4th of July

Happy 4th of July! That is one hot Granny Ju! Woot woo! PS that's my mom. Here she is, Miss America! So cute right? Talia gave us the outfit for Taya's bday. This is Kim's little girl Milee. She looks exactly like her parents and she likes to tease and won't smile when told to. (PS Kim is my sister) My handsome little guy at the parade. McKoy and Taylor at the parade. Taylor is Kim's little guy. Miss America and her daddy. This is another Miss America. This is Jaxyn my cousin Talia's daughter. Isn't she beautiful? She and Mataya will be in the same grade. Miss America and her mommy.

Mikey's water balloon toss game before it started. Notice people are still smiling. BTW that's not Talia in the front that is her mini me Cheyenna. They look identical. Almost.

The water balloon toss in mid throw.

This is Jeanette breaking a balloon on Richard. If you know Richard you would know this is hilarious.

My brother's daughter Gracie. She is also going to be in the same grade as Mataya. She is too cute.

McKoy and my little sis Brianna doing sparklers in my driveway. This wasn't actually on the fourth of July but I felt like the sparklers made it belong to this post.

A little boy that had a little too much fun on the fourth of July. Sometimes they sleep in the cutest positions.

Ok so the fourth was way fun as usual. I heart the fourth of July so much. We do the exact same thing every year and to regular people it seems stupid but to me it is the time of my life. I make fun of our traditions but I secretly love them. When I was six years old we moved to Canada for 4 years. During that time I was so sad to miss out on our family stuff and ever since we moved back I haven't wanted to miss a thing. Most of my family on my mom's side lives here in Cedar. We get together nearly weekly for someones birthday, a ball game, holidays, or just to hang out. It's not just a few people. We are talking about thirty people or more. Anyway, the fourth is no different. We all go to the parade in the morning. We all park at my grandma's/aunt Maye's/aunt Guyla's house. They all live next door to each other which is on 100 East across the street from the park and city library. It makes parking easy. At the parade we sit in front of Lin's on the corner by the old KFC. (It's now 2brothers communications) Then we walk over to the the park. We set our lawn chairs up in the corner by the pavilion where the Lions club parks their trailer. Many folks think the trailer is ours, and have even asked to use the bathroom in it. However it doesn't belong to the redneck clan surrounding it. We just like to sit there. We eat on average three park burgers each. We walk around and have a mini high school reunion. We see people we haven't seen since the previous fourth of July. It's a great time had by all. In the old days we ran the races but they haven't done the races since McKoy was 2. When I ran the races as a kid I would win a dollar or sometimes a little plastic trophy. Good times. Anyway, after a few hours of mingling we pack up our chairs and head down the street to my Aunt Maye's house. It is between my grandpa's and my aunt Guyla's. It's actually the house my grandpa grew up in. Five kids in a two bedroom house. Crazy. Anyway it's been remodeled and now has 4 bedrooms. So back to the fourth of July. So we sit at Maye's eating watermelon and Popsicles. We sit out there all day. (But this year I had to take my kids home for a nap after a couple of hours.) Then we head to someones house for a BBQ. This year it was Kim's house. I think it was last year too. So it's a BYO meat party. (Bring your own meat) We barbecue steaks and everyone brings a salad or dessert or something. We eat A LOT! This year Kim's husband Mikey wanted to play a water balloon game. Everyone had a partner and tossed a water balloon back and forth while getting further and further away from each other. The last people with their water balloon still in tact won. It was fun except it sort of turned into a water balloon fight and it was like 9:00 at night and it got cold. Ok so then we do redneck fireworks on Kim's driveway and watch the city fireworks. Last year the cops came because we were letting of illegal fireworks my cousin got in Wyoming. Like I said it's a redneck party. Most people would think these activities are boring but if you knew our group, we are pretty easily entertained. If you wish to participate in any of the above activities you won't have to wait long because we do the exact same thing on the 24th of July. And anyone is invited. We have seriously had all sorts of crazies join us and won't mind if you want to also:)

More Mataya Stuff

Mataya hasn't gained weight like the doctors wanted following her heart surgery. Last week we went to the doctor every day except Friday. She has had extra heart beats since her surgery and her cardiologist wanted to know how many she was having in a 24 hour period. So she wore a heart monitor so we could get that info recorded. When I took the monitor off it left these big rash looking marks. I think the sticky things where the leads were, took off a little skin when I peeled them off. It was sad. A few days after, the skin started peeling and it looked like I had let her get a sun burn. Anyway, after the monitor was removed I had to take her to St. George to a geneticist. She asked us a million questions about our family. She wanted to know how tall my siblings were. When she asked about my brother I simply said he is a giant. Clearly if you know anyone in my family you would know we are anything but small. (Picture Grandpa Bud if you will) Of course Kody's family is shorter than mine but still not tiny folks. (OK maybe Janet) Then she measured Mataya. She weighed her and measured her length but then she also measured how long her fingers were, how long her toes were, her legs, arms, head circumference, etc. It was interesting to watch and much different than our other doc appointments. She needed blood of course (they always do) and wanted a urine sample. She is going to see if she can find a genetic defect that is making her small. I'll keep you posted. (Get it posted? This is a post. he he)

Summer Fun...Finally (WARNING! Lots of Pictures)

This is all of us at the Angels game. These pictures are all backwards. Sorry. Kary and Koy at the game. Our Fam The boys Those ladies sitting behind Kody were hilarious. They were trying to talk to Koy but he couldn't understand them. We laughed the whole time!

McKoy with his prized ball!

Kody giving the ball to McKoy.

We went to the game early to watch batting practice.

Eating at Joe's Crab Shack. (No I did not eat that little guy but Kody and Kary sure did)

Mataya just kicking back on vacation.

McKoy didn't want to wear the bib because he said it was for babies.

Feeding our faces.

More feeding our faces. Eating at a cute little 50's diner at Huntington Beach.

Summer Lovin'

McKoy digging for shells.

I love this pic. Kody is holding Mataya and Kary and Koy are going for a dip.

McKoy got buried in the sand.

This picture is so cute! Grandma and Grandpa with the kids. PS Kody is getting scorched in the background.

Waiting in line at Disneyland. This is a cute picture of my boys.

Taya having a crack while we wait for the guys to get off Space Mountain.

Chip n Dale's tree house. Not the strippers the OTHER Chip n Dale's. This was a family trip!

Having lunch at the Hungry Bear in Disneyland.

McKoy saying Hi!

This was in Toon Town.

How cute is this picture? Just hanging with Mickey and Minnie!

We went to California for a family vacation last week. It was a blast! Kody's parents went with us too. We stayed at the Fairfield Marriot right across the street from Disneyland. We went to the beach the first day. Kody got totally fried! His front and back were lobster red. I got a little burned on my legs too. The next day we walked across the street to Disneyland. It only cost us $6.00 to get in thanks to my dad and Shelley. They gave us Disney gift cards for Christmas. They were going to come with us but my dad had to be out of town the weekend we ended up going:( Anyway, Disneyland was so fun! McKoy loved it! It was his first time. Mataya was super good too. I was nervous she was going to give me trouble but she just hung out in her stroller. The last day we moved to a new place. Kary and Janet got a condo at their time share. It was soooo nice! (Thanks guys) Then that night we went to an Angels game. We arrived early to watch batting practice. A ball was hit and Kody and another guy went after it at the same time. Neither of them got it and it fell into the field. The guy wanted to fight Kody over it. He said some stuff and caused a scene that made some of the players look. So when another ball was hit into center field one of the players turned and tossed it up to Kody. The player then said to the guy trying to fight, "That's what you get punk!" So Kody gave the ball to McKoy who said, "Dad, what do I do?" Then Koy turns and throws the ball back onto the field! It was so funny! Everyone in the stands started laughing. Well the player got it and threw it back up to Kody. So all was fine. The next day we drove home. We got stuck in traffic for an hour and half! It was horrible. I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad. By the time we were able to get off the freeway I had to go really bad and so did McKoy. So Kody pulls over at a gas station in Baker. It was 109 degrees and I could see the line to the bathroom was all the way outside. So we drove across the street to a different gas station. Koy and I go running in and there's a line at this one too! The person at the front saw that McKoy couldn't hold it so she let us go first. He went and then he waited while I went because I didn't want the people to think we butted in line for me. So I'm sitting there and McKoy leans on the bathroom door and it falls open. There are about 5 people looking at me on the pot! I can't shut the door because in order to do that I would have to stand up. So someone in line comes and shuts the door while I'm scolding my son. I'm so embarrassed that I rushed as fast as I could to get out of there. So I come out of the bathroom and Kody is holding Mataya getting some treats. We walked around for a little bit then we got back in the car to go eat. When we got to Dairy Queen I went to get out of the car and Kody grabs the back of my pants. I turned to see what he was doing and he had toilet paper in his hand. Then he said there's more! And he pulls out about two feet of toilet paper from my pants! I was in such a rush to get the H out of the bathroom that I somehow got a bunch of toilet paper stuck down my pants! The best part is I walked around the gas station in front of all sorts of people with it hanging out the back! AND that is how the trip ended.

Mataya Turns One

Happy Birthday!

Alecia Ross made that darling birthday hat! She taught me how to iron on the number one on her onsie. Then her mom sewed it on and sewed some ruffles on the bum. Baby Halle loaned us the matching leg warmers. Thanks so much guys!

Say cheese!

Having some cake.

Too much birthday! Mataya having a happy day. Papa Kary and Mataya.

3 days old

The day she was born. It hurts me to see her face like that. Her lips were bleeding:(

Her poor eyes were bruised and swollen shut. I didn't see her eyes for a few days

So my baby girl turned one yesterday. I have mixed feelings about it. I prayed so hard for her to be here. I know there are people out there that have struggled with infertility way beyond anything I can imagine. But I wanted a baby soooo bad. I wanted to nurse a baby, rock one to sleep, change their diaper, feed them baby food. I wanted it all. (Yes I wanted to change diapers.) McKoy had grown out of diapers and I couldn't wait to have them again. So after Mataya was born I wanted her to stay a little baby. I didn't want her to get big. I loved nursing her. I loved how snugly she was. I wanted to have ten more babies after having her. Well I have changed my mind. Mataya has been really tough on me. Her birth was tough on me. Her many, many, doctor visits have been tough on me. Her surgery has been tough on me. Needless to say I am ready for her to gain weight so I can stop worrying so much about her. But I want her to stay a baby too. I have mixed feelings. Anyway, regardless of how I feel she turned one yesterday. I am sooooo blessed to be her mommy. All 13 pounds 4 ounces of her. (That was her weight on her birthday) I went all out on McKoy's first birthday. I had a huge party with a million presents. But that was 4 birthday parties ago. I am a little tired now. So we just had family over for cake and ice cream. Kody and I didn't even buy her anything. She'll never know. I buy her stuff all the time anyway, right? Of course all the grandparents bought her stuff and aunts, cousins, and friends. We only got one toy! Isn't that amazing! I hate toys! We have a million! And she is only one! So anyway I feel like this isn't that sentimental of a post for my baby girl's bday. I love her guts. She is the queen bee of this house. She is soooo fiesty. I have fear for when she gets older. Anyway- Happy Birthday Taya Ju!

Summer is Here!!!

Jeeez it's been awhile since I updated. So much has happened in the last month. Mataya is doing well. She decided not to sleep through the night after her surgery which almost made me check into the psych ward. It's getting better but not 100%. She sleeps well some nights and horrible others. It's like a newborn again! She lost a little weight after surgery but has put it back on and is now...wait for it...13 lbs 5 oz! How awesome is that? We are pretty excited. That was just at yesterdays weight check. I take her in weekly-yes weekly-and she is doing great. She is on a new medication yet again, that makes her constipated so that isn't fun, but otherwise we are looking forward to her first birthday next Tuesday! McKoy finished up his first year of preschool at the Purple Pumpkin Preschool. He will miss all his little friends and of course Miss Wendi. He is playing T-Ball which is hilarious. Kody is helping Tyler Albrecht coach the team and his cousin Taylor is on it, along with his BFF's Stockton and Easton. He is also doing summer swim lessons with Kysa Ross one of his other little friends. He is super busy jumping on the tramp and riding his bike with all the neighbor kids. I finished another year of first grade. Summer is so exciting but I will miss my class. I had some really cute kids this year. The last few weeks of school were really hard for me. I was super stressed out with Mataya and school was so busy. I made myself sick with stress but I made it through and now I am sooooooooooo loving being at home. We are going to do some fun stuff this summer. McKoy has never been to Disneyland so we are going to go on a family trip. It will be so fun. Hopefully Mataya will be nice and sleep when we are out of town. I will update next week after Mataya's first birthday.