Easter!

Well all of my friends are showing me up since they already have their Easter pictures posted! We had a fun, relaxing day at home. The boys enjoyed an egg hunt in the front yard and getting the fun things in their Easter basket. We went to church (my first time in 6 weeks and it was sooo nice!) It was great to see everyone there again. (Thank you, Cookie, for the darling Easter outfits!) Then we went to Grandma Nae and Grandpa Pauls house for dinner and another egg hunt. It was a fun day!

Fun in the Tub!

So my mom should get the "Cookie Of the Year Award" in our opinion! Not only did she come for 2 weeks to take care of my family, but she went above and beyond in so many ways! She cooked amazing meals (and filled my freezer with them), she cleaned, took Colt to the doctor two times to deal with two ear infections, and played a ton with her little grandsons. She did the most creative forms of play with them that just blew me away! She brought a can of shaving cream to play with the in bathtub in it was a huge hit! Thank you, Mom/Cookie, for being the best grandma in the world! We love you more than you'll ever know!

Cookie & Papa's Room

My cute little daddy took the picture of the flower from his garden and framed it for us!

Just wanted to post some pictures of our newly finished guest bedroom and bathroom in the basement. Kevin did the bedroom and it took him about 2 months to finish....we paid to have the bathroom done and it took 1 1/2 weeks! So we will probably hire out the rest of the basement when it is time! We got it all ready for my parents to come and take care of us after my surgery. It was so nice for them to have their own space!

Yikes!

5 days post surgery, the day I got out of the hospital

2 weeks post surgery

3 1/2 weeks post surgery

Ok, don't think I am a sicko but I have gotten several requests to post some pictures of my scar! I know, it's gross but to me and Kev, we think it looks awesome compared to what it used to look like! I am doing soooo much better now! I am off of my pain pills, back on a normal sleeping schedule, hardly using my back brace, and walking around the block! Oh, and I've lost 12 pounds even though it will probably just come back...I even fit in my skinny Seven jeans I haven't worn sinch before Colt was born :) Everyone recovers differently from surgery and I guess I am just on the speedy side! I still can't lift anything more than a gallon of milk or bend over so it's still tough to do stuff around the house but overall, I am on my way to a full recovery. And I am proud to say that I have no back pain like I did before! Yeah! So thanks everyone for your prayers and calls...I have the best friends and family ever!

Update...

Hey everyone! I am finally feeling well enough to post an update. First, thank you to all of my amazing friends and family who have written and called. I have the most amazing support system! The surgery went great on Monday. I have an awesome surgeon who is widely respected all over the country. He found a lot more damage in my back than he was expecting, lots of nerve damage from the slipped disk. Things were going great and I went home from the hospital on Thursday. On Friday, I began to have extreme pains down my legs which made it hard to breath at times. I have to apologize to Erin for calling from Switzerland and having to hear me sob while I had a breakdown on the phone with her (Thanks for listening and crying with me and I can't wait to get my Swiss Chocolate "medicine"! Worried about blood clots, I was sent up to Utah Valley Hospital on Saturday by ambulance to get tests done and figure out what was wrong. All of my tests came back showing nothing internally wrong with my rods and screws and there were no blood clots. The pain was due to swelling around my damaged nerves. This was was so bad, morphin (which usually puts me out) did nothing to ease the pain. They admitted me back into the hospital on Saturday until they could get my pain under control. By Sunday night, I was feeling much better taking oral medication instead of shots so I was able to come home, today, Monday. It's been a heck of a week but I am feeling much better and hoping that the nerve pain is behind me. I still have to keep up on my pain pils to stay on top of my pain but overall, I am in great shape for being 1 week post surgery. My staples are out and my scar is pretty crazy! I make Kevin take pictures of it so I can see it! So thanks again everyone for your concern. I came home to several care packages from friends---lets just say I was completely spoiled this week! I love you guys so much! I am in bed on my laptop so send me an email if you have a minute!
Love,
Erin

Over and Out....

Just wanted to let everyone know why the blog will not be updated for a while! I am having my back surgery on Monday (the 18th) so there probably won't be much picture taking for a few months. My mom is coming tomorrow to help for 2 weeks and then my amazing friends and neighbors will be taking care of us! My recovery is looking like it will be 3 days in the hospital, 6 weeks in bed only getting out to use the bathroom and 3 months of not lifting my kids. Sad :( So I am hoping by mid-May, I will be over the worst of it. I keep telling myself that there is no way around this surgery because I can not live my life with the amount of pain I have, even being on pain pills all day. Wish me luck! Kev got me a new laptop so I will be online in bed as soon as am feeling up for it. I will post on here then and I always have email! Take care and be glad you aren't me right now!!!

Crusin'

Wrigley Memorial-Catalina Island

An absolutely beautiful day in Catalina-we hurried back to the boat and layed out the rest of the day!

Ensenada, Mexico- At the Flea Market & Blowhole

I wish everything were this cheap at home! I payed $8 to have my hair braided and $3 for that huge cup of fresh pineapple and mango. Need I say more! Oh the hair only lasted about 10 hours until I woke up in the night with a pounding headache!

Ensenada, Mexico

Here are a few pictures of our fabulous trip to Mexico! Kevin and I went to celebrate 5 years of being happily married! What a blessing! We spent 5 days on the boat and had a blast. It was a great place to just be "Kevin and Erin" instead of Mom and Dad. We really needed it! Kevin's mom watched the boys all week! We love her so much! The vacation was a great break before I head in for back surgery on Monday.

Weekend with the Davis Family

We were so excited to have our good friends, the Davis', come down to visit for the weekend! Zac & Kim were our neighbors in Spanish Fork at our townhome and we used to do everything together. Kim and I would wake up in the morning, call each other other, and usually spend the entire day together. That was the summer we would go to Seven Peaks Water Park twice a week! We were crazy! Their kids are complete dolls! Tag (5), Jaelyn or "JJ" as we call her (4) and Bentley (6 months). Troy has a blast with them whenever we get up to Payson to see them! We had a fun weekend hanging out and playing in the snow. We love you guys!

So cute!

Just had to sneak in another photo of matching clothes!

Poor Child...

I had to share the latest thing that Troy said that had us laughing out loud! We had some friends stop by last night to visit and on their way out, Garrett told Troy that he liked his new snow boots. Troy proudly said, "Yep, the mailman gave them to me." I never thought about it but I think he really thinks that all the crap I by online are just boxes that the nice mailman, Tom, gives to us! I know a lot of boxes come our way, but it's just a trade off of having a happy wife live in a small town with NO SHOPPING! Thank goodness for the internet!

Cool Dudes

These 99 cent goggles from Target have gotten more laughs and play than most of the other toys in our house! Everyone loves them, especially the neighbor kids...they are always fighting over them!

Happy Birthday, Colt!

Every one year old needs a little greasy McDonalds, right?


Before

After

Time has a serious way of messing with your head! It feels like just yesterday, I hawled butt to the hospital in Provo just in time to deliver my little precious Colty! But it feels like 5 years ago that I spent a week in the hospital with him when he was 2 weeks old while he had RSV. I still can't figure that one out! Colt had his 1st birthday on Thursday! We had a great day of playing, having lunch at McDonalds & getting lots of phone calls of well wishes! We had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner (our new favorite...no one can believe I just discovered them!) and chocolate cupcakes for desert.

Troy got to help me decorate the cupcakes after lunch. After we were all done, I went to change Colt's diaper and this is what I returned to. I swear, never fail this kid has to get in trouble!

And to anyone who thinks this is gross...wait till you see Jack lick the snot off of Colt's nose...yes, he really does do that....

Before

After

I love Jack for so many reasons, but the #1 reason is how he picks up after my kids! I used to sweep several times a day and now, MAYBE twice a month! It's a beautiful thing!

Welcome to the world of WebCams!

Just like his mommy, eating his breakfast at the computer while he checks his email :)


Part of our Christmas present from my parents was a really nice WebCam...with the intentions of all getting online on Sunday nights and talking together as a family. We have all been playing with them and Troy was THRILLED to wake up one morning with a special email message from Papa. He watched it over and over and over and over again...he figured out all by himself how to make Papa take up the whole screen and clicked the mouse each time to start the message over. Throughout the day, I could here him saying the message while he was playing, I think he had it memorized! We made a video for Papa but I haven't figured out how to email it to him!

Guitar Hero!

We were introduced to the video game, "Guitar Hero" on New Years Eve (See Mark & Cass' blog post from that night!) and that's all we want to do now! We are not into video games AT ALL but we are tempted to fork over the money for an Xbox 360 just for this game! So Kevin made our own guitar out of some foam things Troy got for Christmas! Everytime Troy sees anything that has to do with a guitar, he says, "Look Mom! Guitar Hero!" We are addicted....if you see our cars at Chet & Jill's, you know why were are there!

New Family Picture

We got some new family pictures taken last weekend and I wanted to share my favorite one! My new favorite quote is, "Too much of a good thing is a good thing." That's how I feel about my little family! I am the luckiest wife & mommy in the whole world!

Our Cute, Little Snowman!

Is that not the cutest little boy and snowman that you've ever seen! Sorry, I am a little biased! Troy and Colt got a snowman kit from our friends the Butterfields and Troy couldn't wait to get his "Frosty Kit" out this weekend! All of the pieces are made out of wood so we can reuse it for every snoman! The hat and scarf are felt. We have had a TON of snow these over the last 48 hours....over a foot at our house. It's so beautiful and is very much needed around here! Kev has been plowing on our 4 wheeler day and night...what a smart purchase that was last winter!

So...I ran over my dog :(

We have had a very emotional week! And it's all my fault :( I ran over our dog, Jack, on my way to pick up Troy from school. Jack usually follows me there and back when I drive up the street to pick him up but this time, he must have gotten lost under my tire somewhere! I ran the poor thing over and when I realized it, he had fallen over in the snow had blood pouring out of his mouth and other disgusting things going on that I will not share :( I was sure that I had killed my little guy. But after lots of tears and a trip to the weird vet in town (another story in its self) Jack is alive and is our miracle dog! He had a punctured diaphram and it was small enough to heal on it's own. His back left leg is pretty banged up and skinned up but he is moving around just fine! He is definetly calmer these days and is cuddling a lot more...must need some extra love! We are so glad our little buddy, Jack, will continue to roam our culd-a-sac...just a little more supervised now!