Ear Surgery

Kenzington was a lot tougher baby than Brooklyn to begin with,... that is until we figured out what was causing all the problem. Kenzington kept getting ear infections. You could always tell when she had one because she'd go from perfectly content, amazingly good baby to agitated fuss pot. Happiest little surgery patient ever!

By the time she hit 6 months they said it would be best to have tubes put in her ears because she had had SEVEN separate and distinct ear infections. However, the only time they could do the surgery was during the move. Brandon was already working down in Castle Dale, so I had my wonderful neighbor Penny Jensen watch Brooklyn while I took Kenzington in for her ear surgery at 7am. The initial day after surgery was a little rough, but since then it has been a night and day difference for her.

We did do some fun things while Brandon was gone working and we were alone in Logan packing up the house. To take a break from the monotony we had a girls day with our cousins Chole, Oakley, and Taci to the Logan Zoo! We were sad we didn't get to spend more time with them. (They moved up to Logan two weeks before we moved out.) Brooklyn had some much fun with them, in the short time they got to know each other.

August Friends trip!

Last years LOTOMO group tried to do it again this year!

And though a few key couples are missing from previous years we still had a blast as always! (Big props to those of us who keep up the tradition.) ;)

Some four-wheeling was done. And Brooklyn loved it! (Four-wheeling still really freaks me out since the accident... either that or just that I'm getting older and am in mommy mode. Not really sure which.)

At the mine overlook. Missing Chana and Kenzington. (Thanks to Chana for watching her while we went on the ride. Love ya!)

The food can be nothing but amazing when you have us in the kitchen.

The boys sporting their newly tie-dyed shirts. Awesome!

This is what you get when you leave the boys in-charge of dying the girls' shirts! :)

Okay.... us naive little princesses are TOTALLY responsible for those seductive tie-dyed beasts!! And they are awesome. Good times were had by everyone!

The PIANO!!

I have been a major slacker when it comes to blogging lately. But with a new year and new resolutions I am going to try to do better. So for the next few posts or so I am going to be playing a little catch up.

Two years ago, my Grandmother Betty Aagard (seriously the best piano player I know!), called me up saying that her cousin Ruth had my great-grandmothers, sisters piano and wondered if I was interested in it. I don't know who in there right mind would pass up a baby grand, especially when it had that much family history too.

Well, needless to say, the exterior of the piano was in bad repair. (I don't know who would ever take this bad of care of an instrument like this.) However, the harp itself, besides being severely out of tune, was in perfect condition.

With the help of Bob Morrow (good friend and woods craft-man from Logan) we had the piano back looking sparkly new in no time!!

I seriously couldn't be happier with how it turned out. It looks AMAZING!! Brandon did such a good job fixing it up. Plus we have the perfect VT/Piano room for it in our new house!

Moving it into the house was a BUGGER though! Pretty sure everyone who helped us move it said that we can never move again. BIG THANKS to everyone who helped us with this. I LOVE it more than anything!! (Well any material gift!) :)

2 month recap!

The last 2 months have probably been the craziest, fun, out-of-control, bi-polar, two months of our married lives thus far. Brandon started his job with Johansen & Tuttle Engineering in Castle Dale, Utah. He is loving it. He is currently working on a project for 90 days in Green River reconstructing the state park road. Brandon's parents were nice enough to let us move in with them for the time being, so that Brandon would be close to work and we could start the house hunt. We can't thank them enough for the kindness that they have shown us!

We took family pictures with the Aagard Family. My dad started chemo. He had a really rough go the first week and was back in the hospital 2 days after getting home because he was so weak. They did a feeding tube and a pic line, and after another week he was able to come back home. He had us all really worried for a bit. He had a fever that just wouldn't break. Can I just say it is so so hard seeing him like this. He is my hero! He is fighting and will continue to fight. He started second round on chemo this week. It will hopefully be better than the first week.


Kenzington had her 6 month birthday! :) We love our little chubba lubba!

She is off the charts weighing in at a whopping 23 lbs! She is rolling, sitting, and starting to crawl. She does an inch worm sort of movement to get things she wants and laughs so hard at anything Brooklyn does. My favorite thing is watching the two of them interact! Kenz has been such a joy to have around.

House hunting has been so much fun..... However, it is much more of a process than they make it seem on HGTV! :) We went through over 20 houses and we really didn't LOVE LOVE anything. Ugh! Then building became an option. We got pre-approved, picked plans, went to look at a house with a similar floor plans, found a lot, and were well on our way to building. Then a Castle Dale friend stopped to tell us about a foreclosure that just came on the market, so we thought why not look at it. I mean we hadn't committed 100% yet to build, so it couldn't hurt to look at one more house. We fell in LOVE with it and all of the possibilities! It felt so right for us. And even better we got it for a steal of a deal cause it was foreclosed!

Luckily our lender has been right on top of things and we were able to switch from building (construction loan, property loan, and a mortgage), to a rural loan on a foreclosure. It worked of perfectly that we were already pre-approved, because we were able to put in an offer the following day.

Talk about an emotional roller coaster!! (What if we don't get it?? What if our offer's too low and someone else bid higher?! I want that HOUSE!! I NEED that HOUSE!!) We didn't hear back for 24 hours and then finally after 48 hours we knew that they had accepted our offer!! Yay! Biggest relief.

Now we are just working on paperwork and will hopefully sign in a week or so. (Paperwork takes FOREVER! Plus it is so much more paperwork for a foreclosure!) We've completed the inspection and appraisal. Talk about problems with getting everyone organized to get the inspection done! The electricity wasn't working because Rocky Mtn. Power forgot to turn it on, same story with the water, and the gas lines needed to be bled in order for them to work properly..... ugh! A few curse words later, things got done and we passed the inspection with flying colors. :) So that's where we are at with the house.

We are just trying to enjoy this crazy journey that we are on right now. Living in the moment. We are loving the time that we get to spend here with family, parents, and cousins. Hopefully we will be in our own place soon, but for now we are just extremely grateful to have such a great family and support system!

Lamb Days 2011

Lamb Days this year was a blast. We had so much fun at the good 'ole home town holiday. I got the girls matching Lamb Day outfits. . . reminds me of when Jessica and I were younger. :)

Watching the Lamb Day parade.

Brooklyn loved the parade this year, and loved the popsicles even more! Emily would help her catch them.

Kenzington enjoying her beads with Daddy.

My brother-in-law Benji, along with his band, were the hired entertainment for the day! They did such an awesome job. I have such cool brother-in-laws! (Benji is the lead singer.)

They sang one country song and you better believe it, me and my sis got everyone out there line-dancing. :) Even little Brooklyn.

My parents are so cute! I just love how in love they are and all that they have gone through together. My mom has literally dropped everything to take care of my dad. Dad is currently starting cemo treatments 5 days in ICU, 5 days home, 5 days in, 5 days home, .... for 5 weeks. It's going to be a bugger, but all you can do is fight. And I'm so proud of him for doing all he can to fight this.

On another note, Kenzington has started eating oatmeal, rice cereal, and mixed grain cereals. She seems to have mixed feelings about it. Honestly, I think "real food" is just an an annoyance to her. She's gotta learn though. :)

Alaska! ~ July 6th - 13th 2011

Brandon and I had such a fun summer vacation this year. We went to Anchorage, Alaska.

Brandon had an Engineering Conference up there, and we talked my sweet sister Jessica, her awesome husband Coby, and their little chub-a-lub baby Kayson into coming with us. (But let's be honest, this party in Alaska didn't take much convincing, it kind of sells itself.)

My favorite little Kenzi face of all time!! Haha! The hat squishes her little eyes down on her chubby cheeks to make her look grumpy. :)

Our first activity upon arriving in Alaska was to drive to Seward, along the most beautiful highway in the Nation, and went on a Glacier Wildlife Cruise tour. Here are pictures highlighting that cruise.
Lots of Glaciers! (It was so neat to hear them calve.)





Harbor Seals.


Sea Lions.

Humpback Whales.


Sea Otters.

Puffins.


Bald Eagles.

Beautiful Islands and Scenery.

The flower blossoms were huge. Must be all those hours of daylight.

We would totally recommend the Kenai Ford Glacier Tour to anyone who goes to Alaska. Such a great way to see all the wildlife!

The boat ride put Kenz right to sleep.

I have so much fun with my little sister!

We went to Alaska's wildlife conservation center where we so many more native Alaskan animals.
Grizzly Bear


Elk.

Musk Ox.

Moose.

We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Healy, AK. It was the cutest little family cabin near Denali National Park.

We rode the Grizzly at the Totem Bar in Healy. So much fun!!

In much need of repentance of our previous night at the bar, :) j/k we visited the Anchorage Temple.

Brandon and Coby did a lot of waiting with the kids while Jessica and I shopped! :) After this trip they had much sympathy for us carrying the babies the 9 long months of pregnancy.

Denali National Park was so much fun. 70% percent of people who go to Denali do not see Mtn. McKinnley ... the highest mountain in the Nation... but we were some of the 30% ers! :) It did not disappoint.


We were able to watch the dog sled demo at Denali, and all of the pups were really friendly. They got super crazy when we would bring the babies close, so we kept the kids at a distance.




We ran into a baby moose, but we didn't want to get to close in case the mom came around.

We also went on some beautiful hikes while in Denali.



We saw more wildlife.
Baby Seagulls. . . . Jessica got attacked by their mother for getting to close. :)

Chipmunks.

After Denali we went back south to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula.


We drove to the seaside town of Whittier, through the Nations Longest Underground Tunnel. (Brandon loved this.)


Exploring Whittier. Just a really small town with amazingly good fudge! :)

As you can tell we saw a lot of wildlife, hear are the Mountain sheep that we saw on the cliffs near the road. They are such good climbers.

We stopped an hiked Byron Glacier while near Whittier.


At one of Brandon's conference meetings they had the 4 time champion of the Iditarod as a motivational speaker.

Brandon and Coby in downtown Anchorage.

View from the plane leaving Alaska. What a beautiful state and such an awesome adventure!