Back to Life

Here are just some fun pics of the kids. Today was a challenge! The kids were horrible in sacrament meeting and we ended up being out in the hall most of the time. Easton is finally going to nursery and it is such a blessing. The kids have been a little more sensitive since we came home and I think they got spoiled from the "grandma's" Eric and I looked at each other today and wished we were back in Hawaii. Someday. Back to reality.

Hawaii, Maui

Our trip to Maui was heavenly! Eric had to work halloween night so after the kids were done he went back to work. My mom came over and I got up at 2:30am. I went and picked Eric up from work and we headed to the airport. We slept the whole way to Oakland and even on the airport floor. The flight to Maui was almost five hours and it was cramped. We got to watch "Spiderman 3" but I wasn't that impressed. As soon as we got to our hotel we crashed and slept until the next morning. Our hotel wasn't anything fancy but clean and great views. We had a great room that overlooked the main area with pool that was right on the ocean. We did a lot of driving around the island and saw lots of cool stuff. We had bought a book that described everything to do. We went on a few hikes and saw these really cool pools that were made from lava. You could swim in them and see all sorts of fish, crab, etc. We went to Lahaina which is where all the cruise ships stop. It was fun and had lots of shops and historic sights. We ate at a restaurant called "cheeseburger in paradise" and that is exactly what it was. It was right on the ocean and you could just sit and feel the awesome breeze. No kids and nothing to hurry us. We walked along the beach at sunset and just relaxed. I was kind of surprised that we ended up only spending one day on the beach. We tried to find a really cool place to snorkel but you have to just wander through a huge lava field with no trail and wing it. I didn't like snorkeling which also surprised me. Our last full day there we were going on a all day snorkel trip to a little crater in the ocean that has awesome snorkeling with turtles then you head to another island and see dolpins. Well, it ended up getting cancelled due to swells. We could of rescheduled except we left the next day. We were ready to go home even though it was a nice break. we missed the kids so much and I swear they grew and inch in a week. They loved having grandma's and aunt Niki come. We are so thankful to them. Well, back to reality, work, cleaning, laundry, cleaning, paperwork, cleaning, etc.

Halloween

This halloween I actually planned ahead! Tyler wanted to be "black venom" and we got his costume back in September. Kylie was snow white and I got her the gloves and purse in disneyland. Easton was a spider and I borrowed it from my friend. Love Old Navy! Kenadie was our hardest one. She didn't want to be a princess and couldn't make up her mind. I kept asking her what she wanted to be but I knew she wouldn't wear anything frilly. So on the day of we found one of Tyler's old prirate costumes and she looked so cute! I wasn't feeling so well on halloween night (again, I know) so Eric took them trick or treating while I handed out candy. I was surprised that we only got about 10 groups. I hope that when our subdivision is finished being built we will have more people. The kids got lots of candy from grandma and still have plenty.

We're Off!

Well, halloween was fun especially for the kids. Tyler was black venom, Kylie snow white, Kenadie a pirate, and Easton a spider. I dressed up as a gangster and had these tattoo sleaves. Eric loves to dress up but he ended up working this evening. He took the kids around on his break and I gave candy out at home. This morning I woke up with a horrible headache and sore throat. It has lasted all day and I'm just tired of being sick. I hope I feel better since we go to Hawaii tomorrow. I have to get up at 3am and go get Eric from work. The kids are so excited for grandma's and Aunt Niki to come. We won't be back for a week. Ahhhh! I will post lots of pics when we get back!

baby blessing

On Sunday, my nephew was blessed. He did really well and didn't even cry. We then went up to parents and had a potato bar. Ryder slept through most of it so I decided to take pictures of him. He is a chunky baby and weighs almost 14 pounds and is only six weeks old. Way to go mom!
Once again, I'm sick. I thought I was getting better and then on Sunday night I started with a fever and body aches. Finally, I decided to go to the doctor. I found out I have a sinus infection and hopefully it is all the way gone before Hawaii. Last night we went to a corn maze and spooky barn ride. I will show pics later. We got pumpkins and carved them. The kids loved it!

I have my basement back!

Finally, I got most of my basement put back together. They had to put in new insulation and sheetrock in the guest room and it will be painted Monday. They laid new carpet pad down everywhere and attached the carpet. We've been moving lots of furniture and it's still a disaster. I hope to get it organized when Eric has four days off this week. The only thing left is paint and carpet in the guest room. We are still waiting to hear from the manufactor of the part, they sent it to California to do more testing. If they don't cover it our landscaper said we could bill his liability insurance. We got the part replaced on our sprinkler's that broke and they are running now! We are so paranoid and have been turning our water valve off everynight. We are getting our final grade on our yard next week and we hope to get curbing done before it snows. We may have to wait until spring to hydroseed but that is ok with us.
Tyler is such a tease lately. He is constantly teasing his sister's and just being a six year-old boy. This morning I heard him telling his sister that he is allergic to water! What a crazy kid.

update

I woke up early Saturday morning to my husband saying explicits and yelling that the basement was full of water. I went downstairs and there was water just running in a crack in the window of our guest room. Our whole window well was full and it had reached all the way across the other side of the house. We called an emergency restoration place and they showed up at 5am. Eric hurried and turned the water off and jumped into the window well to get the rest of the water out with a bucket. They were there for seven hours removing all of our carpet pad, vacuuming up water, moving furniture, and setting up fans. All of this happened a day before I was supposed to leave. After a couple of days of the fans drying they removed sheetrock and insulation in the guest room and our house is only six months old! They had to throw away a bed and rip out the carpet in Tyler's room and the guest room. We found out the cause of it was a part of the sprinkler that connects the hose from the house to the sprinklers. It split right in two. We had only had it connected two days earlier by our landscaper friend. Our home insurance won't cover it and the estimate for everything is $7300. Yeah, that's right $7,300.00. We our talking with the manufactur of the part and they are investigating it. Our landscaper told us that we could bill through his liability company. So, our two kids that sleep in the basement are sleeping on couches, my scrapbook room is full of furniture, and all of the toys are now upstairs. Hopefully, we can get some help in paying for it.


I was so excited to go to Disneyland. It was a just "girls" trip. No husbands, kids, or worries. Our motto was "we will do what we want, when we want", and we did. My sister was sick with a bad cold, (which we later found out was bronchitis) but we still ate at lots of cool restaurants (the ones you don't take kids to), went on all the rides, and watched some shows. It was a blast and I didn't really want to go home. Hopefully in the future we can go again! Thanks mom!



We got home Wednesday evening late and I was supposed to leave for "scrapaway" the next morning. I felt sick on the plane ride home but I thought it was just motion sickness. Well, I spent the next two days with the flu. I couldn't go to scrapaway and I had already paid for it. I had been looking forward to it for months. On Friday I felt a little better and decided to go at the last minute. I didn't get up to the farmhouse in Heber until 9pm but I started right away. It was a blast. You have someone cook all your meals for you, clean, and all the snacks and drinks. I got 22 pages done but I still have a lot more to go.

Since I was sick on Kenadie's birthday we celebrated on Sunday. I still didn't feel good enough to make her a cake so she picked one out at Walmart. She wanted a Halloween cake and was so excited to eat it. We gave her a new bike, Alice and Wonderland dvd, and a new doll stroller.(our other one was falling apart) Grandma and Grandpa Swanson gave her a TinkerBell backpack and a Dora story pillow. I can't believe my little girl is three! She is such a blessing in our lives.