Go Yankees!!

Easton had his last baseball game of the season on Saturday. He got to pitch one inning. Mommy was so nervous, but for no reason. He was awesome! He even struck a guy out!

Our Little Fireworks Display

We had our own little fireworks display at our house. The kids thought it was so much fun to help Daddy light them! Uncle Jeff tried to entertain us with some trampoline acrobatics. We had a really fun night.

Pioneer Day At The Hogle Zoo

We spent Pioneer Day at the Hogle Zoo with Jeff and Bonnie's family. We had a lot of fun seeing all of the animals and spending the day together. The weather was perfect...a little cloudy and not too hot.

Jace....smarter than your average 4 yr. old

So, Easton is sick with a fever today and can't go to church. Suddenly as we are getting ready to go Jace comes down with severe stomach cramps and some sort of wierd leg ache. What do you do? I explained to him that if he was too sick to go to church he would have to lay down all day and he couldn't have any fun! That was a-okay with him! So a little later I am downstairs getting Easton a drink and he is jumping around the kitchen and singing a little song, so I say, "Jace I thought you were sick." -He quickly puts his hand up to his head and sways back and forth and as he's walking to the couch to lay down he says, "Man, am I dizzy!" He is so hard not to laugh at! Needless to say since we have been home he has made a miraculous recovery!

A Day At The Pool With Grandma

Grandma Linda and I took the kids to the Lehi pool today. We had tons of fun! Grandma was a really good sport and spent the whole time in the pool with the kids! What a good Grandma!

Little Orphan Emmy

Emmy before and after a much needed hair cut. She should have her pretty pink bows out in another couple of minutes the way she is working on them! We love our puppy!

Camry Meeting Her New Cousin

Camry got to meet her newest cousin today. Little Sophie was born on 7-17-07. She is beautiful and we are already in love! Aunt Bonnie is going to LOVE these photos of herself! That's what she gets for being a baby hog!!

Camry and Nemi

Grandma Gail bought Camry and Nemi matching Fourth of July shirts. Thank you Grandma!

Fourth of July in Blanding

The kids and I spent the Fourth of July in Blanding. We had a great time! Colby and his family were there so we got to see our Northern cousins. It's official Sage is the cutest baby boy ever!

We Hiked Timpanogas!

We had a Halliday Family Reunion a few weeks ago. The kids and I had a great time hiking Mt. Timpanogas! Camry and Easton had no problem at all. Jace was a trooper, but mom had to carry him almost all the way down. Way to go Mommy!

Papa Updates

• (7-8-08) TRANSPLANT DAY! Today 7-8-08 is Mike's transplant day. Aunt DeAnn has been up all week getting ready for her part in the deal.Mike has had 6 days of intense Chemo to clear out all of his bone marrow. Yesterday he had a day of rest and today is the big day! Please keep our Papa in your prayers.
• (7-9-08) Transplant went well. Grandma isn't feeling well so she hasn't been able to be at the hospital with Mike. Hope she starts feeling better soon...I'm sure it's killing her to not be able to be there! We love you Grandpa! See you when all of our colds are gone! Hugs and Kisses!
• (7-10-08) Grandpa is feeling pretty wiped out today.....that is to be expected with having no white blood cells. Hope they start building up soon! Love you Grandpa!
• (7-12-08) I guess Grandpa had a pretty bad night last night. Throwing up etc. Poor guy! The chemo he is on this time is a little different than before. Today he was feeling much better, just still really wiped out.
• (7-14-08) We went to the Hospital yesterday to visit and Mike was looking so good! We had a fun visit. Greg got his computer back to him, so he can feel like he can have a little connection to the outside world again! Phew! ....Talked to him today and he sounds a little stuffy but says he is feeling good.
• (7-15-08) Grandpa is feeling pretty crappy today. He just had another dose of Chemo. That stuff is bad news! I guess he was sick all night again last night and still wasn't feeling good today. Hope you sleep it off tonight Grandpa! Feel better soon! xoxo
• 7-23-08 Good News! Mike's counts are coming up! Today they were at 50 so that means only another 50 and he can bust out of prison! :) Feeling really tired today....but things are definitely looking up!
• 7-30-08 Today is a day of celebration for our family! Grandpa is getting out of the hospital. He will spend 2 nights close by the hospital and then be let out to come and stay with family for the next 2 months. We are so happy to have him back. He is not going to miss the Hospital at all! Yahoo!!
• 8-5-08 Mike had his first appointment back at the hospital today. Everything went so well that they decided they didn't need to see him back for another week! Way to go Grandpa!!
• 8-13-08 Mike had his 2nd Doctor's Appointment today since getting released from the hospital. They discovered that he's got a bladder infection. Luckily they were able to deliver an IV pole and had a home health nurse come and hook him up to some antibiotics. He should be as good as new in no time! He's got another appointment this Friday.
• 8-22-08 Grandpa is doing so great! They took him off of the medicine that he was taking that was making him sick. He's feeling tons better now! He and Linda go on a walk everyday and I hear he's walking further everyday!
• 8-31-08 Mike hasn't been feeling too bad...but he hasn't been able to keep any food down. He had a blessing tonight, and we're hoping that he is feeling better shortly!
• 9-6-08 Looking better everyday...only about 30ish days left to go to make the 100 day mark!!
• 9-13-08 First of all...totally off on the 30ish day mark comment, more like 45ish days until the 100 day mark! That's okay, we're not ready to get rid of Grandma and Grandpa yet! Mike just had his test to check to see if all of his 'cells' were Deann's or if there were any of his left....da da duh...they're ALL Deanns! YAHOO! This is great news!!
• 9-28-08 Mike continues to improve. He and Linda travel to the Huntsman twice a week for tests, but so far everything..other than his fluid intake looks good. They are hoping to go home around the 17th of October.
• 10-16-08 Today is the 100th day since Mike's bone marrow transplant! Congratulations Grandpa...we love you!!
  

Inspirations...

• (5-25-08) Okay..so the 'confession corner' was way too stressful for me! So...I'm going to try this. I think it'll be much easier for me to come up with people and situations that inspire me...rather than humiliating myself! So my first 'inspiration' is my cute little sister Jacci. Jax (as we call her) gave me the idea for my new blog. But..more than just 'blog inspiration' she is one of my very favorite people! She never has an unkind thing to say about anyone. She is just one of those people who radiates goodness. I love you Jax...and I'm so glad you're my little sister!
• (5-28-08)I'm up early thinking about my father in law. He has spent a lot of time this last year at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I am so inspired by Mr. Jon Huntsman and his family. I recently read that he donated $151 million dollars ($100 million of his own family money) to starting this hospital. If you've never been there...I hope you never have to...but, if you ever do you will be amazed! It is a beautiful place with wonderful doctors and staff. It has never felt like a hospital...more like a hotel. I'm so thankful that if our Grandpa can't be at home that there are incredible people out there willing to give of themselves to make his life away from home just a little better!
• (5-30-08)For obvious reasons my father in law Mike gets my spotlight today. I'm so thankful that he is such a fighter! He is the most amazing, loving, giving, and incredibly strong person I know. Our lives would not be what they are today without him at the head of our family! I'm so glad that he knows this enough to know that he has to endure for the rest of us and not give up! Love you Mike!
• (6-2-08)My friend Cami is one of those people who is always upbeat and happy. She follows her dreams. She has always loved Yoga and has recently decided to get her certification to teach. I have been attending her "practice" classes. She is awesome! I think she does an incredible job at it and I know she is going to be an amazing instructor! She is a wonderful mother of 5 children! When her last baby was 6 weeks old she was diagnosed with cancer. She has since "kicked it in the butt" as we like to say in our family. I am constantly amazed by her strength...and I'm so thankful that we are friends! I don't know what I ever did without her! Love you Cami!!
• (6-6-08)Today I'm inspired by any mother out there whose children are out of school for the summer. Man..school is a nice thing isn't it!? My kids are fighting like crazy today! Here's to having the sun come out...that would definitely help!
• (6-7-08)Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family who defended my youth when Ryan the cashier so callously called me old! I love you all!
• (6-11-08)We have had a busy week with old friends. First I got to go out to dinner with Jenny and KerrieLeigh...best friends from Highschool. Then we had Damon and Codi and their girls come stay with us for a couple of days. I have always known that I grew up in a great place surrounded by incredible people. But, I think getting older and having kids of my own I realize how important choosing good friends in your youth really is. Bryan and I were so lucky to have such great friends growing up! I'm even more thankful now that we are all grown up and have our own families. Now we get to experience life together in a new way! Our kids are buddies and it is awesome! Thanks to all of you guys for an awesome week...and here's to looking forward to a non windy day so we can have a barbecue soon!
• (6-15-08)To Bryan, Dad, Mike, Colby, Ryan, Jeff, Trent, Corey, Greg, all of my many Uncles, Grandpa Northern, Grandpa Fred, Grandpa Otto, and our friends. Thank you for being a part of my life! Love you all!
• (6-19-08)All of you who brighten my day with your confession corners! I love looking at the blog in the morning and getting a laugh. I know it's hard to think of things....I finally gave up. But, for those of you who still keep it up...thanks for making me smile!
• (6-21-08)My good friends. Who invite me to get out...even when I don't know I need to. It's nice to remember I can still have fun even though I'm an old mommy!
• (6-29-08)My little guy Easton. I love that he is so laid back. He is probably the only brother in the world that could handle Jace tagging along with him everywhere he goes. He is always fine with Jace hanging out with him and his friends and copying everything he does. He is always aware of other people. He shares all he has and rarely has episodes of unkindness. I love this boy!
• The community of Blanding really impressed me this weekend with how much they seemed to care about Mike. Thank you to all for you questions and concerns about him. Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated! It's good to know that the town knows and appreciates what a wonderful person my father in law is!

Confession Corner

• (5-7-08) I'm caving to peer pressure and starting a confession corner.....my first confession....I'm not sure I want to confess anything on my blog!
• (5-8-08) I once threw my best friend in front of me when we were attacked by a big scary dog! I'm not a very good friend sometimes!
• (5-9-08) Once when my friend Natalie was waxing my eyebrows...she accidentally ripped half of it off! I walked around for a LONG time (like at least a month) nervous that my eyebrow pencil was going to get rubbed off and I would only have half an eyebrow for the whole world to see!
• (5-11-08) I have reused the same popcorn bag at the movie around 8 times. I sneak it in along with my Diet Pepsi in my incredibly big purse! Sssshhh! Don't tell...I figure I have saved around $45.00!
• (5-13-08) I'm not a very brave person. Bryan and I once went sky diving. I have to confess I did not enjoy myself....and do you know how many pair of jeans I could have bought instead!? (which just makes it even worse!)
• (5-14-08) I have actually wet my pants from laughing so hard more than once...okay more than twice...okay probably around 3 times....