The Roberts Ramblings

JULY

2009-09-09T01:33:00.005-07:00

Catching up part 2.......

4TH OF JULY

For the 4th of July we usually go to my parents house for swimming and a BBQ. This year was no different. This is a tradition we've had since I was a little girl. We would meet at my Aunt & Uncle's house until the family just got too big. We still end up with a pretty big crowd at my parent's house with my two sisters, three brothers and their families. Throw in a few extra friends most of the time and it's a lot of fun.

Dan & Uncle Ryan

These boys get so crazy when they are together. They have so much fun though.

Mason

Courtani, Brittani and Nellie

Dan and Grandpa Hall

Grandma Hall getting the huge amount of food ready for the crowd to attack.

After dinner most of the crowd heads on over to our house. We sit in our driveway and on the front lawn where we have a great view of the fireworks going off at the high school down the street. It's nice to be able to see them from our house so we don't have to drive around looking for a spot to watch them. (Not to mention with 17 grandkids, ages 11 and under, it's nice to have a bathroom near by!)

some of the kids decided to watch from the truck

Porter and Courtani (or as Evi & I tend to call them.....Corter & Pourtani) are most definitely best buddies!

the adults opt for the lawn rather than the back of the truck

Aunt Shelbi & Cora

It was too loud for Mason

Watching fireworks!

Aunt Shelbi & Cora

Uncle Ryan & Ella

Speaking of fireworks.......

Even still today, I find joy in catching glimpses of my parents showing their love for each other. They are a good example to each of us kids about how to build a strong marriage!

WRESTLING WITH DAD

July 5, 2009

I love watching the kids wrestle with Dan. I remember watching my dad wrestle with my brothers when we were little. Part of me wanted to join in with them, but only a small part. On the rare occasion I did, it never went well for me. Now watching Dan and the boys, it sometimes makes me nervous to see how carried away they get, especially as the boys are getting older and starting to give Dan a run for his money!

Funny how Trevor always knows where the camera is

Wrestling with Dad at Gma & Gpa's house

It's always two against one unless Courtani jumps in to help the boys.

In a headlock and still looking at the camera

Do the boys smell victory?

Dan usually gets them both pinned at the same time. Then they are laughing so hard they can't do anything about it.

The boys decide to try some new moves on dear ol' dad

Looks like this one goes to the boys! Dan quit after a swift kick to the gut by Trevor. This is Dan lying here moaning and groaning minutes after calling "UNCLE"!

Trevor was still feeling the victory once we got home and he wouldn't let Dan forget it! (check out this boys guns!)

It was a fun July!

JUNE

2009-09-08T23:22:00.002-07:00

Well, it's time to play catch up again.....seems to be how we roll around here.

BRADEN'S ARROW OF LIGHT
June 3, 2009

On June 3rd Braden received his Arrow of Light award for Cub Scouts. He worked very hard to earn this award and we were very proud of him. He was excited to receive his award at the same time as his friend Scott Johnson as well as it being on his Grandpa Roberts' birthday. It was an awesome ceremony. The lights were all turned off (which of course you can't tell because of my flash) and they had a "campfire" in the middle of the room. All of a sudden we heard the steady beat of a drum and two kids walked in very slowly in full Native American costume. The ceremony lasted about 15-20 minutes and the kids were in awe the entire time. Braden and Scott received some really cool arrows (good job Lauren) and the ceremony ended with Braden and Scott being walked across a bridge to where their Boy Scout leaders were, signifying their transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. It was fun to have Dan as one of Braden's Boy Scout leaders and Monti Randall, our good friend, as the other. It was a great night and Scott and Braden were able to set a great example for the other Cub Scouts that are working on receiving this same award.

Arrow of Light ceremony

walking across the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts

Welcomed by the Boy Scout leaders

Corrie Curtis (Den Leader) & Tyler Hyer (Cub Master)

Braden with Grandma & Grandpa Hall

ANNIVERSARY GET-A-WAY
June 25 - 27, 2009

Dan and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on June 27th. We were able to have our first get-a-way without the kids. We went for a weekend to Jon & Kari's cabin in Christopher Creek. It was amazing!! We had been there for almost a day when Dan said, "Oh my gosh! We haven't had to change a diaper all day! We haven't done that for 11 1/2 years!" We've always had somebody in diapers so this was a very welcomed change! It was so nice to just sit out on the porch and enjoy the sound of the pines and just the quiet! Ahhhh! I actually got to read a book and didn't get inturrupted even one time!! It was awesome!! We spent an afternoon going through the little shops in Strawberry, went for walks in the nice cool weather, Dan made a full steak dinner the night before our anniversary and then cooked a full breakfast the morning of. I was very spoiled. It was just so great to spend time together for a weekend. WHY, WHY, WHY haven't we done this before?

Thank you to Dan's parents and mine for watching our kids so we could go!
Thank you Jon & Kari for letting us use your cabin!
We appreciate it more than you know!!

The nice, quiet and peaceful cabin! Ahhhhh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON

2009-06-01T01:03:00.017-07:00

Today Mason turns three. I can't believe he is three already yet, at the same time I can't remember life without him in our family.

My pregnancy with Mason was a trying one. My water broke and Dan rushed me to the hospital when I was four months along. My doctor told me I was probably going to deliver the baby and the outcome would be grim. To say the least we were terrified! It turned out that there was a small high leak which had the possibility of sealing back up if I stayed completely still. I was put on bed rest for the remaining 5 months of the pregnancy. I didn't know how on earth I was going to be able to be on bed rest for that long with 4 kids to take care of ages 2 - 7. It's amazing to look back and see the different ways things happened and worked out.

On the days I thought I was going to go crazy, I had to constantly remember my mom's advice to me, "other people can take care of your kids, your house or whatever needs to be done. You, Wendi, are the only person who can take care of that baby and you have to stay down to do it!" Talk about motivation! She wasn't kidding either, we had so much help! My mom came out to help almost daily, my dad came and took the kids to school almost every day, friends brought meals in, my good friend Theresia McMorris came over on many occasions and took my kids on fun outings for hours at a time, my mother-in-law and my sister Evi came to clean my house. These of course are just a few of the people who helped. It just wouldn't be possible to name everybody who helped or everything that was done for us. I know that I couldn't have stayed down if it weren't for all of the help we received. I am still amazed and so grateful!!

Mason has had some physical struggles over the first three years. There have been weekly visits to physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. He is progressing though and has been able to stop the O.T. He has always been such a good and happy kid. He smiles all of the time, really, he does!

I've had so many different thoughts and feelings since Mason was born. Especially over the past year. I knew he was going to be our last child and part of me was really looking forward to getting rid of the baby basics that have been around our home for so long (stroller, crib, highchair etc.) I was excited to get these items out of my house and start the next phase of our life, the phase where you focus more on raising kids instead of having babies and toddlers. While it has definitely been good getting rid of the baby stuff, and I am enjoying this new phase of life, I also find myself on some days wanting to just dig my heels in and force time to stand still. I find myself just staring at him and his chubby little hands and feet, that will soon loose their innocence as they morph into little boy hands and feet. I get teary when I see him get so excited and happy, the way only toddlers do, over the simplest of things. I hang onto every cute little thing he says or does, things I've seen done four other times, but things I still enjoy as if I were seeing it for the first time. I find myself holding onto him a little tighter and a little longer when he wraps his tiny little arms around my neck. There is some definite spoiling going on over here. Not for the sake of over indulging him or giving him what he wants, but rather, for my sake. For the sake of just trying to hang onto these precious years that go by too quickly.

My three favorite things about Mason at this age are:

1. He constantly cracks himself up! When he does or sees something he thinks is funny, he full on belly laughs to the point of loosing his breath. It's so fun to watch!

2. He clearly finds comfort in resting his little face on my cheek. He will come up to me at any random time of the day and want to just hug me and press his cheek next to mine. He will want to stay like that for quite a while too. If I'm not holding still, he will grab my face and hold it in his hands with our cheeks pressed together. I absolutely LOVE it!

3. Mason's smile. Mason has always been a thumb sucker and because of this he has developed some "rabbit teeth". We thought they were called "bucked teeth" but we were informed by his nursery leader one day that they were too cute to be "bucked teeth", she called them "rabbit teeth". He flashes his huge toothy grin at people all of the time. I have gotten so many comments about Mason being such a smiley kid. It's so fun to see him make people smile just in response to him smiling at them.

4. I know I said three, but we'll just call this the "one to grow on". Mason loves to watch movies. His current obsessions are Mary Poppins, The Grinch (with Jim Carey) and Hocus Pocus. He LOVES these movies and will rattle off a long quote from one of them quite often! We find ourselves laughing hysterically at least a few times a day because of Mason's spontaneous outbursts of either quotes or reenactments from his favorite movies.

So, today I say good-bye to the Terrible Two's, that really never were terrible, and hello to the Terrific Three's. I love being a mom and I do love watching my children grow. I love these few short years when a child thinks his parents are his heroes! I'm looking forward to having a couple of more years with Mason all to myself, at home during the day for some one-on-one time while the others kids are at school.

Mason, you have sure been a blessing to our family. We love you more than you could ever know!

HUGE SCRAPBOOK SALE

2009-05-25T09:21:00.007-07:00

I love to find good deals on things. I mean really, who doesn't right? Well, my cousin has an online scrapbook store full of great sales right now. I know some of you already shop there for the really low prices but just in case you didn't already know, for Memorial Day she is having a HUGE clearance sale and the prices are even lower than usual. Some items are up to 75% off! If you love a good deal like I do, go to http://www.happynscrappin.com/ and look around.

I HAVE BEEN INSPIRED!

2009-05-23T20:27:00.006-07:00

I was reading a post on my friend's blog recently about her love of writing. Her words inspired me to begin blogging again. Aside from becoming very busy these past few months, I have realized that my "blogging block" also happened after reading so many other blogs. Many of them have writers who are very entertaining, others have such amazing family adventures to blog about. I found myself feeling like my posts had become boring. Not boring to our family, but maybe boring to people reading it. I'm not a great writer and our adventures are great adventures to our family but maybe not to others. I don't use my blog as a journal so my deeper thoughts, feelings and opinions I save for my pen and paper where I can write freely without a care in the world. My blog has mainly been for extended family to see what our kids have been up to since we don't get to see each other often enough. After reading Monica's post, I have decided to find something to blog about at least a few times a week. I will start blogging about even the simplest of things that I find joy in. I will start blogging about the cute little looks my kids have on their dirty faces after our little adventures. This is my new commitment for the summer. I will begin blogging about the joy I have always found in the simple things in our family. I will begin to blog and, as Monica put it, "not really care whether or not people love or hate what I write, or if people even read it at all". Well Monica my friend, the English teacher, thank you for inspiring me to open up my computer and start blogging again!

The auction has been extended

2009-05-05T21:52:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to update my info by adding that the benefit auction is still going on. There are different deadlines for different items being auctioned. Because of the great response, a new blog has been started just for the auction. You can find it at www.inhonorofharry.blogspot.com. There are some cute things and some pretty great services so take a peek!

Online Auction

2009-05-01T12:21:00.005-07:00

There is an online benefit auction currently going on until May 5th on several blogs for Monti & Shannan Randall in honor of their angel baby, Harry Randall. Please take time to visit the hosting blog at http://www.daveclancyfamily.blogspot.com/ to see the many cute items and services up for auction. You will also find links to other blogs who are holding auctions for the Randall's as well. If you would like to donate something to be auctioned, host an auction on your blog or place a bid, you will find instructions there also. Thank you so much for helping the Randall family!!

IN LOVING MEMORY

2009-04-28T22:41:00.006-07:00

Harry Randall is the sweet baby of my very close and dear friends Shannan & Monti Randall. The Randall family has suffered a very great loss. I received a frantic phone call from Monti at 3:00am Sunday morning (April 19th) asking me to come stay with their two year old daughter, Gracie, until Shannan's family could get there. Shannan's water broke and the cord was coming out first. A very dangerous situation! Shannan was being rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Little Harry was born by emergency C-section at 3:42am. Due to the oxygen deprivation, he was taken by helicopter to Phoenix Children's Hospital. After much fasting and prayers and lots of tears and tender moments, on April 24th sweet little Harry returned to the safe and loving arms of our Father in Heaven.

Due to the many expenses that are now upon Monti & Shannan and to help ease their burden in any way possible, there has been a memorial account set up in the name of Shannan Randall FBO (For Benefit Of) Harry Randall at Desert Schools Federal Credit Union. The account number is 9686904. Donations can also be mailed to: Desert Schools, P.O.Box 2945, Phoenix, Arizona 85062. If you already have a Desert Schools account, you can transfer funds by phone. As it is a memorial account it will only stay open for three months, therefore, donations need to be made within that time. Donations are also being accepted through a Pay Pal account that has been set up in Harry's honor. You can click on the baby blue button to the left and you will be directed straight to that Pay Pal account. As you know, no donation is too small, so if there is any amount you could give, it would be greatly appreciated!

My heart truly aches for Monti, Shannan and Gracie. It has been so painful to watch my dear friends hurt so badly! For those of you who know them, you know what wonderful people they are. For those of you who don't, I wish you could! They are great people! Shannan has become one of my closest and dearest friends. I love this family and our prayers will be with them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDI!!!!!

2009-03-21T11:47:00.008-07:00

So....I KNOW that I'm going to be in BIG TROUBLE for this but...I don't care!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDI!!!!! Today is Wendi's birthday and she is turning...OLD today. It seems like I'm the only one lately that updates her blog for her, I think its about time that she does it, but until then...I wanted to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Me and Wendi have been close friends as long as I can remember. When I was little I always wanted to hang out with her, but since she was so much older than me I had to "earn" the right to hang out with her. Before I could go in her room I had to let her spray me in the face with a water bottle. I had to make her lunch, and if it wasn't done RIGHT I had to do it again. She would call me all the way down stairs JUST to turn her light off for her. I had to play with her hair, rub her feet, put lotion on her feet. And MANY more things I had to do JUST so I could hang out with her! Why did I do it??? Because she was always so much fun to be with!!! After I "earned" the right to hang out with her, we would have so much fun together!!! I don't know what I would do with out you Wendi. You truly are my best friend! I look up to you in so many ways! I think you are a great mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, primary president, scrap booker, and SO Many other things!! I have such a BLAST when I'm with you, and you have helped me in so many ways. I just want you to know that I think you are the greatest and I love you SO much!! I hope you have a good birthday today!! and I hope you don't get to mad at me for the pictures that I put on here. I COULDN'T resist!!!! Plus...MOM gave them to me. so if you get mad...get mad at her :-)

Happy Birthday

I love ya like a SIS!!!
Shelbi

My Sister Wendi...

2009-02-19T08:44:00.010-07:00

Hi everyone, this is Wendi's sister Shelbi. I wanted to post something about Wendi on her blog but I couldn't get on it to post anything so I posted it on my blog, then...with my great snooping skills I figured out how to get on her blog. Hopefully I don't get in trouble, I know that she didn't want any pictures of her on here...I don't know why, I thing she is BEAUTIFUL!! :-)

So...I was thinking...I have the greatest sister/best friend in the world, and I want everyone to know about it!!! Me and my sister Wendi have been really close to each other as long as I can remember. She is 8 years older then me, but when we are together or talking on the phone it seems like there is NO age difference. We can sit on the phone for hours and talk about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING or NOTHING at all and it is always a blast!! She even lets me talk to her while I'm asleep haha. Last week while I was in the hospital, she called to check on me everyday and came down and visited me for 8 hours one day because she knew that I didn't like to be there alone, which was allot of fun! But I don't know how good it was for me...we laughed non stop!! Which is usually a normal thing for us to do, and I expected we would laugh the whole time, but after having a C-Section its not a very good thing to do. I literally laughed so hard that I split a gut!! My incision opened up...YUCK! Wendi has always been there for me when ever I need her. I cant imagine getting through half of the things that I have gone through with out her. Its fun because we totally understand each other, even when we don't make any sense to anyone else, we get each other. Wendi I'm sorry that I'm posting this, I hope you don't get mad at me because I know that you didn't want any pictures of you on your blog...so instead I decided to put your picture on my blog :-) if you are mad...please get over it!! Because I'm sure I will need to call you again in the morning to cry to you about how overwhelmed I feel. I'm sure you will make me laugh about it and help me get through it like you always do, and if you don't answer your phone...I just might turn into a crazy person!! Scooter...You are the BEST and I love you so much and I am soooo grateful that you are my sister and my best friend!!! Thanks for always being there for me, and thanks for all of the fun times we have together!! You are the best!! And...IDY!! (sorry, inside joke!) haha! Love you! Shelbi

Pumpkin Carving & Halloween Party

2008-10-31T00:45:00.007-07:00

We had such a great time at Joni's Halloween party for FHE on Monday night. There was lots of good food, lots of GREAT COMPANY, and some fantastic pumpkin carving!

I love to look at pictures on other blogs and I love to take pictures. This usually leads me to include pictures with most of my posts too (sometimes too many). Here are just a few of the fun pictures I ended up with from that night.

Some Gardner & Roberts kiddos

Courtani and her cute friend Tobyn

Gardners working really hard to carve
a GREAT looking pumpkin

Courtani & Tobyn AGAIN!

Kami Kerby and her kute boys

Whenever Courtani & Tobyn are around, they are ALWAYS together! It is so cute! I catch them playing peek-a-boo during church and sharing a chair almost every Sunday in Primary. Their poor Primary teacher sits in one of those tiny little primary chairs so that Tobyn & Courtani can share the one big chair! It really is cute to watch them play together!

Courtani couldn't wait to dig into the pumpkin guts!

Trevor was also anxious to get his hands into the slime

By the time everybody was done with their pumpkins I still only had an eye and a nose done. I was determined not to go home and throw out my pumpkin (despite my strong urge to do exactly that) but to actually finish it. It took me an hour once I got home, but by gosh, I FINISHED IT!! I have to say I was pretty impressed that it actually looked like a witch when I was done!!

Thanks for a great party Joni. We had such a good time! You really know how to throw a

fun party!

HALL GIRLS LUNCHEON

2008-10-26T22:33:00.008-07:00

Emily & Christi

(Emily is beautiful even when her eyes are half closed!!)

Katie & Melissa

I absolutely love listening to my grandma cracking
up as she tries to tell a funny story!!

Heidi, Tiffany, Katie & Emily

We had our annual Hall Girls Luncheon on October 25th. This party is very similar to the Tate Girls Luncheon we had a few weeks ago. We have so much fun with my mom's side of the family with this tradition that a few years ago my mom decided to host the same kind of party for the girls on my dad's side of the family.

We had so much fun! It of course started off with lots of yummy food followed by funny stories from each person. This is my favorite part of the party. This year telling funny stories took up a bulk of the party time. Nothing beats a funny story being told by somebody who can hardly tell it because they can't stop laughing. By the end of it, we are all laughing to the point of not being able to breath and we usually haven't even reached the funny party yet! Grandma has got some great stories! I dare not post them for fear of either her disowning me or even worse......retaliation! For the sake of me remembering in the future I will just say this....always check to make sure the can doesn't have a hole in it before you use it and turn the lights on when you get out of bed to use the bathroom! Following the funny stories we amused ourselves with the gift game. This year, as always, there were some fun gifts. Tiffany decided that the gift she brought was just too cute to give up so she started off by picking her own. Unfortunately for her, she was right, her nice fall dishes were way cute and ended up going through the three owners really fast and were gone. Becky always brings a GREAT gag gift. One year I remember her bringing some large black "granny panties". This year....STRETCHY PANTS straight out of the 80's. I'm not sure who ended up with them but I'm sure there is a good chance we'll see them again next year. It was pretty funny to watch Grandma and Shelbi fight over the lava lamp. Who knew my 85 year old grandma could physically over take Shelbi to get the lava lamp from her. She is one tough cookie!!

The party was great! We all look forward to it every year! I love being able to spend time with my cousins. It's fun when we have some time together with no kids around so we can just focus on each other and act like kids again ourselves.

I love you guys!!

Happy Birthday Brittani

2008-10-18T23:50:00.014-07:00

New purse

Charm bracelet kit from Gma & Gpa Hall

Leading "Happy Birthday"

Camp Rock CD
It's all about Camp Rock this year

Easy Bake Oven from Gma & Gpa Roberts

This post is LONG overdue!

Our Brittani turned nine on October 18th. Since her birthday was on a Saturday Dan surprised her at school on Friday. He called her out of class and took her out to lunch. This is something he likes to do with each of the kids for their birthday. He will either show up with take-out and then eat in the cafeteria with them or just take them out to lunch. They look forward to this just as much, if not more than the festivities for the rest of the day. After lunch they went and bought cupcakes for her to share with her class.

Another tradition we have is that they get to pick anything they want for dinner. Brittani wanted Chicken and rice Saturday night so Chicken and rice it was. Following dinner was her choice of birthday cake which this year was lemon cake with chocolate frosting. During dinner the boys decided we should each say what we love most about Brittani.

Braden -"she is really nice and pretty".

Trevor -"she is a great friend and helps me with my homework and cleaning my room".

Courtani -"she plays with me and is a lot of fun".

Mason can't talk but I'm sure he would have said something about the fact that Brittani is like his second mother! Always watching out for him and taking care of him.

Dad -"She is one of my special little girls that I love very much and that I am SO proud of."

Mom -"She is a good friend of mine and I am so proud of how she is always thinking of others before herself."

We are very happy to have Brittani in our family. She is such a sweet girl by nature. She is always concerned about how other people are doing and trying to do anything she can to make them feel better. I got a call one day from a mother of one of Brittani's classmates. She wanted to let me know that she was so thankful for Brittani. Her daughter had been being teased on the playground because of something with her appearance. Brittani stood up for her and told all of the kids, "it doesn't matter what people look like, it matters how they treat people!" I have heard her say this a number of times. She truly lives her life like this and looks for this in others as well. She has such a fun sense of humor that keeps us all laughing. She can dish out a good prank but can take it with just as much fun when it's dished back. She is just such a fun girl!

Brittani, you are such a very special part of our family. You are such an important part of our family! We love you baby doll!

Braden's surgery

2008-10-15T11:36:00.012-07:00

Watching Star Wars on Mom's IPod before surgery

in the recovery room

Braden's new bed for the first week

Like any other boy, he sure is proud of his battle scars!

Well, it's been more than two weeks since Braden had his knee surgery. Everything went good. We had to be at Phoenix Childrens Hospital by 5:30am. that morning and his surgery was at 7:30am. He was pretty scared, as was expected, but held it together and did fantastic before the surgery. When it came time for them to take him back to the O.R. the anesthesiologist asked me if I wanted to suit up and come back and stay with him until he fell asleep. OF COURSE! I have asked if I could do that all three times Courtani had surgery and they would never let me do it. I was surprised when they asked me with Braden. Thankfully he fell asleep quickly and calmly.

The doctor told us that the surgery would take an hour and a half but they reserved two hours just in case they ran into problems. Imagine my panic when he was still in surgery and I hadn't heard anything at 2 hours and 45 minutes! The nurse finally called the waiting room and let me know that everything was okay and after 3 hours and 15 minutes they were done. They ended up having to re-break the area on his leg that he broke last December and then putting a screw in to hold down the bone and to tighten up his ACL. The surgery went well but he had a really hard time in recovery. Normal stuff like throwing up and just being in a lot of pain. After another hour and a half in the recovery room we were on our way home.

The first three days at home were pretty rough. He was in so much pain and he couldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time and then he ended up having an allergic reaction to his pain meds. The poor kid, it broke my heart. I very much underestimated what to expect following his surgery!!

After missing a week and a half of school, he is doing really well now. He has a big brace on his leg from his thigh to his ankle so he will be on crutches for a few weeks. He is supposed to lay down with his leg in a CPM machine for 8 - 10 hours a day. However, because of school there just isn't that many hours in the day so we do the best we can. He is a trooper and has maintained such a great attitude about the whole thing. His school teacher and classmates sent home a really sweet card that they all wrote messages in and a stuffed animal. Once he was back in school he asked his teacher if he could say something to the class. She thought he wanted to stand and give gruesome details and tell about the surgery so she had him wait a few days. When there was finally time for him to stand and say something to the class, she said that all he wanted to do is tell the class thank you and that he really liked all the messages they wrote. I don't know what all he said but I guess it really touched his teacher and I was proud of him.

Thank you to those of you who helped me pick up the pieces when I was falling apart during that week. I appreciate you lending me your shoulder to cry on when I was so stressed and had such a major lack of sleep! I am grateful for good friends!!

2 BREAKS - now we're BROKE!

2008-09-30T22:43:00.027-07:00

At the end of it all, Trevor kind of likes his new black cast

Yep, another broken bone! Why is it that kids decide to need the really expensive doctor visits two months before Christmas shopping starts?

Last December Braden broke his leg pretty bad. After a year of MRI's, two casts, many doctors, many x-rays and physical therapy we are STILL dealing with it. We went to another appointment with a specialist this week and Braden is actually scheduled for knee surgery on October 14th. Hopefully this will correct the problems.

Tuesday night, September 30th, I heard a loud crash in the kitchen. Trevor was whining a little bit to Dan saying he fell off a bar stool and hurt his shoulder. I was listening from the bedroom as he talked to Dan. I heard him ask two or three times for a drink of water between explaining what happened. I know from too many experiences that this is the first indication that he might be about to pass out. I ran in there and got him a drink. I then noticed that his face and back were covered in sweat all of a sudden. This is usually my second indication that I am about to pass out. I had him sit down and tried to get him to put his head between his knees. He then said he felt like he was going to throw up. Always the third feeling I get when I'm about to kiss concrete. I hate that feeling!! I tried to calm him down and cool him off. We checked his shoulder and his collar bone since these were his main complaints. Everything was still intact and moved like it was supposed to so Dan told him to go lay down on the couch and we'd get him an ice pack because he was fine. He took a few steps and then turned back around toward us. He was holding his arm at his eye level and calmly said, "if I'm fine....why is my arm bent like this?" HOLY CRAP! His arm was in the shape of an "S". Now I was instantly the one that needed a drink, broke out in a sweat and felt sick to my stomach. I calmly went and put my arm under his for support and told him it was okay and looked up at Dan. In a panicked yet somewhat controlled whisper I said, "Dan, go get your shoes on! You need to take him to urgent care. His arm is broken!"

Sure enough, he broke both bones in his arm. The ulna (smaller bone) just buckled but the radius (larger bone) snapped clean in half. I took him on Wednesday to the orthopaedic surgeon who reset it there in his office. VERY PAINFUL! Trevor was a trooper though and didn't make a sound. He always has been a pretty tough little guy but when the doctor told us he usually has to put older kids to sleep to do what he did to Trevor, and Trevor didn't make a peep, I was impressed. I asked Trevor later what it felt like and he said he could feel his bones grinding together and it made them feel like they were vibrating inside his arm. He did say it hurt pretty bad. This kid definitely doesn't get his pain tolerance from his mom that's for sure!!

He is now in a cast for 8 - 10 weeks. Poor kid. He told us later that he thought he broke the leg of the bar stool because he heard it break when it fell. The stool was fine, the noise he heard was his bone snapping. Brittani heard it too and said it sounded like somebody cracking their knuckles REALLY LOUD. When she realized that it was his bone breaking, you guessed it.....she instantly needed a drink of water!

Tate Girls Luncheon

2008-09-27T22:42:00.013-07:00

Aunt Jolene with her new set of cow decorations

Mom's yummy brownies

Shelbi's new fall decorations

Julie's Deal or No Deal game

Julie, Mom, Shari & Aunt Diana

Watching Julie watch her gift being opened was a crack up!!

She couldn't stop laughing! It was so funny!

We had our annual Tate Girls Luncheon once again. My mom has always had a close family who loves to get together for a fun party. Growing up we, as the kids, were never able to go. It was just for her sisters, girl cousins and aunts. Hearing what these parties were like always made me wish I could be there. About four or five years ago my cousin Shari decided to continue the tradition and have one of these parties for our generation with a spin of her own, a white elephant gift exchange game. Every year around this time we get together for a luncheon and party. It is so much fun. We start with a yummy luncheon and then head straight into our white elephant gift exchange game. This is always a blast. Some years women fight over homemade rolls. Some years they fight over chocolate. There is always a super cute craft made by one of the cousins that is a hot commodity. And of course there are usually some gifts that are just hilarious. We always come away with something happening that just "makes the party". This year it was my cousins wife Julie! What a crack up. She went to get her gift at Savers. She came to the party with a box full of the most hideous decorations I have ever seen. She went through the store trying to find the ugliest cow decorations she could find. Now it wasn't the gift that had us all holding our sides, wiping tears and not being able to breathe because of laughter. It was watching Julie as the gift was being opened. She was laughing so hard! Literally stomping her feet and constantly yelling, "open it", "oh just wait for the really good one", "look at (this)", "look at (that)". I have NEVER seen her act this way before! There is no way I could convey just how side-splitting, "UDDERLY" hilarious it was. I don't think we have laughed that hard at this party before, and that's saying a lot because we are usually laughing pretty hard.

I love this party. It is something I look forward to every year. I have been so blessed to have some of my cousins as my best friends. We have grown up having numerous get-togethers that are some of my favorite memories.

Thanks once again for a great party Shari. It was a lot of FUN. Thanks for the laughs Julie! My sides and my cheeks still hurt!

9 teeth pulled

2008-09-20T09:34:00.012-07:00

Braden had to get nine teeth pulled the other day. YES NINE!! Luckily we have a great dentist! My brother-in-law, Jonathan Staker, is a pediatric dentist in Gilbert. Their office is FANTASTIC! Pediatric Dental Specialists (yes, that is my plug Ü).

Braden hates to wiggle his loose teeth so the result was his adult molars coming in before the baby teeth were out. This forced the baby teeth to flip on their side. He never even told us any of his teeth were loose and since they were all back teeth we had no idea until the night before we were going in for their annual cleaning. When I looked in his mouth it reminded me of a shark with his rows of teeth!

We expected to be told that Braden needed a couple teeth pulled but I was shocked when they told me that it was recommended that they pull TEN! Would he have any teeth left to chew? Four of them already had adult teeth breaking through so yes, he would still have some left to eat with. Luckily before his appointment he pulled one on his own so that was one less for them to pull.

My plan that day was to just be in there with him while he got numbed up and not while he got them pulled. However, once he was numb, they just started pulling them! When I saw them pull the first tooth I got sick to my stomach and really light headed. I almost sat down on the floor right there in the exam room and stuck my head between my knees. To those of you who know me well, I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you at all!! Thankfully, I pulled it together without hitting the ground. I was so amazed at how fast they had all nine teeth out. I'm pretty sure it was less than two minutes! SO FAST!

I knew it sounded like a lot when I would tell somebody that he had to have nine teeth pulled but when I actually saw what nine teeth looked like in his hand.....that's a lot of teeth! He did good. Trust me when I say it hasn't affected his eatting at all! He is very happy that he doesn't have to deal with anymore loose teeth ever again! Thanks Uncle Jonathan!!

Hall Family Reunion

2008-09-15T22:42:00.011-07:00

Braden's and Trevor's message they wanted to leave behind at the camp when we left

Melissa, Emily, Heidi, Anna & Riley (some of my cousins)

Aunt Shelbi & Great Grandma Hall

Brittani & Dad - She is such a daddy's girl!!

Grandma Hall & Mason

Mason loved being up high and looking down from the cabin porch

Grandma Hall & Cora

Aunt Shelbi & Grandma Hall kickin' back

Nellie & Brittani

Mason

Uncle Denver grilling - YUM!

Trevor, Braden, Grandpa Hall & Mason at the campfire

Mason, Courtani, Brittani and Nellie

Mason

We were able to have our first Hall Family Reunion this past weekend. We've had family reunions as long as I can remember. My Grandma Hall is the 13th of 14 children. Each year, (with the exception of one due to fires) for the past 50 years, there has been a Nielsen Family Reunion with her family up at their ranch in St. Johns/Springerville area. The house they lived in when my grandma was just a little girl is still standing. We all pitch tents around the old house and camp out for a few days. It is, and will always be, one of my most favorite childhood memories.

Many people have the chance to hear neat stories about their ancestors. It is such a neat thing that growing up we got to hear the stories and then actually go to where they took place. It literally felt like we got to step back in time. Inside their old house is still the stove where my great grandma used to cook, there are still beds upstairs and little shoes (the kind you need a button hook to fasten) upstairs on the floor. You can see their old covered wagon actually there still on the ranch. The feeling really is incredible. It gives me a sense of what they might have been like. It has helped me feel like I actually knew them, when most of them I have never met. I cherish the memories I've made up there with my cousins all these years. I'm sad to see it all come to an end as the family has just gotten so big and other circumstances have come up that we are unable to have our family reunion up at the ranch anymore. I love that place. Even just the way it smells after the rain or late at night after the campfire. I love the memories I have there. I love the stories. I am excited to meet the ancestors I have grown to love and have heard so much about. I am heart broken that we will no longer be able to go up there every year.

We started a new family reunion this year with just my Grandma & Grandpa Hall's family. My dad and his three sisters with all of their families. We were able to go up to Strawberry and stay in cabins at Camp Lo Mia for a night. We had such a great time. I was so amazed at how much we were able to create the same feelings in a total different place just by keeping so many of the same campfire traditions we had at the Nielsen Family Reunion that we have all grown up with. We had the family campfire/meeting Saturday night and a great family devotional Sunday morning where many of the cousins were able to stand and share their thoughts and feelings. It really was pretty awesome and I loved it!

We will continue to have our Hall Family Reunion every year now. I'm so lucky to live so close to most of my cousins. We are all pretty good friends and have some great memories together. It doesn't matter where the reunion is held as long as we are able to have the reunion and keep our relationships strong, that is what matters.

Playing catch up!!

2008-09-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted anything for quite a while. This isn't due to the fact that we have just been sitting around with nothing to post about, but more because I have found myself feeling so busy that I haven't had time to think. When things happen, I type up some thoughts and leave them as drafts in my "postings" so that I won't forget them. Problem is, they just end up sitting there for a while. I decided to actually stay up late tonight (it's about 3:00am) and finish some of the drafts that have been sitting there and post them. So, here are a few and I will be adding more posts and updating the rest of our "happenings" soon......I hope.

Are you kidding me? Another pair of glasses!

2008-09-04T00:55:00.008-07:00

When Courtani was born one of her eyes would turn in slightly causing it to appear that her eyes were crossed. I asked different doctors about it but always got the same answer. It was just how babies eyes were at this age and nothing to worry about. Now I'm not claiming that I know more than the doctors, however I was never satisfied with that answer because she was my fourth baby and I had seen what they were talking about and I knew this was different. Finally at her nine month well visit her pediatrician was able to see what I was talking about and sent us to a pediatric eye specialist. After seeing the specialist for a year, he too wasn't able to ever see what I was talking about during her visits and I was very frustrated by this point.

Around the time that she was three years old I was talking to a friend of mine who told me not to give up but to keep pushing for what I knew was going on. She told me that kids with this type of problem end up having double vision. The way the brain deals with this problem is to shut the vision off in one of their eyes and once that happens, there is nothing they can do. Needless to say, I took her right back to the eye specialist and luckily, since she was older now, he was able to see what I had been seeing for the past three years. Whew!

Fast forward....It ended up being a muscle problem that was making her eye turn in. She was actually already shutting the vision off in her right eye and in fact, couldn't really see much past about eight inches from her face. We patched her good eye for a while hoping it will cause her bad eye to get stronger and the vision to come back. Once that was accomplished she had surgery on her right eye, then five months later on her left eye and finally ten months later, which was this past June, another surgery on both eyes at the same time.

She is now in glasses even though she has 20/20 vision at this point. The glasses are to help the muscles relax so her eyes can learn to work together. She has been in the glasses since February of this year and we have gone through FIVE PAIRS OF GLASSES!! Not to mention the countless times we have taken the glasses in for minor repairs. I don't know what she does to them or how she keeps breaking them but I hope we can figure it out soon. I'm about done with this. I know she is only four years old and, because she is so young and such a tom-boy, I was up for a few repairs... but this is crazy! I'm hopeful that after having yet ANOTHER talk with her about being more careful with her glasses it will sink in. However, I won't hold my breath.

Grandma's 85th Birthday

2008-08-24T16:32:00.002-07:00

On August 23rd my Grandma Hall turned 85 years young. She was able to have her children, most of her grandchildren and most of her great grandchildren meet at Peter Piper Pizza to celebrate. My grandma is an amazing lady! She still mows her lawn when it needs it, has been known to cut down trees she doesn't want around anymore, and at times we have to fight her to stay off her roof for various reasons. She is one spunky lady. I have very found memories of staying the night at her house with my sister Evi. Grandma would put us to bed reading the story "Little Black Sambo" and would fix us homemade scones for breakfast. The days were spent playing cards and other activities. She has raised such a strong and very close family. I love you grandma! You are the best!

first day of school

2008-08-20T01:55:00.017-07:00

I know, I know I am a slacker! I haven't updated for a while now. Things just got so busy all of a sudden. It seems school started and we jumped right in with both feet into all the things that come along with it. School stuff, primary stuff and just life stuff all got a little busier all of a sudden so I have had a hard time sitting down at the computer when I have so much I need to get done. I'm hoping to play catch up here for a bit and post about some of the happenings we want to remember.

Our kids started school on Monday, Aug. 11th. Braden is in the 4th grade, Brittani is in the 3rd grade and Trevor is in the 1st grade this year. The kids all had a great first day of school. They all have great teachers whom they love and were able to find friends in their classes. Its so fun to hear their excitement when they get home on that first day.

(update: since my draft of this post Brittani has been pulled from her class and put into a combo class of 3rd & 4th graders. It will be a little more challenging for her which will be a good thing. She was pretty upset at first because she loved her teacher, but has since adjusted to the change and is enjoying her new class.)

I don't know why, but this year was particularly hard for me. Especially on Sunday night and the morning of the first day. I usually dread the first day because it's undeniable proof that they are each getting older. I am excited to see them learn and grow and become the people they want to become but it is also a reality check that time flies too fast. For some reason this year it just hit me harder than other years. I'm not quite sure why because we didn't have any major changes. I do like having all of them at home with me and knowing what is going on with each of them. It seems I loose a bit of that when they are at school with friends all day. It is just Courtani, Mason and I at home in the morning and then Courtani goes to preschool in the afternoons. She goes Tuesday - Friday from 11:00 - 3:00. The bus picks her up at our front door and then brings her back which is nice. She loves it. Mason takes his nap for most of the afternoon. So, even though I am tied to the house most of the day, it is still pretty darn quiet. However, this new found quiet time has left me with a dilemma each day. To clean or not to clean. My sister Evi, would jump right into it and have her house spotless each day. Me....not so much. It's definitely not one of my strong points. Whatever I decide to do, as much as I miss my kids when they are gone, it's nice to enjoy the few hours of quiet that I have to myself to do whatever I want.

Fun with Cousins

2008-07-28T22:52:00.003-07:00

In July it was fun having the Bryce's (Dan's sister Kristin, her husband Nathan & family) here from Utah and getting to spend some time with them. We were all able to meet at the Staker's (Dan's other sister Kari, her husband Jon & family) for swimming. With three granddaughters and ten grandsons you can imagine the "chicken fights" that went on in the pool and the "cannon ball" competition that went on to see who could make the biggest splash. I guess I should add that Dan of course was in the middle of these competitions and declared himself the winner. Courtani, Brittani and Emily stayed off to the side having a swimming party of their own that was quite a bit more calm. We don't get to see the Bryce's near enough. It is always fun when they come to visit. Poor Aunt Kristin, my kids love her to death and can't get enough of her attention when she is here. I love my in-laws and it is wonderful to be part of such a great family!

I've been tagged...

2008-07-28T14:21:00.009-07:00

So, I didn't know that when I have something I'm working on as a draft and I finally finish and decide to post it, it automatically gets put in chronological order from the date I started the draft. My newest post about being tagged is under the "Family Fun Day" post. So far, I haven't found any way to move it so I guess it's staying there. I've learned something new huh.

Twilight Quiz

2008-07-27T02:53:00.000-07:00

You are Bella Swan, the apple of Edward's eye. You are very private, clumsy, sweet, and funny. You have a wonderful ability to accept people (or mythical creatures) for what they are. You have an amazing capacity to love, even though you can be too hard on yourself
Twilight Quiz by QuizRocket.com fun quizzes!
Fun Quizzes Quizes for MySpace » MySpace Quizzes

So, I found this quiz on my cousin Tiffany's blog and decided what the heck, it's almost 3:00 in the morning what else am I gonna do right now? I've just begun the Twilight series. I finished Twilight earlier this week and started reading New Moon. So far from what I've read I'm okay with being most like Bella.

"Family Fun Day"

2008-07-25T12:27:00.032-07:00

Yes, I know it's been a while since I last posted. I have been politely reminded that I needed to post something new. It seems we have actually found some fun things to do to help end our boredom and keep us busy for a while. Dan has only been having one day off a week so the kids have decided to call this day "Family Fun Day". The plan is to go for a fun activity on that day. The first week we went to Chuck E. Cheese. This is always a hit. The kids had a blast of course, playing the games and saving up an endless trail of tickets. It's crazy that we walk out of there with a bundle of plastic little toys that are gone and forgotten with in a week or so and tiny little Tootsie Rolls that in reality cost us $5.00 a piece! After Chuck E. Cheese, it was then off to my parents house to meet up with my sister Shelbi and her daughter Nellie to go swimming. While we were there, Dan thinking he was being clever, dared me to jump into the pool with all my clothes on for $200.00 (I hadn't planned on swimming at all). Is this really that daring? Needless to say, Shelbi and I got right up and jumped in. The kids were cracking up at the sight of us swimming around in our clothes. So, I guess we made some fun memories and I am now $200.00 richer! Funny thing is...I'd have done it for $50.00. (shhh Ü)

♥Brittani LOVES to dance. Anytime! Anywhere! Most of her tokens went to this dance game.♥

♥Courtani and Daddy♥

♥Courtani wanted to ride the "jet ski" but wasn't able to do it alone so Dan and Mason climbed on to help her out.♥

♥Most of the time Braden and Trevor are great friends.♥

♥Mason LOVES pizza. He would eat it for every meal if we would let him.♥

♥Braden has always had a soft spot for helping Courtani with anything.♥

♥Trevor's favorite thing to do at Chuck E. Cheese is to ride this jet ski.♥

♥Mason just wanted to be part of the action. Once he found a game he could reach, we spent the rest of our time there.♥

The next week we took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda. It was a cute movie and they LOVED it! We don't take them to the movies very often so this was a real treat. I just can't justify spending the money for seven tickets on a movie we can rent or get on PPV a few months from now for 75% less money! It was actually Trevor's, Courtani's and Mason's first time at the movies so they were really in awe. It's cute to see simple things like going to the movies through the eyes of a child who is going for their first time. We have two weeks left until school starts so we'll have to wait and see what we choose for the next two "Family Fun Day" adventures.

Tagged by JoLynn....

2008-07-25T11:36:00.044-07:00

I got tagged by one of my oldest friends JoLynn. Well, she's not my OLDEST friend, she is one of the friends I have known the LONGEST. JoLynn and I met in kindergarten over a box of crayons. On the first day of school, some boy wouldn't share his crayons with me so JoLynn came and sat by me and offered to share hers. I guess as they say, the rest is history. Do you remember that JoLynn? Anyway, here's how this game of tag works: You list: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts. Tag/list 5 people's names at the end of your post.

JOYS

1. SEEING MY CHILDREN HAPPY. Especially when they are proud of themselves for accomplishing something.

2. SPENDING TIME WITH DAN. I love date night. It's never anything too exciting. Usually going out to dinner and then something REALLY fun and exciting like grocery shopping.

3. ACCOMPLISHING EVERYTHING ON MY "TO-DO" LIST. I am a total list person, I get it from my dad. Sometimes I even make lists of the lists I need to make. I know, a little neurotic and over the top, but it helps me function.

FEARS

1. FAILING MY CHILDREN. I want so badly to be the kind of mother they need. To teach them everything I feel is important, so they can grow up to be the kind of person they want to be.

2. LOOSING A LOVED ONE. I am comforted knowing that I will see them again, I just don't want to try and live without them.

3. IV's. I know this one is stupid but I seriously have a fear of getting an IV. I have had my hand or arm numbed every time I have had an IV except once. It's not so much the needle I'm afraid of as it is the pain they inflict upon my body!! My veins roll and collapse so they usually have a few different doctors try and they all have to DIG and DIG and DIG more than once!! It's not a pleasant experience! The last time it took them 20 minutes just to get the IV in. I'd rather do almost anything else! I have the same experience almost every time I have a blood test. YUCK! Makes me queasy just thinking about it.

GOALS

1. TO HAVE A CLEAN HOUSE FOR MORE THAN TWO DAYS. It seems my entire house is hardly ever completely clean all at once! On the rare occasion it is, I want my friends and family to stop by so they can see that, believe it or not, it CAN happen at the Roberts home too!

2. CONTROL THE SARCASM. I've always been pretty sarcastic and at times I let it go a little too far. I really need to watch that.

3. BE ON TIME. I'd give more detail on this one but I don't have time right now.....I'm running late.

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS

1. BLOGGING. I just started this blogging thing and yes, to all of those people who warned me, it IS very addicting. I love to keep in contact with friends and family I don't get to talk to or see often enough.

2. ORGANIZING. Now I'm not claiming to BE organized...just that I'm obsessed with the process of trying to GET organized. My project at hand....getting rid of all the baby stuff and baby/toddler clothes we have stored for SO MANY years! I'm ready for them to be gone through and OUT OF THE HOUSE!

3. I have just started reading THE TWILIGHT SERIES. I have heard so many people talk about how much they loved the books and how excited they are about the upcoming book and movie so I decided I should give it a try. I borrowed the books from my friend Kristy and am currently reading the first one. So far so good!!!

RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS

1. HELLO, MY NAME IS WENDI ROBERTS AND I AM UFC FAN. They say the first step is just admitting you have a problem right? I know it's not a great thing but yes, I am a fan. SURPRISE! I hope not too many of you loose what respect, if any, you had for me. Ü

2. I guess it may be surprising to SOME people that MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY IS APRIL FOOL'S DAY. I LOVE a perfectly executed April Fool's joke. I spend weeks planning ahead and getting things lined up to get Dan. Poor Dan, he is always my target. He is such a good sport about it. Our deal is that he won't get mad as long as I don't let the joke go on past five minutes. I've pulled off some DOOZIES that got him pretty good if I do say so myself.

3. I REMEMBER A BUNCH OF STUPID FACTS. I don't know why. This talent really didn't help me very much in school at all. I can recall crazy little details about things from a long time ago. Phone numbers of my childhood friends, birthdays of random people, really weird details about people, things that happened with friends from A LONG time ago. I even remember all my teachers names and room numbers from my elementary school as well as MOST of the other teachers and their room numbers that I DIDN'T even have. I could go on and on with the useless stuff I remember. I know, very helpful isn't it.

Shelbi, Meredith, Cathy, Nicole, Joni, Kristy, Teanne, Brandon and Tia....Tag, you're it! (I know that's more than five.... Ü)

"Mom, I'm bored!"

2008-07-15T00:37:00.009-07:00

I can't believe how fast the summer is flying by. It seems that I am constantly trying to find things for my kiddos to do. I guess it was inevitable that some day I would say that dreaded old phrase I heard when I was a kid and would tell my mom "I'm bored!" My mom would say, "well, if you can't find something to do....I'll find something for you to do." This of course was always some form of house cleaning so I usually found something to do on my own. The other day Courtani came in and told me that she was bored and needed something to do. We sat and chatted about things she could do that would be fun and of course none of them were what she wanted to do at that time. I had some things I needed to get down so I needed her to be occupied for a while. Knowing this, I was giving her suggestions that I knew would be time consuming. I finally came up with one that she surprisingly went for. I told her to go make up a new magic trick she could show dad when he got home from work. She came in about 15 to 20 minutes later so proud of herself wanting to show me her new trick. She had learned how to breath on a spoon and make it stick to her nose. It was cute to see how excited she was. She was so eager to show Dan when he got home. The only downside to this new "past time" is that we are constantly out of clean spoons!

2008-07-01T01:15:00.008-07:00

I guess I have finally succumbed to the friendly encouragement I was receiving from my sister Shelbi and my brother Brandon and have joined the "Blog World". Where to start.....where to start.....? I guess I'll start at the beginning, I hear it's a very good place to start. Dan and I have been married for 11 years. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky! He is so GREAT! I am constantly amazed at how well he juggles church, family and work. He works A LOT and although he comes home exhausted, the kids would never know it. He comes home and spends lots of time with them just hanging out and having TONS-O-FUN. They really eat up the attention from their dad. Once the kids are all in bed he usually either does the dishes, mops the floors, folds laundry or yes, even deep cleans the bathrooms. To top it all off, more often than not, HE then gives ME a foot massage that usually lasts 30 - 45 minutes! I tell ya, I am ONE LUCKY WOMAN!! I doubt that I deserve such a wonderful man, but boy am I grateful for him. He is the love of my life, my total support system, my soft place to fall when things around me are crazy. Dan, I love you more than anything and "I hope you never realize just how far out of my league you are"!

2008-06-30T20:18:00.002-07:00

Coming soon to a computer near you!!!