would not make you so full... But it certainly does!


Linnell and Lindsey

I made April a rag quilt for baby Jackson.


I think she liked it!! :)





















We had so much fun faking english accents, drinking our tea, and stuffing ourselves!!
I can't wait till we have another excuse to do it again!!

Thank You Ladies for a Wonderful Afternoon!! TaTa (English accent again) lol!!

The 3rd B-Day and The Halgrens take a Va-Kay!!

A lot has gone on during the last month!

First.... Parks had his Third Birthday!!
Happy Birthday Parks!!
He loves Cup Cakes!!!

Parker is just growing up so fast. His Vocabulary is Amazing and his wit is above average too!!
For his 3rd year check up, the doc told us he has the Vocab of a 4 year old!! (We were very proud.) And that he also has to have his tonsils taken out. That will happen on the 5th of Aug.
Poor little guy.

After that crazy week...
During the week of the 4th of July, my parents came up to stay in Park City with Trent and Jared.

We had so much fun swimming in the pools and riding the roller coasters.
My son is a little Dare Devil!! He went on all the rides and wanted me to go as fast as I could.
He would just laugh and laugh!! He really is my son!! :)

This is all of us getting on the Alpine Coaster!! If you have not been on it... I highly recommend it!! It was such a blast!!

Me and my mom getting ready to head down the ride!!
Can you tell we are scared?

Parks went with only me except one time... He wanted to go once with Papa.
This was his face when he came off. And he is holding onto Dave's leg for dear life!! It was so cute!
Parks loves Grandpa Dave!!

This was the veiw from our hotel room! There are a couple little hot tubs off to the side that you cant see.. but you can see what a cool place it is!!

Parks and I had such a great time vacationing with those crazy Halgrens!!
Thanks for letting us crash in the room!!

Love you MOM!!!