A family picture...(sort of)

I got to thinking that we haven't had a family picture since, well, since Ben was born. We had a family Christmas party last night so I asked my niece if she would take a quick picture of all of us. Well, amongst all the chaos this is what we ended up with:

It will do for now, until we can afford to have some professional pictures taken.

The other highlight of the evening was the Nativity scene put on by all the kids. Vanessa was one of the wisemen with her cousins.

Ben was a sheep.

I like his bangs...

and Evan was supposed to be a shepherd, but he just wasn't feelin' it.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas!

Another Birthday

So, today was my birthday. It's funny how birthdays change as I get older. When I was younger, birthdays were usually pretty exciting; a day that was all about me. Who doesn't love having a day that is centered around themselves? I am not one who likes to be the center of attention (in fact, I despise it), but once a year, a little bit isn't so bad.

This year, my birthday definitely was NOT about me. While we were getting ready to have a special birthday breakfast outing this morning, little Ben threw up all over the floor (kids can have such uncanny timing). At that point, we thought we would just try to grab something to go quickly, and come right back home. After being in the car for about five minutes, Ben started throwing up again. That was bad enough, but since we have all three kids sitting in the backseat of our car, the close quarters can sometimes be a problem. Vanessa, who sits right next to Ben, started to cry hysterically. Her cries set off Evan. We turned around as soon as we could and headed back home with our three crying children. The rest of the day quickly became more about Ben and his sickness, and not so much about me. All other "birthday festivities" soon went down the drain.

I have to admit that I caught myself feeling a bit sorry for myself a few times today. So, I decided I just needed to look at the day through rose colored glasses (is that what the saying is?) This idea of "positive thinking" is a bit new for me, but I thought I would be a little crazy on my birthday and give it a try.

It really wasn't that hard to find something good about the day. After Ben awoke from his nap, all he wanted was me. He wanted to hug me, and he wanted to lay his curly little head on my chest. Marty tried to take him for a little while so I could eat dinner, but Ben just kept looking over at me. He just wanted his mom. For the rest of the night I held him, and rocked him, and just enjoyed the moment (because Ben never just sits and lets me hold him). It was not long before Evan came over and wanted to sit on my lap too. Evan was in one of his "sweet" moods when he likes to just sit and cuddle and occasionally pull my face over to his to give me kisses or just press his face up against mine. He kept looking at me and just smiling. Oh, how I treasure these moments!

So for a rare 45 minutes, I got to enjoy both my boys on my lap without any disruptions. Not too bad... I felt SO loved, and really, who could ask for more on their birthday.

So thankful!

I am thankful for so much; too many things to list. I am especially grateful for the people or things in my life that remind me and testify to me, that there is a God who loves us and watches over us.

I am thankful for still moments with Evan. Moments, when there is no frustration, no tears, no anger,... when I can see the pure light in Evan's eyes.



He truly is an angel living among us. He is a constant challenge, but the blessings from having this little guy in our lives never cease to amaze me.

A New Addition

No, it's not another baby... We recently decided to take the plunge and get a dog for the family. I did a lot of research on different breeds, and narrowed it down to a few different choices. After consulting with a few friends and, of course Marty, we decided on a Boxer. Boxers are specifically known for being especially good with children and so far, so good...

Her name is "Luna". She has put up with a lot from these kids (especially from Ben and Evan), but she takes it well.

It is A LOT of work taking on a puppy. It is almost like taking on another child (almost), but I think she is going to be great for our family and most importantly a great companion to the kids.

Vanessa absolutely adores her and Evan is very intrigued...


and if she continues to make progress on potty-training, then Marty and I will like her, too. :)

Halloween 2009

We had a good Halloween this year. This was the first time we had been in Utah for Halloween since 2002. Vanessa had a great time being able to go trick-or-treating with almost all of her cousins. We took Ben and Evan too, but it got a bit cold for them after a while.

I thought Vanessa was a leopard, but apparently I had it all wrong. She informed me that she was really a "jaguar".

And Ben was a skeleton...

who was a little intimidated by his cousin who was also a skeleton.

Everybody had a great time.

Enjoying all the fall we can

We decided to take a quick trip up Payson Canyon yesterday to see if we could catch a glimpse of what was left of fall in the mountains. We missed it at Maple lake, but it was beautiful just below there. I tried to snap a few photos, but Evan and Ben were having a bit of an "off" day, so most of them ended up being of Vanessa, but that's ok, we just love that beautiful face of hers!

St. George Marathon

Well, I did it. I finally completed my first marathon. It took me almost 5 hours, but I finished. It was VERY challenging both physically and mentally, but is was an amazing experience, and I am so glad I was able to do it. I would like to do more in the future, but will probably not think about it for at least another year or two. Training not only takes a toll on me, but on the family as well. I would, however, love to do another half marathon or two in the upcoming year. We'll see...

Here I am (at 4am), just about to board the bus that would take me up to the starting line.

In the end, Marty actually missed me crossing the finish line (long story behind that). But, here I am again after finishing the race.

It really was an AMAZING experience that I will never forget.

Vanessa's Grandparents Program

Yesterday Vanessa had a Grandparents program at school. It was sooo cute! Her Nana (Marty's Mom) was able to attend, but of course my parents couldn't make it (since they are in Ohio). I thought I would post a short video for them of her doing one of her songs and anyone else who would like to view it. Vanessa is the one on the top row in the green shirt between the two boys.

I love fall!

I love fall! It is such an amazing time of year. The weather, the leaves, football, and Halloween; I love it all (well, sometimes I love football :). We decided to take a drive up the Alpine loop this past Sunday. It was so incredibly beautiful! We can't really get out and hike around or anything, but what we could see just from the car, made the drive well worth it, even if we did get a flat tire at the very top of the loop. Luckily, Marty fixed it quickly and the boys were pretty good while we waited.


For some reason, I can't seem to get any of the scenery pictures I took to upload. I guess I still have a lot to learn when it comes to taking pictures, blogs, posting,...etc. Maybe I will try again later. Oh well, you can kind of make out how beautiful it was if you just look past our faces. ;)

Our House

I know I haven't been the best blogger, but I hope to do a little bit better in the upcoming months. I hope to update my entire blog very soon. Once we get moved (again), and settled, I hope to post a little more often than I have these last few months. Anyway,...our house is coming along..., and we are very excited. I have a few pictures to show the progress that his been made in the last month.





I have to admit we have done a ridiculous amount of "drive-bys". I think the construction workers probably recognize our car. It has been fun to see the continued progress on our new home. We hope to be in by mid August.

I am so sorry, please forgive me!!!!

Ok, so I can't make up my mind. I know I keep messing around with my blog. I know I keep changing it, but I am sorry,... I just can't help myself. I may have lost a few readers along the way, but what can I do. Shutterfly is great, (especially for my mom), because she can order any pictures whenever she wants and being that she is in Ohio, and I am in Utah that is a great option for her. Otherwise I am not really fond of the site, and I have just missed using this blog. So I am back, and can I promise I won't change my mind again? Well, no......., but I will try REALLY hard not to.

yep, we are moving again!

Well, for those of you who don't already know, yes, we are moving back to Utah. We have enjoyed are stay in Washington, but while we have lived here we have realized two things:

1.) We really miss living by family. We miss their friendship and support tremendously.
2.) We are city people. I need big city amenities! I need Chilis, IKEA, amusement parks, the zoo, basically an array of eating/retail establishments. I guess we needs lots of
amusement in our lives. We need options! Pasco, doesn't offer a lot of options. No,
we aren't exactly moving to a "big" city in Utah, but at least we are within an
acceptable driving distance from the places we do miss and want to visit often.

At the time Marty was looking for a job, the "right" job just wasn't available in Utah. Luckily, the job he has been looking for came up about a month ago. He interviewed, and they offered him the job within a week. We don't have an exact time of departure yet, but it will be no later than mid-May, and possibly as early as April.

I love Seattle!

We just took a very quick trip to Seattle. We had never been there before and it is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from where we live now, so we decided to just take off. It was amazing. Seattle really is a beautiful city. I can see why so many people love it there. There is so much to do and see and everyone is so active there. I have never seen so many people out running, biking, hiking, sailing, etc. We tried to do and see what we could, but you can only do so much with a 6 month old and a 5 year old with autism.

Marty and I are really into food. We plan a lot of our trips around where we would like to eat. I usually look up the best places on citysearch.com and we try to squeeze those places into our vacation plans. Unfortunately this time we kind of had some bad luck with some places being closed when we wanted to go, or we just couldn't find them. We really did find a gem, however, with the Salmon Bay Cafe. If anyone ever goes to Seattle, I would highly recommend this place for breakfast. The omelets were absolutely amazing, and they could easily be split between two people. The pictures really don't do the omelet justice. I didn't take a picture of mine, but it was stuffed with avocadoes, big thick pieces of bacon, cheese, and sour cream. It was a great little diner, and it should be on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on the Food Network (if you watch this show, you know what I am talking about).

After our breakfast, we ended up somewhere around the University District. This was such a neat part of town. I would have liked to spend a lot more time there. There were a lot of neat trendy little stores and so many different places to eat.

We then went to a park called Golden Gate park. It was pretty cold by the time we got over there. It wasn't the nicest day, but Vanessa thought it was really neat. She enjoyed looking for crabs and shells and Evan just enjoyed looking at the water (of course he really just wanted to jump in it.)

After that we went to another park by the University of Washington that had a great view of downtown Seattle. We just hung out there long enough to get some pictures. By the time we left, Ben was not feeling very happy anymore.

While we were there, I was also able to meet up with one of my friends from high school who now lives in the area. It was fun seeing her again and her family. We had a good time. Her little boy(who is almost 2), really took a liking to Vanessa. He insisted on holding her hand, while we walked through a mall. It was really cute.

On our last day, we finally made it downtown to check out Pike Place Market. What an amazing place! There were all kinds of fresh fruit and seafood stands. In fact, there were all kinds of food and non-food stands. I could have shopped there for hours, but instead had to walk quickly through the isles, admiring from afar. There were also all kinds of neat little places to grab a bite to eat. We enjoyed some fresh made donuts (that were really really good and a big hit with Vanessa and Evan) and some pastries at a Russian bakery. If you ever go to Seattle, you have to check this place out.

In the end, we were definitely ready to get home. Traveling with the kids, can be a bit trying at times, but we have to get out some time. We didn't really do anything very "flashy", but it was fun just being able to visit a part of the country we have never seen before.

Check out our pictures, if you want to see a few of the places we visited.

Making my blog private

I have thought about this for some time and have decided that I am going to make my blog private by the end of January. I will continue to use this blog to keep friends and family up-to-date with my family. I will use another blog, (not private), to talk about my feelings on various topics like autism. Please let me know if you would like me to add you to my list of people who are allowed to view "Keeping In Touch". Please send me your email address to amm276@gmail.com. I think that is all I need to add you to my list. My other blog will be "findingpeacewithautism.blogspot.com".