Garden of the Gods

We spent a Saturday afternoon at Garden of the Gods and had a great 3 mile hike.

Veteran's Day

Alyssa was in the Veteran's Day parade, marching with the TMS marching band. She loves playing the trombone, she is first chair trombone!

I would also like to add that my dad is a veteran. He joined the Air Force when he was 19 years old. When he joined the military the Vietnam war was going on, and he wanted to represent America and defend the freedoms for which it stands. He never did go to Vietnam, he worked with technology and ended up meeting my mom instead (she worked at the dry cleaners on the base). He served our country for 20 years.

Halloween

Alyssa was a ladybug. This is the only picture I took of her, marching with the Liberty Band for a football game.


The boys were ninjas. Tyler was a skeleton ninja, Brayden was a silver wolf ninja, and Ryan was a red and black ninja.


We went to the Halloween Carnival at Liberty High School.


Ou annual pumpkin carving.






On Halloween we ate cute little mummy pizzas for dinner and had "The Great Pumpkin Cookie" for dessert. We then spent the evening watching old T.V. shows of "The Addams Family".

Kindergarten

My baby is starting Kindergarten this year (sob, sob). I will miss spending all day with my Ryan, but he is so excited and ready to go to school.

My kids are growing up and I feel old.

CFD

I love Cheyenne Frontier Days! We like pretending that we are cowboys for a day!

Every Summer...

Every summer one of my kiddos breaks a bone. This summer Brayden is the "lucky boy". While riding his bike on a bike track he crashed and broke his right hand. Poor guy was in shock for awhile, but was very brave at the Doctor's office when they had to take a ton of x-rays and then set it. He started off with a bright orange cast (his choice), and then a bright yellow cast (again, his choice). He will probably have a crooked finger but considering that his helmet cracked during the crash we are grateful that is the only issue.

He's a graduate, again!!!

Paul graduated from Cardiac Rehab. He worked hard and has been given the go ahead to graduate in half the time it usually takes.

We are very happy that he is healthy and doing good!!!

Good Memories

My favorite aunt is my mom's only sister, my Aunt Kathy. She is nine years younger than my mom. She was a party everywhere she went. She loved to laugh and make everybody else laugh. When I was a little girl I used to stay with her at the farm house that her and my mom were raised in (way down in Buffalo Springs, Texas) and we would eat Captain Crunch cereal and macaroni and cheese (she would buy all my favorite foods), we would stay up really late at night and dance and sing. She would tell me the funniest stories, I've retold them to my kids several times. I would get to try on her wedding dress and she would tell me that when I got married I could have it. It is some of my fondest memories. She lost a battle with cancer and passed away on Saturday, June 26 at the age of 53. I will miss her smile, her laugh, and her sweet personality.

Brayden is one year older

Brayden's birthday was June 11. We celebrated with a party at Skate City. Brayden is such a good boy and I can't believe he is 9 years old already. He loves to play the piano and the guitar. He is very excited that he was picked to go to School in the Woods for 4th grade.

Rumpelstiltskin

Alyssa and Brayden were able to participate in a Children's Theater group. They perfomed "The Rumpelstiltskin Problem: A Fairy Tale in Bad Taste". Alyssa was "Cecile" (attendant to the queen) and Brayden was "Newton" (a singing scientist). They worked very hard and had a great time!

Heart Attack

May 1, 2010 will be a day that we will always remember. The holiday "May Day" has a whole new meaning for our family. The day started out pretty normal. It was a typical Saturday morning. Paul was sleeping in, the kids were watching cartoons, and I was out finding treasures at garage sales. I came home about 10:15 a.m. and Paul told me that his lungs were hurting. I asked him if he was sure it was his lungs. He ate some cereal and I thought everything was fine.

I went upstairs and was on the computer. Alyssa ran upstairs and said that Dad needed me. I went downstairs right away and saw Paul sprawled out on the couch sweaty and pale. He said something was really wrong. I asked him if we should go to the ER, he said that we should just call the Doctor's office and see if he could get an appointment. I called the Doctor's office (they have Saturday morning hours) and they said to bring him right in (it was about 10:30 a.m.).

As we were driving over there Paul said that he was feeling better. I said we should still go get him checked out. By the time we got to the office (10:45 a.m.), Paul was in a lot of pain and could barely walk. As I went to check him in, I looked back at him and he was laying on the floor in the waiting room and soaking wet (sweating profusely). He was wincing because of the pain and said that his arms were numb. I told the receptionist that I thought he was having a heart attack and to get the Doctor right away. He came and we got Paul into a wheel chair and they wheeled him back to an exam room and hooked up an EKG machine. As soon as the results printed out, the Dr. ran to the phone and called the paramedics. The nurse gave him aspirin and a nitro tablet. The paramedics were there within minutes. They hooked up an IV and put him on a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance. I rode up front in the passenger seat of the ambulance.

As we were driving to the hospital, I heard them working on Paul in the back. It was so scary and yet I couldn't cry, I had to be strong for Paul (I didn't want to scare him more). We had to go to the hospital downtown, since the two hospitals close to us do not have cardiac units. We got to the hospital at about 11:20 a.m. A ton of nurses and Doctors met us there and started to hook Paul up to a lot of different machines. We had to wait for the Cardiologist and the Cardiac team to arrive (since it was Saturday they were on call). Paul was still in so much pain. I helped the nurses prep him for surgery (although I didn't know why I was doing the things I was doing, I just wanted to help). I undressed him and shaved his chest. A little sweet clergy lady came and started asking me if there was anybody they could call and asked me if I needed anything. That moment I almost lost it, but I managed to hold it together and told her that I was fine.

The cardiac team finally arrived and went running with his bed, I followed behind carrying his belongings. They finally told me to go to a waiting room and that the Doctor would come talk to me as soon as he could. I was then left alone in a dark waiting room at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday. I didn't turn on the lights, I liked the dark, and at that moment the reality of everything hit me and I sobbed uncontrollably.

Finally I pulled it together and decided that I needed to call our family members. I called my mom first, she said that her and my dad would leave right away and be here in 4 hours (they live in Wyoming). I then called Paul sister and she said she would call everyone else in his family. Then came the hard phone call to our children. I knew I wanted them to hear it from me and not wonder what was going on. I talked to Alyssa first and told her that dad was in surgery, that he had a heart attack and that everything would be alright (I truly felt it would be), she cried and I told her not to worry to just say a prayer for Dad. I then talked to the boys and said that everything would be fine. They are good kids and knelt down together and said a prayer for their Dad. After the phone calls, I decided that maybe I should have one of my friends go over and check on my kids. My wonderful friend, Andra, went over and stayed most of the day with my kids. She even bought them Chinese food for dinner (their favorite).

The Doctor finally came and talked to me at 1:30 p.m. He said that Paul's arteries were clean as a whistle and that he had, he thought, a coronary dissection that caused a blood clot to form and it completely (100%) blocked the right coronary artery causing him to have a massive heart attack. He said they were able to put a stint in the artery to repair the damaged area. He said that Paul was lucky to have made it to the hospital in time. He was in ICU for 3 days and then a regular room for another day before he could come home.

Paul is doing much better now (a month after the heart attack). He still gets tired easily and he is frustrated that he can't do all that he used to do. He is on 5 different medications and sees the Cardiologist regularly. He also attends a Cardiac Rehab class. But we are grateful that everything worked out for the best. We were truly blessed!

Landsharks

Tyler and Brayden ran cross country for their school. They both really love running!

Anniversary - 15 years!

At Paul's Work Christmas party he won tickets to go see "Mary Poppins" in Denver at the Beull Theatre. We decided that since the date was close to our anniversary (May 5) that we would get a hotel room and stay the night in Denver. We had a great time and loved watching "Mary Poppins". I also loved the ride in the rickeshaw back to the hotel.

Happy Birthday, Paul!

Tuesday, April 27, Paul turned 38 years old! He is a wonderful husband and father. We are lucky and very blessed to have him in our lives.

38 things we love about Paul
1)He is honest
2)He is thoughtful
3)He is charming
4)He is handsome
5)He works hard
6)He plays with the kids
5)He makes friends easily
6)He does a good job for his employer
7)He never complains about his commute to work
8)He helps out at home and even does laundry and dishes (well not anymore, but he used to all the time)
9)He always takes the trash out (well I guess I do that now, but I never did before)
10)He is strong
11)He eats healthy
12)He takes care of himself
13)He loves his kids
14)He has strong opinions and isn't afraid to stand up for what is right
15)He has a strong testimony
16)He serves the Lord
17)He knows the scriptures
18)He is very smart
19)He has individual interviews with the kids and me every Fast Sunday
20)He budgets
21)He is real and not superficial
22)He is grateful
23)He is genuine
24)He is romantic
25)He is compassionate
26)He is artistic
27)He is humble
28)He is well versed in Star Wars lingo and Star Trek lingo
29)He is empathetic
30)He loves movies
31)He loves Hot Wheels
32)He loves to read
33)He builds us up
34)He is determined
35)He is faithful
36)He is fearless
37)He is creative
38)He is our hero

Pinewood Derby

This was Brayden's first Pinewood Derby. He has watched Paul and Tyler make cars and compete over the past 3 years and it was finally his turn to be a part of the Pinewood Derby craze. Unfortunately, Paul was not so excited. In the past he and Tyler (we believe it is important to let our boys be a part of the experience) have worked and worked trying to make the best car possible and have left the Derby disappointed. Some of the dads are crazy competitive. So this year Paul and Brayden started working on their car late, 2 days prior to the race. Brayden drew out the plans and then they worked to make the car that Brayden wanted. Paul added fishing weights to the back of the car and we hoped for the best. On race day we were thrilled to see that Brayden's car was winning a lot of races and he took 2nd place overall, 1st place for the Wolf Den. He was beaming with joy the whole day!

Alyssa is a teenager

Alyssa turned 13 on March 5th. My Dad has the same birthday, he turned 63. We always get together to celebrate their birthdays. We had a great time!

How time flies!!

Alyssa is 6 months old in this picture.

She is 2 years old in this picture.

Alyssa is about 4 years old in this picture. She was always so happy and smiley!

Me with my dad.

My dad was in the Air Force and after 20 years of service, he retired.

My dad was Bishop of our Branch when I was baptized. I always thought it was fun to say that I was baptized by my Bishop (you gotta love the military glasses).

Here are some pictures of Alyssa and Papa on their birthdays.