The Grandparents

Here is a video of the boy playing "lady rides" with Grandma and Grandpa Stice. They thought it was the funnest thing.

The second one is Emerson copying Grandma banging her chest like a Gorilla (sorry mom) It was really cute.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Stitches

So last week as I was preparing dinner, the twins were playing downstairs quietly, until...I heard crying, real crying ( my boys are great at faking it to get my attention). I went down to investigate and i see both boys sitting there, Emerson happy as can be, and Oliver is crying and there is a dark spot on his cheek. Upon closer look I realized it was blood. I then scooped him up and wiped the wound, at first it didn't look too bad, and then the gaping started and the cut opened to show its true colors. Thinking he would probably need stitches I then checked with my dad and neighbor, both agreed that stitches were on the agenda, and off my dad and I went to the instant care. We took Emerson with us, and were so grateful to our neighbors for keeping Eli ( it would of been chaos to bring all three!!!).
Luckily once we got to the instant care the wait was short and they got us in very quickly. At this point Oliver was pretty calm and wanting to get down and explore his new surroundings. Once we arrived in the room however, and the nurse confirmed our suspicions that he would need stitches, that is when the show began. We had to lay Oliver down on this board thing that had Velcro straps attached to it. Then we had to basically swaddle him in the wrap so that he couldn't move and the nurse had to hold his head. Talk about mad!! Oliver screamed and screamed at his restraints. I felt so bad for the little guy.
This was my first child with stitches, and I have a weak stomach for this sort of thing, and I got a little light headed, but I was able to make it through the short procedure. So after lots of screaming Oliver was sporting a new scar face look with two new stitches. He continued to let us know how unhappy he was all the way home. But after a bottle, snuggle and my good friend ibuprofen, he settled down and slept very well that night.
So now we fast forward 6 days and tonight we returned to the dreaded place ( instant care) and got the stitches removed. This time with grandma as our moral support. Thankfully they didn't wrap him up again, but I had to restrain him with grandma holding his legs. After a power struggle the nurse was able to get both stitches out and I think his face is going to heal up nicely. He also got his first sucker out of the deal ( thankfully I had one in my bag).
So as to how it happened I am not 100% sure, but I think he was trying to remove the DVDs from our shelf( which is a daily occurrence despite my best efforts to discourage such behavior) and misplaced his hand or something and he fell down hitting his cheek right below his right eye on the shelf. He is also sporting bl.ack eye too. Poor little guy.

Cool band aid (Cars) he got after the wound

Oliver enjoying his sucker

Some Cute Pictures

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Oliver waiting by the gate

Emerson is Too Cool for these glasses.

Mischievous??? I think so, what do you have in your mouth?

Emerson found a plate with frosting on it and he had to get every drop.

Isn't he adorable! (Emerson again, sorry Oliver)

Ready to go to church!

Me and the boys on General Conference Sunday!

Canning

My parents have two fruit trees in their backyard. Unfortunately the peach tree didn't produce any usable fruit, but their apple tree produced an abundance. So for the last month I have been canning (with the help of my sister in law Anna and my new friends Lorien and Tonya, THANKS SO MUCH!) apples, applesauce, and apple butter. I am finally done with all of the apples!!!! It did yield lots of canned apples ( I kept 18 quarts), 9 pints of apple butter and 4 pints of chunky applesauce (at moms request). Anyway here is a picture of the apples I canned, aren't they beautiful! I put the other jars away before I took a picture, but they were beautiful too!

Ikea

So we finally made it to Ikea. We have planned on going since we moved here but there was always something that got in the way. But on Saturday, even without much of a voice, the family and I ventured the long journey (ok it was only like 7 miles) to the grand Ikea store that we had heard so much about. I can now say that is truely is an amazing place. We enjoyed ourselves so much that after we came home and put the boys to bed Isaac and I went back for a child free walk through and to pick up some cinnamon rolls ( 6 for $4, it is amazing!!) Anyway we enjoyed all the fun gadgets, toys and of course baskets we found there. The boys enjoyed the small kids stations through out the store. This could become one of our favorite stores, next time we will try out the fine cuisine

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Bored One Evening

Since Isaac works evenings I usually find myself bored with not a lot that I want to do (there is always plenty to do), so tonight I thought I would just blabber on about nothing...and here I go...
Well we have been in Utah over 2 months now, and I think I am finally feeling settled and comfortable with my surroundings. It has been a hard adjustment for me, due to the fact that I had just finally found my niche in Wisconsin when our world got turned upside down and we had to move here. It was sad to leave my newly found friendships behind and start all over again. This time should of been easier because I have been through the moving scene so many times in my life and this time I was moving closer to my family. Here I have my parents, brothers, and sister-in-laws, nephew, and nieces ( that is right I can say that in the plural form now!!!) to get to know, but I still struggle with finding my place in a new area.
BUT FINALLY after getting over my self pity I am getting out and about, forging forward, and developing new friendships. Let me just say that I am SOOOO glad that a majority of the Utah horror stories have not been true ( at least where we are located). I do enjoy getting to know new people and trying to understand their backgrounds and life experiences. And if anything else more "friends" on my facebook page, (jk). I am grateful for the people I have met so far here and for the budding friendships that are starting. It has helped coax me back out into the sunlight..!
Also I am so happy that things have worked out for us here. Moving to a new area, without a job or even a prospect was very frustrating and hard to accept. Isaac and I knew that moving back home with my parents was the right move to make for us, but we had no clue where this would lead us. Although it has only been a short time since that faith promoting experience we are so grateful we put our trust in our Heavenly Father and knew that he would lead us in the right direction. It is situations like this that really help confirm my convictions that the Almighty knows what we can handle and helps guide us in our endevours. Even though life looked bleak a short while ago, we can still see brighter things in our future.
Sorry to make this so preachy, but like I said I was bored. I love all my family and friends (especially ones that leave me comments, hint hint), and hope all is going well whereever you may be!!!

I hope to soon bring you footage of Oliver walking, he can take about 3-4 steps before falling, I can't believe my twins are 11 months already. where did this year go???? My children bring such a joy to my life. I love it when I walk in a room and see all three of them playing and laughing together. Oliver and Emerson look up to Eli so much, they think he is the coolest thing, especially when he does something silly. Their giggles are infectious ( if you dont believe me just watch the video in the previous post). Anyway look in the coming days for pictures, I want to take some of them in their winter clothes before they a)grow out of some of them or b) get them too messy that they wont look as cute. Until then, have a happy day!