2008

This year has been a great year and one where I feel that we truly have been blessed. Our first blessing of the year was the birth of our daughter Brylee. At 32 weeks I started having some mild contractions. I went in for a non stress test and as soon as I had a contraction her heart dropped into the 20's. It was so scary hearing such a slow heartbeat. The nurse rushed in and told me that something was wrong and that I might be having my baby that day. I was scared to death. They tipped me upside down and gave me a shot to stop my contractions. It turns out that her cord was under her head so every time I would have a contraction, it would press her head onto her cord cutting off her oxygen. After being monitored over night, they felt comfortable enough to send me home but I had to be on bed rest. I had to go in everyday for nst's and take a pill everyday so I wouldn't contract. The pill didn't help much so when I would go in for the nst I would get a shot on top of that, sometimes two. One of the nurses made the remark that I was contracting stronger then most of the girls in labor. At 34 weeks I had an amnio to see if I could deliver. Her lungs were only 20% developed so back to bed I went. I was able to make it until 35 weeks when my doctor decided that she would be better off being delivered. She was born on February 28th by C-section weighing 6lbs 3oz and she didn't even need to be put on oxygen. We are so thankful that she is here and is healthy as ever!!!

Moving on...In April, Preston graduated from BYU in Construction Management. I am so proud of him and all the hard work he did so he could finish early. He was able to get a good job with WW Clyde overseeing the building of roads and bridges. (He now works for Wadsworth Brothers doing pretty much the same thing.)

In June, we decided to put our house up for sale. We didn't think we would be able to sale since there were about ten other houses that had been on the market for over a year and they were cheaper than ours. Well, we sold it in 4 days. We couldn't believe it. The first people to look at it, bought it. In July, we moved into our new house in Saratoga Springs.
Also in July was when I thought I lost my wedding ring up at Payson Lakes and It actually fell off the tool box into the back of the truck as we were driving off. I couldn't believe how lucky that was.

August, I found my birth mom. One of the things I waited the longest for. I still can't believe It's true.

September, I met my birth family in person. A day I will NEVER forget. That was one of the best days of my life.

Those are pretty much the major things that happened this year along with a lot of smaller things.
I feel so blessed to be where I'm at and to have so many people around me that I love.
I am so grateful to be a member of the Church and for the blessings it has brought to our family. I know that I wouldn't be where I am now without it.

I hope everybody had a great 2008 and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!!!

Christmas....

Christmas morning was so much fun! I kept waking up thinking Kayston was going to wake up and go in and just start opening presents. We heard him open his door so Preston jumped out of bed and opened our door. He came walking in and climbed in to our bed and went back to sleep. Preston and I looked at each other and just laughed. We just laid there and waited for him to wake up and realize it was Christmas morning. It didn't take him very long to remember and then he got so excited to go see what Santa brought him.
Here are some pictures of our morning...

Kayston LOVES this four wheeler Santa brought him, he couldn't wait to open all his presents so he could ride it.Brylee got this cute unicorn from Santa, someday she'll even be big enough to ride it.Except, I think she would have been perfectly happy with just the wrapping paper.
After we got done opening presents, we headed over to my mom's house to open more presents.Kayston and Ayden got these cute digital cameras...and Brylee and Jinki got one of those toys you stand up to and play on it. Thanks mom and dad!! Brylee also got this cute baby doll that giggles, she loves it. Isn't this the cutest picture??!!

Christmas Eve.....

Christmas Eve we went over to my parents house and had a yummy dinner and then the kids got to open their Christmas Eve present...jammies!

When we got home we made some sugar cookies for Santa and left some carrots out for his reindeer. Christmas is so much better with kids!
We hope every body had a Merry Christmas!!! We love you all!

Toys For Tots...

Yesterday my husband had the opportunity to go with some people from his work and go shopping for "Toys For Tots". When he first told me what they were doing i thought it was pretty neat. He even got to take Kayston along. When he called me later that day and told me the extent of the shopping, it brought tears to my eyes. First they went to Walmart and filled up over 150 carts with toys. They had to shut down about 6 or 7 lanes just for them. They filled up a semi with just toys. And these weren't just cheap little toys, they got bikes, huge doll houses, video cames and players, pretty much everything Walmart carried. Preston told me by the time they were done, the toy section was pretty much empty.

After that, they headed over to Costco, and we all know the kind of stuff Costco carries. They filled up over 50 of their big orange cart things and they were over 6 feet high with toys. They filled up about 30 guys' trucks and 2 big trailers with toys, sleds, drum sets, keyboards, ipods, and pretty much every cool toy Costco carries.
Preston said that people would just stop and watch what was going on. Even the local news was there and did a big story on it.
After they were done shopping and OVER $100,000.00 later, they headed up to drop off all the toys.

I am so proud that my husband works for such a giving company and I am so happy that he and Kayston got to have such an amazing experience.





This is what the holidays are all about!!!

Growing SO fast!!!

Brylee had her 9 month appointment not to long ago and I can't believe how big she is getting. She weighed 22lbs 6oz and she was 30in in her length. That puts her in the 97th percentile for both weight and height. We just love our little chuncky monkey so much. She is always so happy and she brings so much joy into our family.

Rock Climbing...

I took Kayston to the park the other day and it had this mini rock climbing thing. He loved it and was actually pretty good at it. So, we decided to take him to do some big rock climbing. He did SO good and he had a blast! This kid is not afraid of ANYTHING. He was climbing higher then most of the "bigger" kids were. The only bad part was when we had to leave... he threw a huge fit. Like my mom always says..."you can always tell how much fun a kid has by how big of fit they throw when they have to leave."
He usually does pretty good about leaving places but I think he would live at the rock climbing place if we would let him.

Christmas Tree....

Well, we decided to put our tree up on Monday. I know...some of you think it's crazy to put your tree out before Thanksgiving, but with Thanksgiving being so late in the month this year, we wanted to be able to enjoy it for a while.
We let Kayston do most of the decorating, I don't know if you can tell but the bottom half of the tree has a lot more decorations then the top. Preston and I had a fun time RE-decorating the tree after he went to bed. He didn't even notice the next morning.
We love this time of the year, I have to admit that we're one of those families that start listening to Christmas music right after Halloween and put up decorations way to early, but It just goes by way to fast. I guess it's just our way of making it last a little bit longer.
We want to wish everybody a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!!

Mexico!!!

Well, we're back and we had such a good time. We left Saturday the 1st and got back on the 8th. We stayed at The Grand Riviera Princess hotel in Playa Del Carmen. (our favorite place in Mexico) We have gone the last 3 years and we have always stayed at the Iberostar. We love that hotel but this year I decided to try a new hotel. I was so nervous because I didn't want to be wishing that we should have stayed at the Iberostar again, plus, I booked this trip as a surprise so it would be all my fault for picking a crappy hotel. But the pictures were beautiful and it had a lot of good reviews so I went for it. (plus we got an AMAZING deal)
When we first got there we were both comparing EVERYTHING to the Iberostar. Even though the hotel was beautiful, I guess we were expecting it to have everything the Iberostar had.
To make a LONG story short, we ended up loving the hotel and would for sure go back. The resort was gorgeous! It was built last December so it is still pretty new. The pools were beautiful and the food was very good. Anyone who has never done the "all inclusive" thing, you need too! It is the best way to vacation if you ask me!
We also did a zip line tour which was SOOOOOO much fun. We started out by ring bikes on a dirt path that goes through the jungle. Then we went to Mayan ceremony, it was pretty neat, we were blessed and cleansed by an actual Mayan man in a cave full of lit candles. After that we did the zip lining. We started out with two smaller zip lines and then worked are way up to a VERY high one. It was so much fun. I didn't think I'd be scared but, I was a little.
When we were done zip lining we went snorkeling in some cenotes. It's pretty much a cave. It was okay, not much to see but the water was pretty.
To finish up the day, we were served a traditional Mayan lunch. It was surprisingly good.
It was by far one of my favorite tours we've ever done there. That and swimming with the dolphins.
We had a great trip, laying on the beach and by the pool, we did some shopping in town, eating A LOT of food, and just spending some quality time together.
I can't wait to go back next year!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Our SCARY Dragon!

Our SWEET little Lobster!


Soooo Cute!

Preston's Birthday Surprise!

Last Tuesday (the 21st) was Preston's 30th Birthday. We went out to dinner with some close friends and family to the Texas Roadhouse.
Well, about a month before, I was trying to decide what to get him for his Birthday. I wanted it to be good since he was turning 30. So, I decided to surprise him with a trip to Mexico. He had NO idea. I was so worried he was going to find out because I had to arrange it with his work and I was afraid somebody might say something. Not to mention all of or friends and family knew. Nobody said anything, thank goodness, and he was completely shocked. He thought I was getting him a jacket. I had bought him 2 new swimsuits and put our itinerary between them and wrapped it all up. Even when he saw the swimsuits he didn't get it and he thought the itinerary was a letter.
He started to read it and finally caught on. He was super excited. He's been wanting to go on a trip but I told him I didn't want to because I wasn't "swimsuit ready."So, we leave Saturday the 1st and we can't wait. We'll spend a week, just the 2 of us, in the Riviera Maya. We've gone the past 3 years with friends so it will be kind of nice to spend some time alone. Hopefully we don't get board with each other.lol I am so glad it all worked out and I was able to surprise him. I am also very proud of myself for keeping it a secret until his Birthday. It was killing me. I wanted to tell him so bad so he could be excited with me. Thanks to all of you who kept telling me not to tell him, I'm so glad I waited.





Thanks to everybody who came to celebrate Preston's Birthday
With us. We love all of you!

Happy Birthday babe...we love you!!

I GOT BANGS!!!!!!!

Okay, so lately I have been SO sick of my hair. So I decided to try something new. I've wanted bangs for a while but haven't been gutsy enough to do it. Well, as you can see, I did it and now I'm not so sure I like it. I haven't had bangs since I was like 11 and I'm having a hard time adjusting to my new look. I just have to keep telling myself....they'll grow back. So please, I want to know your HONEST opinion, good and bad, I can take it.

P.S(I had just got back from the gym in these pictures so don't judge.)

Reunion.....Kangaroo Zoo.....Camping

My birth family had a family reunion Friday and they invited us to go. I haven't seen them since we met so It was really fun to see everybody again.

Penny, Me and Brylee

Penny and Brylee

Kangaroo Zoo!

I took Kayston to Kangaroo Zoo the other day. Our friends Jess and Faleni were there with their kids, Eden and AJ...Kayston's BEST friends. They had a blast!!!


Eden & AJ
Kayston
Kayston with Eden and AJ and a few of their cousins.

Thanks for playing guys! We love you!

Camping

Preston's been wanting to go camping before it got to cold, so Saturday night we headed up to Granite Flats. We had a ton of fun. The weather was perfect. After we got all set up we went for a four wheeler ride up to Silver Lake. It was so pretty.
Here are some pictures of our camping trip.