Memorable Moments of 2010

Grandma giving Aiden and Bryn a ride

Decorating his Christmas cookie

Bob the builder

Playing Grandma Snow's player piano on Christmas Day

The whole family together (minus weston)

First time at the beach. Lilie and Bryn bury Aiden

Josh and Sharae get married

Lilie and Bryn dress Grandpa in flowers

Aiden and Brynlee get a new cousin, Baby Cleo

Brynlee turns 2

Our baby girl won a photo contest

Annual gingerbread house making

Veyron, Aiden and Emma

Of course, these are not all of my memorable moments, but the only ones I have pictures for.
One of my favorite songs from George Strait helps me explain my feelings on my memorable moments.

The Breath You Take

"Life's not the breath you take, the breathing in and out
that gets you through the day, ain't what it's all about
You just might miss the point, if you don't slow down the pace.
Life's not the Breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away."

2010 Blessings

2010

I wish I could say this year was amazing for our little family of four, but it has been extremely disappointing. HOWEVER, there is always positive blessings that pop through the challenges.
1. Ben started his new job at Maverik and loves it
2. I finished the Medical Assisting program (except the externship) in 7 months instead of the normal 16 months.
3. Aiden started Kindergarten and is doing an amazing job.
4. Ben got promoted to a senior tech after being at Maverik only 9 months, which is the fastest anyone has ever been.
5. His bosses put him at a supervisor and come to him before going to the network people for help. WE ARE SO PROUD OF HIM.
6. The doctors finally found out what was wrong with Brynlee and she is growing better even though the problem is not gone.
7. We have a place to live thanks to Ben's amazing parents.
8. I was able to travel with Ben on his work trips
9. As much as I had a really hard time with this, Brynlee and Aiden get another brother or sister.
10. Our kids are happy.
Farewell to 2010. We look forward to a better 2011.

What a way to end the year!

The last couple days have been a wonderful way to end 2010. NOT!
On Christmas Eve, Ben took an 800 mg Ibuprofen for a stiff neck. Apparently the pill went down sideways and scraped his esophagus. He was in a little pain from this. I don't know if anyone has had a pill get stuck when it wasn't taken with enough water, but it causes a chemical burn in the esophagus, which resembles heartburn.

Ben didn't say anything to me until Christmas day when the pain got a little worse. By Christmas night he had a fever of 102, but still didn't tell me. I was so tired I had crashed. I woke up in the middle of the night because his body heat was frying me out. I woke him up and asked what was up. He told me he had a fever and was in a lot of pain in his throat and chest. I was ticked at him for not telling me in the first place. I made him go the doctor the next morning. They said it could be multiple reasons, but an infection was very rare. Well I didn't buy that answer. As the day went on, the pain got worse and Ben was unable to eat or drink hardly anything (not good for a diabetic on insulin). Monday morning I made him go to another doctor because the pain was really bad. She said again that he probably had a different viral infection not related at the same time as the esophageal pain, only because the esophagus is a "sterile" area. (BULL CRAP). However, they did set up an endoscopy to figure out if he had ulcers all the way down his esophagus from the pill.

So the surgery was scheduled for Wednesday morning first thing. Well Tuesday night the pain was so bad, he could not stand it. If anyone knows Ben well, they know he never complains of pain unless he is dying let alone call in sick to work. I knew it was bad when he called into work.

Today the results of the endoscopy showed that he most likely has eosinophilic esophagitis, which is caused by a food allergy of the esophagus. Because of the unknown food allergy, it has almost closed part of his esophagus and narrowed the rest. They took biopsies. The closing of his esophagus caused the 800 mg motrin to actually get stuck and burn a severe ulcer into his esophagus. The pill eventually dissolved. The doctors also believe a virus has attacked the ulcer, which caused the fever. So he will be on antiviral medication. He is allowed to have liquids, but anything causes excruciating pain. I, of course, worry about his nutrition and am really concerned for his blood sugars and his nutrition in general. So in the mean time, we have to wait for the ulcer to heal before he can eat normal food and we get to see Aiden's allergist to figure out what foods he is exactly allergic to so we can prevent this kind of stuff in the future. It has been absolutely horrible for him. Please keep him in your prayers.

Recovery

Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your

choices, and everything is possible.

Cherie Carter-Scott

This year as part of saying in recovery, I have focused on self-love. This is an huge effort for me. I tend to be very negative towards myself. Although I wouldn't say that I am perfect at this self-love, I would say that I have made a slight improvement. It will be a life-long effort.

Today marks my 4th year in recovery with no relapse. This is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. Most people do not make it this far without set backs of some kind. It doesn't matter how tough my year is with challenges and trials, I have huge support from Ben. He helps me soooo much in preventing these little set backs. He is the only one that knows when I am struggling to the point of slipping, and he always seems to pull me back in such a loving way. Nobody really knows me or understands me like he does. I am so incredibly blessed to have him. This has been my biggest trial and challenge in life and I am SO proud of myself for beating it.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME SURVIVE!

"The hardest thing in life is letting go of what you thought was real."

Love yourself unconditionally, just as you love those closest to you despite their faults.

Les Brown

Princess Dress up

I focus mostly on video taping Christmas and not actually taking pictures, but his one was adorable. Bryn got a dress up chest with dress up clothes included from her Aunt Britt. She absolutely loves to dress up in dresses. Her hair was done, but of course pulled it out earlier today so it now is in her face. Gotta love it!

The Newest Grandbabies 2011

The newest grand-babies of 2011.
Star- 5 months, Irene- 7 months, Aimie- 9 months
Aimie is having a girl and Irene is having a boy. I guess I will be the tie breaker. \
Hmmm....I wonder what it is?

Christmas 2010

This is the first time my mom has had all of her grand kids together in a year and it will be the last for a long time. This is such a precious sweet moment.
Aiden-5, Veyron -3.5, Lilie- 3, Brynlee- 2.5, Emma- 1.5 years old

Gender

Today was the day we had an ultrasound to find out what our little baby will be, however I have not had a desire to know this time. Ben could not stand the fact of waiting till the baby was born to to hear "IT's a boy" or "IT's a girl" so he chose to look at the ultrasound. So as for now until our little one comes, he is the only one that knows. It might seriously drive me nuts towards the end and I might just torture him to tell me, but for now I am pretty content (surprisingly) to wait and be surprised. Ben is very good at keeping secrets. He showed no emotion whatsoever when I was trying to read his face. He was that good. So good luck to anyone who wants to torture him to tell, he won't, it will have to be a SURPRISE.

Minute to Win it Christmas Fun

For Ben's Family Christmas Party, we played a really fun game called "Minute to Win it" We had to do a task in one minute and if we beat the clock, we won $5. Ben had the task of stacking these golf balls on top of each other. The first time he tried he only got two to stay. After he had tried it about the 4th time he got all 3 to stay. Pretty difficult to me. This last time took him under a minute to accomplish. He was determined to make it work and he did. It looks pretty awesome.

Here Comes Santa Clause...

Santa made an appearance at our ward party. Brynlee was completely freaked out and Aiden was an old pro when it came to sitting on the bearded man's lap.

A Reason To Be Thankful

Both my "cheesballs" decided to smile at me in such a way, it had me rolling with laughter. I am so grateful for the two of them. For the way they make me laugh everyday. For their thoughtfulness to each other and to their mom and dad. They both add so much joy into our family. I don't know what we would do without them.
This year we spent one day in St. George for Thanksgiving. Even though it was quite cold, we let the kids run outside. It really helped calm my nerves (I am not a fan of Thanksgiving) to watch them play together. I love them more then anything.

First Thanksgiving Play

The Kindergartners put on a play about the First Thanksgiving. Aiden was Narrator 3- He was so excited to do his part. He memorized it after just a day of having it the piece of paper. After the little play, they had a little feast of their own.
His part was: "The year was 1620. The place was, Massachusetts in the New World they called America."

Hair Do

This was the hardest hair do to do on a 2 year old ever!!! She of course doesn't like to look upside down on my lap for a long period of time.. "Gee mom leave me alone." is what she said to me.

Trick or Treat Smell My Feet...

This year we let Aiden have his first Halloween party. It was spider themed of course. Then of course came the treat or treating in the rain. They loved it anyway.

My Fairy and Spider

This is the night of our ward's Trunk or Treat. Brynlee of course is Tinkerbell and Aiden is a black widow spider. The costume was made by Ben's mom and is absolutely awesome.

A New Addition

Now that most of our family's know the surprising news, I can post it here for the rest of everyone to know. We are adding a new addition to our family in May. Ben is super excited after the initial shock of the whole thing, and I am just getting used to the idea, but still in shock most the time. Aiden is the most excited. He has been so good to keep it a secret from everyone. We had to bribe him with legos to tell the fam. He has been asking for a brother for over a year. Let's see if he gets his wish.

Aiden's Motorcycle Ride

Brynlee yelling "Come back AIDEN!" Look at the way her hands are facing up to her face.

It has taken us months to convince Aiden to go on a ride with daddy. He finally surprised us and said he needed to try "EVERYTHING" and that he wanted to go for a ride. He loved it. After just going around the block, he asked daddy if they could take a ride to Walmart. Brynlee was very jealous and yelled after them the whole time they were gone.

Aiden's first ride on daddy's motorcycle

Hide and Seek

Brynlee grabbed her shorts and put them on her head and said "Find me daddy, hide and seek."