The Perrys

ANNIE PERRY

2011-12-11T20:46:00.001-08:00

We are back to the blogging world and we have so much to talk about! On October 4 at around 6:30 the nurse called and said it was time to come to labor and delivery. By 8:30 I was hooked up to monitors and by 11:30 I was holding ANNIE PERRY in my arms! She is amazing. She looks nothing like Kate and acts nothing like Kate which is SO FUN! It is so fun to have my two girls have their own little personalities. Annie is very mellow and calm. She loves to sleep and is an absolute angel in every way! Kate had a couple hard weeks after she was born but now she loves her just as much as Ty and I do and we couldn't imagine life without her!

Weighing in at 7 lbs 4 ounces and 20 inches long

She loves the binky!

Best Friends!

Newport Beach in Pictures

2011-12-11T15:39:00.001-08:00

Lake Powell in Pictures

2011-12-11T15:18:00.001-08:00

4th of July

2011-08-31T20:53:00.000-07:00

For the fourth of July weekend we had a wonderful laid back weekend at Poppy's cabin. Kate was the only kid there but it just meant more attention from her grandparents! :)

Kate rode bikes with her babies and swung in the swing ALL day long!

6 1/2 months

Then on the fourth of July we went to Ty's parent's for a BBQ and fireworks.

CHANGE

2011-08-31T20:21:00.001-07:00

I have never been one to LOVE change. As a matter of fact I don't really like change at all. But somethings you just can't stop from changing and one of those things is Kate. She is getting so big right before my eyes. I really can't stand it! Sometimes when I lay in bed at night I get so emotional realizing that my first baby is no longer a baby and that this stage of my life is rapidly coming to an end! Which brings me to another change that I am getting more and more anxious about... we have another little girl coming in less than a month! I really am so excited to meet her but I have literal panic attacks throughout the night trying to figure out how I am really going to love two babies as much as I love my one. I remember when Ty and I saw the positive sign on the pregnancy test saying "this is going to be another Kate" referring to how much she has rocked our world since she entered it. We both really just sat in bewilderment. But I once had a friend tell me something that has always stuck and that is:

Love doesn't divide. Love Multiplies.

Motherhood is such an amazing opportunity and I feel honored to be a mother. I can only imagine the love that our Heavenly Father feels for all of His many children. It is comforting to know that He will be there with me through it all with His unconditional love. So my little friend that has been cooking inside me..... I'm ready when you are!

Going Private....

2011-07-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

I have decided to make my blog private. If you want to be added to the list leave a comment with your email address or email me at danielle.c.perry@gmail.com. I am planning to change it in a week so let me know! Thanks!

Dinner Anyone?

2011-07-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Dinner is ready and you've got the cutest chef in town!

Kate's First Dance Recital

2011-07-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

This Spring Kate started her first dance class with Miss Julie. It was the highlight of our week! Kate did such a great job and it was so fun to watch her really blossom throughout the months. Miss Julie is so cute with the kids and makes them all feel so beautiful and talented!

In June they had the year end recital with a "Tangled" theme. Kate loves Tangled so she was so excited! Unfortunately the concert pretty much ended up like this but there is always next year right?!

We did get some cute pictures before and after however!

Can't wait to start again in the fall!

A Little Piece of Paradise!

2011-07-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break we decided to get out of the yucky weather and head back to Scottsdale. It was heaven on earth! Not only was Kate in heaven with all her cousins but Ty and I were in heaven with sun, golf, swimming, and shopping! It doesn't get any better!

We even got to see Jane and her boys a couple of times!

Kate's favorite train park. She was SO excited! You would have thought we were at Disneyland!

Brecky and the two tired kids on a long shopping trip.

For Drew's birthday we went to PF Changs and went shopping. Then the girls went and saw Water for Elephants.

Easter Sunday we had a little photo shoot in front of the Ivory's beautiful house.

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's

2011-07-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

This year we started our Easter celebrations a week early at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had an awesome color coded easter egg hunt,

and died beautiful eggs. We were so glad to see sunshine!

The night ended with lots of fun in the hot tub!

My Old Man.....

2011-06-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

There was no other way to celebrate Ty's 30th birthday than to throw him a huge Surprise Party!I decided in order to fit everyone I needed to rent out a room at Noah's in South Jordan. Everything went off without a hitch other than Ty thought I was "helping" Brecken out by paying for her inital consulation at Noah's Operations for a boob job! (I had to think up something fast when he saw the hefty charge on the credit card bill! :)) After the little coverup I decided I better blindfold him cause if he saw the building with Noah's written on it my secret would be out. I just told him I wanted to be romantic and surprise him....

He insisted on leaning back his seat because he was SO embarrassed and what if the neighbors saw???!!!

Here are some pictures of all the great people Ty has in his life. I didn't get one of everyone but here are a few:

Happy Birthday Ty! We love you (in Kate's words) to the Rainbow and Back!

Scottsdale

2011-05-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

In February Kate and I went with my family down to AZ. It wasn't super warm but it was better than the blizzard at home! One rainy day we went and rode some rides in the middle of the mall. Kate thought they were the coolest things ever and I didn't even put money in them!

Lizzy is the best entertainer! We call her the "cruise director" cause she will take all the kids and set up activities that last for hours and everyone is happy! Lizzy got this little kit that makes balloons and Kate LOVED her cool hat!

It was heavenly to go on walks with a blue sky and sunshine!

and of course we did a lot of shopping! Kate likes to think she is one of the big girls.

Kate's FAVORITE thing in Scottsdale that I am pretty sure we talk about every day still is the train park. It really is the cutest park with an outdoor train that goes all the way around the park.

Little Gym

2011-05-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

Little Gym has been such a great thing for Kate this winter. Not only has it helped her branch out and not be so timid but it has also been something fun to look forward to each wk while it is gloomy outside.

Kate's teacher was adorable and actually just left on a mission. We are so happy for her!

the Minnie Mouse Party

2011-05-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

We are ready to go to the party!

BELIEBER

2011-03-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday!

2011-03-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

Kate is so blessed to have two AMAZING grandmas! On her actually birthday she had a very busy day having alot of fun! It started with Mimi taking her and Mark to the Children's Museum.

Then that night we went with the Perrys to Build a Bear where Kate got to make her "Birthday Bear"

Then we ended the night at Incredible Pizza where we ate, played games and open presents!

I think she started to run out of steam by the end........

We are so in love with our little two year old it is crazy! She seriously is light in our lives. She has become my little buddy that I have conversations with, shop with, and play with all day long! I am so lucky I get to be her mom and I can't wait to see what the next year brings (even though I really wish I could freeze her in time and not let her grow up anymore!)

Let the celebrations begin!

2011-03-08T13:32:00.001-08:00

On the Chapman side there are four January birthdays so we decided to do one big birthday bash! It was so fun! They each got to pick out there very own cake. Kate of course chose Minnie Mouse. This is the best picture I could get of the 4 of them. Kate-2, Claire-3, Mark-3, Max-5

Of course after dinner out come the dress ups! Kate's went very nicely with her Minnie Mouse theme....

sneaking frosting....

This was just the beginning.......

Christmas Day

2011-02-13T15:45:00.001-08:00

This is my beloved tree. I have sorta worked on my tree for the last few years and I finally feel it is perfect! I love the tree we found this year and all the new fun ornaments I got. I was actually quite sad to take it down.

Santa definitely made his way to our house.... he just forgot to bring me a NEW house to fit it all in!

Kate took quite a long time to get through all her presents cause she just wanted to stop and play with each one!

This girl loves Minnie and Daisy

Literally had to vacuum each room before she could go on to the next present... Luckily there aren't that many! :)

Tea Party at her new table Grandpa and Grandma showed up with on Christmas morning!

My only decent picture at my mom's celebrating. I think we were all a little exhausted from the last month of activities and the excitement of the morning!

Our Christmas was amazing this year with Kate! She is at the funnest age and has so much personality. I think I was more excited for Christmas morning than she was just to see her response!

Christmas Eve

2011-02-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

Before we left for the party... gotta love Kate's "cheese" smile

I copied Martha Stewart and added hearts to the pastry. I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

Johnny stayed in character the whole night... he is saying "yee-haw" in this picture!

Checking to see where Santa is on the map. So cute!

Homeade Gifts

2011-01-27T19:51:00.001-08:00

I know I know.... We have all moved on from Christmas but I still have a lot to talk about so please bear with me. The Chapman family did our usual stressful, dreaded, fun, hilarious, awesome tradition - homemade gift exchange. And as always it didn't disappoint!

I made Andrea "Happy Birthday" decor to hang and use in her house.

Greg put together a nice little homemade date for Tyson to take someone on.

Tyson gave my mom some personal computer lessons.

Rachael and Frank gave my Dad and Greg some homemade stationary

My Dad gave Ty my Dad's old bbq new and improved!

Andrea painted Brecken a collage about her life for her room

Ty made Rachael an online scrapbook of 2010 (blog)

My mom made Kate and I matching aprons!

But what is so fun about the Homemade Gift Exchange is it is one of the few times all of us are together without our kids! What a good time we have!

Sister Hanni

2011-01-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

If you have ever talked to Kate she has probably told you about Sister Hanni. She is Kate's amazing nursery leader. When Kate turned 18 months I was so nervous to take her to nursery since she was SO attached to her parents. I knew it was going to be a disaster. But Sister Hanni just took her from me kicking and screaming and said "I will come and get you if I need you." Sure enough after 2 wks of Sister Hanni's amazing activities and charm Kate was skipping into nursery. When we pick her up she always comes with a bag of goodies (coloring book, bag of gummie bears, bubbles, books, etc.) which actually end up saving us during Sacrament meeting. About a week before Christmas Sister Hanni stopped by with Kate's Christmas present. She brought a princess nightgown, slippers, bubble bath and chapstick. Needless to say Kate was ecstatic!

Christmas Activities

2011-01-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Since the zoo was our favorite past time during the summer we couldn't let the opportunity pass us by to go see the Zoo lights. We decided to hook up with the Summerhays and for FHE we braved the cold! Kate loved all the lights shaped like different animals.

If Ty looks cold in this picture.... he is. He met us there from work and his "responsible" wife was supposed to bring his coat. I offered him mine but he wouldn't take it! :)

One of the monkeys was only three days old. It was really cute. Of course Ty pointed out that the dad was passed out in the corner while the mom was taking care of the baby.... typical. :) Kate kept waving to the baby. She loves monkeys!

The Summerhays clan....it's still kinda weird for me to see them with four kids! Such a cute family!

The next wk for FHE Mimi planned for us all to go up to This is the Place Park. This was the first time I had been there at Christmas time. They had so much fun stuff going on from carolers, Father Christmas, and the nativity to crafts in each house for the kids to participate in.

Seriously the happiest, most content baby I have ever met. Get me one of these next!

Kate and Ty writing their christmas list for Santa. Kate: Kangaroo? Ty: I pad? yeah we'll have to see.....

Kate was in heaven. Not only did she think her new coat was the coolest thing ever (straight from the tupperware in the basement), but she was also with all of her cousins! I am pretty sure she told every person there that she was a marshmallow!

E-L-M-O!!!!!!

2010-12-29T15:29:00.000-08:00

Kate's favorite person- her Grandma- who she asks for every single day bought us tickets to see Elmo's Green Thumb at the E center. It was so fun for all of us to see Kate's reaction. At times I thought she might hyperventilate!

We couldn't get Kate to stop hugging Elmo to turn around for the picture. This was the display right inside the doors and Kate thought this was it. Little did she know what she had ahead of her!

Our seats were on the sixth row right on the floor. I have the funniest videos of her dancing and freaking out. One of these days I will get one of them on here....

Then of course after her Grandma spoils her with an Elmo stuffed animal that is almost the same size as her!

What a good day this was!

Mimi's pajama party

2010-12-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

This year my mom decided to have a brunch pajama party for the little kids and their moms since they aren't quite old enough to sleepover with the bigger grandkids. The kids had a blast playing in Mimi's playroom while their mom's visited, a fun little craft and opening jammies! Kate is so lucky to have these two friends in her life! She loves them so much!

Bonneville Stake Live Nativity

2010-12-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better to help remind us of the true meaning of Christmas than the live nativity our stake puts on each year. Our ward decided to have our christmas party the same night and then walk up to the Stake center together. We had such a great time. We love our ward and all the great people we get to spend so much time with!

This is the nativity our ward set up on our ward's beautiful grounds. It is so pretty to look across the pond at the little nativity and Kate loved looking at it every wk when we would go to church!

Walking up to the Stake Center

The nativity is so authentic and well done. If you don't live this way it is totally worth the drive!

There are people selling food and live chickens as you enter the city...

real animals including chicken, geese, sheep, camel, and a donkey

they even have a real newborn baby.....

Ty just had to snap a picture with his friend Marty Patch who was the guard as you enter the city

I am so grateful for my Savior especially at this time of year. It is so fun to teach Kate all about that special night a long time ago!

Christmas Recital

2010-12-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time of year to break out the Christmas music! However all my student's have been working on their Christmas songs since October so they would be ready for the recital! They all did a fabulous job and it was a great way to start off the season!

Here are a few of my cute students. I always forget to take a picture but I grabbed a few just before they left. Aren't they so cute? I am so lucky to have such great students!Kate even got to come this year!
Then directly after the recital we decided to stop at the tree lot to pick up the perfect tree. It was SO cold and we were all in dress clothes so I am pretty sure we made record time.. maybe five minutes to pick it out, strap it to the car, and be on our way!

Kate was extremely helpful this year balancing the tree!

It is so fun to have a toddler this time of year with all their excitement. Last wk she came home from church and was skipping down the hall saying "HO HO HO Happy Halloween!" Maybe she gets all the holidays a little mixed up but she sure nevers lacks enthusiasm!

Thankful

2010-12-12T14:08:00.001-08:00

We have so much to be thankful for this year. When I really start to think about it I am overwhelmed with the blessings we've recieved. I remember at the beginning of 2010 thinking this needs to be a good year cause the last two have been REALLY hard in so many ways. Looking back over the past 12 months I really can't think of anything I would have changed. It has a been a wonderful year! In fact I sometimes let fear get the best of me and worry that this is just the calm before another storm but I am just living day to day and enjoying every minute of it! My life is so full of love because of these two people.... I am thankful everyday they are mine!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving up at Poppy's cabin in Midway. Andrea made an amazing turkey (best I have ever had) and we ate ourselves sick! The sun came out for a few minutes and Kate, Ty and Max decided to go sledding. I broke my back sledding so I am not a big fan so I just watched from inside by the fire! :)

Then the day after Thanksgiving we decided to get out of the cold and head to the new Chapman/Ivory home in Paradise Valley. We had such a great time. We got to see alot of Ty's family and hang out with the Ivory's!

I did a terrible job taking pictures on this trip so here the few I took:

Kate was concerned about the sun shining in her eyes and I didn't want to ask the lady next to the window to close her blinds so I pulled out Kate's handy glasses and she wore them the entire time!

We did alot of shopping and here Kate and Mark are picking out their dessert at the Nordstrom Cafe.

Out at the pool.... It was still a little chilly!

All in all it was a great trip and when I go back in February (counting the days) I will do much better with pictures!
Now bring on Christmas!

More Halloween

2010-11-10T20:46:00.001-08:00

I know we have all moved on to Thanksgiving and are making our Christmas lists but I wanted to document all that we did this Halloween. We were so busy and I have to admit I am so glad I don't have to put that Jester costume on Kate one more time! But we sure did have fun while we were at it!

Once Kate saw the spooky face painted kids at the Trunk or Treat she was done. Her body was shaking she was so scared and she was crying "bye-bye" until we left!

This was before she saw any scary guys with cute Jessy and her little dino Graham

Fishing for prizes very seriously

Every year I do a Halloween piano recital/carnival. I do it at my mom's house and have all my students wear their costumes to perform their Halloween song. Then we play Halloween Bingo and musical tombstones. It is nice to be able to see my students fun personalities other than just at their weekly lessons! I took pictures before everyone got there and then I got busy and didn't take any of my students... I am so bummed! They all looked darling!

I had to post this picture because I am so proud of the banner I made. I admit that I probably don't have a crafty bone in my body so I am thrilled with how it turned out!

The Prizes!

One afternoon Brecken and I decided to head out to Gardner Village. I haven't been out there for a few years so it was fun to take Kate and show her all the cute decorations and funny witches!

This is what Kate does when I say "say cheese!"

Kate and her favorite Brecky!

Last but definitely not least Megan and Annie throw the best annual Halloween party! Here is a picture of some of the girls. I wish I would have gone around and taken a picture of each couple cause the outfits this year were hilarious!

Olive Oyl (Priscila), Sonny (me), cruiser (Bitty), Knocked up housewife (Meg), Buttercup (Sarah), Snookie (Lindsay), Witch (Sabrina), Witch (Brooke)

Drum Roll please............... Introducing Sonny and Cher! and their tired little Jester of course! I know Sonny didn't have curly hair but we were desperate and threw the outfit together about five minutes before. Ty took his costume very seriously and I don't even have a full length picture to show his high heels! He was HILARIOUS!

Introducing........

2010-10-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

our little jester!

We have had such a fun halloween this year going around in our costume! Kate LOVED her silly hat and would run up and down the hallway in our house singing the "silly hat" song from Barney. Ty's mom had an awesome Halloween party the week before Halloween that sort of kicked off the festivities and then we pretty much went non- stop from that point on!

Here is Kate doing the dancing game on the Wii. She is OBSESSED with "who let the dog's out?" and knows the whole dance by heart!

The whole crew from Alice in Wonderland. Jack was even the bunny with his clock. So Funny!

Helping dad carve pumpkins.....

All the cousins:

Becky went all out this year! Each kid got two pumpkins... one to carve and one to paint. Then everyone got to decorate their bottle of orange soda. Karen made these cute spider treats.

and she didn't even forget the bubbling cauldron! Karen almost fainted after inhaling all the dry ice since it took me so many tries to get this picture right!

Happy Halloween!

Family Pictures

2010-10-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

we finally did it! I have been wanting to get our family pictures taken for awhile now and I am so happy with how they turned out. I was really stressed about who I was going to have take them since I have always had Bobby Whitney do it and she was taking some time off. But I got a few recommendations and after looking at her blog I decided to use Sara Bateman. She was fantastic and great to work with. Kate was even talking about her on our way home. Here are a few (or should I say alot) of my favorites:

2010-10-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

Got our family pictures back today. Love them. Love her.

More to come.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

One evening before we dropped Kate off at her Grandma's we decided to run to the pumpkin patch by her house. Kate picked out the perfect pumpkin for her and loves having it on the front porch. EVERY time we come home she has to point out mom, dad and Kate's pumpkin before we can go inside. Of course they had all their halloween decor up and there was this one scary guy Kate would not take her eyes off. You will notice every picture I took she would smile but her eyes would not leave the "scary guy"!

Can't wait for Halloween!

End of Summer Activities

2010-10-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Nothing quite finishes up summer like the State Fair. Can you tell by looking at Kate's swagger that she is happy to be there?

Trying out food she's never eaten.. no! not the chocolate covered deep fried bacon, just cotton candy that her beloved Grandma spoiled her with!

Is this not the cutest picture ever? You can just sense the pride in Ty's smile!

Of course it wouldn't be right if her daddy didn't win her a prize!

Our one and only rendition of "Rapper's Delight"

of course Ty didn't miss a single word and I didn't know a single word! Typical!

We had to squeek in a visit to Wheeler's Farm. This was my first time going back there since 7th grade when I went to a Haunted House! Kate loved all the animals and the big "choos choos" aka tractors!

And last but not least we headed up to This is the Place. The train was a hit! The park was practically empty so we rode the train over and over again!

Best Buds.

September 7, 2004

2010-09-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Four houses, two states, 3 jobs (Ty), 3 Universities (me), 2 bachelor degrees, 6 jobs (me), a beautiful daughter, gallons of tears (happy and sad) and hours of laughter later..... Ty and I celebrate our sixth year of marriage! If I said that the last six years have been pure bliss I would be lying. But I can say I couldn't think of anyone I would rather have spent those years and the rest of my life with other than Ty! He is the most hard working, optimistic, open minded, loving person I have ever met and I am so grateful I get to call him mine.

Ty was so cute and planned a fabulous getaway for the two of us. We first went on a hike up above Sundance to Stewart Falls where Ty proposed to me six years ago. Then we went to the Stein Erickson Lodge and indulged ourselves with a couples massage, an amazing dinner, and a good night sleep with nothing to wake us up the morning!

We had the most amazing view from our room!

Then Ty is off to work and we are back to the rat race we call life.... Thank you Ty for the 24 hrs of indulgence! I love you!

Sunset Pics

2010-09-26T21:16:00.001-07:00

On our last day we decided to go take some pictures by the ocean with the sun setting. It was really windy that night so it was a little tricky but I think we got some okay ones....

I know my hair looks retarded, but this is the only picture of the three of us!

I had to post this one.... Look at Ty's face! Ha Ha!

It only took us five million pictures to finally get one in the air!

Cute Max! I am so glad he and Will came on the trip! It wouldn't have been the same without them!

Lillsers~

Can't wait for next year!

Beloved Newport

2010-09-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

In August we went on our annual trip to Newport Beach. There is really no place quite like it. The sand, walks, shakes, shopping, humidity, ocean, sand crabs, cousins, sisters, brothers, card games, rubys, coco's, diet cokes, I could go on and on. I must say that this was probably my favorite year which is saying alot since every year is so fun. But watching Kate so happy every minute plus Ty there almost the entire time equals pure bliss for me! I have sort of been dreading this post because the amount of pictures is overwhelming but I have decided to separate it into a few different posts. Majority of our time was spent out at the beach. Kate LOVED the sand and the ocean. She loved getting dirty and filling up her bucket with sea shells.

gotta love the diaper...

It is so fun to get dirty.

chasing the birds

Had to snap a picture of this lovely couple who celebrated their wedding anniversary with us!

Lillian and Max who mastered the boogie boards by the end of the week.

Parker building a castle with two excellent helpers.

"sissy" is so nice to Kate and always helps her find sea shells

The serious game of tag football

No fear here!

PLEASE take me back here! I could sit at the beach every day!

Newport continued.........

2010-09-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here we are watching the clock waiting for Grandma to come and take us to the airport. Backpack full of snacks? check. Nails painted? check. Jacket on? check. Sucker in hand? check. We were so excited to head to the beach the time couldn't come soon enough!

Then on the plane Kate touched the lens of my camera so my first about twenty pictures were blurry.

Every morning these two couldn't believe they had another day all day together! They are a dynamic duo!

We even got lucky and had the Barrus family come visit one day! It is always fun to have Johnny around!

One night Kate woke up late from her nap so our little family decided to walk down to Newport pier to get a chocolate frozen banana.

We of course took many trips down to balboa pier to get shakes, breakfast, and bleu cheese sliderz!

P.F. Chang's celebrating Tyson's birthday!

We rode the ferry over to Balboa Island

best buds at the Balboa Market

dancing to the tunes

playing at the balboa arcade

what would a beach trip be like without the morning walk to seaside donuts?

and the best part of all was being so worn out at night her eyes would close before her head could hit the pillow!

Quarter of a Century? Yikes!

2010-09-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Yep. It's true. I am officially 25 years old. I had a fabulous birthday! I felt like it just kept going and going. It all started out with the Chapman family tradition: girls breakfast at original house of pancakes- amazing! Then Ty and I went to dinner with my mom and dad and Brecken at the most amazing restaurant. Then the best part.... the Tim McGraw concert. We had SO much fun! Tim McGraw is my favorite singer of all time and it was perfect that he came in concert on my very birthday!

My second MASSIVE meal of the day!

the cute parentals waiting for the concert to start

then we ran into this cute couple

and this cute couple

and I got to have this cute guy to myself the whole night!
The Perrys took us to Spaghetti Mamas where we all enjoyed the forever supply of breadsticks

(only pic I took- lame, I know)

and of course the Sunday dinner with birthday cake and homeade ice cream!

Thank you to everyone for making my day so special. I am so grateful for the most amazing life I get to live each day! I hope I get a hundred more years!

Swimming, swimming and more swimming...

2010-09-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than swimming on a hot summer day. And the best part is the long nap that follows after wearing ourselves out! We spent so many days either at Willow Creek or the Ivory's backyard. Kate loves her water wings and could float around all day!

Please bear with me- I couldn't decide which pictures to use so I pretty much put all of them!

And it just wouldn't be right if I didn't include a picture of her usual partner in crime!

4th of July

2010-09-18T13:31:00.001-07:00

This picture just says it all! Our little lady was the hit of the Cottonwood Heights 4th of July parade. We spent the night before at Ty's parent's house decorating her "chariot" (wagon) and then Ty's mom pulled her through the parade with all the primary kids. She insisted on wearing Maggie's glasses for the whole thing. So typical!It was quite the event... Even the fire truck was there with the local firemen passing out stickers and pencils.Kate's cute cousins that she adores who treat her like a queen.
After naps we headed up to Mimi and Poppy's cabin in Midway to watch fireworks and sleep over. We of course always stop at our favorite pizza place first.

Silverfork...

2010-09-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well now that summer is pretty much gone I guess I better start updating about all the fun things we've been up to. It really has been the BEST summer. Kate is at such a fun age and there has been so much to do we really haven't stopped! I am dreading the day the snow falls and we can't be outside all day. One morning we all decided to head up to my Grandpa's cabin at Silverfork and have breakfast. Kate is obsessed with her cousins so of course she had a blast!

Plus, who wouldn't want to go eat pancakes and bacon up in the canyons? It is so beautiful up there!

Who needs toenails anyway?

2010-08-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

In June Kate lost three of her toenails out of the blue and a few of her fingertails got dents in them and almost fell off. So of coures with her being on close watch we had to head up to the oncologists at PMC and get some tests done to make sure everything was okay. Sure enough she passed with flying colors and all the oncologists could say is "wow... that is really interesting." Leave it to my little Kate to stump the docs!

WHERE HAS MY BABY GONE???

2010-08-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

In the last few months I cannot believe how much Kate has grown up! She is no longer our baby....

She loves to be included with the "older kids"

She loves to DIP anything into Ketchup "all by herself"

Her hair fits in pig tails....barely

She goes to Nursery! This is before church when she is getting her "purse" ready full of toys so that she can be quiet in Sacrament meeting.

This is after church is over and she has survived her first day. She took a four hour nap after such a stressful few hours.

She is so good at helping her mom scrub the floor

But don't worry she still hasn't gotten rid or her favorite cocktail.... I think we are all a little scared for when that day comes. :)

and of course she still loves her DAD more than words can say!

Lake Powell

2010-07-03T10:38:00.001-07:00

Over Memorial day weekend we went to Lake Powell with the Perrys. We had a terrible time..... We usually go over the 24th and stay on the house boat but this time we decided to go and stay in a hotel and just take the boats out. Our first problem was the hotel we were staying in was a hole in the wall and it had this tiny little cooler that did not keep the room cool at all. But the much much bigger problem was Kate was SO sick. She had the flu and then woke up with her eyes sealed shut (pink eye). In the middle of the night we couldn't get her to stop crying and our room was so hot we decided we should just leave. We packed up our stuff around 2 am and we were on our way until about twenty minutes into the drive Kate started throwing up everywhere. So we pulled over to get her out and five minutes later three cops were with us insisting that we take her back to Page. So we were practically escorted back to the "hole in the wall" where we finally did fall asleep and then woke up and drove home. The Saturday of Memorial weekend last year was the day Kate woke up with a LARGE lump in her neck so I am sort of beginning to hate this weekend!arent those the saddest eyes you've ever seen?

Maybe next year things will go a little smoother..............

Out with the Old, In with the New

2010-06-05T22:31:00.001-07:00

Kate is so over Barney and totally onto her new best friend..... ELMO!
Kate stole these jammies out of her cousin Mark's DI pile and is OBSESSED! They have caused quite a drama at our house. It is practically impossible to get them off of her and once you do they have to be hidden..... We can't even spell elmo without her knowing what we are talking about!

Spring?

2010-06-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well it sure has been a long rainy spring but it didn't hold us back! Kate gets out of her crib in the morning and immediately becomes a broken record.... "bye bye?" She will even go to the door and cry to go bye bye. Thank heaven the Hogle Zoo is literally five minutes from home cause we have already been about ten times. We are always looking for people to go with........ any takers?Typical picture with these two toddlers.

We even got Dad to go with us one time!

I think Kate and Tessa chased some turkey around for about an hour.

We also spent many hours in the Ivorys circle on "bikes".

Thank heaven it is June and I think I might be able to move the winter coats to the basement. Knock on wood!

Tag...........

2010-04-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

Steffie tagged me to post the 10th picture in my first folder and tell the story behind it. This is a new computer so it doesn't go very far back. This was taken almost a year ago when we were at the Cheesecake Factory in Palm Springs. It kind of gives me a pit in my stomach because it wasn't even a week from when this picture was taken that Kate woke up from her nap with the tumor in her neck. It's crazy to think the doctors treated her for a fungus infection that they thought she might have gotten on that trip when she really had a rare form of CANCER. Life....... glad I'm not reliving 2009, even though it does make me a little sad to see how much she has grown. ( I also really loved those shoes!) I now tag Priscila, Sarah, Hannah, and Annie.

Spring Break and Easter

2010-04-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

For conference weekend we enjoyed a few days at our cabin in Midway. It was so fun to just relax and not have to rush to church on Easter. I can't say that I got to sit and soak in every word of conference with crazy Mark and Kate but I did catch a few talks here and there. Luckily, we have it On Demand so I will be able to watch it throughout the next month! The Easter bunny found us even though it was a blizzard and Mark and Kate were dying over the flying ball machine he left them!

All I have to say is next year I am going somewhere warm..... really warm!

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

Ty's mom has the funnest Easter Party every year. Luckily this year we celebrated a week early so we had nice weather. Kate had a blast finding her eggs and playing with Grandma's bubble machine. It is amazing how much more fun holidays are with Kate. She has so much personality and keeps us laughing all day long! Becky got Kate a duck basket knowing how much Kate loves ducks and she still carries it around our house on her shoulder with her balls in it. Kate is lucky to have such a fun Grandma and Grandpa!

29 years old

2010-04-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Ty's only got one more year in his twenties so we decided to celebrate! We enjoyed an amazing dinner at Cucina Toscana and then headed over to the Jazz game.Here we are with the one and only Valter Nassi - got to love him! Ty got a little nervous when he was about to kiss his wife!

Then the next morning Kate and I took Ty breakfast in bed (even though there is no way we were hungry after our meal the night before!) and Kate helped him open his presents.

We love you Ty! I know this year's going to be a good one!

First Haircut!

2010-04-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

We finally decided to trim the mullet. I think she all of a sudden looks like a little girl and not my baby anymore :(

SAD?

2010-03-14T21:44:00.001-07:00

No. Devastated.

I swear I have the worst luck.

Paradise...........

2010-02-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

Well another girls trip to Paradise Valley has come and gone and we are back in the freezing cold, hacking away with colds, wishing we could go back to paradise. It was so nice to see blue skies, green grass, and feel the warmth of the sun. Kate pretty much thought she had died and gone to heaven hanging out with her cousins and running around outside. The only good thing about coming home was to see Dad who Kate had been asking about all week! (warning: picture overload.)

Already sticking her tongue out at her mom when she is taking pictures? Uh-oh Hiding from the birds.... for some reason she was really nervous about the birds at the train park! Pretty excited about being on the train.....
Frank flew in on Saturday and joined our girls trip..... lucky guy! :) Or should I say lucky us? He treated us all on Valentine's day to the MOST AMAZING buffet at the Hyatt. I am pretty sure everyone in the restaurant was staring at us with one guy, five woman of all ages, and five kids.
oh how I miss green grass....
Yep those are both mine. Brecken got another full plate of desserts as well cause we couldn't not try all of them right? ... Can anyone say L.B.s? cause I am pretty sure I gained ten more of them last week!
Oh cousins.......
Who has a valentine that is nice enough to let them go on a week vacation over the valentine holiday with her sisters and mom? I do. Not to mention that he shampooed our carpets, spring cleaned our house, took care of my car's oil change, got all the spilled formula out of the carpet in my car, Spoke in Sacrament meeting for both of us, and worked every stinkin day I was gone! Wow. I am one lucky girl. I love you TY.
Kate even got her own flowers with a card. If you could only see that girl with her dad. I think the only word that would do justice is OBSESSION. But how could she not be?

My baby is one!

2010-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

It is amazing to think that one year ago today my baby girl came into my life. One part of me feels like it was just yesterday but the other part of me feels like it was a totally different life before she came. I also feel like I was a totally different girl. Kate has taught me so much about myself and life and love. I never knew what it was like to love someone so much. She has taught me the importance to life and I don't want to miss any second of it with her. In the past few weeks I have felt like if I blink I could miss something. She is getting so big and is turning into a toddler. I love her more than words can express and I can't believe I get to be her mom FOREVER!

Princess Katherine

2010-01-18T18:33:00.000-08:00

No Sleep?

2010-01-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

So last night I could not sleep. I was tossing and turning the whole night. The main reason for this is because I just went from the easiest calling to the hardest (worst? jk) calling. The bishop called me two weeks ago and asked me to be the primary pianist and I agreed, happy as can be. I love this calling! I seem to get it in every ward since they are always in need of a pianist and it really is SO easy. You have no prep work and nothing during the week. You just show up on Sundays and get to play the piano for a couple of hours. But then the next week the bishop calls and says "sorry we didn't sustain you in sacrament meeting last week but when I called the Primary President to tell her you had accepted the calling she told me she didn't want you as the pianist but as the chorister!" Then he says "....... so is that okay too?" I wanted to say "Do I HAVE A CHOICE??" but I did as I should and accepted. Now I have to plan practically 20 minutes of entertainment for both Junior and Senior primary every week and make sure they know all the words to all the songs before the program! I have been feeling very overwhelmed..... Let's just say I don't sing. I am the one that hides behind the piano. But today I have been looking up on blogs and websites to get ideas. There are a lot of really good ideas out there. I am feeling a little bit better now. So...... the reason for the story is if any one out there that reads this blog has any fabulous ideas on keeping the rugrats quiet, yet bringing the spirit in, and helping them learn new songs PLEASE fill me in!

The second thing that kept crossing my mind last night as I was tossing and turning is that I should probably make this lovely blog private. I have always hated when people went private b/c it would limit my blog-stalking but I think the time has come for us. So if anyone would like to be invited to see our blog just leave a comment with your email or you can email me at danielle.c.perry@gmail.com. I am probably going to change it in 2 wks, once I figure out how. (Sarah?)

Well it wouldn't be a post if there wasn't a picture of this little one..... she turns one in a WEEK! AHH!

More festivities!

2010-01-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

Well here we go again with a crazy amount of pictures of Kate! But what can you expect it's her first Christmas! She is such a character.

Santa definitely made it to our house this year!
Kate has a SERIOUS obsession with Barney. It has been such a treat though because I can finally get stuff done around the house. All I have to do is turn on the big friendly dinosaur and Kate is hooked! So when Kate saw Barney sitting in her new big chair she had no interest in any other presents. But with a little help from mom we got her interested in her other presents. At first she only wanted to eat the paper.

Kate is so much like her dad. She is a total show off to the point of a complete distraction in Relief Society showing all the old ladies her tricks. And she really is a total jokster and loves to play games. She is a pro at peek-a-boo and puts any piece of clothing on her head and then pulls it off thinking she is so funny!
Here she is clapping right along with her barney show during the song "If you're happy and you know it". She will even hurry and pull herself up so she can do the stomp your feet part. Seriously, she is a total nut! After all the excitement in the morning, she crashed!

But then after a three hour nap she was up and going again!
She wants to walk so bad and thinks she can (no fear) but her balance isn't quite there yet.

Here she is a few days later enjoying her toys. Barney goes everywhere with us! So much for that cute baby doll she got..... maybe in a few months.

On Sunday, Ty was giving her a ride on her helicopter and she was just having a fit until we realized it was because she wanted Barney to ride with her.
A few days after Christmas all of our friends got together at the Breens cause the Morgans were in town. It was so good to see them and hear about their exciting life in Boston. But don't worry I didn't even get a picture with everyone. But I did get one with all the kids which I had to post because I can't believe how many kids there are now and Brooke's got another one coming in April! It is starting to get crazy!

Christmas Eve

2010-01-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve I got to go with all my family to the matinee Nutcracker to watch my niece Maggie who was a soldier. Ty and Greg stayed home with the babies. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures but Maggie did a great job and I loved all the dances as usual. Frank, my brothers and Drew saw it with us for the first time and let's just say the men in tights did them right in. I don't know if we will ever hear the end of it!

Then Christmas Eve night we went to the Perrys and did fondue. It was really fun!

Ty thought he was being funny teasing Kate with a marshmallow.....
But she knew what she wanted........

and would do anything for it.............and of course she got it! Our nativity got a bit crazy this year but don't worry our angel was stellar at her part!

Kate was the sheep in the nativity. She wasn't so good at staying still.

All the girl cousins except for Jane... We missed her. She better be here next year! :)

Bring on the Festivities!

2010-01-02T22:24:00.001-08:00

Well to be completely honest the Christmas festivities began the last week of November when my mom took Brecken and I to David Archuleta's Christmas concert. It was amazing! I love his Christmas CD. It was on repeat at my house the whole month of December!

Then of course it was off to the tree lot. Kate was such a good helper in picking out the tree!

Special thanks to Brecky for stopping by to help us take a picture for our Christmas card. It turned out really good! I wish I knew how to upload it on the blog but I have no idea how!
Kate's first experience with Santa was at the ward Christmas party and it didn't go so well! But she did like the candy cane he gave her.

Her second time meeting Santa didn't go any better. This time was at the Perry's annual Santa party.

Still very skeptical....

New Christmas jammies! Yeah!
It was my turn this year to host the annual friends Christmas party. Considering we had 18 people my mom let me swap houses with her. I hosted the party at her house and she took care of Kate at mine. It was so nice to visit without any kids.... that is a rare occasion these days.A few days before Christmas we had a Chapman adult Christmas party at the Ivorys where we exchanged our homemade gifts. Rachael and Frank had me and my mom and they put together all of our favorite recipes into three huge binders categorized and everything! I am so excited!

I had Frank and Ty had Greg and we plant Amaryllis bulbs in a pot for their offices. They turned out really cute but of course I didn't get a picture.

November Recap

2010-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

Well here I am.....It's the beginning of January and I am updating for November. That goes to show what our last two months have been like: CRAZY! Even though I am excited for Christmas I don't want to skip all the fun things we did in November.

It all started with SYTYCD! I LOVED this season! I think since Kate was sick during this season I would always look forward to it every week to take my mind off of our issues. So when Megan said they had extra tickets I couldn't let the opportunity pass.

Next we had Thanksgiving with the Perrys. All of Ty's family was in town from AZ so we had a FULL house and ALOT of babies. Kate wasn't feeling that well but we still had a lot of fun!

Then last but DEFINITELY not least, Ty got to baptize his cute neice Hadley and confirm her a member of the church. What a special day that was. Let's just say I was one proud wife and aunt!

nine months

2009-11-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

LOVE HER!
(She's actually closer to ten months. She is going to be one before we know it!)

HaPpY hAlLoWeEn!!!

2009-11-08T19:53:00.001-08:00

We had such a busy Halloween this year. On Thursday we went to Crestview's parade to see Kate's cousins. She was quite skepical of all the crazy kids. We then went and visited a vampire in her classroom....

and Alice in her classroom.... We tried to see the 50s waitress but she had already changed.

On Friday Megan and Annie threw their annual halloween party. This is the first time Ty and I have been able to go. (yeah for not being in the news business this year and having Friday nights off!)
The two bugs: Tessa and Kate

Kate and her other BFF Taycie

The whole gang!

"The swine Flu", his nurse (he wanted me to be a "naughty nurse" but I definitely can't pull that off!) and our sweet bumble bee!

GO UTES!!!

2009-10-25T12:42:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we thought "oh it is such a nice day we should go to the U game with Poppy, MeMe and Brecken!" Boy were we wrong! As we were walking from our car to the game we got caught in an absolute downpour!!!! So Brecken, Kate and I went to lunch at Red Rock instead. Once we finished our lunch we called Me Me and decided we would go back for the fourth quarter now that the sun had come out. It was a close game and went into overtime. We got the best of both worlds..... lunch in the warm, dry restaurant AND got to watch the intense exciting ending of the game! What a great day! Kate was actually pretty excited about the rain. She was squealing the whole time as we RAN back to the car!

If you know Kate at all you know she doesn't just fall asleep on her own. Brecken and I were laughing so hard though as we were walking back to the car after the game cause she just COULDN'T keep her eyelids open for one more second.

But don't worry she still had her churro in one hand and her lip gloss in the other. She's got her priorities straight!

Halloween Recital

2009-10-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday I had a little Halloween recital for my young piano students. After taking the summer off with Katherine getting sick, I knew I needed to plan something that would motivate the kids again and give them something to look forward to. They all learned spooky and fun Halloween songs, perfected them, memorized them and performed them beautifully! I am so proud of them! Everyone looked so cute in their costumes! Then to add to the excitement we played some GHOST bingo, musical tombstones and had donuts and rootbeer. Now we have to get busy on our Christmas songs and Federation!

My future pianist! She loved seeing all the kids in their costumes!

St. George girls trip

2009-10-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

So last minute us girls decided we needed to go on a much needed girls trip. Priscila, Meg, Brook and I left the men behind and headed down to Megan's mom's house in St. George. It was a little chaos at times with three babies but it must have been a success considering Priscila is still planning on having children in the future! It was so nice to just hang out at the pool in ninety degree weather and chat the day away. Of course we were there for three days and I didn't get ONE shot of the adults! The little girls just stole all of our attention! Thanks again Meg for inviting us!

GO YANKEES!!!!

2009-10-20T22:00:00.001-07:00

Sorry Al and Jane,

but GO YANKEES!!!!

p.s. this will probably be the only time you will ever see Katherine in blue jammies..... I know she looks like a boy.

Conference Weekend

2009-10-20T21:49:00.001-07:00

Over conference weekend Brecken was nannying the two youngest Ivorys so we decided to get the Summerhayes and head up to the cabin. It was so beautiful up there with all the colorful leaves!

Softball

2009-09-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like ending the summer with SOFTBALL! Ty has been on a rec league with some of his friends and Brecken has been on a Co-ed team as well. So between the two of them Kate and I have been able to watch alot of Softball! When we went to Brecken's game one of the girls on her team got hit by the ball and had to get stitches in her ear so guess who had to fill in? Yep! me! I have probably never swung a baseball bat before! I also had flip flops on! But don't worry the Haslam mom was willing to give up her shoes.... It ended up being alot of fun though! Brecken's team has all my friends from highschool on it and it was fun to catch up with all of them! I am just glad Joey and Bryce had me covered out in the outfield!

My proud fans! I even won the game ball!!!!

State Fair

2009-09-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

No September can go by without hitting up the state fair. It was fun having our little squirt with us this year! Ty even took her down the big yellow slide! Favorites: a cow weighing 3010 pounds, Navajo Tacos, watching Hadley, Maggie and Lilly do the bobble head video, the Big Yellow Slide, and last BUT not least dancing and singing to Boys to Men just outside the concert! Ty and I both agreed we were going home and downloading all of their old songs. It brought back so many fun memories to both of us!

IT'S ALL ABOUT......

2009-09-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

KATE!!

Kate is 8 months old and ........

Loves to read booksDoes her "funny face" to make people laugh

Has started pulling herself up in her crib (I think it's time we lower the mattress!)

thinks she's cool when she gets to move her height chair in the living room so her mom can watch SYTYCD while feeding her

Her favorite toy is her bucket of head bands

Loves hanging out with her mom all day (HATES playing alone) Is good at helping her dad play XBOX

still has to sleep all snuggled up- but I must say the past wk she has started sleeping 6-7 hour stretches. Maybe, just maybe the black rings under my eyes will start to shrink!
and crawling??? well don't you just hate it when your arms aren't quite strong enough yet? She's close and it makes her really mad so I am guessing it won't be long!
GOTTA LOVE HER! She has such a fun personality!

Eternal Families

2009-09-04T22:31:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went to the viewing of sweet little Lucas and as I was waiting in line to talk to his parents I noticed this picture they had displayed. Does this picture not give you the chills? I swear Lucas looks just like the little boy in this picture and to know that he is in the arms of our Savior is so comforting. I am so thankful for that knowledge and understanding. Lucas has been a brave little soul that has made me a better person and because of him I will be a little more patient, have more faith, hug my loved ones a little tighter and be changed forever.

Lucas

2009-08-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

I wish that I knew how to write eloquently so that I could express how I really feel at this time but I don't so I will try my best. The cute family we met in the surgery waiting room at Primary Children's while Kate was having her tumor removed has just gotten bad news. Their little boy Lucas who is one month older than Kate has come to the end of the road in his battle against cancer. In an MRI they did on Wednesday they found that the tumor has spread to his brain and there is nothing else the doctors can do. They are now at home spending the last few moments of his life together as a family. Over the past few months Shannon (his mom) and I have become good friends. We have vented to each other about doctors, cancer, stress, money and have shared with each other our strength and faith to get through this time. The agony and pain she must be experiencing knowing she is losing her baby continues to haunt me all day long. I respect her for her strength and I pray that our Father in Heaven provides her with comfort and peace. I just ask that everyone have a little prayer in their heart for the Nelsons and they go through the next few hours, weeks and months. To read Lucas' story go to nelsonsforever.blogspot.com.

So BIG..........

2009-08-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

Kate has a TOOTH!!!!!

Newport Beach

2009-08-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Another FABULOUS year at the beach. We REALLY missed Ty but still enjoyed our week in heaven. There is nothing like walking off the plane and smelling the salt and humidity in the air.

First airplane ride. We got in trouble for letting her sit on the tray.... woops!I am embarassed to say how many shakes I had from Ruby's not to mention the parmesan bleu cheese fries, the cinnamon swirl french toast and the bleu cheese hamburgers. Wow! it is a good thing we were only there for a week!Is she not to die for?Kate and I at the tide pools....

Kate's cute cousin Maggie

Kate's new pose with her uncle Tyson

Her hair is crazy! I love this picture cause her hair is glowing! It really will NOT lay flat....
Kate has OFFICIALLY taken over our blog. It probably gets annoying but I can't take enough pictures of that cute little face!

Don't leave us!

2009-08-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

We are so sad that our good friends (Ty's cousin and practically brother) Alex and his cute wife Jane and their adorable little boy are MOVING. We have had so much fun meeting for lunch, dinner, going on walks, shopping, chatting, and just hanging out with them. We sort of did one last hoorah and went up to our cabin in Midway. Even though it was short it was still fun. We are going to miss them alot and hope they will move back someday soon!!!!
* The restaurant was really busy that night and were all out of their normal height chairs so they asked if this one would work. It was hilarious having Johnny looking down on the table. It definitely takes the name "height" chair to a new level!

COUSINS

2009-08-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

One day Brecken and I were in charge of the three little rugrats: Mark, Claire and Kate. We decided we needed to get out of the house and went up to the outlets. Yes it did get hairy with three babies, only two adults and only two single strollers. But we made it out with only one diet coke spilled on the floor in JCREW and one spilled on the floor in the suburban. Thank goodness for diet so it wasn't too sticky! :) These pics were taken on the way up. Kate could not believe she had TWO friends in the back with her.

This is Mark's sticky cheeto hand holding Kate's little hand. These three are going to be such good friends!

Kate looks up at me like "Wow mom this is fun!"

I'm getting old.....

2009-08-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

For my birthday we did the usual Chapman birthday celebration and all went to breakfast at ohop. The white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes are amazing! Then that night Ty and I went to Michaelangelo's ALL BY OURSELVES. This hasn't happened for at least six months. One of the things no one ever told me about having children is that you eat differently. I never get to just sit down and enjoy the meal. I am always scarfing (sp? maybe not even a word....) my food as fast as I can knowing Kate is going to be needing me at any moment or trying to juggle her on my lap as I eat. So it was really fun to go out just the two of us. Thank you to meme for babysitting.

*These are the three youngest trouble makers in the family. Notice behind them are the bigger kids who got to sit at their own table.!

Then on Sunday we went up to my Grandpa's cabin in Silverfork and had a picnic with the family. It was so beautiful up there!

24th of July

2009-07-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

For the 24th we enjoyed the weekend at our cabin in Midway. They had a fair at the park in Heber on Thursday night and then on Friday we went to a really cute pizza place and watched fireworks. We are so grateful for our ancestors who crossed the plains and made sacrifices so that we could live in this beautiful valley and enjoy the freedoms we do.

6 Months

2009-07-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Kate is now 6 months old. I know most people say "where has the time gone?!!!" but my pediatrician and I were just laughing yesterday that she seemed to have the LONGEST four and five months of any of his patients. :) But we are just glad to be where we are and enjoy her every day. Believe it or not but she is in the 75% for height and the 20% for weight. You would never think that though looking at the rolls on her thighs! She is starting to do alot of fun tricks:

She sits up on her own and plays with her toys

She has one tooth and another one on the way

She loves to laugh and is very ticklish

She eats all of her fruits and vegetables but doesn't really like rice cereal

She has a really high pitch scream she does when she gets really excited

She talks her own little language... especially in the morning when she is playing in bed with Ty and I as we try to catch a few more minutes of sleep

She sleeps through the night....... oh wait no she doesn't. She acutally wakes up every hour about. I guess she just misses her mom too much!

When she gets really hyper she shakes her head back and forth.... it is hilarious!

We love her and her cute personality!

This doll my mom gave to her when she was in the hospital and she LOVES it! She loves to suck on her arms and hold on to her when she sleeps! I think it is so cute!At the last minute we decided to join the Perry's on their annual trip to Lake Powell. We decided we needed a break even if it was just for two nights. Kate got an A+ on her behavior. I was really worried about her especially at night and everything went relatively smooth. It was really alot of fun!

Taking a bath in the houseboat sink. She loved it!

LCH

2009-07-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I better update everyone on the status of Kate and her disease. First, I would just like to thank everyone for all of their prayers. I know that our Father in Heaven is listening and has been there for us throughout this whole ordeal. So thank you thank you thank you!!

*** WARNING: THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG. SORRY IF THIS BORES YOU BUT I HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE ASKING FOR AN UPDATE AND THERE ISN'T REALLY A SHORT WAY TO DO THAT.

BACKGROUND ON THE DISEASE
LCH is an extremely rare immune system disorder. Langerhan cells are white blood cells that fight off skin infections. In a normal baby the langerhan cells come to fight off a skin infection and then go away once the infection is gone. In a baby that has this disease the langerhan cells are immature and continue to reproduce more and more of these cells out of control. This is where the tumors occur. This can occur anywhere in the body. However, the most common places are on the bones and in the skin. In infants, usually under the age of two it can get into their major organs such as lungs, GI tract, liver, and spleen which in turn causes the organ to fail which makes this disease extremely scary and life threatening. The treatment that they use is chemotherapy and strong steroids to kill off these immature white bloods cells. The treatment is usually quite successful but it has to be done for a year to make sure they are all gone and the treatment has alot of yucky side effects. The other problem is that it is very common for the problem to come back after treatment has stopped. So not only is this disease so rare that it affects only 1 in every million babies but then the babies that have it are all so different. The disease can range from diaper rash to liver failure! Ya I know you are probably confused cause to be honest I am still sort of confused and I swear all the doctors are as well! Thank heaven for Primary Children's! Our oncologist has dealt with this before and is in contact with the "LCH master" who is a doctor in Texas that has done a billion studies on it and every patient in the USA with this disease practically goes to him.

KATE'S SCENARIO
So here is where Kate falls on the spectrum at this time. We have done a million blood tests, urine tests, x-rayed every single bone in her body, ct-scanned her whole body, and had all the dermatologists and residents in the whole hospital look at her skin. Every single test has come back clean!!! Can I say halifreakinlujah!!!! The LCH problem has only shown up in her lymph nodes and we have already cut out 80% of that so all we are going to do at this time is just watch her like a hawk. The fact that it isn't in any of her serious organs and that it is only in ONE of her "not so scary" organs they are hoping it will just go away on it's own. Every four weeks we will go in and test her again to make sure it isn't showing up anywhere else for the next few years. The doctor's say that the mother is usually the one to catch it. When I am shampooing her hair I am supposed to feel for any bumps or holes in her skull or if anything seems unusual I am supposed to bring her in. The second they spot it in any other spot of her body even if it is just a skin rash (that is biopsied and comes back as LCH) she will start chemo immediately. So you are asking yourself is she just going to live every second wondering in fear if it has spread somewhere else? Every time she gets a tiny bump on her skin does her stomach drop? Every time she spits up a little bit does she panic? Or even better every time she cries does her heart race? Well the answer is yes. BUT I am so thankful. I would way rather have this worry for the next few years than to watch my tiny baby go through chemo and steroid treatment. (The black rings around my eyes is evidence of my stress. I am aging exponentially!) I have just decided every time I start freaking myself out I have to remind myself that it is in the Lord's hands. He knows if it is going to go somewhere else and if it does it will be in His plan and there is nothing I can do about that. Yes, having this kind of an attitude is hard to do but prayer has become one of my best friends lately and hopefully down the road we will look back on this time of our life as a blessing that brought our little family closer together and made us value our lives more. I love my sweet Katherine and I couldn't imagine my life without her. I am so thankful for eternal families and the plan of salvation. Every night as I rock Kate to sleep I sing to her "Families are Forever" getting choked up every time. I know I have said this before but I have such a better perspective on life and I am just so thankful for every minute of every day! I love you all and I can't thank you enough for all you have done for us. Please continue to pray for baby Kate and hopefully we will just continue to test and test test and find nothing!!!! :)

Katherine found her voice!

2009-07-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

*Don't mind my ugly voice in the background

Whiplash

2009-06-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

So I guess tumors can smell. The results finally came back on Friday from all the tests done on the lymph nodes they removed. Unfortunately it wasn't what the doctors thought. It is actually a tumor and she has what is called Langerhan's Cell Histiosytosis. The reason for the puss and the smell was because the tumor grew so fast her blood supply couldn't keep up with it and part of it was eroding. We will now be meeting with an oncologist next week. We talked to them on the phone and they said most likely we will do intense chemotherapy for six weeks and then maintenance chemo for a year. This type of cancer has a 20-30% chance of coming back so that is why they make you do it for a year. We are just hoping it hasn't spread at all and that it isn't in her bone marrow or any of her major organs. We will be doing alot more tests and finding out all the details in the week to come. Wish us luck as we begin our fight cause we are not backing down! Kate is a tough chick and has a lot to live for so unfortunately her little body will have to go through the ringer the next year but we have faith. Thank you to everyone for all your phone calls and emails. Please continue to pray for our sweet little girl and we will continue to update you.

SISTERS

2009-06-17T16:22:00.001-07:00

I have been so worried about getting my yard done this year and I haven't been able to get around to it with Kate and piano and my crazy life. So when I came home from the hospital I was shocked to see my yard all weeded with more dirt, bushes and flowers! My sisters with all their kids spent a whole day at my house and did the whole thing! Granted it is not that big but it would've taken me forever! Sisters are just the BEST! Even though Ty says after all our health scares with Kate we aren't having any more kids .... too bad! Kate has to have a sister! No girl should ever have to live without a sister. I love my sisters and of course my mom so much and I could have never gotten through these past weeks or anything else in my life without them!

more hospital pics.....

2009-06-15T19:34:00.001-07:00

She would cause all sorts of problems b/c she was obsessed with putting her toes in her mouth but they had wires, and the oxygen measure things taped to them. Every time she would get it in her mouth or kick her legs the alarm would go off that she wasn't getting enough oxygen! She is a nut head!

Gratitude

2009-06-13T17:53:00.001-07:00

"Permanent pit in my stomach", "Desperation", "Hope", "Worst Nightmare", "Humility", "Faith", "Tumor", "Neck Mass", "Outpouring of Love", "No more tears left". All of these titles could work for this post but none of them do justice for what we have been through the past week! I am writing this on my laptop, from the comfort of our hospital room, as Kate snoozes in her metal bar, jail style hospital crib. Here's our story... last week I took Katherine in to the pediatrician to have him look at the lump on her neck after she had finished her cycle of antibiotic. At that doctor appointment is when a very big pit made it's way into my stomach and never left. The pediatrician was really concerned because the mass was still there and was still quite large.

So, from there our doctor sent us up to Primary Children's Hospital for another ultrasound. As the radiologist was looking at the results of the ultrasound he seemed very concerned. It looked like the lymph nodes were calcifying which is never a good sign. We were then rushed into another room where we prepared to have a CT scan of her head. But then we had to wait becuase she couldn't eat for over 6 hrs. Do you know what it is like to starve a 4 mo. old? She would just look at me and cry. Just before the CT scan Kate needed to get an IV so that they could put some contrast into her blood. The nurses tried both her hands, but they couldn't get the IV to work... so they put it in a vein in the MIDDLE of her HEAD!! Needless to say, Ty and I were freaking out! Kate was so brave. She cried while getting the IV, but as they scanned her head she just layed on the table, strapped in, sucking feverishly on her binki, trying so hard to hold it together. At this point the radiologist pulled me aside and told me all signs were pointing toward nuero-blastoma cancer. They wanted to get my permission to scan the rest of her body to look for more tumors. We were so scared! The pit in my stomach got much larger at this point! Now I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and I could barely breathe. Fortunately there were no other tumors throughout her body. At this point they felt confident that it was indeed a tumor in her neck but they wouldn't be able to tell what kind until they opened her up. They decided to schedule a Surgery where they would try to get as much out as possible. It was located next to her shoulder nerve so they had to be extra careful. The surgeon said he would get as much as possible but most likely we would be doing chemotherapy and radiation to get the rest of the cells out if it was malignant. Our pediatrician then got us in touch with an oncologist who would be in the surgery so that if it was indeed malignant we could go ahead and get a bone marrow sample of her hip while she was under anesthesia. I never thought I could cry so much! I literally didn't get out of fetal position for hours, sobbing.

The surgery was scheduled for Friday at 11am. I prayed and cried more than I ever had before. The pit in my stomach grew and I couldn't eat, sleep or think about anything but my precious Katherine. That morning as we were reading her books and she was talking, cooing, smiling, and giggling all I could do was cry knowing what we were going to be doing to her in just a few hours!

As we drove to the hospital for surgery, I sat in the back with Kate and bawled. Kate, on the other hand, laughed and smiled the entire drive. The picture above was taken on the way to the hospital.

Once we were at Primary Children's, Kate had to change into these funny, hospital-issued, baby blue smurf pajamas. The surgeon said that once he cut her open he would cut a small piece of the tumor out and do what they call a "flash freeze" which would tell them immediately if it was malignant or benign. At that point they would send the oncologist out to let us know the result. The whole surgery was only supposed to last for 45 minutes and someone would come and update us as soon as they knew anything about what it was inside her neck. We walked to the anesthesia area where a doctor told us about how they were going to get her to sleep... I then had to watch as a doctor took my 4-month baby girl through a swinging door to an operating room. I was heartbroken. I felt helpless. I once again sobbed.

Well two HOURS later (remember it was only supposed to be 45 minutes and they were supposed to come out and tell me within 5 min.) the surgeon FINALLY came into the waiting room. I literally thought I was going to crawl out of my skin waiting!!! Every time I saw a person walk into the room my stomach would drop yet again! But what the surgeon said makes me cry right now as I am typing this. They were wrong! It was a strange infection in her lymph node and not even a tumor at all!!!!! It is a mystery to all of the doctors because it did not look like that in any of the tests. They had never seen lymph nodes this large! But he said that the moment he made the incision he knew it was an infection b/c the smell was so outrageous. He said it made his eyes water! Tumors don't stink- infections do. They ended up cutting out around four or five lymph nodes along with alot of puss and drain out most of it. Once they did the "flash freeze" and verified it was not a tumor they stopped though b/c medicine can heal it and they didn't want to go any further putting her nerves in danger. So now we are just waiting for the cultures (sp?) to come back and find out what type of infection it is and what antibiotic would treat it best. There is always a chance that it is a fungal infection as well which is a little harder to treat but nothing like cancer. I can't even explain the relief we felt! I went running into the post op room to my screaming HUNGRY baby and just bawled as I fed her. I want to thank everyone for all their love and support throughout this week! Our family and friends are the best and it is so nice to know how many people love our sweet Katherine and had her in their prayers! I also want to publicly thank my Heavenly Father for sparing us at this time. We met another family in the waiting room whose six month old baby didn't have as good of an outcome as we did and I can't express the heartache I feel for them. I have a completely new perspective of prayer, fasting, the plan of salvation, and most of all life. All the stupid concerns I worry about all day wasting the precious minutes we have here on earth. I will forever try to cherish every second I have with Katherine and all of my loved ones! (I will post more pics later. Internet has decided to not cooperate.)

Enough Already!

2009-05-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

Is there anyway I could just put a pause on the bad events that continue to rush my way? I am not even asking that they stop but just pause while I catch my breath!

Are you asking yourself what in the world I am talking about? Well a million stressful things are going on in our life right now and just to top it off my sweet Katherine woke up from a 30 minute nap with the right side of her neck swollen hard about the size of a golf ball. She didn't act like anything was wrong as she smiled and laughed at her mom who was freaking out. I immediately called the on- call doctor (it was Saturday) and it happened to be my pediatrician and wanted to see her asap. So I brought her in and his response was that he wasn't really sure what it was. He initially thought it was a hematoma (bruise) and began to take her pjs off to see if she had any other signs of being abused. Then he checked everything else (ears, temp, all her vital signs) and found no other symptoms. He decided he wanted to get a CT scan to find out for sure what it was. However, it happened to be Sat. of a holiday weekend and he didn't feel comfortable (with her being only 4 mo. old) getting a cat scan from the weekend/holiday crew at Primary Children's Hospital. He wanted me to wait until Tuesday when there would be a full tech team and radiologist to conduct her "study". He seemed extremely concerned! Can I just say patience has never been one of my strong suits and that was the longest two days of my life! Well to make a long story short, the radiologists decided to do an ultrasound first to be on the safer side and found that it was most likely a strange infection in her lymph nodes. So for now we have her on an antibiotic hoping it will fix the lump on her neck but if it doesn't we will have to biopsy it and check for cancer. The concerning aspect is that they are not tender at all. She acts like she doesn't even know it is there. But she is going on her fourth day of the antibiotic and I think the swelling is starting to go down a little bit. It is hard to tell since I look at it about every two minutes but I am feeling a little bit better about it now. Here are a few pictures but they really don't do justice showing the actual size.

Have I mentioned how much I love her? Despite all this she is laughing and talking and smiling making everyday amazing no matter how tired I am !

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Well mother's day has definitely taken on a whole new meaning. My whole life I have wanted to be a mom! I have spent millions of hours taking care of other people's children but there is nothing like actually being a mother. I love going in Katherine's room in the morning to see her get so excited to see me or lay on the floor with her and have her talk her little language to me or give her a bath and watch her splash all over the place. I could go on and on but what I am trying to say is I feel so grateful for the opportunity to be a mom and I am glad we get a whole day to contemplate how special motherhood is. It was such a great day (other than Ty having the flu): the speakers in church started the day off by making a beautiful tribute to mother's, then we went with Ty's family and had a picnic up at the cemetery at Ty's grandma's grave, and then finished the night at my parent's house. I just want to say thank you to my mom and and ty's mom for being such fabulous mother's. I hope I can be as good of a mother as they have been.Look how BIG my baby is getting!

This is the only smile I can get on camera.

Better Late than Never?

2009-05-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

I know it has been awhile since Easter but I figure I should still blog about it now since I have a minute. We had a really fun Easter egg hunt at Ty's parents house the week before Easter and Kate got alot of candy and money that her Mom and Dad of course stole. She also got the movie Pinnochio- our first Disney movie other than Baby Einstein (and of course her mom's favorite: HSM 3).

Kate and her darling cousins! She loves to eat her fist!On the Saturday before Easter my whole family did a 5k for diabetes up at the U. It was freezing!!! After that we went and got in the hot tub at the Ivory's, had another big easter egg hunt and ate alot of food! It was really fun!

Kate getting ready for the race!

We all look a little scary having just rolled out of bed!

These three were the fast runners. Me Kate and my mom definitely were the slow ones but it was still a fun race and a great cause.

HE'S BACK!!!!

2009-05-02T15:04:00.001-07:00

I know you all have been missing seeing Ty on Channel 2 News every night..... but GOOD NEWS. If you hadn't noticed, heard or read it in the Tribune, Ty got laid off about 5 weeks ago in a big round of layoffs due to economy. But guess what?!!! He's back on the airwaves ladies and gentleman! Unfortunately not at channel 2 where he had some of the greatest friends he could ever ask for but now he will be reporting for channel 4 here in Salt Lake. So everyone change the channel and tune in tonight for his first time on ABC!

Enjoy the Journey

2009-03-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

5 Things that made today Great:

1. Coming home from teaching piano to see the two people I love most asleep cuddled up on the couch.

2. When feeding Kate looking down to see her stop eating, flash her priceless grin at me, and then go back to eating as if nothing had happened- not knowing she had just melted her mom's heart!

3. Consuming my daily 32 oz. diet coke and blue airhead from the gas station.

4. Making my legs shake hysterically while body pumpin' it at the new coolest gym in town: Dash

5. Watching my angel baby sleep while rocking her in her precious nursery.

My quote of the day:

"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows" President Thomas S. Monson

Katherine's Blessing

2009-03-29T22:20:00.001-07:00

These are the only three pictures I took the WHOLE day! I didn't even get one with Ty's parents or Kate's great grandma! I am so mad at myself! I also didn't get a close up on Kate. The one above is just zoomed in.... so tommorrow Kate is going to have to put on her darling outfit again for a photo shoot!

Anyways, the day was perfect other than the crazy weather! (notice my hair after it had been soaking wet with snow!) Ty gave an amazing blessing and Kate was an angel the whole day. I am so thankful to have a husband that is worthy to give my children blessings and to be the patriarch of our home. Thank you Ty and Kate for making my life so full of joy!

What has Katherine been up to lately????

2009-03-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Being Sweet! What she does best!

Creating more laundry for her parents to do!

Getting Chunky!

Snoozing in her carseat!
Sleeping in her bouncy chair to help her with her reflex!
Hanging out! Checking things out!
Getting her hair washed with Tar shampoo to help her cradle cap!

Got her 2 month shots! So Sad!

Napping with her dad! She sure loves her dad!

Sleeping with the humidifier when she was sick!

Hanging out with her cousins and aunts!

First day back at church! Slept clear until the closing prayer and then decided to cry when it was really quiet. Good thing she has a really cute cry!
Chillin' in her swing!
Taking lots of baths! She loves the bath but hates putting on lotion!

If you ask me I think she has it pretty good! She has her mom and dad wrapped around her finger! But we wouldn't have it any other way!

Newborn Pictures of our Baby Girl

2009-03-04T22:14:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of our favorite pics! Sorry about the amount but we just couldn't choose. Bobby Whitney took the pictures and can I just say she is the BEST! I recommend her to everyone! We had so much fun taking them and got such good pictures. We still have another whole disc full of pictures! I will post more when I get them!

Have I mentioned how much I love Kate? She is sick right now and it breaks my heart to see her so miserable! We spent the night at Primary Children's last night because she was having a hard time breathing and I was worried she had RSV. But her chest and lungs looked fine and the tests came back negative on RSV, Croup and all the "Bad" colds. So she just has the common cold but her little body has a hard time fighting it. We went to our pediatrician this morning and they act like everything is going to be just fine. Her oxygen levels were at 100% and she is eating, pooping and sleeping! So hopefully this "common cold" will leave soon because we are all EXHAUSTED!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T23:31:00.000-08:00

I never knew I could love someone so much! You are my best friend! Kate and I are so lucky to have you!

What a SPECIAL day!

2009-02-14T22:36:00.000-08:00

It all started at 5:30 in the morning. I woke up to a sharp pain as I turned on my side and then felt a gush of water in my bed. I woke up Ty, telling him I wasn't sure if my water had just broke or if I had wet the bed. I then got up and ran to the bathroom with water gushing the whole time. At this point Ty was out of his bed gathering everything we were going to need. Ty's claim to fame is that he had followed the doc's directions and had had his bag packed for three days. However, I hadn't packed one thing thinking that it might jinx us and she would never come. So I was trying to get all my stuff together as I changed my clothes into some dry ones. However, after changing 3 times I realized I would be going to the hospital in wet ones. As we drove to the Intermountain Medical Center the contractions began. The were getting harder and closer together every minute. (I think Ty ran 3 red lights.) After we got checked in things went quickly. I was at a four when they first checked me but after the next contraction I was at a six. This is when the nurse decided she would go find the anesthesiologists herself rather than paging him because I REALLY needed to get the epidural before it was too late. After the epidural they put the catheter in and that moved me to an 8. When I was at a 9 1/2 Dr. Terry got there. I was so glad he got there in time! I knew if he was there everything would go okay. At this point he put me on oxygen because (I didn't know this at the time) the umbilical chord was wrapped around Kate's neck two times and her heart rate was going down. After everything was set up I pushed for 14 minutes and our baby girl was here! She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 in. with a full head of hair! It really was the most amazing experience of my life and I will never forget it! The nurses were shocked at how fast she came especially for my first baby. They said on my next one I better fly to the hospital or else we could be delivering in the car! Here are some pictures of the special day:

This is two days before Kate was born- about to explode!

My three sister were there the whole time with my mom and dad on the phone who were in Mexico! (Kate wasn't supposed to come for two more weeks)

This is where Ty stayed the whole time. Ty gets very woozy with blood, needles, or anything medical. He had also taken Nyquil before we went to bed because he felt a cold coming on. Trying to counteract the Nyquil we were feeding him Coke along with granola bars. I think that Dr. Terry was more worried about Ty than he was me. In between contractions he was talking to Ty about his latest stories and movies they had seen just to make sure that Ty was still with us. He did pull through and cut the chord though! Nice Job Ty!

Our new and more complete family!

Special thanks to Dr. Terry for leaving his bishop interviews to come and make sure Kate made it safely into the world!

Can't get enough of her!!!!

2009-02-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

Holding on for dear life on her first outing to the doctor.... She was 5 days old and was back to 6 lbs from 5 lbs 9 0z ! Hurray!

She loves to sleep! Especially during the day!!!

Getting ready for the bath! She even sleeps during her bath!

How can I ever explain how much we love her?! She has changed us forever and I can't imagine life without her! She is truly a gift from heaven!

Princess Katherine

2009-01-21T22:18:00.000-08:00

Our baby girl is finally here and Ty and I are in heaven! I really can't describe how much she has changed our life in the four short days she has been here. She is perfect in every way!

Right now we are enjoying every second getting to know each other better! Here are a few pics of our precious angel! (Sorry about the amount of pictures- so hard to choose!)

She's Here!!!

2009-01-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

Katherine Perry is finally here and arrived 2 weeks early! She was born on Sunday the 18th at 9:30 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 inches long. She's as healthy and cute as can be. Both Ty and Danielle are doing great. I'm sure many more pictures are on their way, so stay tuned...

Perry Family Shower

2009-01-02T23:18:00.000-08:00

Ty's sister, mom, cousins, and aunts threw me another great shower. It was fun to see all his extended family! Especially Piper and Elaine who flew here from Arizona for eight hours just for the shower!!!! It was so much fun!

Thank you to everyone that helped put on the shower! I got so many great things and it was really fun!

Christmas Festivities

2009-01-02T22:47:00.001-08:00

So can you tell I haven't had to work the last week??? It has been so nice! I have been able to get caught up on A LOT of sleep that I needed REALLY bad, clean my house, and BEST of all update my blog! I am so proud of myself.... I am on a roll!

On Christmas Eve Ty didn't have to work!!!! Can you believe it? First time in our four years of marriage! So we spent the night with his family at the Barrus home. We had a big dinner and then we put on an award winning rendition of the nativity.

Ty and I were Mary and Joseph, Hadley an angel, and Alex and Jane were shepherds over Johnny who was a sheep.However, Maggie, a much cuter Mary, was the post birth Mary.

On Christmas day, Ty had to work so I spent the day at my parents without him. We had a gourmet brunch and then put a Christmas movie down on the theater for the kids while everyone else took a snooze, then we had homemade lasagna and breadsticks and opened gifts. My family draws names and then we are all required to make homeade gifts for each other. It makes gift opening so much more special! Everyone always pulls it off really well and it is fun to see what people come up with! (However, it can get stressful getting your present ready to give!) Ty got there shortly after the 6:00 news so he didn't miss out on the gift exchange which was good cause he worked really hard on his gift! He made Rachael a dvd of pictures and video clips from all of their past Christmases. He had alot of late nights at the station working on their editing software. Unfortunately, I didn't feel very good all day so I didn't get a single picture. All in all we had a great Christmas and can't wait for next year when our little girl will be here to enjoy it with us!