Christmas 2010

This year we had a easy going Christmas. Nothing too fancy. At our Blad Christmas party, Santa came to give the kids their gifts from their cousins. On Christmas morning, Zach woke up Parker and Alivia at 4:30!! After I went out and told them to go back to bed, they were restless. Zach was 'starving' and wanted breakfast. After I offered him some go-gurts, he didn't want any saying "That's all we get for breakfast?" I told him it wasn't time for breakfast. They finally went back to sleep until 7:30, but I was not in a good mood!! Next year, they will not be able to get out of bed until 7:00!!

We have a tradition that came from Gus' childhood days. The kids write a note to Santa telling him where to leave their presents. After we took turns and opened all of our presents, the boys played with all of their toys and Alivia fell back asleep. We went and saw The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with Grandma & Grandpa and Brian & Laura. Then we went up to Brian's for dinner. It was a great day!

Parker is 5!

Okay so Parker turned 5 the beginning of this month. I really wanted to post this before the end of the year. I'm just working on extra slow time.

I can't believe it has been 5 years since I brought home this little guy:

He really wasn't all that little-coming in at 8lbs 3oz. He has been a great blessing to our family.

For his birthday this year he wanted a dinosaur cake. I planted a couple of cakes together and let him cover it with dinosaurs. Then we made a volcano with lava flowing out of it. He loved it. He chose honey chicken for his dinner and then we had cake and ice cream. Very simple, but it was his special day. We love you Parker!

Yes, It's True

I'm sure you've been hearing rumors! It's true. I am pregnant. I'm due July 1.

"But you said you were done," you must be thinking. I was. Someone with higher powers had something else in mind for me. I hate being pregnant and wish away these 9 months and I did not want to go through this misery again. I'm a mean, selfish person when I'm pregnant and I hate it. After I swore off being pregnant again, I started having these 'feelings'. I wasn't done and I knew it. I tried to talk myself out of it. I tried to ignore those promptings, but they didn't go away. I decided that I was going to give it 3 months-no more- and if it was supposed to happen, then it would. It happened. It's like having something to do and you really don't want to do it, but you know you have to do it anyway. Yeah, that's my life. Don't get me wrong. I want more kids, but getting them here is sooooo hard.

We really wanted to wait to tell people. After I had my miscarriage, I found it was hard spreading the word and then being really disappointed. I have been really sick lately, which I know is a good sign. I'm sorry if I have been mean lately. I'm sorry that my house isn't the best right now. And, I'm sorry that my kids are spending WAY too much time in front of the TV, but I am in survival mode right now. I promise I will get better in about 7 months!! Until then, don't expect much!!! I'm just sayin'.....

Halloween 2010

I convinced the kids to match this Halloween. Since Alivia loves Tinkerbell, I talked Zach and Parker to go along. We watched lots of Peter Pan to get them excited!

We never seem to stray much from our Halloween activities. We went to our church for some Trunk or Treating. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa trunk or treat. Can I just say candy overload?? All in all, I'm glad that Halloween is over for another 11 months!

Gus turns 31!

Gus had his birthday last week. We celebrated with his family on Sunday, the on Monday we went with his parents and some friends up to Scout Mountain and had a hot dog roast. I made him a Brazilian flag cake for his birthday. He's 31, I know so old! He is the best dad and husband in the world!!

Family Pics

We had our pictures taken last week by Gus' amazing sister Elaine. I love her pictures!
I have cute kids--what can I say?

I craft my pants!!

Ha, I really didn't come up with that title all by myself. There is a blog called Oops, I craft my pants, so I just said that. I'm kinda that way...I take ideas and copy them all of the time! Like lately, I have had the crafty bug soooo bad! I am really into doing Halloween things right now. I loose my mind when I go into a craft store because I am so overwhelmed with things!!

Anyway, we had a craft day on Saturday at my mom's house. My Cricut was cutting a hundred miles an hour, but it was so much fun. We had soup and fresh scones and the kids played and played.

This is what I have finished so far:
I love the purple and lime green together. The saying really is true about my sister! Heidi, I really miss you!!

Baby ABC Book

So I got it in my head to do a baby book for the kids for Christmas. I found a great deal at Costco where they print out a hardback book full of pictures for $25. I've wanted to do this for awhile now and I hope the kids will love it! I have finished Zach's and sent it in to be printed. The book is an ABC book of their first year. Since we call Zach our little turtle, I found a really cute scrapbooking kit with turtles. Parker is going to be full of monkey and Alivia's will be some sort of bugs (she's our June Bug). Here are some of my favorite pages from Zach's book:

Summer Fun

It always seems like I am a day late and a dollar short! We had our Blad family reunion last Saturday. We met at Steadmans in Raft River. They have taken their land, built super water slides and a zip line, and share it others. It was so much fun. There was something there for everyone. We had almost every Blad there, which is amazing! Here is Parker and Gus going down the slide taken by Bonnie:Gus and I also went down the zip line. It was surprisingly fun. I almost backed out when I saw how high, but it doesn't go as fast as you think. I just had to work on my landings!

They had a candy cannon that shot candy in the air and the kids all scrambled to get it. That was fun to watch. I love spending time with family. I'm glad that I am a part of such a fun loving group!!

Endless Days of Summer

I was just wondering where summer goes all the time. There really is no endless days of summer--it goes by way too quickly! August is almost here and we haven't even gone swimming once as a family yet!

Our camera broke at the beginning of the summer and I have had to resort to using our old one so we didn't take that many pictures. This week we finally broke down and bought one at Costco. It is waterproof, dustproof, freezeproof and shatterproof. I asked Gus how many more 'proofs' could it get, and he said it wasn't childproof. Anyway, I snapped a few pictures at Gus' last softball game. His team really stunk this year. One win. The games were boring. This one was no different. They played at 10:00 at night and it was trying to rain, but I didn't care because my camera was waterproof!!

We also spent the whole week last week up in Island Park at the cabin at Scout Camp with our ward. It was a blast! I sooo wish we had a camera there! Boys are so much fun. The kids had a blast with all the other kids. We also our family reunion for the Fisher/Parker side which turned out really nice (way to go Mom). Zach played his first season of Tiger Ball and did great! It was coach-pitch. He loved it. Now we are trying to enjoy the last month before school starts again!

Heritage Blocks

I had to show off my contribution for our family reunion this month. As I was blog surfing one day, I found this post on Someday Crafts. I knew it was what I had to do for our raffle for a family reunion this month. These are Heritage blocks. All you do is make copies of pictures and modge-podge them onto blocks of wood. Then they become strong enough to with stand kids and other things. Here are mine for our Fisher/Parker family reunion (my maternal grandmother's side):
The back of each one has information about the people in the picture. Here is a tidbit of history. My great-great grandpa Fisher was a Pony Express rider. My grandma found a magazine with an advertisement for riders in it and I put it on the back. On the Parker line, there was an outlaw from Utah. I know, cool name!!! It turned out so cute! I have a passion for doing family history work and I love things like this.

Alivia Turns 2!!

Last week was a busy one! Alivia celebrated her 2nd birthday on Sunday. I can't believe my baby is 2! We had dinner here at our house and then cake and ice cream. She really didn't know what was going on, but she loved digging into her presents. She also had lots of pink icing!! Just like her mom. We love you Alivia! You have such a cute personality and your brothers just love you. We are so glad that you are a part of our family!

It's Great to be 8!

Zach had his 8th birthday on Tuesday. He got spoiled all day and loved it! I made dinner of his choice--orange chicken and rice and had a small party with family. His cake is a racetrack because he is really into Hot Wheels right now. He got his big party on Saturday when he got baptized!! He had a special day on Saturday because he got to be baptized with his cousin Laralyn. We love you Zach and are proud that you are making the right decisions in life. We are proud that you are striving to choose the right and be a good person. Thanks for bringing joy into our lives. We love you Zachy!!!

Until We Meet Again

This weekend we drove down to Central Utah to attend the funeral of Gus's grandpa, Carl Blad. It was amazing to see how many descendants came from him!! This is a 4 generation picture of Great-grandpa, Merlin, Gus and Parker taken in 2006. It was good to see family and celebrate the life of this man. Great-Grandpa was 92 years old and lived a happy and fulfilling life. Here is an excerpt from his obituary:

Carl Blad
November 1, 1917 - May 7, 2010

Kanosh: Carl Hamblin Blad 92, passed away on May 7, 2010 in Fillmore, UT. Born Nov. 1, 1917 in Panaca, NV to Carl Levi & Addie Minerva Hamblin Blad. He married Loueda Allan on June 8, 1938 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. He is a WWII Veteran having served in the US Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet during 1944-1945. He was an active member of the LDS Church, serving and teaching in leadership positions in various organizations including bishopric counselor, missionary with his sweetheart Loueda at Cove Fort, UT and in the Charlotte, NC Mission. He had a beautiful tenor voice, singing at countless family, community and church events throughout his life. He loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and camping, especially with his family. He loved participating and being a spectator in all types of sporting events and was recognized as an outstanding athlete on high school, college (BYU) and community teams. His affectionate, humorous and cheerful personality will be missed. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather. His greatest love was his family and loved ones. His greatest achievement in life is his eternal influence on his family and loved ones. Survived by Blaine L. (Virginia) Blad, Kanosh, UT; Carl DeVon (Pauline) Blad, Enumclaw, WA; Merlin Allan ( Lois) Blad, Pocatello, ID; Rinda Joy (Ray) Christensen, Lehi, UT; Phillip Angus (Sharon) Blad, Kanosh, UT; Dale Lynn (Denine) Blad, Hyrum, UT; Paul Levi (Carolyn) Blad, Kanosh, UT; Kent Dean (Ann) Blad, Riverton, UT; siblings, Jack Blad, Caliente, NV; Theda Bowler, Enterprise, UT; L. Dean Lee, Salem, UT. 52 grand children, 118 great grandchildren & 5 great-great grandchildren. Preceded in death by parents, spouse, daughter, Carla Jean Blad; daughter-in-law, Janell Knott Blad; sister, Jean (Blad) Robinson; brother, Rollin Blad; sisters, Genevieve (Blad)Lee, Phyllis (Blad) Lee; Elaine (Blad) Harmer. Funeral Service is Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. in the Kanosh LDS Chapel Friends may call Friday from 6-8 p.m. and Saturday from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the church in Kanosh. Interment in the Kanosh Town Cemetery. "The Family would like to thank those angels who have watched over and given such loving care to our dear Dad: Blaine and Virginia, Phil and Sharon, Paul and Carolyn, Donna, Pam, Carol, Rose and all of the wonderful nurses and Doctors at Fillmore Hospital."

Happy 9th, Babe

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. Really, 9 years!! Where does the time go? We like to celebrate using the traditional gift ideas. This year it was pottery and willow. Last year it was pottery and bronze, so we painted ceramic pottery last year. We really didn't want to do that again so we had to use our imaginations!
For the pottery part, I decided that pottery was made from minerals. And a great way to enjoy minerals is to go soak in the mineral pools at Lava. It was so great and very relaxing! We then went to an amazing Thai food place there in Lava. I've only had Thai food one other time, but this was definitely a place that we are going to go back to. Then we watched the movie "Willow" for the willow part--you know that corny 80's flick with the baby. Anyway time sure flies by! I am so grateful that I married Gus. He truly is my best friend. I love him more now then I did 9 years ago, and I can't wait until we're married 50 years to see how our love has grown!! I am so grateful for all he does for me. I love you Gus!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Okay, so I decided that I got too full of myself. I was too proud that I got Alivia's hair into ponytails. Yesterday while we were doing preschool, she grabbed some scissors and cut off her bangs! If you look closely at her picture, you can see the hack marks at the top. Oh well, I guess... we'll just start all over!

Amazing Deal

I don't usually get excited over vegetables, but this is such a great deal! My friend Melanie told me about Bountiful Baskets. You get fresh fruits and veggies delivered to a site in your town and you take your own basket to fill. The basket is $15, plus you can add on other options each week. This week one of the add-on choices was 12 lbs of strawberries for an extra $8! There actually ended up being 16 lbs! The stuff on the bottom of the picture is what came in the basket: mangoes, bananas, apples, tomatoes, those little squash thingies, lettuce, celery, little oranges, and there were 4 artichokes, but I gave them to Melanie because I don't like them! Anyway, such a great deal and amazing produce! I'm making jam. Check out the website here for instructions and drop off sites!

Big Accomplishment

I know that there are so many other things to get excited over, but I am really proud to announce that I got Alivia's hair into 2 complete ponytails this morning. If you know her, you know that she has struggled with little hair ever since she was born. I think I had more of a problem with it than she did! Now, she's almost 2 and it coming in. Yeah!

Merry Christmas in February!

Do you ever feel like life gets so busy that you just have to take one day at a time to try to get by? Yeah, that's how I have felt these last couple of months! Crazy that February is half over and I am just posting Christmas pictures. We had a great Christmas. It's fun still when the kids get into it.

We've had a crazy last couple of months. Gus got called to be the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric. That was a complete surprise. I guess it's not really--if you know Gus. That's what I get for marrying a goody-goody. (I'm really just kidding about that). That keeps him busy and me busy during Sacrament meeting!

All in all, we are still alive and doing well. We are making the rounds for being sick now, but we are doing well. I promise to try to stay updated!