More pictures

Here are some photos of the boys helping us put the barstools together.

Thomas loves sitting up to the bar - I think it reminds him of Grandmas house

We always serve breakfast at the bar - and we do lunch together at the table before Tyson goes to work.

And on days when daddy is at work in the evening, it's back to the bar for dinner.

this is the first day we were moved into the house.  We had no TV and no internet.  So to keep the boys entertained while we tried to unpack boxes we played Lightning McQueen on the laptop, and gave the boys bowls of dry cold cereal to munch on.  We got the tv and dvd player hooked up in the playroom in 2 days, but for a few days after that the boys still wanted to watch it on the laptop in the living room.  Eventually we got them adjusted to not playing in the living room.  It is nice to have a living room without toys in every nook and corner - and even out in the middle, getting stepped on (like in our tiny apartment).

the huge TV box makes for a fun toy!

and the kitchen is perfect for exploring new things....

and here are a few pics of Grayson feeling better now that he's had some medicine for the lousey double ear infection and viral pnemonia - I am so glad to have my happy boy back

what's been going on

I feel like so much is happening to us in such a small time frame. 
we moved, grandma's passing, Tyson's job "oppertunity" (we hope), us all getting sick :(  working on the fences, and the yards, and accessorizing the house.
Last weekend was Tyson and my birthdays - May 15 and May 17 - it's fun to have our birthdays at the same time.

 But this year our fun was spoiled by having a flu bug hit us all.  On Sat Grayson started throwing up around 2:30 am - I started at 6:30 am, and at 7:30 Tyson had to go out and work on the fence building (they are still requiring us to put in our hours as a group until the front yards are finished).  Tracie was an angel and let Thomas come over and play at their house for the morning, so I only had to care for Grayson.  Tyson would come inside and help me, whenever I called him on the cell phone (which was a lot).  We thought that Thomas had lucked out of getting the yuckies - but at 5pm he started throwing up.

On Sunday we skipped church, not wanting to spread any germs to anyone else.  That night we had grandma's viewing.  Thomas seemed to handle it ok.  He saw her and said "she is sleeping".  He also said he was sad :(  He did tell her goodbye.
On monday was the funeral (here in Corinne).  It was beautiful.  (Tyson started feeling sick monday, but at least he was ok until the funeral was over).

This last weekend Tyson and I pretended it was our birthdays (since last week was no fun) - Tracie watched the boys for us, and we went out to dinner.  Then we went shopping and bought ourselves expensive gifts LOL -- I got a dining room table and 6 chairs! (it's being delivered tomorrow! I am so excited).  Tyson got his fancy LED LCD HD, internet ready 47" TV for the living room.  

this pic was taken at the store with my phone - when it arrives tomorrow, we'll post a new one!

We are still looking for some nice shelves to put the dvd player and the ps3 onto.

one of the coolest features of this tv is that it is internet ready, so we can stream netflix right onto it without needing another device!  We are going to take our time to find just the right thing to put under it, maybe an electric fireplace, cuz those are cool, but for now, the silly cords are sticking out - making me wish the electrician had put that dang thing higher on the wall.

A few other accessories we have gotten - a bike for Thomas to ride with his buddies, 2 bar stools (the boys helped us assemble them :)  - a bakers rack for the kitchen/dining room area by the panty (to get all the mail, phones, and keys and purse off my kitchen counters --- still needs to be assembled ) -- a grill (still needs to be assembled too) -- and I finally found some cool curtains for the living room - it has all the right colors blue, gray, and browns!

I thought things were looking up, but Sat night Grayson started to get sick again.  I didn't know what was wrong, he had no fever, he just fussed and cried, and wouldn't sleep.  Sunday same deal.  Monday, he seemed to be feeling better in the morning, so I didn't take him to the Dr.   I just assumed it was one of those "give him Tylenol" problems that would go away in a day or so.  By by 3 am tuesday morning,  his breathing was labored and he still hadn't slept much, and hadn't really eaten, and was still just crying all the time.   So I took him to the ER.  Turns out he has a double ear infection, and viral pnemonia.  Poor little guy.  They did a breathing treatment for him, and that helped a ton.  We got a nebulizer to do them here at home, and he is on amoxicillin for the ear infections.  We are also giving him baby motrin for the pain.  But he HATES taking the medicine.  More ends up on his face, shirt and towel I have to put down than in his mouth.  But I can tell he feels better not long after he gets his meds.  It is good to see him back to his little self.  I have a follow up appointment for him tomorrow morning.  I hope that they'll be able to see if the meds are getting him all fixed up.

Our fence is done, except for the gates.  We just have the Bond's to finish up, then we can get our lives back.  It will be nice to be able to do our yard work at OUR pace, and not have to deal with everyone else.  

Thomas liked when the fence was not up, because he could reach the canal behind the house.  He loves throwing things in water.  As cute as he is when he is playing at something he loves, I am glad that he and Grayson will be safe from there.  It is going to be nice to be able to let them out into the back yard, and know they can't get out to the front, onto the road.  And that I will be able to see them out the big atrium windows if I want to stay inside and get something done while they go out and play.

The sprinkler systems are getting started today (at the Buells). I thought ours probably wouldn't get done for another week or so, but they have already finished at the Buells, and are now at the Gonzalez's (next door). After the sprinklers get done, they'll grade the yard, we can get some top soil spread around, and we think we have decided to get Hydroseed. Our air conditioners are supposed to be coming too (who knows when) - but Norm came by yesterday to remind us that we are supposed to be all done with this "stuff" by June 6 - I told him that I have done all the work I can, we are waiting on our subcontractor dudes like always. But it's nice to know that it'll be soon.

The boys are loving the yard/neighborhood -- I have tons of photos of them having fun riding bikes and playing in the dirt.  The Gonzalez's boys, Nicholas and Josh, love to run into our garage and play with our toys, like the little red car, and the wagon, and Thomas loves to run into their garage and ride their rescue rider, or use their dump truck in the dirt.  Lexi (Bond) loves playing with us too, eventhough, she is the lone girl.  Sometimes the Buell boys Ben and Zach come play too.

I was telling Tracie that, at first, I thought I was never going to be in the front yard, that we would spend all our time playing out in the backyard.  But what I didn't realize was how much the boys would need the sidewalk and driveway to play on.

Photos scanned into the computer

in Heaven

we briefly talked to Thomas about Grandma.  we tried to tell him that she is now with Heavenly Father and Jesus, but he wasn't holding still and didn't seem to even be listening... but today he was just talking a mile a minute like he always does, when he said "where does heavenly father live? HEAVEN" and I acknowledged that yes, he was right about that.
then later as he was waiting for the school bus he was playing with the water hose, and sprinkling water on the driveway, and he told his daddy that he was making a picture of Grandma and Heavenly Father.
I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  And the knowledge that life doesn't just end with death, but continues on, and that we will all be together again.  I know we miss our loved ones down here on earth, but they are always close by, watching over us. 

all the photos I have on this computer

Good bye Grandma Hansen - you will be missed

I was going to go see Grandma today.  I wanted to tell her Thank You for everything she did for us while we lived in the basement.  I wanted to let her know how much Thomas and Grayson and Tyson and I loved her. I wanted to recount some of the sweet and tender moments we had shared in the last 4 1/2 years that we were there.  Like how Thomas started out as a tiny baby laying on a blanket not even rolling over yet, and then how he learned to walk there, and RUN, and talk, and all the things he loved about going upstairs to grandmas house.  She would spoil him with chocolate milk, or bread and butter, or even just crushed ice from the fridge :)  And how our little Grayson also started out on the blanket on the floor, and then rolled over, then crawled and then walked - all with Grandma and Grandpa there to cheer him on.
But I was just a few hours too late. 
Grandma passed away this morning, peacefully at home with her children around her.  Grandpa says he misses his sweet wife. 
We have tried to tell Thomas, but it will take a while before he is going to understand.
I was going thru my photos to see what I had of grandma and grandpa, and I have to admit I am mad/sad at myself for taking precious moments too lightly.  In the years that we were so close to them, I took them for granted.  You know, thinking they would always be there.  I have lots of photos of the kids, and I know that most of the time, Grandma and Grandpa are there in the background, but I didn't get a shot with them in it.
I hope that this will help me do better at getting photos of the important people in my life, like more pics of my mom and dad with the boys, or with each other, or even better - with ME.
It is late, and i am really just rambling, but I needed to clear my head so I can get some sleep.

Grandma Hansen

She is not doing well... please keep her in your prayers.

I don't know what I will tell Thomas if she is gone, and I will have to explain that not only do we not live with Grandma anymore, but that he will never see her ever again :(

FLOODED

....my laundry room tonight.


we have had trouble with our water, but finally got it fixed yesterday, so today I was ready to do my first load of laundry in my brand new washer ----- the dudes that delivered it forgot the hoses and stuff, so they didn't hook it up for us --- so I attached the hoses ---- and turned it on..... and walked away..... and when I came back to check on it, there was SOOOOOOO much water all over my floor .

I threw down every single towel I owned, and even used a big comforter that was right there too, and there was still just so much water

turned out I didn't know about the drain pipe -- it was still "inside" the back of the washer, so I couldn't see it, and the hole where it should attach, next to the water hoses, was covered with tape and painted over, so I didn't see that either.

so hard lesson learned for this first time home owner.