Snowy Sunday Morning

Ever since our all night drive back from Disneyland...we have all been SICK! It has been a week and a half and we are all feeling better for the most part and finally able to enjoy the sugar the Christmas season has to offer! Shay and Cray went and played in the snow this morning and had a great time (even though Cray is crying in the picture) Totally random...he just started crying and didn't wanna take a picture. Then we started decorating cookies and had a great time. Cray loved dumping whole bottles of sprinkles on the cookies. We have a lot of Christmas crafting and fun to pack into the next week, but are so excited! Merry Christmas!

The Happiest Place on Earth...

This last week, we went to DISNEYLAND. We went with my cousin Clarisa and her hubby Brian and their son Trevor who is 8 months older than Cray. We spent two days at Disneyland and two at California adventure. We found lots of way to make it a relatively inexpensive trip including finding convention tickets on Ebay, making our own breakfasts, lunches and snacks, and only eating out dinner. Of course we splurged on dinner, but it didn't ever disappoint. The first night we ate at the The Thunder BBQ Joint. WOW!!! Unlimited amounts of BBQ chicken, ribs, sausage, beans, yummy cornbread and coleslaw. The meal was SO good! We also ate at the RAinforest Cafe and my personal favorite the Blue Bayou. OK....I don't eat at fine dining places often...like hardly ever. But this place was amazing. You may know it as the restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribean. I have ALWAYS wanted to eat there and I am so glad I finally got the chance too. The Southern Style food was so yummy and my plate was huge! Part of the magic from the meal could be that both Cray and Trevor slept in their strollers the whole time! PEace and quiet with no wrestling thru the meal. Ha...you can tell what one of my favorite parts was...the food...well onto THE BEST PART! Cray at Disneyland! Cray loved everything, though he doesn't really show it until after. He gets this blank look on his face...then after talks about it for 10 minutes with screams and excitement. Kind of funny. He loved Toon Town, all the characters, Monsters Inc, The Pixar Parade, but of course Cars Land was his favorite. He was too small to ride the Radiator Riders ride, so the tractor ride was his favorite. On Wednesday we were standing in line for the Haunted Mansion and Cray was so happy and practicing his scary laugh (ask him to do it for you, he is quite talented) and he hurls all over. Not a little bit...like everything!! We cleaned up, took him home and kept an eye on him thru his fever spikes. Within 5 hours he was fine and played all day the next day. Not sure what happened...but I am so glad he was able to keep going the next day and keep playing! It was super pleasent weather, the crowds were minimal (especially for Disneyland) and it was so cool to see Disneyland decked out in Christmas decorations. It was magical and so fun.

While we were in Disneyland, Shay's Grandpa Heward who was 96 years old passed away. We knew it was a possibility it would happen while we were gone, but we were so happy the funeral was on Saturday so we could make it and be with the Hewards. The service was beautiful and it was great to see all the family. Grandpa was an awesome example. One thing that was said about him by a close friend was that the only negative thing he had ever heard him talk about, was when a family member didn't serve a mission. That's a lot of positivity if that's all he can find negative in the world. Thanks for the good times and memories and your big smile! Love you Grandpa!

Nampa Residents

So we have moved yet again. We got out of my parents basement and into a place in South Nampa. It is nice to have our own place again and give into my nesting urges, but Cray sure misses his Coco (my mom) and Papa. He asks for them almost daily and we have been moved out for three weeks. So with this move means that we are sticking around for a while. We have decided to put off the Air Force for now (if not forever) and stick with Aamco. We tried to get into the Air Force for a year now and after being put off yet again by recruiters that "really want good male nurses" we took it as an answer to prayers and put it in the back of our minds. So Shay is an Aamco man. It's so strange to have him not nursing, especially when he gets offered jobs almost weekly. Hospitals in Boise need nurses bad right now, and one is even specifically asking for male nurses. It's so frusterating, because two and a half years ago when he graduated...they all had hiring freezes. Tangent! haha...So yes...its strange to not have him nursing and I think he misses it, but Aamco looks to be where we are suppose to be. So we are here...I am now 21 weeks prego and feeling good. I actually the last couple of days have had an eczema break out that has not been fun. My whole body itches and my face gets puffy and blotchy if i even touch it. Other than that major itchy discomfort I am doing great. Cray has started noticing my belly and giving it loves and kisses. He will be such a sweet big brother. I just realized I never announced on my blog....ITS A GIRL! We had a great Halloween...I have more pictures of Shay and I on Halloween but will have to post them later. Cray had so much fun getting candy and being Buzz Lightyear. It just makes me so excited for Christmas this year with our little man.

I designed some Mickey Mouse Pumpkins and Cray loved them.

Cray with his Coco and papa

Update

Wow...haven't updated this thing in forever! Since I lived in Burley! Yes we now live in Kuna which is weird...still feels like we are just visiting. Shay is working at Aamco right now and we are still trying to get into the Air force. We just got some news yesterday that may push up back to next summer. Which means we wouldn't even find out if we were in till then...which sucks! It's been nearly a year since we started trying to get in and it is getting really annoying that they "still" want us, but stuff just keeps getting missed. Lame. So we are still in limbo. I can't wait till we know what we are going to be doing with our lives! I thought that day was finally around the corner...PSYCH...it's not. Oh well... Cray just loves living with his Coco (my mom) and Papa. He wakes up every morning and says "I see Coco" and runs into her room to wake her up. It has been nice to be with my parents thru the sick stage of my pregnancy. But I am feeling much better now which is so nice. I am now 14 weeks and just starting to get the pooch. Here it goes! Cray turned two last week! We had a party, but the pics are on my Dad's camera, so I will try and post those soon. THis kid breathes CARS! Obsessed! No joke. He always has a car in his hand and loved the big Mac truck and Big dump truck he got for his birthday. Cray is talking non stop. Full sentences and surprises me everyday with new words. I can't believe how smart he is and how fast he is growing up! Here's some pictures we had taken for Cray being two whole years old!

Swimming Cray Cray

So my Cray Cray is not a fan of the water. He has always struggled with it. When we were in vacation in St. George, he warmed up to it a bit after being in the pool every day...so i knew he had it in him to like it. So I signed up for a Mommy and me swim class. The first day he cried the whole 30 minutes saying OUT the whole time. After that things went up. He would whine for a few minutes and then get happier! he loved playing with the toy boat (showing mommy how fast it could go) and jumping in to mom from the side of the pool.

Into the second week of lessons, he started noticing the kids jumping off the diving board and became obsessed with it. He would say I JUMP. So on the last day of class...guess what my baby did!! He strapped on a lifejacket and after seeing mom jump off...walked all the way out the end of the diving board BY HIMSELF! His teacher helped him jump and that was that. He went off three times and didn't want to get out of the pool after that. Until we told him there were treats! In the last picture below, he is telling me all about his jumping adventures. What a kid.

To say I am terrified for this kids future is an understatement. He is such a dare devil, but I love that he loves the water now. Goal accomplished!

Announcement

Random Catch up

Life is crazy! So we have had a really busy summer, and now are going to be packing up and moving to Boise. It is so last minute, but another adventure for us. Should be a fun time and I hope we are able to decide what to do with our family! here are some random out of order pics from lately... Below...Cray helping dad mow the lawn. Also Cray showing his teeth while eating his "cone".

Below: Shay and I at the Rupert Carnival. Cray was at my parents house for a while...too long! Shay and I vowed to keep ourselves super busy so we wouldn't miss him AS much. We also wanted to do lots of fun stuff that we wouldn't be able to do with him around. So we went on a date to the Lumberjack show which was actually pretty entertaining, then we rode a ride similar to the zipper and laughed like little kids. It was a fun evening (even though I felt sick the rest of the night) ha...i must be getting old.

Below are a couple of Fourth of July pics. Cray was scared of everything at first, but by the end of the night would hold a sparkler and smoke bombs and he loved the snappers.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

I bet you all thought the big announcement was a pregnancy announcement...well it's not!! We are.........................drumroll...................moving back to Boise!! We have an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. It could be temporary, but we just had to do it. We will know in October what the final plans are. We will either be staying with this adventure in Boise, or joining the Air Force and traveling the world. They are two great choices, but hopefully by October we will know we want and what the Lord wants for us. I am super excited to come back to Boise for... ...MOUNTAIN BIKING!!! I am already planning a ride up Corrals!! ...Winco and Costco!! I miss those stores a lot!! ...my friends and family ...Goodwood BBQ ...the cabin ...awesome 4 wheeling ride to Silver City ...waterskiing ... Things I am super sad to leave Burley about... ...Nana, Papa and the farm...Cray LOVES the farm ...the tranquility and peacefulness ...no post office or Walmart lines ...NO TRAFFIC ( I come back to Boise now and get SO annoyed) ...friends ...cooler weather...especially at night I'm sure there are many more. It really is a bitter sweet type of thing, but we know it's what we are suppose to do. We look forward to this next adventure and the possibilities it could bring.

St. George Vacation

At the beginning of June, the Hewards invaded St. George. We had a blast in the heat, spent lots of time in the pool, hiking at Zions and jumping at Anti Gravity.

Weekend of Awesomeness

This weekend was AWESOME...possibly the awesome-est weekend of the year thus far. We went to my parents newly acquired cabin in Garden Valley/Crouch area with them and my brother and his wife Noel. First off Shay and I got to ride my Dad's Harley from their home in Kuna to the cabin. If you know Highway 55, you know of it's amazing beauty and again of it's sheer awesomeness (I watch too much Kung Fu Panda) A scenery filled, peaceful, child free Harley ride was a great start to the weekend. We arrived at the cabin and checked it all out. It sits on the golf course and at the end of a lane. It is perfect and we are so excited for the many fun family gatherings to come. Saturday morning Dad, Shay, and I drove back down to Boise for the Famous Idaho Potato Run. It was a beautiful morning and a great race. Dad and I were both training for the half marathon, but due to injuries that caused holes in our training, we both downgraded to the 10k. We both gave it all we had and had a great race.

After the race we went back up the cabin and all of us went on an awesome four wheeler ride. We were pleasantly surprised by the...yes...awesome...trails that we found around the cabin. Shay is super excited to go back and continue exploring them all. It was Noel's first time on a four wheeler, which none of us knew till after the ride. She did great! There were so many cool places and beautiful sights. Cray loves the four wheeler and was such a trooper yelling WEEE on the downhills.

We were also celebrating my mom's 50th bday and Shay's 31st bday. We did a fruit cake since my mom is gluten free. For my mom's bday I did 50 years of memories and had her friends and family write their favorite memories of her. It was a huge success and she loved it. Shay got some new boots, a shop vac and a sweet bag for the four wheeler.

Unfortunately Cray was struck with the stomach flu Saturday night, but even that couldn't ruin the awesomeness of such an awesome weekend. We made lots of memories, had yummy food, played games and just had tons of fun. Sunday evening while we were back at my parent's house, Shay got out the "ole motie" we use to ride around as kids, got it running and took Cray for rides. He loved it and we are sure it's only a matter of time before he is riding it himself. Ahh...now back to the un-awesome (in comparison) real world.