Summertime Rundown

Whew! We have had a couple of super busy months in the Ford household! July and August are gone and now we are heading into September and the fall season! I can't believe it, really. It seems only yesterday I was complaining about all the winter blahs and looking so forward to spring and summer! Here's the rundown on what we've done this season!

July: Started off with a fantastic celebration of Craig's Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. We had a catered dinner and a small program where all the grandkids sang. We also had some family pictures done with the WHOLE clan, and celebrated with a bite of the replica wedding cake! The 4th of July saw us visiting family and enjoying a barbeque with a small firework show. Craig and I did buy the kids some little "poppers," as Sam calls them. The biggest hit was the Explodin' Bin Laden Noggin! The older we get, though, it's harder to buy the things because it is literally watching your money burn! We made sure to get our slab of True Vine ribs at the Commons, and enjoyed them while mourning the loss of the delicious goodness for next year. Life does go on...The 24th was quiet for us. We enjoyed each other's company and took it easy.

August: Grammy celebrated her birthday at our house and BOY did we have a surprise for her! Uncle Wade drove down for a 2 week vacation and surprised her by showing up for dinner! Then we went out to Antelope Island to see what was out there (I'd never been there before) and explored the beach and the visitor's center. The boys definately remembered what the ranger said about what the sand at the Great Salt Lake was actually made of...calcified brine shrimp poop! Sam and Jake thought it was funny. What was not so funny was the swarms of brine flies and the MILES away walk down to the water through the sand. We saw a few buffalo, lots of shore birds and more Orb Spiders than you can imagine, yuk! Not a place for arachiphobia to hit! Then, we went to Hogle Zoo with Aunt BriAnne, Milan and Uncle Wade!

(BriAnne and Milan at Hogle Zoo)

We got to see the baby giraffe when it was six days old and the snow leopard cubs. We enjoyed the elephants and seeing the monkeys. (Although Sam was worried that we were going to leave him in the monkey house.) The highlight of the day was the new carousel and the train ride!


Then, we went to Lagoon for TWO days! The first day was actually the Riley family reunion (Craig's mom's side) and we got to spend time with cousins from near and far and enjoy the cooler summer day at the park. The boys had a blast in Kiddie Land. Then, we bounced back with my family for another day of fun and frolic. It made for some great memories but a very tired family! We decided to go check out Promontory Point and Golden Spike this past weekend. We had fun watching the train demonstration and walking the tracks. The boys remembered the ranger's run down of the train whistle signals and loved telling us what each and every blast meant. They thought it was great fun to mash souvenir pennies, too! (I guess we have a new thing to do at all national parks and places!) While we were out there we went 16 miles due west to Rozel point and braved the 4 wheel drive dirt roads out to the Spiral Jetty. I have always been fascinated with the descriptions of it and really wanted to see it. I don't think the kids were very impressed (they were done with dirt and rock roads after our excursion over debris, rocks, brush and sand) but I was able to see it. What impressed me was the complete solitude and total silence out there, a silence so solid you felt like you could grab it with your hands. I didn't get as close to the jetty as I wanted but plan on returning one day without cranky kids in tow.
September: We celebrated Craig's birthday this week with a trip up to Rainbow gardens and dinner with family. Of course we HAD to watch our boys in Red win on Thursday, too. Miley got into the spirit when she found Dad's tie! Next week the boys begin 5 day a week preschool and are super excited! (So is Mom!!) We also are in the process of prepping the interior of our home for a house-wide painting project and redecorating. AND my tomatoes are loaded so I need to pick and can them. So it will still be busy...is it ever NOT busy? Not my life!

GO UTES!

Happy Birthday Baby!

We just celebrated Miley's first birthday! We had a BBQ with the grandparents and Auntie Sue before the big party with cousins! The theme was, of course, Princess and Miley had a tiara, crown cake, a decorated "throne" (high chair) and jewelled balloons.
I can't believe she is a whole year old! She's got six teeth, zooms when she crawls, cruises the furniture and takes steps on her own. She has now figured out how to go down the stairs (she's been going up for months and sits at the top and squawks until someone comes and rescues her). She has strawberry blonde hair that's curly curly. She looks like a kewpie doll with all the curls on top of her head. Her favorite person in the whole world is her Daddy and Sam can always get a giggle out of her!

Oh What Fun It Is!

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we've had a bout of sickness and generalized busy-ness lately. With the hot-cold-hot-cold Utah spring Jake's asthma has been acting up and Miley has had a run of the ickies lately, too. It started a couple of weeks ago with a case of croup, then progressed to ear infections and bronchiolitis. After about 3 days of no sleep for Mom, we went back to the doctor with high fevers (103.5) and came home with a diagnosis of pneumonitis. That was actually pretty scary for me because I took her in on Mother's Day and almost ended up with a baby in the hospital! Her oxygen saturations were down around 85% when we got there, but with some chest percussion, O2 blow by and stimulating her cough she was able to clear and get her sat up to 94%. The doctor said that if they hadn't of been able to get her up then she would have been admitted. Happy Mother's Day to me, for sure! After that she was improving, then woke up one morning with a blotchy, splotchy rash everywhere! It turns out she is allergic to the antibiotic. Luckily the rash cleared up quickly once the antibiotics stopped. You can somewhat see her rash in the pictures in the stroller. Check out the one where she's doing "SO BIG!" So Cute! We thought we'd show you how we see her in the morning...our little Linus with her thumb and "bankie."

Other than that, it's just business as usual around here. Craig has been putting in LONG hours at work. I try to be extra supportive, but I'll admit I get a little frustrated not seeing him for days on end. But I understand that getting a new place going will have growing pains. Hopefully that should settle down into a more normal routine for us soon. I've just been doing my "thang" down at SDCH. There are good days and bad days all around.

My brother Wade has returned from Turkey and now is settling back into life in the states. We are grateful he came home safe and sound! Now that the sickies are better (cross your fingers) we are planning the summer activities and preparing for some home improvement projects. Miley will be a year next month (wow!) and we gotta get this place in party shape!

So what's a post without a few cool boy pictures, right? Here's some of my little road warriors! The boys got NEW BIKES a few weeks ago and they have had a ton of fun with them. They surprise me how much they enjoy riding and then how well they sleep that night! (Hee Hee--Mom had an ulterior motive, you see!) They happily ride around the block 3-4 times and then down to the park and around and back. Craig and I think we might plan a day outing to ride the Legacy trail with them! It is soooo nice to be able to FINALLY get to spend some time outside!

Sam and Jake love their bikes! (Even when they fall down.) Sam is so cute, because as he rides you can hear him giving himself encouragement and pep talks when going around corners, up and down inclines and peddling fast! Jake is a power house, blazes through any obstacle standing in his way (parents included!)

Keep the Prayers Going...

Just wanted to let everyone know that Savannah is doing better. She is still not out of woods yet, but is waking up and recognizing her mommy. Please keep the Neeleys in your prayers. I have great faith that prayers are heard and answered and that prayer works many miracles. Thanks Everyone!

Start the Prayer Circle

This is just a quick post asking everyone to say a prayer for my friend Jody N. and her family. They are vacationing in California and their 15 month old little girl Savannah spiked a temperature, suffered a seizure and is now in a coma. I am asking everyone who follows our blog, friends and family to keep little Savannah in your prayers. I believe in the power of prayer and know that if we all unite and lend our thoughts, hearts and voices and ask in faith that we can assail heaven and work miracles!
Please pray for the Neeley family and keep them in your thoughts during this time. My thanks and love to you all!

Easter Party!

This past Saturday we had the annual Easter Party with Craig's family. We ate yummy food, dyed eggs (sorry, no pictures of that, we needed all hands on deck to keep the color on the eggs and not the kids), had an egg rolling contest, a goodie hunt and had fun! Our thanks to Sue for a great party!

So Have We Kept You in Suspense Long Enough?

This is a post without pictures. I know some of you out there won't like that. But, as you can see we've changed up the title complete with new pictures of us! There's Miley in her nine month old glory, and Sam and Jake just as cute as any two boys have a right to be. I think those oughta count as the pictures! (The sidebar pics are updated, too!)
So...the big news. Since it is now official and everything I guess I can spill the beans. After twelve long years at SDCH, Craig has given his resignation and will start at a new job the first part of April. He is going to be a unit manager/assistant director of nursing for a new, just opened skilled rehab facility, which is--get this--2 minutes from our house! We watched the building go up and found out a good friend is the director of nursing, and she's excited to have Craig come aboard. This was in the works for a while, but, being as things are and you just never know with you-know-who, we had to keep it pretty quiet until the official start date came. He is excited to branch out and try something new, and especially eager to make his mark on something that is full of potential. It will be so very hard for him to leave all the friends he's made over the years, but we feel that this is the right time and it has all fallen into place. We are grateful that the doors were opened by heaven and he was able to make a move that has all the potential to lead to a happier Craig!
The other big news is that I've accepted a position at SDCH and become a House Supervisor. I now work ten hour shifts and basically manage the running of two floors and oversee the goings-on on the other floor. I am the go-to girl, I guess. I've done it now about a month and must say that even though it can be difficult and stressful, I find it a nice change of pace. Although the pediatric part of it scares me a bit. I haven't done sick kids since nursing school, so I've had my own freak out moment already and hopefully made it through. (Had to drop an NG tube on a baby. YIKES!!) It works out well in the money situation for our family and allows me a bit more freedom with my schedule. Change is good, for the most part!
In other news, we're just waiting for Spring to arrive. My trees are budding and the crocus and daffodils are blooming--under a layer of snow. I can hardly wait for the warmth to come back. The kids are doing well. Miley crawls EVERYWHERE and has got the princess part down pat. Jake recently emptied a whole bottle of ketchup onto the remnants of my garden statues that are now in pieces. (One survived and will live on Dad's workbench until Jake is older--much much older.) Sam keeps up a running commentary for me each day and I must admit, thoroughly entertains me. I went dry packing tonight and doubled my long term food storage. It's a lot of fun! And, I'm planning my garden and looking forward to the Easter party this weekend.

Winter Doldrums

Yuck. This is the time of year that I really start to dislike things. Call it cabin fever, or something. It just seems like everything suddenly becomes old, shabby, dirty and boring. Maybe it's seasonal affective disorder.

I love all the seasons for different reasons. I don't really have a favorite. But, you know that feeling you get when you're tired of something? That's what I have BIG TIME. I love winter, the crisp clean white snow, fireside memories, Christmas, the freshness and sharp bite to the air, winter comfort food. But, along about March I get the blahs. Hate the snow, which is now dirty gray, the dead brown grass poking through, the pollution in the air that makes you cough, let down of the holiday season gone by, cold that gets into your bones and makes you hurt worse, the smell of dirt and decay, and the heavy food that makes you long for summer salads and lemonade.
I love spring for the new green plants poking through, daffodils and crocuses, tulips and hyacinths. Baby animals, Easter, trees coming back to life, warm rain, airing out the house and working in my garden and feeling the soil and smelling the new earth. I love summer for the bright blue skies, long days, green growing things, fresh tomatoes off the vine, barbecues, fireworks and fresh mowed grass. I love fall for the harvest, fire colors in the trees and across the mountain sides, canning fruits, apple pie with fresh apples, new school supplies, the smell of crayons.
Now, I long for spring. I find myself anxiously surveying my flower beds, willing the crocus to peek through. I get excited that the limbs of the trees have buds and growth. I want to see the "Daffydowndillies" coming up, see the grass spotted with green shoots. I want to see the roses unfurl their leaves, the daisies start to poke through. I want to see the baby chicks, the new calves at the farm by Mom and Dad's, taste the strawberries, plant the peas and pole beans. I want blue skies without the smog, to see the mountains without the haze, to take my kids to the park and let them run wild in the fresh air. I want to smell the lilacs, the lilies of the valley. Sigh.

Life is wild and crazy, par for the golf course of our mortal probation, I suppose. The kids got the cold crap for a few weeks. Sam had to get five freakin' cavities filled. Thank goodness for sedation dentistry. Jake passed with flying colors, no "holes", yay! He's still is into everything. Miley is crawling, pulling up on things. We had to remove the bassinet out of her play yard and drop her mattress in her crib. Here's some pictures of her, I can't believe how fast she's growing up!

There are some changes coming for us, but I can't go into detail right now. Suffice it to say they are good changes, so don't worry. (And no, no new little Fords on the horizon, do ya think I'm nuts?!?)

HEY EVERYBODEEE!

Sorry, I was channeling Grover there for a minute.
Hey out there, all my wonderful, handsome, beautiful, kind, funny sweet friends and family, PLEASE PLEASE add your name to the Followers over there...on the side...look...that's it...no up...yeah right there! We would REALLY LOVE IT if you would so we can see that we're not just doing this for our health! You don't have to be a blogger, just add in anonymously, okay? That way we can know who's actually blog stalking us! Thank you thank you! (I'll make you cookies ;-)!)

Happy Birthday Jake!

A little while ago we celebrated Jacob's third birthday! Wow! Time goes so fast, it seems not very long ago he was the scrawny little baby we brought home on a cold winter's day. He was four weeks early, the day after my doctor said "Nothing's happening." (Yeah, right.) I guess he was just in too much of a hurry to be with Sam, and he's more than made up for the 15 months they spent on opposite sides of heaven! He is truly a joy most days, an outright pill others, but he's always charming, sweet and continuously amazing! I asked him some questions this year to document his likes and dislikes and these are the answers he gave (Jakeisms included):

Favorite color: "orrige but sometimes green"
Favorite food: "hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog! oh, anna pizza, yeah!"
Favorite TV show: "Ferb!" (Phineas and Ferb on Disney)
Favorite movie: "ummmm, diggers and trains." (He got some DVDs of construction vehicles and trains for his birthday)
Favorite snack: "Candy"
Favorite game "Shekers" (Checkers) and "Superharolds" (Superheroes)
Favorite friend: "Sam and Brookin"
Favorite toy: "Sam's red truck" and "Workbench"
Favorite story: "Birdie finds the Mom" (Are you my Mother?)
Favorite school activity: "Painting"
Favorite primary song: "Snowman song"
Favorite thing to do: "Go outside" and "baths"

Dislikes: getting up early, bedtime, haircuts, icky dinners, picking up toys, listening, sharing, being told no.

We took the boys to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday, which they just loved. Can't say the same for the grown-ups, but hey, the kids had a good time and we got to make some memories besides. After that we came home and had presents and cake. I made the cake to look like a dirt pile with some construction trucks in it, I thought it turned out pretty well!

Happy Birthday Bug! We love you!

Growing up

This Sunday Sam gave his first talk in Primary! I can't believe how big he is getting! He was so excited to talk in the microphone and he did awesome! Craig helped him write out a few lines about being a spirit child of Heavenly Father . Sam got right up in Primary and with only a little prompting he said his talk. I am so proud of him! Here's what he said:

"I have a Heavenly Father. I lived with him before I came to earth. I can read about Him in the scriptures. I can pray to Him. He blesses me. I love Him and He loves me."

It seems only yesterday that he was just a little guy. Now he talks about things like skateboards and tells me how a clock works. I hear conversations between Sam and Jake and I just have to chuckle at their reasoning and topics. Then Sam will say something incredibly profound to me and I'll think "Where'd you learn that? I didn't teach you that." Kids are amazing. Do you ever get the feeling that your children are older than you? My mom has always said that about my brothers and I, and my dad gave me a birthday card once that jokingly counted all those pre-mortal years. (Happy 1,678,976,457 th birthday!) I feel that way about my boys. Sometimes for a brief moment I see the men they will become. Sometimes for a brief moment I glimpse a soul that is eons older and wiser and purer than mine. I can only hope and pray that I can teach them what is right and that they will know success in life.

In other happenings the kids have yet another case of the sniffles, and Miley is FINALLY starting to like solids. She ate all her cereal, applesauce and sweet potatoes at dinner. She even likes meat, which I cut and tear into tiny tidbits for her. (I don't like the puree baby meats-yeecch!) Nilla wafers are her favorite to munch on with her two teeth. So life as usual!