Alright!

I promised some pictures so here they are....hope you enjoy!

The New Year's Coming

Well I'm glad to see that some people on my blog list are as bad as me about posting. One day I'll have time to do stuff again. I'm on Christmas break from dance right now and I'm loving it. I don't want to go back...I think I'm burnt out. How do you get burnt out on doing something you love? I don't know but I am. This school year has been extremely difficult. It hasn't killed me though, so I'm sure that in some twisted way it has made me stronger.
We got the boys pictures taken at the beginning of the month, so I'll have to find time to post them in the next few days, they are soooo cute. My mom and her husband, Steve, came to visit us. The boys loved having them here. After they left we had just a few days until Christmas. Those passed by really fast and we had a great holiday. The boys were so excited we woke them up at 10 min. to 4 in the morning so they could open their presents before Blake had to go to work. It was great. I thought that they would just be too rotten from being woke up to enjoy it, but they weren't. As soon as we told Ben that Santa had came....he was all smiles, and they only got bigger.
Well after Christmas there's always the clean up...that really hasn't begun too much yet. Brendon is slowly but steadily pulling all of the ornaments off the tree. We really need to go pick up all the boxes from our shed so we can put stuff away. We're just so lazy...have to haul it through the snow...and the biggest just remembering to pick them up when we're already out there.
Good news....our house is coming along, the basement floor was poured yesterday. The lumber is supposed to be here next week so they can start framing, and they are going to back fill next week sometime too. So that's great. Also, we have our cabinets ordered. Wow that was a big chunk of money, and it was only the deposit. We'are getting a great deal though. So I'm really excited, I just can't believe that finally I might have something that's really nice. Which rolls into the...
Bad news....So on Friday night two sets of our upper cabinets just fell off of our wall. Of course they had all of our glass cups and mugs and plates and stuff like that. Luckily most of the stuff didn't break just almost all of our cups and stuff. We do have to be thankful that no one was in the kitchen at the time because looking at it (and we did take pictures) it would have totally killed a child or really injured an adult. Now we're just on the fight for our landlord to actually fix the problem...that will be a huge fight, probably. I know somehow he's going to try to make us pay for it, but I've checked with my insurance company and talked to my contractor and stuff and they said it's not my fault so if he tries to make a claim against me insurance, they will counter and if he tries to keep our security deposit they said we can take him to small claims court, like we ever would, but at least we will have satisfaction of knowing that it wasn't our fault. I just really can't wait until we have something nice. I won't know what to do with myself if my house isn't falling apart all around me. It will be a new experince but a welcomed one for certain. Any ways I've talked enough, must people probably won't even make it to the end of this post. We love ya guys, and keep hope as our focus.

Another Beginning

Well I think that everything is going good. Still stressful. Having problems every where we look it seems like. I swear nothing can just be easy anymore. Oh well...things really will get better. We should be closing on our construction loan on Wednesday, they wanted to do it tomorrow, but like I said nothing can be easy, so Wednesday it is. I'm excited for it to really feel like it's starting. Hopefully our contractor can get our cement poured soon, maybe next week, I don't know, we're going to have to talk to him.
Well Blake's little brother Brent and his wife just had their baby on the 13th...so exciting. He is soooooo sooooo so cute! Ben just thinks that he is just "it". He loves to tell everybody about him, and it is making him even more excited for his Auntie Aubrey to have her baby. He asked me the other day if she was going to have her baby next, and I told him she was, now everyday since Friday he's been asking me when, I keep trying to tell him, she still has a while, but he doesn't get it. Oh well.
All I see is babies. Everywhere I go. I swear everybody has one. It must be the new style, and our ward is still waiting for one more little one to arrive. I think it's great, and I can't believe that Ben is old enough to go to primary in January, he's going to be the best little Sunbeam ever! I'm a little nervous about changing wards, we've stayed in our old ward, but I'm thinking about starting to go to the one we will be in after our house is built, not until January though, that's when I'm thinking about making the switch, but maybe I'll wait for our house to be done, I just haven't decided. I just want to do what's going to be easiest on the boys.
Well I just thought that I'd say hi. I feel like I haven't talked to anybody for forever, we've been so secluded and have had so much going on with these stupid houses we hardly have time to breath and think. I'm going to be glad when everything is closed, once we can turn our contractor loose on our lot, I think 95% of the stress will be gone, well I hope any ways, I know he'll do a good job...I've seen his house.

The Toilet

Well, I don't really have the time to be doing this, but I am any ways. A couple of catch up items. We are in an apartment. It's okay, hard to be renting again...already problems with our neighbors...but that seems to be resolving itself. We're in a 4-plex. Any ways it's my birthday today. Happy Birthday to ME! I have to plan a lesson for Relief Society tomorrow and clean my whole house, because Blake invited some people over for cake and ice cream tonight. I hope he takes me to dinner, cause that would be the best birthday present of all...not cooking. So I know it doesn't sound like a lot...but I'm a slow lesson preparer and look what I'm doing with my time...not what I'm supposed to be doing.

Any ways this last week we have been trying to get settled in to this apartment. We still have boxes everywhere it seems like. Mainly just our bedroom is a mess with the leftovers and some boxes in our dinning room. It went really fast until Blake had to go back to work and now it seems like I can't get anything done on my own.

Okay to the title of the Blog. Blake has just decided this last week when we moved in that Ben is big enough he should be able to potty in the toilet standing up like a big boy. I think that is one of the worst things I could have been told. So I told Blake that's his job, he's the one that goes that way any ways (I've been telling Blake this would be his job with all of our boys for a long time now). So he's been teaching Ben and he's been doing a pretty good job, and Ben's doing excellent. However there have been some minor defects.

Ben is pretty small for his age, and our toilet upstairs must be just a little higher off the ground (we're talking centimeters) than the toilet downstairs. So he thinks that he's really big and likes to take himself to the bathroom now, confident that he doesn't need Mommy's help anymore. Well most of the time he's right. Well a couple of days ago he took himself to the bathroom upstairs right before bathtime so he was already naked, and I walked in the room behind him. He was trying so hard to push his peepee down that the end ended up going up, and well the toilet bowl isn't on the ceiling. It got the shower curtain, floor, toilet bowl, etc. So there's one of the down sides, but this morning he made up for it by taking himself to the potty downstairs and he did an amazing job, congrats to him. I still think that we need to get a stool.

Okay so the bathroom upstairs has two doors, one from the master bedroom in and then the other is from the hallway in. So they have been trying to play in the bathroom a lot, and Brendon is obsessed. So we've really been having to work hard to keep him out of the bathroom. And it really is hard, because Ben goes around opening every door that you close. Well after Ben takes homself potty he's really good about flushing but not so good about putting the toilet seat AND lid down. Because of having little guys in the house it's always been a rule to close the lid when finished. Well Brendon, I swear, he waits for Ben to flush and leave, then he runs into the bathroom where the toilet lid is still up and puts his hands in the toilet and swirls them arounf like five thousand times. I hear the slushing and run to the bathroom and see him totally wet, disgusting, and smiling and laughing at himself with pride. So this has also been a down side to the new and big lifestyle of a toilet trained toddler. Now whenever I hear any water sounds I run to the bathroom to make sure that Brendon isn't in there, or whenever it's really quiet and I can't find him, I always check the bathrooms first.

Glory, Hallelujah, Blessed Day

From the title of this you might guess that we've sold our house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well we have it under contract any ways. The guy that's buying it wants to close on Nov. 3rd. Which is great, I mean it's only like a few weeks away, like 2 1/2 but the big problem is finding a new place to live. Don't get me worng, we are so excited, but there isn't any place to rent under like $1600 a month. Most of everything is actually $2000. I've been calling people and places all day today. It hasn't been fun. Everybody is like live with his parents. Well I guess we could do that in their invisible pretend extra bedroom. Yeah, so we don't really have family that we could move in with. There was this one place that had an opening in the middle of November, so I thought yeah maybe we could crash on his parents' floor for a few weeks, but then they said that their $1100 a month rent is only for renters with a year contract, those who want 6 months they charge $2000. OUT OF CONTROL! So we've been asking everybody to help us look for "For Rent" signs around town. So that's the main thing going on right now. My brother and his wife, Aubrey, were just here. They left yesterday...I cried....and cried. I am so sad, it was so nice to see them, I just wish that it could happen more than twice a year. They seemed to have a good time here, which I was glad about. I am a retard and couldn't find our cameras the whole time they were here, so she took a bunch of pictures and is going to copy them onto a disk for me and mail them to me. So if she doesn't put them on her blog then I will put them on mine. Well I guess that's it. Just pretty stressful right now, but I'm sure something will work out. So, I guess that's it for now.

Getting Back in the Swing

Well I'm finally feeling a lot better. I still hurt if it gets touched or hit (you know by one of my boys). So like waching my face or putting on make-up kind of bother it, but other than that I'm good. Ben was like just fine after his surgery. A little irratated the rest of the day and a little bi-polar, but by Tuesday fine. Like I wish I could have bounced back like that. I just have to remind myself, I'm older and his surgery was done with a scope, I have a two inch scar. Any ways Brendon fell yesterday, long story, but we didn't know why or how, but when we heard him crying we went to him and his head looked like it was about to explode. A huge goose egg on the left corner of his forehead, with just a little cut. We didn't take him in cause there's not much they can do for a bumped head. Any ways it's a good thing we bought the Tylenol and Motrin for Ben cause now we're using it just not for him, for Brendon. Blake goes on days off tomorrow which is great. I'm finally going back to teaching dance. I've had the last two or three weeks off because of all of this medical madness. Tomorrow I'm teaching make-up classes for some of them and then next Monday we should be back to the norm. I'll be teaching on Mondays and Tuesdays 3 to 4 hours each, not much, but more than the last years. I feel like I need to get my body moving, I'm turning into a lazy sack of beans. It will make me plan better for cooking and cleaning too, so that will be good as well. Schedule's are always kind of nice. It also means it's time to break out the crock-pot. It kind of had the summer off. I use it a lot on the days I teach dance so the boys can eat at dinner time and not when I get home. Well I guess I'll let you go. Things are doing better here. Now, if we could just sell our house, life would be peachy!

Shari Ramey

I received a call today from Miss Lenore. She taught me dance starting at age 4. I can't remember not knowing her. There were about eight of us girls that danced together. We danced together for you know, like thirteen years. We were friends. Shari Ramey was one of them, she was the nicest, sweetest girl. The was always kind to me, friendly to everyone, with a smile that could have taken anybodies heart and breathe away. Her Uncle Marvin also taught us dance for those years. It was just like a big family. Miss Lenore called me today to notify me that Shari had been killed in a car accident on Monday. Marvin had come by the studio to gather some pictures of her. Miss Lenore said she couldn't help but notice me in all of them, she felt that I would want to know. Sometimes it's hard being so far away from everybody that you spent your whole growing up years with. I am so glad she called me. They are still investigating, and they think that there might have been another car involved, possibly even at fault. She had a light that everyone couldn't help but recognize. I am so grateful to have known her while she was here. She was 23. She wasn't wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, her boyfriend that was driving was, he had minor injuries. I hope that we can learn from this and all that she stood for...greatness....you will be missed

Day Three

I had my surgery on Monday. Everybody says I'm a little loopy. I can't remember tons of things I do. I've slept most of the time, or I've been playing word searches and fill-it-ins and stuff. Any ways I'm doing okay, really sore, my neck feels really tight. I have a bunch of stitches, and yeah, just stuff. I'm not thinking right right now....so sorry. The doctor said that my tumor itself was just a little bit bigger than a whole walnut (shell and everything) and that everything that was removed (tumor and gland) was equivelant to the size of a tangerine. Yeah, out of my nick, I had a tangerine in my neck!!!!!!!! I can't belive it didn't look bigger on the outside. I actually need to go take some pain meds right now, it's hurting and stinging. But Ben cut his hair (well part of it) at Blake's sisters house on Tuesday while she was watching the boys. He did it along with his cousin Adam. They're like two pease in a pod. They remind me of two boys I know, you might know them too...Michael McGee and David Bunting. Brendon has something new too. He said another word today, just like a few minutes ago. He said cookie, well not really he said "cooka" We count it though and think it's cute. Well I'm off to go back and lie down. Love you guys, Alisa

Nervous Excitment

Well we got a call from our real estate agent that said that people that looked at our house on Saturday wanted to come back for another look yesterday morning. We tried not to get to excited but, how could we not. We've never had anybody come back for a second look. Well they haven't put an offer on it, so I don't know. I guess the husband loves it and wants it, but the wife is undecided. My realtor said I guess we'll find out who wears the pants i nthe family, but their agent said that if they don't put an offer on it, that her mother-in-law is moving to Vernal from Salt Lake and she thinks that it's an awesome house and that she wants to show it to her. So maybe we'll get it sold any ways.
So that's kind of good news, and our deeds should actually be ready for us today. So, if we had our house sold, we really should be able to take out our loan in the next few days. I went to the doctor yesterday (Tuesday), and they still can't tell what's wrong from the CT scan. Any ways they really won't say anything one way or the other except that it needs taken out. So, I'm having surgery on MONDAY. Yeah, in like six more days. It's cool though, I'm ready to have it over and for them to be able to see exactly what it is, and just to have answers. I have to stay one night, and I'm having it done at the hospital in Roosevelt, just about a half an hour from here. So that's that. I'm nervous about everything but excited too. Hopefully this next week will just be great!

Alright I've finally got my pictures developed. Sad but there were seriously hundreds of them! SO, I updated my slide shows, and added one too. Hwever, some of these pictures are really old, and they aren't in any chronological order. I'm having a hard time typing 'cause my eyes are split between the coputer and the TV, mens gymnastics individuals are on. I love the olympics. We've been staying up way late every night to watch them. Poor Blake, he couldn't tough it tonight, I'm up by myself.

Okay, the medical update. Still don't know what's up with my neck. I go back to my ENT on Tuesday and we should find out for sure then. Ben's doctor office visit at Primary Children's went well. Although we were a little disappointed that we can't get him in for his surgery until September 8th, but it'll be okay. So we're looking forward to that.

Everything else is pretty normal. I'm getting ready to start back into my fall schedule of teaching dance. I'm going to be teaching even more classes this year than last. The studio owner is going to have me start teaching everything ballet from ( I think) three and up. Last year she started me on the 5 & 6 year olds, and now we're just getting younger. They're fun classes to teach and it's not like they'll be doing competitions, so it won't be near as stressful. So I'm trying to get dances put together so it might get a little stressful for me over the next couple of months when I'm getting all of my dances figured out. I"m still excited with all of my new ideas though, I think it will be a good year for us, I hope any ways. I'll still just be teaching twice a week, which is good 'cause gas prices are still high here.

Well the next big thing is that tomorrow, well in a couple of hours now...is Blake and I's FOURTH anniversary! Man! We're getting old, but at least we're getting old together. We were really looking forward to going away for our anniversary this year, but all the unexpected medical things...and now we're really excited about going away together next year. Gotta think positive. Well he had flowers sent to me today, and they're beautiful. He was so proud of himself, since he did it all on his own, so I figured I'd let everyone see how good of a job he did. I had my wedding ring sent in for repairs, so my finger feels a little naked, weird for an anniversary, but hopefully I'll get it back in the next few days. Well I think that's it, more people looking at the house and still no offers. I don't know what to do, but just keeping waiting and praying. Well we love you all and hope that you enjoy the new pictures.

Well I haven't kept up on my blogging. We've just had crazy things happening. Okay today I had my cat scan. Any ways yeah it was interesting, I felt like I was in a spaceship, but it wasn't bad. I thought that I'd be in a long tube like thing, but it was just a little disc with a whole in the middle that they moved around my head. I couple of times I really had a hard time trying not to laugh. Blake didn't think that I was going to be able to sit still long enough for them to get a good scan. Grrrr...but I did it.
Tomorrow we take Ben down to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake for his consultation with Dr. Black about his hernia. Hopefully it will all go okay and they will let us come back soon for his surgery. I don't think that my surgery will be immediate so I want to pay Ben's off before they open me up. That's the plan but the cat scan will provide the ultimate answers.
I really need to update some pictures, but I'm so backed up on getting my film developed if I do anymore without getting them developed I'm going to be so mixed up with my scrapbooking. Staying organized is hard! I think I'll be getting them developed in the next week or so. I swear it'll be a small fortune, I seriously haven't had pictures developed since right before Christmas!!!!! So we have Christmas, Ben's birthday, Brendon's birthday, dance competitions, Cali. vacation....etc. But I'm excited to do some more blogging soon. One day my blog will be all cute like everybody elses, but until then the nasty plain stuff will have to work.
We haven't had any luck with our house. We had another person come yesterday and we're supposed to have another person coming later this week. Everyone just needs to pray for us. We really need to sell this house. Selling it, or at least having it under contract in the next two weeks would be really good for us, because we really need to start on our house. We want all the outside to be done before winter gets here, so we don't have to worry about the snow thing and everything like that. Well I guess I will talk to everyone later. I need to clean the house tonight so it will be clean tomorrow in case somebody wants to come see it while we're gone. I've also got to get ready for dinner. Well love you all lots.......Alisa
P.S. We just had Brendon's pictures taken for his Birthday so I can put those on.

Well things are getting a little better here. I'm finally getting over being sick and the boys are good. Brendon's 1st Birthday is going to be on Sunday. I can't believe that he's a year old. It's just toooo crazy. I think that he is going to get some more teeth (he only has 2 right now). The top front teeth are coming in. We're having his party on Tuesday, maybe he'll have them by then, who knows. We're moving cows all this week. So we were up on the mountain and I have like a gazillion mesquito bites. Blake has a few but I think that they boys got away without getting any. We had them covered up pretty good. Well I'll right again later. -alisa

Hey guys! Well, this is my first attempt to blog. Yeah I don't know what I'm doing but I'm tired of being out of the loop, so here goes nothing. I really want to try to get some pictures of the boys up. That's my first goal. Bye for now.