Goodbye Tessy

Sunday we had to say goodbye to Tessy. Wednesday she started showing signs of pain (shaking, not jumping) but we assumed it was a sprain or a sore muscle. I was giving her Andrea's ibuprofen and that seemed to help but by Sunday she could hardly stand. When we called the vet he figured it was her back, and Ryan and I can only assume she might have fallen down the deck stairs while going potty. By Sunday afternoon her pain was so bad that we both knew we should end her misery.

 I wanted to give her all her favorite foods but she couldn't even stand to eat them. We had to carry her in her bed to the truck and of course then she got excited to go for a ride and did all she could to stand and look out the windows.

Ryan couldn't stay in the room while the doctor gave her the shot, it was his doggy after all, he was the one who wanted her and babied her. I, however, didn't want her to be alone while she passed, so I held her until the end.

It's still tough... I cried when I saw her footprints in the snow, I cried when I put Andrea' ibuprofen away, I cried when I was making tuna for Andrea and no doggy paws came running. She was a great dog, and mine and Ryan's first baby. Some things to remember about Tessy:

She never barked, only when dreaming would we hear an attempt at a bark.

She loved to play hide and seek with us. It always seemed to be Sundays after church that either Ryan and I would wait to open the kennel while the other one hid. She was always so excited to run up those stairs and search for us.

She got fed 4 times a day and she could tell time better than any of us. When it got to be feeding time she would crawl out of bed and start nudging our hands with her nose.

She was a cuddler, when she saw a blanket on the couch she took that as permission to come snuggle.

She loved her ears rubbed, she would moan and tilt her head.

She was obsessed with tuna, anytime we opened ANY can she would run to the kitchen hoping she got to lick the tuna can.

She never played with toys... she couldn't care less if you threw a ball her way or waved a dog toy in front of her she was too refined for that kind of thing!

She would sneak in Andrea's room and jump up on her bed during the day.

She would steal food from Bracken and Andrea when they got distracted.

We love you Tessy and you will ALWAYS be in our hearts! You blessed us with your joy for 7 out of the 9 years of your life and I hope we made your life a good one.

Christmas Fun

We actually made it to see the Temple Square Christmas lights this year! I thought going on a week night would be less crazy so we decided to go last Wednesday. I think there really is no good time to go... not only was it the youth groups activity that night, but we also saw 3 school buses who unloaded even more teenagers for some kind of performance.

I could go into all the details of the night but let's just say that between no parking, two trips back to the car, inconvenient bladder needs from Andrea, too many teenagers, and it being REALLY cold... it will be a while before we do it again. Ryan got some really beautiful pictures of the temple that I'm excited to print and frame.

Andrea was more impressed by the releasing of birthday balloons through the skylight while having dinner at the Garden than she actually was with the lights, so I think we'll wait for HER to ask us to go again.

Later that week Andrea and I got into the Christmas spirit by decorating a gingerbread house. Now I am not one to make home made gingerbread, cut it, make frosting no no no. Costco had a pre-build one with candy and frosting included. That's my kind of project!

Andrea ate more candy than she actually put on but she really did a good job when she did actually place them on the house.

She's a Small Wonder

There are things I am always telling myself to "never forget" about my little girl but I'm afraid I will, so I'm going to blog a few of them:

1. She is always singing... real songs, made up songs, it doesn't matter. I know she gets this from me, and I know I got it from my Mom. She even plays right along when I make up a song. For instance, if I sing "Let's go get your PJs on, do da do da" to the tune of Camptown races, she will sing right back "No, no, no, no, no, no, no do da do da".

2. She named her Baby doll "Sauel", pronounced like "Samual" without the M. Don't know where she came up with that, and this is the only baby she has named, of course it's the oldest and most worn out doll that she's attached to.

3. She LOVES puzzles, she would do them all day long if I had the patience. 12 piece puzzles she can do all on her own but more than that she needs to be handed a piece that can connect somewhere at the moment. Even when I do my 750, 1000 piece puzzles she loves to help and gets a few matches!

4. She has, what the doctor called, a "geographical" tongue. She gets ringworm-canker looking spots on her tongue randomly.

Here you can see one of the sores on the left side. The doctor said they don't hurt her but they will probably just make her taste more sensitive. Which leads me to my next quirk...

5. She will only drink milk if it has orange juice in it. 3/4 milk, 1/4 oj. It's been this way ever since she switched from formula and I've tried plain milk again occationally and she won't have it. Other than that her tastes are quite advanced for a 2 year old. She LOVES tuna, tomatoes, cooked carrots, and will try anything. The only thing I've found that she doesn't like is marshmellows, what kid doesn't like marshmellows?! Mine.

6. She rubs her ear while she drinks. It's usually her right ear but she'll switch if Ryan or I start rubbing the left one just to tease her. Ryan noticed this about her quite a while ago. Here is a recent photo, and one last Christmas.

Yes, she is a small wonder, but I love all her little quirks and look forward to experiencing all that her personality has to offer!

Halloween

Halloween started for us on Friday, it was our ward's trunk or treat. The night before Ryan warned me that he might miss because of a big project at work. So I threw my big "you've missed the last two Halloween's because of work" tantrum and I think it worked. He was home by 4:30 the next day and I was very glad he got to be part of the fun this year! I stayed by our trunk and passed out candy and let Ryan enjoy taking Andrea trunk to trunk. The ward also had chili for dinner, a fishing game, a cookie walk, and a mini maze. I was very impressed by all the work that went into the night, thank you 3rd Ward!

It was fun to have my brother in the ward this year and have Amy and the kids at the trunk next to ours, they dressed as Batman characters and their trunk was the bat cave.

Saturday morning we all carved our pumpkins. Andrea chose Mickey (of course), Ryan thought he would try Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb, and he had to out-do us both by using his exacto knife kit to carve through just the top layer. I chose a simple ghost but I'll show them both next year!

We continued our Halloween weekend by having Mummy hot dogs for lunch and baking some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

When Halloween rolled around on Monday Andrea got her costume on to visit Grandma and Grandpa Lee, and Grandma LaVelle. By the time we drove out to Kristi's she was out! She woke up enough to go potty, but I guess she had too much excitement for one night. Each year she understands the holiday more and more and I'm afraid this was probably the last year that I got to choose what her costume would be :(

Bedtime Wishes and Fishy Dreams

As you all know the Andrea-bed-couch struggle has been ongoing for some time now. I decided it was time again to try and get to her to sleep in her bed again. This decision usually comes when she will no longer sleep through the night on the couch either.

Ryan has wanted to get Andrea some fish for a while. She gets so excited whenever we encounter a fish tank at a restaurant or the doctor's office. I finally agreed that if she would sleep in her bed for 10 nights she could get some fish.

The qualification for a sticker on the chart was simple... she had to wake up in her bed. So yes, there were several nights that I had to take her back to bed, and sit there with her for a while. There were also some unsuccessful nights when she asked to go back to the couch. So it took about 2 weeks to get the 10 stickers, but she did it! And 6 of those nights were undisturbed genuine full nights in her bed, I can't believe it!

She ended up getting 3 fish, a snail, and we are still looking for a "pink mermaid" decoration that she thinks the tank needs. When we ask her the names of the fish they are "Mommy" "Daddy" and "Nemo". I just don't like that "Mommy" happens to be the biggest one!

Happiness

My entire adult life I have felt inadequate. I think as humans we do. I constantly compare myself to others and am always searching for what needs improvement in my life.I judged myself when I was overweight.... so I lost weight.

I had a great job at the credit union, working for great people, but even then I was always asking myself if that was my "dream career"

Before having Andrea I always felt judged for not having children. Just when Ryan and I decided to create a life without a child the Lord stepped in and sent our daughter.

Having a baby brought on a whole lot of change at once. Less income, less adult interaction, more weight to lose, and the pressure of being the perfect house wife.

I felt that when Ryan got home the house should be spotless, Andrea should be fed and clean, and dinner should be on the table. These were all my expectations (and society's) and not Ryan's.

I stressed myself out with trying to find playmates for Andrea. This never worked out, I felt I wasn't really accepted into the "housewife" or "Mormon Mommy" world and had a lot of trouble making new friends after so many years loving my co-workers. Luckily I was able to tend a couple of days a week which at the time I did for Andrea, but I have grown to really love these kids! Andrea and I both look forward to the days Bracken and Leah come to play. I get to enjoy being a Mommy of 3 two days a week!

It's been a couple of years now that I have been forced into this housewife/daycare/Mommy world full time and I think I've finally adjusted to our routine and lifestyle. I've realized recently that if I stop putting so much pressure on myself to be perfect I can be truly happy!

Yesterday as Andrea and I finished grocery shopping and were in the drive up line to get our traditional Happy Meal I realized just how lucky I am. Ryan works so hard so we can have our everyday routine and loves me no matter how clean our house is or how thin I am.

I've realized that I love baking cookies with Andrea much more than I care being a single digit dress size! I've realized I love successfully grocery shopping with 4 dollars of my budget. I love tending two sweet kids who have accepted Andrea and I as part of their life! I love my calling in church and look forward to going. I love our home, dependable cars and really don't have a worry in the world. Well accept for finances but that's a worry for everyone, right? Hopefully I can keep this mind frame for a while, or if not I can look back on this post and remember to be happy with my situation!

Staheli Farm

A few years ago I read a post on my sister-in-law Sara's blog about their family's visit to a farm down in Washington, UT. It had a corn maze, pumpkin patch, kiddie train rides, and more. I really wanted to take a trip down to join them this year. She suggested conference weekend since we would all have a Sunday off church. So we headed down Thursday down and had a packed weekend of fun! Friday we visited relatives (Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Fernlee), went to lunch, ran errands, and Sara and I even got to do some girl-time shopping while the hubbies watched the kids.

Saturday we headed for Washington/St. George. After stopping for lunch we made it to the farm around 1:00, and boy was it hot! However, there really wasn't anyone there. I don't know if it was too early in the season, too early in the day, too hot, or just because it was during General Conference... but we weren't complaining! I think we all got a little bit of special treatment because we were some of the first of the day... no additional cost for the activities and we were invited in to pet the animals and no one else had.

As far as the farm, I could go on and on... you'll see from the pictures all the fun stuff to do. It was just so much fun!

 The first thing we saw was the mini maze for the kids, I liked that one... you could just look over to see the dead ends.

 Then we rode a tractor to the actual big corn maze. The aerial view was a tribute to the Staheli parents celebrating 50 years, we couldn't walk the whole thing because it was just too dang hot!

 Matt and Sara suggested the corn maze first and I understand why, if we had done the other activities first the kids wouldn't have been up for all the walking. After giving up on the maze we head back to the farm to see what fun there was to be had.

The first stop was the rubber ducky water spout races. Once Andrea saw these she didn't want to do anything else. I tried to upload a video of it but gave up after two attempts.

We eventually talked her into going to the horsey swings with Peyton and Meryn and they all loved those. Matt got to be the designated motor and pull the kids around.

 There was also a corn slide, well at least that is what you landed in.

 And a LOT of animals. We were invited into the animal pen and Sara was the good sport to go in with the kids even though it resulted in a pig dirtying her leg and shoes.

 The big hit of the day was the blob. Even the adults couldn't get enough of bouncing on this thing! I took a few pictures than hopped on myself. Andrea loved it, even when she fell down. She called it the "big pillow" and kept asking to go back.

 The pumpkin patch was past all the cow pens, so a tractor drops you off and comes back later. The only problem was a big storm hit right after we arrived. So we took shelter under a makeshift corn husk roof and waited for the tractor. The kids picked their pumpkins from the pile that was out of the rain, and there were no complaints.

Afterwards the kids were understandably dirty, so they all had baths, we had some pizza, and the kids had a camp out in the living room. Peyton and Meryn had never seen Pete's Dragon, which was just upsetting to Andrea and I, so we set them straight. Andrea also watched the movie on the way to and from Cedar City, I'm so happy she loves a movie I never get sick of!

As you can tell we had a blast. Ryan was sick the whole time but was a good sport and did his best to ignore it. Andrea and I had allergies that seemed to turn into a cold once we got home. Traveling always seems to make us sick! Matt and Sara are always so nice to let us come down and visit and make us feel right at home. Thanks you guys for the fun time and the great memories!

Park City

Park City has become an anniversary tradition for us. So we figured we would stick with it this year as well. Ryan's parents took Andrea for a few days so we could enjoy some time alone. We just love Park City, the weather is cooler, I love historic main street, and the outlets are a great place to buy Andrea some fall clothes. Last year we invited a few of our friends to go with us but it didn't work out. Kristi joined us for dinner however, and this year we talked her into staying up there one night.
The first day we did some shopping at the outlets, they always have great sales! We checked-in to the hotel and wanted to take Kristi to our favorite Park City restaurant, Baja Cantina. After dinner we killed time by walking old Main Street before our ghost tours began. We've wanted to do the tour in the past but couldn't bring ourselves to pay the price. Kristi got Park City ghost tours tickets 50% off, so we were very excited.

The ghost tour was... interesting. The history of the old buildings was more interesting than anything. Our tour guide was really enthusiastic about the ghosts, but we didn't see one :(

Ryan and Kristi with our tour guide Amanda.

The next morning after breakfast we headed to Midway for Swiss Days. The crowds were insane and so were the prices! I don't do very well with crowds so I really couldn't enjoy it. We bought some more iron flowers for our flower bed and were on our way. Kristi bought a "chicken crossing" sign from the same booth, so at least we spent a little money at the event.

 The view of Midway on our drive back to Park City

After lunch, at another great restaurant, the Bridge, Kristi decided to head back home. That left Ryan and I with not much to do. So we took a nap, visited Main Street again, and then decided to try to capture a ghost. We took the better camera to the tour "hot spots" and think we may have caught something, but you decide...

We immediately saw a woman in the window. This school building is supposed to be haunted by the mean principal, I don't remember her name. But apparently she has tried to harm construction workers during remodels.

Saturday morning we had a nice breakfast on Main Street and decided to visit the Olympic park. Being a Utah resident it really is a shame that it took us so long to visit something that was seen worldwide. There were quite a few skiers practicing their jumps, so that was really fun to watch. The water is aerated, so it's soft when landing. We walked around to see the bobsled track but decided we should come back and do the whole tour sometime.

I tried to get a skier in the background but my timing was off.

Pretty cool!

We had such a great time, but I'm sad it's over. I guess I'll have to plan something else to look forward to now.

Tessaroos

On August 12th we lost our dog Tessy. Ryan called me while we were swimming at Deseret Peak during my Mom's visit and asked where the dog was. I realized I never put her in her kennel before we left, but she wasn't around. She must have snuck out while we were all loading cars to leave.

2004- The first week she joined our family

This isn't the first time Tessy has run away.We've been lucky in the past, one time she just happened to be recognized my a family friend. We've learned that she usually sticks the sidewalk and ends up on the street behind ours. This time Ryan and I both drove around for a quite while, but couldn't find her. To add insult to injury, she didn't have her collar on that had our contact info. Any dog owner knows how noisy those tags can be... I usually have a piece of material wrapped around her collar to keep the tag from jingling but it had recently broke, so I just took off her collar until I could fix it again. PLUS... she does have chip, but it's not registered with us because I don't know the chip number.

2005

2006

I posted her picture on facebook and asked for help finding her. A friend from High School told me he saw the police loading up a dog like that just down the street from where we lived. I called dispatch and sure enough, they had picked up a beagle that night but we wouldn't be able to check with the animal shelter until Monday.

2007

2008

Needless to say the weekend was a little tense at our house. Even though Ryan said he didn't blame me, I sure felt guilty that I had lost his dog. To top it off, it was his birthday that weekend, so that wasn't exactly the best way to celebrate it!

 2009

Monday morning I was heading to the shelter as soon as I could. As I was loading Andrea, the shelter called and said "we do have a beagle, but she had a blue and white collar on and no tattoo under her ear". I was feeling really discouraged, but headed down anyway to see for myself. When I arrived the attendant said "I think I was looking at the wrong beagle when I called". When she brought Tessy out, I couldn't help but cry. Seeing your dog, is like seeing your child, there was no doubt it was her.

2010



She was filthy (with urine) and her stomach was pretty bloated. I took her to Ryan's parents because I was heading to the zoo with my Mom and brother's family, and I really didn't want to put Tessy in her kennel. Gary helped me give Tessy a quick hose bath outside and we were off. When I came to get her that night her stomach looked worse and she couldn't really walk. Ryan and I were really scared, we didn't know if she was hit by a car, or was starved all weekend, but turns out she just needed to "relieve" herself. After a much needed potty break the next morning she was back to her old self.

2011- New Collar

 Now you'd never know she left... she tells us when it's dinner time, follows Andrea everywhere, and still tries to run away when she is in the front yard. I've now got her a collar with her name and phone number embroidered on it from gotags.com, so no jingling! Plus, the shelter was nice enough to scan her chip for me so we can register her in our name. Her little adventure gave Ryan and I a glimpse of what it will be like when we have to say goodbye to our dog, and I don't think either of us are ready!