The happy ending

Our sad Halloween story has a happy ending! We rescheduled Ash's party and had a Happy "Belated" Halloween party. All of our friends were good sports and pulled out their costumes once again.


Ashton planned out our menu and I spent all day in the kitchen making it.

Ashton planned a cupcake walk. After their number was called the kids came over and decorated their own cupcakes.

Everyone's favorite game was eating doughnuts off a string.



The kids had a blast and we're so glad everyone kept the Halloween spirit alive long enough to let our kids enjoy their party!

Free to fly

After spending 9 days cooped up in our apartment due to the Dr's order, Lola was finally free to run....

and run...
and run......
and run...
and run...


She was in heaven!

"I thought this was going to be the best Halloween ever...."

It all began with a little book. Two months ago my Grandma Jean gave Ashton a "Taste of Home" Halloween cookbook. Ashton wore the cover off the book. It really got her imagination going and she has been planning her Halloween party every waking moment since. We invited 50 people and every single one of them was planning on attending. Ash had all kinds of games and activities planned. We have slowly bought every possible thing we could think of for the party and have been so excited.........Well, on Wednesday after school we were planning on going to get our H1N1 shot. Kye came home complaining of a headache and coughing. This soon escalated in to a fever of 104. I think you can see where this going. Needless to say, it was too late for us to get the shot. Thursday night was our ward Trunk or Treat and we had decided that we would go and Kye could stay in the car and watch. That way he would still be able too feel like he was participating but he wouldn't be infecting anyone. While we were getting the kids dressed we heard a loud thud and a scream. Lola had pulled the piano bench over and crushed her big toe. We rushed her to the ER. The Dr could not believe she hadn't broken it. She severed the nailbed and had several severe cuts that they stitched and glued. When I left the ER the Dr said he was worried about infection and if she came down with a fever I should bring her back in. I told him she had a brother with H1N1 and that a fever could be related to the flu but he said we couldn't chance it and would have to bring her back. I came home and we told Ash that we would have to cancel her party. She said "I thought this was going to be the best Halloween ever!" And then she cried herself to sleep. The next day I told my sister things could not get any worse. She told me not to say that because then they might. And they did! At 2 am Lola came down with a fever and back to the ER we went. We were there the rest of the night. The Dr finally diagnosed the fever as part of the flu and she and I returned home at 7:30 am, after spending a night with all the drunks and other crazy people.

This is how Lola spent Halloween. Drugged up on Antibiotics, Antivirals, Tylenol and Ibuprofen. She has a beautiful little Angel dress that she has yet to wear. We felt so bad for Ashton and Kye that we let them put on their costumes and Trick-or-Treat at a few of our neighbors doors. By the end of the weekend our entire family had caught the dreaded "swine" flu. We had many kind friends and neighbors drop treats off at our door. The kids good friends Courtney and Conner brought over big bags of their own treats.
The consolation I gave the kids was that it was just as fun to stay home and give out treats as it was to go out trick-or-treating. We did our best to decorate our porch and even played scary music to invite trick-or-treaters. We waited and waited. We had 3 knocks and only 5 kids come by. This is our full bowl of treats at the end of the night.
Things can only get better from here, right?

The lucky guy

I've always had a streak of good luck in me. I often win drawings that I enter. We think my good luck has rubbed off on Kye. A local toy store was having a grand opening party and Kye's name was drawn. He was able to choose out of a table full of great toys. He chose a skateboard action toy. I don't think anything could have made him any happier!
Kye was chosen as a Superstar for his class this month for being such a hardworking student and good friend to all his classmates. Lola and I went to watch him receive his award. Most people out here only have 1 or 2 kids and Lola was one of only a couple younger siblings there. She was so excited she kept yelling "WOW" and clapping loudly. Every time she made a noise the whole 2nd grade would turn around and laugh. One of the teachers at the end of the program said Lola "stole the show". What can I say the girl draws attention everywhere she goes!

A little bit of this......

Forgive me for rambling but ultimately my blog is my scrapbook. I need to jot down a few things about our little Miss Lola before I forget. Throughout the day while the kids are at school Lola will climb into Ashton's bed. I find her under the covers cuddling with "Scruffy". She has also become extremely independent and insists on walking down our stairs by herself. Any time she hears music she begins to dance. The girls got the moves! She has also become quite the talker. Her favorite word is "NO". ( What else could you expect from a daughter of mine?) Her other favorite words are down, side (outside), shoes (she only has about 20 pairs), more and Lola. She also says ahbin-dahbin. We have not yet figured out what it means but she loves to walk around repeating it. She is growing so fast. We're just wishing for time to slow down and trying to enjoy every minute.

Buddy Walk

This is our sweet niece Addi. We went to Arizona last weekend to join her for the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome. Her dad Steve designed the best t-shirts and we all went to a park in Phoenix and joined many other families with Down Syndrome children. Despite being over 100 degrees, it was such a fun event. They had all kinds of fun activities for kids. The kids had a blast! It was such a great experience to celebrate these sweetest of all children. You can't help but to fall in love with them.


The kids loved climbing the rock wall. Thanks Uncle Cody for being teaching them. They were the fastest kids up that wall!

Team Addi

New York

Todd and I spent a weekend in New York to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Our anniversary is in February but we waited until Sept. because I was still nursing Lola. New York is amazing! We stayed 1 block off Times Square. Times Square is crazy. At any given time of the day it was crowded and busy. I loved to just sit and people watch.
We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was beautiful amongst all the big square high rises.

We spent time in Central Park. It's so nice and calming in the middle of all the craziness.
No, we didn't see the show but Todd was happy just to see the theater.
Todd grew up watching the movie Bye Bye Birdie. When he heard the Broadway Show was playing in New York he really wanted to see it. I was fine seeing it because it starred John Stamos. Come on, you know Uncle Jesse is hot!

Our hotel was right next to the Midtown Fire Station. Nine years later people are still leaving flowers in memory of those who died in 9-11.

We visited St Paul's Chapel. It is right across from Ground Zero. The graveyard was covered in debris for along time after 9-11. The chapel was used as a makeshift hospital following the act of terror. It was a place of refuge and peace. I'm generally not an emotional person but I could not stop the tears.
Ground Zero
The Brooklyn Bridge
We walked from one end of Manhattan to the other. We ate lunch in Chinatown. The food was good but the streets stunk like rotten fish. If Todd looks mad in this picture it is because I couldn't help but to keep repeating how bad it smelled!
Little Italy was celebrating some kind a saint day. It was insane! We were wishing we had waited to eat there! Who can pass up some yummy Italian food while sitting next to some guy who looks like he belongs on The Sopranos?
After eating cheesecake every night at midnight I gained 3 pounds. It was worth every bite!
The Empire States building
We went to sacrament meeting at the chapel inside the temple. Unfortunately, I forgot my skirt so it was the first time I've ever attended church in my jeans. After meeting some of the families in the ward that are attending Columbia University I felt very grateful to live in San Diego where my children have open space and green grass to play on.
We took a row boat out for spin in Central Park.
Me and Al Roker
We took a harbor tour and saw the Statue of Liberty.
The End!