October Break

This year the boys had an extended break from school. Normally they get 2 1/2 days off in October, but this year it was 5 1/2 days. Shallon was invited to go camping and 4 wheeling with his best friend and their family so he was totally set.

The rest of us went south for a few days. We took Draven and Emma to Old Tucson Studios, Tombstone, and the Biosphere. It was really fun to see so many different things and have some time with Draven and Emma (while we knew Shallon was in good hands too). Here are a few pics from our adventures....

Happy Birthday

Our little angel turned one today! We sang her a birthday song this morning when she woke up, we played a little bit of dress up and put on some new shoes (the first shoes she's worn since she was a baby), had a fun little family dinner at IHOP and got her to bed early (she was tired and getting grouchy!).

She is such a sweet, wonderful baby and we are so thankful to have her in our lives. We are planning to have a party to celebrate with family and friends on Sunday.

What I did on my summer vacation...

Well, I've already talked about a lot of what we did, but our BIG vacation was to San Diego. We stayed in a beautiful hotel and had 5 fun-filled days!




I briefly wrote about Sunday night when we arrived, which was our anniversary. On Monday morning Ken, Emma and I all got ready and we went and had a wonderful breakfast with Lawrence, Yeni, Montse and Tony. They are such a fun family and we are so grateful to be able to call them our family!





After our delicious, gourmet breakfast, we were on our way to one of the many parks we visited while in sunny, southern California.






Monday was our day at Wild Animal Park; it was so neat! They have so many different animals to see. We saw zebras, California condors, elephants, giraffes, gazelles, dik-diks, dinosaurs, gorillas and so many other animals! It was an absolutely amazing day.





One of the highlights that day was taking all the kids on their first ever carousel ride. This picture is a little deceiving, Emma doesn't look completely thrilled to be on the ride, but once it got started she LOVED it!


At the park, they have an exhibit called "Dinosaur Mountain". They've created animatronic dinosaurs that move, growl and even spit (thankfully, not all of them spit!). They have areas where you can touch what a dinosaur's skin might have felt like, an area where you can move the dinosaur and each one has a stamp, so you can be sure you've see all the dinosaurs before you leave. It was fun.



Emma had fallen asleep in her stroller, so I stayed with her while Ken took the boys into the petting zoo. Here they are with some sort of African plains animal. I just keep thinking what a cool opportunity this was - not all kids, or adults, get to have these types of experiences...

Daddy - Daughter Time

There's no picutre to go with this post, but it's still worth posting about!

Here in Arizona we have garbage day (Tuesday morning) and recycle day (Friday morning). My sweet husband takes out the bins on Monday and Thursday nights when he gets home from work. Then on Tuesday and Friday when he gets home from work, he puts them away. For the last month or so, this has been something that Emma does with him. He'll come in the house to get her and they go out together to put the bins on the curb or to put them away in the garage and backyard. It's not a huge deal, but it's so fun for them to have that time together. Ken was telling me last night that he enjoys that time with her, and by the looks she gives Ken, I know that Emma loves the time she gets to spend alone with him. They have a beautiful bond.

I am so thankful for daddys and how much they love their little girls.

Two Wonderful Years

Ken and I celebrated our anniversary driving to San Diego - yeah, we know how to party!

It was the first day of our family vacation and his good friend Lawrence and his wife, Yeni, agreed to have the kids for us that night so we could celebrate on our own. We drove to their place and had a nice time visiting with Yeni and the kids (Lawrence was still at work) and as we were getting the kids stuff to bring in the house I decided we'd take little miss with us. Yeni is an awesome mom and the kids are always so helpful with Emma, but she was a little out of sorts (she'd just had surgery 4 days earlier) and I didn't want her to be a handful. Or worse yet, I didn't want to get a call at 10 that they wanted us to come pick her up. Now, as far as southern California is concerned they lived close to where we were staying, but in real life it was about 30-45 minutes away. Driving in the car for almost 2 hours that close to midnight wasn't an appealing thought, so we just had Emma come with us.

It was so sweet of Lawrence and Yeni to keep the boys and I think they were so glad to have a friend to play with and a Wii to play on. They had a blast!

Ken and I got checked in to the hotel, unpacked our bags and got read for dinner. We went over to the restaurant right next to the hotel, The Red Marlin, and enjoyed a delicious meal and some great time together.

During our meal, my sneaky husband went off and found our waiter. Ken told him it was our anniversary and asked if there was anything they could do. Now, as we were eating I thought about doing something like that, but sweet Ken did it. He's so good to me - just fun little things like that mean a lot to me. It's just so nice!

Anyway, it truly has been two wonderful years. I'm so glad that I found Ken and that he asked me to be his wife. My life has been blessed beyond measure and I'm sure it will continue as time goes on.

Surgery

Emma was born with a mole on her left ankle. It's kind of interesting because while I was pregnant with her I had moles removed on my face. Anyway, the pediatrician said to watch it and see if it got any bigger or darker. I didn't think it was getting bigger or darker, but at her 6 month check up he asked me to take her to a dermatologist and have it biopsied. A couple of weeks later the results came back and the mole was A-typical (I believe that's what it's called). Basically it meant that the mole could turn cancerous. Not cool! We were sent to a pediatric plastic surgeon in Phoenix so we could get the low down on how they'd remove it and when we could get in to have it done.

The procedure was really similar to mine, except that since she's a baby and squirmy they had to put her under. The surgery was scheduled for the Wednesday after we got back from Utah at 9 am. We had to be at the surgery center at 7:30 am to get all the paper work done and Emma all ready for her big day.

Ken and I got there with her and had plenty of waiting - not really fun when you're thinking about your baby going through this, but it turned out fine. The doctor was very skilled. The nurses were really nice and the anesthesiologist was really kind and answered all the questions we had.

It turned out to be really fast too. After only about 20-30 minutes they were calling "the parents of Emma Checketts". The bummer was that in recovery only one of us was allowed back there at a time. I went back first (and only as it turned out) to see how the little miss was doing. She was crying and pretty upset, but calmed down really quickly. All the nurses and doctors were impressed with how well she did for the procedure and how quickly she calmed down and had some juice. We were able to leave about 15 minutes after she came out, which they told me was really fast for a baby coming out of general anesthesia. She's such a trooper!

We went to lunch and then took Ken to work. Emma fell asleep while we were at lunch and ended up sleeping a fair amount of the day (I can't blame her - I'd want to sleep too!). She couldn't go swimming for 10 days after and that was really all the direction they gave us. The stitches were internal and would dissolve and the doctors got everything that they needed to. The bummer about not swimming was that she wouldn't be able to go into the ocean while we were on vacation in San Diego - oh, well.

Utah Trip (conclusion)

Monday, after taking Ken to the airport so he could get back to work, we packed up the car to head back to Arizona. Our original plan was to drive to St. George, stay the night with my Grandma at her condo, and then drive back to Mesa the next day. Saturday morning I got a call from her telling me she wouldn't be there but we were still welcome to stay. I asked what was going on that she wouldn't be around and found out she had a boyfriend! Isn't that awesome?!? A little background, my grandpa passed away 13 years ago. Grandma has served two missions and just kind of figured she would finish this life on her own. It turns out that there was another plan. She had been praying for guidance about what to do with her life, and Lincoln had been praying for a wife! He is a very sweet, kind and loving man and treats Grandma like a princess. They are so cute together and I'm thrilled that they found each other.

Just so you know, we met Grandma and Lincoln in Provo/Orem to visit and have lunch. It was a really nice time. We drove to St. George, spent the night and got home Tuesday evening, safe and sound. I had just enough time to wash all our laundry, make sure the house was clean and relax for about 5 minutes before we headed out for our family vacation! I'll put that in another post...

Utah Trip (part 3)

Isn't family the best? I certainly think so! While we were up in Utah, Ken's family organized a family gathering on Sunday. It also helped that his brother's family was blessing their newest addition at church, but then we all got together at their house for visiting, food and fun!

I told Shallon that he was responsible for getting pictures of everyone, and the boy did an amazing job! He even took a self portrait after he'd gotten everyone else - he's just so fun!

I love that when we're in Utah the kids have a chance to visit and play with their cousins - I think that those are some of the strongest bonds that we create as kids. I'm thankful that my children have that wonderful opportunity. Lots of love to all the cousins, their fantastic parents and of course the super grandparents too!

Utah Trip (part 2) AKA the GIANT Slip'n'Slide

So, Uncle Brent is the coolest-ever! They have a big, beautiful back yard and on Saturday Uncle Brent made a GIGANTIC slide for all the kids to enjoy. It was about 70 feet long and the kids just loved it! Their kids were there, Shallon and Draven and even a few of the other cousins were there from Provo. They all had so much fun.

Thanks Uncle Brent for having such a cool yard and making the wonderful slide for them to enjoy!

What do you get when...

You cross brothers who don't always pick up after themselves and a curious 9 month old sister?

Here's the answer:

A little girl covered in chocolate frosting! Do you see the frosting jar in the edge of the picture? The boys (maybe just Draven) had made a snack of graham crackers and frosting (a treat he learned from me unfortunately) and didn't put everything away. I'm not sure if the frosting was on the ground or if she managed to get it there from a table or chairs, but nonetheless, she was able to get more than enough in her mouth, on her face, hands and clothes. The moral of the story - TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING!

I made the boys come out and see what had happened. Shallon took Emma and cleaned her up/changed her clothes. Draven's job was cleaning up all the frosting in the kitchen. I guess we'll see if that was enough to make them remember to put things away.

Utah Trip (part 1)

We had so much fun in Utah! The weather was beautiful and the kids had a ton of fun with Grandma and Grandpa and all the family up there! In the first couple of pictures we had just arrived at my aunt and uncle's house. Emma was on the floor, acting like she might want to crawl. My cousin's son, Carson, was crawling all over the place! I thought that maybe seeing how it was done would be an incentive for her. She liked watching him move, but she wasn't going to be tricked into crawling before she's ready!

Next, we have a couple of pictures from the park. The boys and I took Emma to a park that I thought was just below my aunt and uncle's. Turns out it is below their house, but by a 1/2 mile or so. Oh, well! It was good exercise and we all had fun. The boys each took Emma down the slide and she liked it pretty well.

That night we met Grandma and Grandpa for dinner and then they took us to Uncle Brent and Aunt Ann's to see their super cool yard! It was so much fun (and there will be more on the yard later). Grandpa took Emma down the slide, the boys played tether ball (I think I even played a game with each of them) and then there was a little basketball action too. Really a super fun place for kids to play. Grandma and Grandpa took a break on the swing and Emma had a nice time relaxing with them - pretty cute!

The last couple of pictures are of Emma and cousin Lady. Emma loved all the great toys to play with at B&A's (they have 4 girls) and Lady was thrilled to have a girl smaller than her to love on. We had a great time! There's still more to come, but my baby is asking me to love on her. I'll post more soon...

What a month!

We started our very busy month on the 4th with a BBQ/swim party at our house. I didn't get a single picture so there are none to share here - oops! I will tell you that we had a great time. My family that lives here came over, plus a couple of extra friends. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed swimming with Emma and the little girl cousins too. It's so fun to have so many baby girls around now - I love it!

I have plenty to write about the rest of the month, but to give myself a little break I'll put that stuff in different posts! Keep close for the rest of the update...

Meal Time

Emma's getting to be quite the good little eater. She's even figuring out how to pick up cheerios and put them in her mouth! I'm impressed with that...Anyway, she's a pretty messy eater. It seems to me she gets particularly messy when dad feeds her. So, this afternoon dad had been feeding her until his sno cone was ready and then I took over. She ate a little more of the turkey and rice dinner and then she wanted to look out the window at the brothers playing in the pool. Dad had gone outside too so Emma and I were the only ones in the house when I started cleaning her up.

I guess it's important to back up for a brief moment. In the last week or so, Emma has started saying 'Mamamama' and "Dadadada'. She doesn't always say it when she sees us, or even when she wants us, but she is well aware of the fact that she's saying something we like to hear!

Anyway, back to cleaning her up. I got the washcloth and started wiping her face and hands and she got MAD! She was fussing and crying and started saying 'Dadadada'. I just laughed at her and said "You're okay and Dad's not going to come and save you. You need to get cleaned up."
Ken says that she didn't know what she was saying - which is probably true, but I thought it was really funny that she said that when I was cleaning her and not 'Mamama'!

Happy Birthday Draven!

Nine years ago today, Draven was born into our family. It was very special welcoming another little boy into the family and we've loved having him. He's always great to make a joke or a funny face - and now that Emma's here he has a constant audience.

This morning we started out with raspberry filled glazed donuts for a special breakfast. Then off to church. When we got home, I put some steaks on the BBQ - that was his request for his birthday meal. Once we finished eating, I made some homemade ice cream sandwiches using chocolate chip/chunk cookies as the 'bread'. Finally, it was time for presents! Shallon gave him a couple of bakugan, and Emma pitched in on our gifts. From us he got a bakugan activity book (word finds, mazes, etc.), a couple of shirts, and finally - a sno cone machine and all the stuff to use with it!!! The boys have been dying to have one, and I suggested that Draven ask for one for his birthday. After dad, Emma and I took our afternoon naps, we got out the sno cone machine and had a maiden voyage! It's pretty fancy how well it works and once the boys each had their cones, they enjoyed soaking their feet in the pool while they ate.

Draven, we love you and are so glad you're our son! Happy Birthday!!!

Mommmm, I'm bored......

So, this maybe wasn't exactly what was said, but it was close! Shallon finally decided that we could play Slap Jack and that would keep us busy for a while. While Shallon got the cards ready, I was doing laundry. Emma had just woken up from her nap and so I stuck her in a laundry basket with a toy - to keep her in one spot and busy. When I was done with the laundry and ready to come into the kitchen I decided to push her into the other room while she was still in the basket - she liked it! Well, then the boys got the idea to push her around in the basket. Since they can move a LOT faster than Emma, they decided to protect her with a couple of pillows from the couch. They were going back and forth from the family room to the front door, making tunnels (by standing with their legs spread so the basket could go between their legs) and bridges (standing on a chair and leaning against the couch or hands on the counter and feet on the island). Maybe the cutest part about the bridges and tunnels - Emma would duck her head when she was going under their legs!

I told the boys that this is what we used to do when I was little. It's so wonderful to see the kids playing together and to know how much they all love each other - even if the boys drive each other crazy at times and if Emma is so much younger than the boys. We have a wonderful family and we are truly blessed!