Christmas

This year was awesome for us!
It was the first time that we stayed home for Christmas. Silas and I decided that it was time for us to have Christmas morning at home, only the five of us. Then we decided that we didn't want to even travel, but have a good, relaxing time...at home.

It has been lovely. We scaled way back, present wise, but it was a very good Christmas. Cleod's present from Santa was "just what [he] always wanted!" He also got Dick and Jane books from his grandparents, which are awesome for new readers! He loves them.



Ryan is at such a funny stage. Santa brought his boots, which he put on right away and loves. He's obsessed with the movie Bolt, so the puppy that Cleod picked out for him was perfect.

Brooklyn, my niece who moved to town in August, has a little Indianna Jones toy that Ryan finds whenever we go to Joy and Brooklyn's. My brother Darin gave Ryan his very own for Christmas and he was excited! He yelled, "Indianna Jone!"















Grant had a great Christmas too. Santa got him a drum which the other boys like A LOT. Too much probably. The second thing he opened was a ball from his grandparents and we could have stopped right there. He loves kicking it around the house.

We also found out that Grant LOVES clementines.



Silas and I had a good Christmas too, although we really decided this year that we didn't need gifts. I got a stepping stool and scrapbook stuff from my sister-in-law Ang, which I was SUPER excited about. Silas got a crossword puzzle planner from his brother Josiah and his family.

My favorite thing we got was $50 from my parents to use to buy food storage. I have already purchased 100 pounds of rice and buckets to seal them in. Rice is important to have when you have little kids!


Christmas dinner was yummy. Silas made his dad's ham recipe, I made mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, and fruit salad. Joy joined us for dinner and brought yams, pearled onions, sparkling apple cider and dessert: cheesecake.

Silas also made cranberry wassail which we enjoyed all weekend. YUM!

Grant loved the table cloth and played peek-a-boo for 5 mintues straight!

The evening of Christmas Day we were invited to our best friends' parent's home for dinner. We ate and talked for hours, which was lovely.

I am so grateful for a wonderful year, although it has been very hard. I have had some...issues with my temper and my kids. Silas has been in school NON STOP and the boys are basically used to him being gone all the time. We got moved from a ward we loved into a new one where we knew very few people. Silas's medical issues have been really bad at times this year and his pain has risen. His medicine was raised for a little while but they caused other issues so he just takes the lower dose and deals with it. Poor man.

It's been a good year too. Cleod participated in soccer and loved it. He also loves preschool which I do with two other friends once a week. He's reading and loves his friends. He prays sincerely and is a big helper.

Ryan loves everyone and is so funny. He still sucks his thumb, but only with his blankie. I think I'll give him until his fourth birthday until I really put my foot down. He loved nursery. Our new ward's nursery leaders were so good to him. I almost cried on Sunday when I picked him up for the last time.

Grant has been one of the best things about this year. He is such a joy in our lives. I think he's the peacemaker, although he can hold his own with his big brothers. He also already likes to help clean up, which I love.

Silas has a good job and works hard for us. I get to stay home with the kids. We are starting to really enjoy our new ward and have made lots of new friends. For Silas and I, as a couple, this has been the best year of our marriage. We have had such trials but we have also been more aware of each other's needs and our love has grown. We have gone to the temple regularly this year and have seen how that has blessed our marriage and our family more than I imagined.

Next year is looking even better...Silas will be done with school in May!!! Cleod will start Kindergarten in August (crazy, I know) and Ryan is already talking about preschool.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

NINJA!!!

This is the Ninja...actually, it's the Euro-Pro QB900 Ninja Master Prep Food & Drink Mixer.

Our best friends got it a few months ago and we have used it at there house. It's awesome for smoothies and milk shakes. ANYWAY, we did Christmas with the Warby's on Sunday and they got us our VERY OWN NINJA!!

Silas loves it.

Blessings...

So the last few months have been really tight finanically and with Christmas and everything, I've been a little stressed. We are not having a big Christmas anyway, but we just had some things come up a few months ago than have caused our tank to be on empty with no gas station in site, if you can follow my dumb analogy.

Silas works full-time making decent money for a student but we have a growing family every year it seems like we have less left after bills to spend on groceries, clothing, let alone Christmas.

So Silas went to his favorite professor to ask about scholarships or something to help with books for the Spring so we don't have to use the credit card. The professor said he would look into it but also told him about a part-time thing that SUU was offering to an IT major. Silas said he'd take it and he will be working 10-15 hours a week for SUU starting this week and going until May. It's SUCH a blessing. It will help us so much! Yes, Silas will have to be away from us that much more, but he can do it in the evenings so it won't interfer with his regular job.

I just wanted to share with everyone that I know that Heavenly Father watches out for us, even during the times when he's just waiting to bless us. I also know that when we willing give to others (i.e. tithes and offerings) we will be blessed in return.

I'm an aunt again!!

Another boy to love!!! Silas's sister Selissa had her fourth baby yesterday! His name is Franklin Harris Palmer and all I know is that he has hair, which is a big deal for Sis and her children. It's so fun to have another family member!! Congrats, Sis and Phil!!

Introducing...

Taejen Brett Warby!!! He's my best friend's new baby boy. He was born Tuesday, December 1st and we all love him already!

The boys and I were able to spend a lot of time with Taejen's two big sisters the last three days. We love having such good friends.

Cleod is 5!!

My biggest boy is five! It seems really strange to have a school-aged child, even though he's not in Kindergarten yet.

Friday was Cleod's birthday and we had good day. For lunch we went to my friend Savannah's house. Her little girl has the same birthday as Cleod and so we had a combined party and had Chette and her girls over. We worked with Savannah in the good old days at Papa Murphy's where Chette and I worked during college.

We had pizza and cupcakes and presents before heading to Funtime Inflatables, a new bouncy house place here in town.

The kids, well most of the kids, really enjoyed playing on the bouncy houses and slides. Cleod was scared the first time down the big slide but got over that really fast. Chette's two year old was ALL over the place...she loved it!

Ryan didn't jump at all. I told him that he owes me $5 now. He just wandered around and pretended to play the arcade games. Grant wandered around too and walked up to stranges. He wanted everyone but Mom, which is funny for a minute but made it a little stressful because he would have let someone take him home and not put up much of a fuss for a while. It's great that he's friendly, but I am already paranoid about my kids getting kidnapped.

We saw our friend Jill who's in town from Vegas because she's having her baby here. She's due next week and we are all getting anxious for her little girl to arrive.

Friday night, Silas and I took Cleod out to eat, just the three of us. It was so quiet and relaxing. The waiters sang to him which was really fun and he had a good time being alone with Mom and Dad. My mom came up from Vegas for the weekend so she watched Ryan and Grant. Question: Why are my kids always better for other people? Really, I'm grateful...but what is that about?

Last night we had Cleod's birtday dinner. In my house growing up we got to pick the meal for the Sunday before or after our birthday and we decided to start that too. Cleod picked spaghetti and I didn't argue! After dinner we had CAKE and not just an ordinary cake...an awesome Phineas cake made by his Aunt Joy! The Disney show, Phineas and Ferb is a family favorite and Cleod LOVED the cake. It was great.

We had a super busy weekend. On top of all the birthday festivities, Cleod had a practice Saturday morning for his Primary Program. Every year the children from 3-12 years old present to the congregation the things they learned at church through the year. Sunday was the actual program and it was great. Cleod got a little spacey for a while but he was brave and said his part and sang most of the songs great.

Saturday afternoon was our Relief Society Super Saturday, an activity where a bunch of woman do a bunch of crafts for a bunch of hours. It was awesome. I have a nice husband who stayed home with the kids. My mom and I painted like mad and I helped a few ladies make washer necklaces. I got the idea from my sister-in-law Kizzie and got the letter stamps when I was visiting another sister-in-law, Selissa, over Labor Day Weekend.

Overall, it was a crazy, stressful, fun weekend. I am so grateful to be a mom and I am really grateful to have such a wonderful family.

72-hour kit...Clothing

So I last Wednesday, I blogged about Step 1 from Utah's Plan 9 program which helps families to be prepared for public health emergencies and disasters.

Today I skipped Step 2, which is the food part of the 72-hour kit. I need to go to the store and get just a few things for that.

Step 3 is clothing. I had some things already but some were too small and it wasn't complete. SO today I got one of each of these items for all five of us: Jeans, shirt, sweater, socks, shoes, underwear (extra diapers and wipes for Grant). For the boys, the clothes are all the next size up. I save everything so for Grant and Ryan they have holey jeans that I save for camping. For Cleod, his clothes are stuff I have gotten on sale or at DI for future use. It only took about 30 minutes and I got to check another step off my list. Two down, seven to go!

BE PREPARED!

So today I felt like doing some Emergency Preparedness. First, I needed to restock the car with spare clothing for the boys. I got some holey jeans, cheap flag shirts, underwear for the big boys and a bunch of diapers and wipes for Grant, and some sweaters. Yes, they all match but that wasn't really on purpose. They just never wear these sweaters that I got cheap at Old Navy so I figured it would be good to throw them in the car. Also in the car we have a good first aid kit, jumper cables, a pack of water bottles, a blanket, toilet paper, extra utensils (which I thought was silly but I have actually used them), an emergency radio/hand-crank flashlight, and some cash.

The other day I was at the health department and there were some PLAN 9 pamphlets that I looked through. I have looked at A LOT of emergency preparedness information and this was very clean and clear. The first step is having one gallon of water person in your emergency kit. I have lots of water in my storage room, but not with the 72-hour kits stuff, so today (wish help from Cleod) I put 40, 1/2 Liter water bottles in a small suitcase with wheels. (That way it will be easier to transport if needed.) One gallon is like 3.78 Liters so we need 8 water bottles each.

I also organized my coat closet which is really our 72-hour kit closet which happens to store our coats. It's kind of hard to see, but there is a big black suitcase on the right which has clothing, toiletries, candles, propane, rope and more. (I am going to reorganize that soon.) On the left is the water suitcase and the light blue bag in front of that on the floor is the food part of the 72-hr kit which is incomplete at the moment. I took a bunch of stuff from it when we went to Colorado in September. On the shelf there are two backpacks with flashlights, batteries, an emergency radio, ponchos, crayons & paper, card games, wool socks and hand warmers.

I have been working on this for a long time and it is always on my mind. I feel relieved to have the first step from the Plan 9 pamphlet done. It was especially fun today because Cleod helped me the whole time. He's such a champ!

Ryan's late birthday present

I forgot about this and want to share it, mostly for Silas's mom. She sent something for Ryan along with Grant's birthday present and he had the best reaction!!

Thanks, Grandma Aitchison!!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. Can you believe it's November??

We had a really fun day! We spent some of the afternoon with our bestest friends, Brett and Deruchette and went to their ward's Trunk or Treat. The kids got TONS of candy and Cleod liked seeing all the other kids' costumes.

Deruchette is almost 8 months prego and dressed up her belly! SO cute!

Here are the two crazies...Ryan (Monkey) and Leksi (Raja the Tiger). I have a theory about second children, but that's another story.

Cleod and Kianna. Our cute big kids dressed up like Bumblebee from Transformers and Jasmine.

We went over the Brett's mom and dad's house because they are basically our adopted family. Brett's mom always gets things for our boys when see buys toys or whatever for her grandkids. They all got glow sticks from "Nana" this year. She's the best.

After that we went and picked up my neice Brooklyn and went trick or treating with her and my cousin Christine and her kids. It was fun to walk door to door in a nice neighborhood but got COLD. Then we headed over to my uncle and aunt's house to watch movies! It was so fun to spend time with family. I'm so glad we have relatives and good friends so close!

Grant's ONE!!

My baby is one. Crazy, I know. It's been a weird weekend. We had a party planned for Saturday but Ryan got sick on Thursday so we cancelled it, just to be safe. I haven't been feeling very well today but we had a mini-party with Joy, Brooklyn and Brett, Deruchette and the girls.

Grant wasn't really into the present thing but he got excited about the present he got from Grandma and Grandpa Aitchison and Keenan.

Here he is with Brett and Cleod.

He loves his toy...and his tongue.

Cake aftermath...

Joy and Brooklyn got him a cool leap frog puppy that says his name. It's cute but he hasn't played with it yet. It got kidnapped and I think it's in the basement. He got some Lego duplos from Grandma and Grandpa Rowley which the kids all played with for a while, but I didn't get a photo. Grant loves them.

This was a few weeks ago, but I had to share it. Silas and I think our boys are pretty awesome.

A day in the life...

5:45am- I don't normally wake up this early, but today I did because I was headed for the 1 day Meat Sale at Lin's, a local grocery store. I get 40 lbs of chicken and 40 lbs of ground beef. I LOVE stocking up on food.

6:30-7:20am- Wrap beef in freezer half pound portions in freezer paper and put chicken in bags to freeze. Two years ago my mom and dad got my a deep freeze and it is FULL today. Love that feeling. I think I am going to can the chicken, but not right away. It is nice to have some quite time, just me and the raw meat.

7:30am- Wake up Silas and the boys and go to the SkyFest. Every year a dozen or so hot air balloons take off. We get some donuts and OJ and sit in our camp chairs watching people unroll and fill the balloons. The boys love it. We also get to see Brett and Chette and the girls which we always like.

8:30am- I nurse Grant for the first of only two times today. His birthday is a little over a month away and so I'm starting to ween him. He is SO attached to me and he loves to nurse, so I'm doing it slowly. He's getting so big. He took 4 steps by himself today and I think he'll be running around before his birthday.

I start a load of laundry. I have been trying to do a load a day instead of cramming it into one day. It's nice except for when I forget about it. (It's still in the dryer.)

10am or so- Cleod and I go out back to pick tomatoes from our garden. That is all that grows and they are everywhere. We've made homemade spaghetti sauce with the tomatoes in the past which was great. It's really fun to have Cleod help out with the garden.

10:30- We call Tunex to come and pick up Gordon (that's the name of Silas's '71 VW Beetle. We bought a new battery yesterday but it still wouldn't start. Silas is making some extra money helping my brother Darin with a website so we are finally going to get Gordon fixed. We've been down to one chair again for about a month and so I am ready for it to be fixed too.

11ish- I cut hair. Lost of hair. Not mine...the boys'. It's been a really long time but they are all good and it doesn't take too long. I get all three of them in the bath. I can't believe how dirty boys get. Grant loves to take baths with his brothers but he also starts to drink the water. Then Ryan and Cleod start making a watery mess so we ubruptly end bath time. The boys get to stay in their room for a while. Meanwhile, Silas is doing homework and I get to shower.

Around 1pm- I vacuum the basement before letting the boys watch some TV. The Disney Channel has a cute show called Phineas and Ferb that even Silas and I will sit and watch. After that was over Cleod came and found me and said that there was a big kid show on. I said they could pick a movie and they picked the birthday video my siblings and I made for my Dad's 60th birthday last month. Cleod and Ryan think it's great.

Help Silas with some math but I'm not very helpful. I love math, but the class he's in is Discrete Math which is weird logic stuff. Bleh.

I call my mom. I like to let her know when I fill the freezer. Plus I haven't talked to her as much this week as I normally do. I am excited to go to Vegas for a few days in October.

2:30pm- The boys and I dropped Silas off at the school to meet a classmate. They needed to work on a take-home quiz. We used the time to first go to Deseret Book. We needed a few gifts and I wanted a picture of the First Presidency. Going to small stores with three boys is always crazy but I made it through.

3pm- We get to Wal-Mart. The main purpose was toilet paper. The I remembered that Grant needed baby food, and baby snacks because he is spoiled and doesn't always eat the baby food. So then I decide to get milk and margarine, bread, tortillas, grape juice (Silas's new favorite thing) and sour cream. Cleod reminds me that we were going to look at costumes, so we make our way to the other side of the store. Cleod wants to be Bumblebee, from Transformers, and we see that there is only one left in his size and two total of the style so we get it. He's actually "earning" money for it but I told him that he can pay me back instead. I'm not sure how well he understands that but that's fine. Needless to say, the toilet paper run turned into $42 of groceries. At least I remembered the toilet paper.

4pm- We pick up Silas from SUU and run by Tunex. They hadn't really been able to work on the Beetle but we're ok with that. Hopefully they will figure it out early Monday and it won't be too much. When we get home, Ryan falls asleep, Grant is happy and Cleod runs around the house in his new costume. It's pretty cute for $12.

5-6pm-Silas helps me make dinner. He remembered a few days ago about a meal that his family used to eat a lot. It's basically beans with brown sugar, honey and mustard. We made a decent version but hope to improve on it next time. At least I'm getting him to eat beans though. It's harder for me to get Silas to eat healthy than it is for me to get the boys to eat healthy. Not that Silas eats junk, but he doesn't prefer beans or wheat. We're getting there though...one loaf of bread at a time.

While dinner was simmering, Cleod helped me straighten the living room and dining room. I do not like to wake up to a dirty house, especially on Sunday morning.

6:30pm- Take Ryan with me to a reception of a friend. She's actually the daughter of my old employer so it was fun to see some of the old gang from the days at Papa Murphy's. Those were good times...I met Chette there, at Papa Murphy's in 2002. Actually I met Chette at the reception too. We usually combine forces on gifts to mutual friends and we like to go together too. She had her girls and Ryan ran around the gym being crazy, as usual.

7:30pm- Grant hugs me for 5 minutes straight when I get home. He's such a doll. After a minute, Silas leaves for work. This is not a normal Saturday thing, but it does happen. He had something he needed to finish by Monday so he needed a few hours tonight to work on that. That man is amazing. He works 40 hours a week and goes to school full-time and then spends time doing homework on top of trying to spend time with me and the boys. I can't WAIT for May.

8:30pm- I put the boys to bed by myself but I don't follow the routine and they are all crying. I start blogging but have to stop. Cleod and Ryan say they're starving, which is kinda true because they have been having a really hard time finishing their dinners lately. I give in and give Ryan some cereal, Cleod wants toast and Grant gets a few crackers. I REALLY want some Cap'n Crunch...I know it's silly, but I LOVE cereal. I resist the temptation and drink some water with organic apple cider vinegar and organic honey instead. GROSS, you say? Yes. It is pretty gross. Brett's mom told me about this. She is reading a book about the benefits of these foods and there is a specific example of someone with arthritis feeling relief from pain through the vinegar/honey drink. Silas's arthritis has been pretty bad lately and I need a good energy boast, so we are doing it together. The honey is even from a guy in town would has bees. Cool.

While the boys finish eating I do dishes. I am constantly doing dishes. I despise a sink full of dishes so I try to keep them as empty as possible but this means rising and washing several times a day. I keep telling Silas that I am going to start paying myself for every load of dishes I do, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.

9pm- Put the kids back to bed and start blogging again. I know this is long and most of you won't care, but I need this. It's like a kind of therapy.

It's 9:45pm and I am resisting the urge to watch Thursday's episode of The Office. I missed it because I had an Enrichment Board meeting where we planned out Super Saturday. It's ok, because NBC puts the episode on their site the next day so I didn't mind, but I didn't think it would talk me this long to watch it. I am resisting because I really need to get off the computer and study for my lesson. I am teaching Relief Society tomorrow. That's the woman's group at church. I LOVE teaching but I always feel anxious about giving the information that my ladies need.

So off I go to study my lesson. Then I will try to retire before midnight because as you can see, I am had a LONG day.

Happy Birthday, Pop!!!

Today is my Grandpa's 90th birthday! He lives in St. George which is only about an hour from where we live, so we went down yesterday for a little family party. It was great to be with family and to see him. He is such a great man and has been a wonderful example to me. He's the reason our family loves music and he has always encouraged us to use our talents.

Happy 90th, Pop!

Labor Day Weekend in Colorado

Over Labor Day weekend, we were able to drive to Silas's sister's house in Parker, CO which is near Denver. Silas's parents had come from Missouri so we not only got to hang out with Selissa, Phil and their kids, but we got to spend time with Silas's mom and dad. It was a long drive, but it was worth it. We went down to Colorado Springs on Saturday to The Garden of the Gods which was cool. Here we are:
We also went to Seven Falls...

I started playing the license plate game, pretty much by myself because my kids aren't old enough, but then I started taking pictures of Cleod next to different state plates. We got photos with 18 of them but we saw 37 of the 50 states. I was pretty happy with that. :)

On Sunday we went to the Denver Temple to walk around and there was a security guard there who let us into the Visitor's Center to see the Christus, which was awesome. Ryan ran up to it and said, "It's my brother, Jesus!"

Monday we spent the whole day traveling so we didn't have to rush. The 8.5 hour trip turned into a 12.5 hour trip. It was fine until Cleod started to throw up. Luckily we had a container he could hold and he's old enough to tell us when he needed to.

Overall, it was a great weekend and we are glad we went. Thanks, Sis and Phil, for letting us crash at your place!!!

Awesome Soccer Skills

So Cleod has had a few soccer games and it's hilarious and painful to watch. Four year old boys are crazy. Some of the boys on his team are way into playing and scoring. There is one boy who is a space-cadet and picks grass half the time. Cleod is a little bit of both.


Actually, the more he plays the more he's interested he is in soccer. He's knows which way to kick the ball but he doesn't always kick it. It's like he's thinking about it and then someone else kicks it. But the more comfortable he gets, the crazier he is with his teammates. It's frustrating for me but I just have to remember that he's 4 and he's having fun.

This is the basis of the whole game. Kick the ball, everyone get in a hundle and kick whatever, wherever. If you happen to get near a net, try to score. Most of the time they just kick the ball out of bounds. It's so funny! The coach will say, "Guard a guy" and they just keep running after the ball. At half-time last game I asked Cleod if he knew what his coach meant and he was clueless. It was adorable!

What a kick!!!

This shot makes him look like a pro! SO CUTE! (Oh and his socks are hiked up above his shorts. He likes it that way.)

August..so far

Cleod started soccer this month. His first game is actually on Saturday, but he's had a practice and he's adorable! Ryan wants to play too, but it's fun for Cleod to have his own thing.

My mom and dad let Grant and I hitch a ride with them to my cousin Kimi's wedding in Salt Lake. It was a really fun day, hanging out with family. Grant LOVED my uncles and my dad.

RYAN IS THREE!!! Sunday was Ryan's birthday and Saturday we had a party at the park. It was really fun. We had lots of family and friends come and we enjoyed the company.

Kizzie (Silas's sister) and Andy were in town for the weekend so they were able to be at Ryan's party. Also, we went to St. George and visited the Temple Visitor Center and the Tabernacle. We got to see the new Joseph Smith movie, which was AMAZING.

We also went with Kizzie and Andy to Kolob Canyons, which is part of Zions National Park. We went on a little hike and had a good workout. The boys enjoyed it, although Ryan is a SLOW-POKE! We would have finished that hike in half the time. :)

So, since we paid for the pass to Kolob and it lasts a week, we went with Brett and Chette for Home Evening on Monday night. We did a different hike and the kids had a great time again. Cleod and Ryan were much more comfortable this time walking on the trail. Grant LOVES being outside and wants to touch the rocks, dirt and water.

The month has been crazy so far and is going to continue to be busy. This weekend my sister-in-law Joy and my niece Brooklyn are moving to Cedar so my parents and sister, Deni, are going to be here again. Silas will start his last year of college this year, I'm going to attempt to begin my own preschool for Cleod, and mainly try not to lose my mind. The last few weeks I have been pretty blue, but I think things are going to work out.

Kianna's birthday and 24th of July Parade

So last week was Cleod's best friend Kianna's 4th birthday and we had the party at our house. It was fun. Her mom, Deruchette, is crazy and made this super-cute-purple-dog cake.

So Deruchette and I LOVE Papa Murphy's pizza and our husband's aren't so fond, so we have to take advantage when we can. We got pizza for the party and I didn't notice that Grant got a piece. (I know, that sounds lame.) So I started to take it away from him and he seriously FREAKED. I was shocked and just gave it back to him. Most of the cheese was off anyway, so whatever.
So we went to the Pioneer Day Parade and it was actually a good parade. (Sometimes Cedar parades are a little sad. Sorry, but it's true.)

This is Deruchette's in-laws in an our firetruck.
And Ryan didn't like the firetrucks much. :)
This was my FAVORITE float. It's a castle made out of 10-cans!!! I LOVE FOOD STORAGE!
We got A LOT of candy at this parade and Grant found a sucker. He was so cute!

Shelf Reliance Giveaway

Most of you know that I am super into emergency preparedness. I get emailed for the SHELF-RELIANCE company and this week they are having a giveaway for a 72-hour kit. It looks awesome. I've never done an online giveaway before, but this would be awesome to have. Click HERE to check it out...but hurry it ends at NOON today.

Ode to Der and It's a boy!!!!

Me and Deruchette- May 2004

No, I'm not pregnant...my best friend Deruchette is though! So for those of you who don't know her, I will introduce you.

Deruchette is from St. George and came up to Cedar to go to SUU the fall of 2002. I met her at when she started working at Papa Murphy's where I had worked for a year. We became friends pretty fast, mostly because she's the nicest person in the world. Seriously.

So in May of 2003, we moved into a basement apartment together along with our friend Julieann. It was a crumby apartment, but we had a good time. By fall we moved into a big house near the DI where we were in the University 4th ward. By this time I was already engaged to Silas so I only lived in that house for the fall semester. Durng that time Chette met Brett through the ward so Silas and Brett became friends.

A few months after Silas and I were married, she and Brett got engaged and were married in May 2004. We did a lot together, playing games at each other's apartments. In March 2005 Silas and I moved to the Northfield Apts by the hospital and we convinced Brett and Chette to move in right across from us a few months later. That was the best thing EVER! Cleod was a baby and their first, Kianna was born 2 months after they moved. We did everything together for almost 3 years. In fact, we ate together almost ever night.

In October 2007, they both their first house far away near the SUU farm and the next February we moved into our townhome so we're like 7 miles away now. It's sad some days when we think of how nice it was to be so close, for our kids to play together, to eat with each other and just have someone close to talk to when we were having hard days.

We're still close though and we always will be, I'm sure. Our husbands like being with each other, our kids are all friends and we can have fun just hanging out.

So speaking of kids, Chette has two girls, Kianna and Leksi. Kianna's almost 4 and she's 8 months younger than Cleod and Leksi just turned 2 and is 9 months younger than Ryan. NOW she's expecting her third and he'll be a year and 2 months younger than Grant.

Yes, HE!!! If you know Chette, you know that they didn't find out what they were having with their first 2 kids...which I have to say DROVE ME CRAZY! But they can do whatever they want, that's fine. I was watching her girls yesterday while they were at the ultrasound and when they got back to get them, she said, "It's a boy!" and I was SOOOO happy! For one thing, I know boys, I have boys stuff and THEY FOUND OUT! This saves me a few months of anxiety and I can start spoiling him earlier than planned! I'm so excited! I love her kids so much and they've always been apart of my life. Maybe it's a little bit like being a grandma. You get to fall in love with another beautiful soul but I will get to send him home to his mommy.

YAY!!

My beautiful boys...

Thanks again, Meredith!!!