Sunday Drive

We went for a drive up Milcreek Canyon today to see the leaves.
There was some snow up there too, so I'm glad we went when we did or we might have missed all the color.
I think I want to try and get into photography.
I told Alex to smile cute, but this is the best expression I could get out her.

Tonight is also Chris's veiwing. We're going to that later.

This Is Chris

I must be a horrible friend to not have any recent pictures of Chris. But I did find this one from 8 years ago while we were in Denmark. He was on his mission, and his companion (who wasn't looking at the camera) was Elder Anderson. The funny thing is that even after 8 years, he really didn't look that different from now. So I guess it doesn't matter that it's old. Sorry it's kind of fuzzy.

I thought I'd let you know that Chris passed away tonight at about 5:00 pm. I can't believe he's gone. He was a good friend and I'll miss him.

In Memory Of Chris

I just received a phone call from my good friend Chris's brother-in-law. He told me that the cancer in Chris's lungs has gotten worse, and he's going to die today or tomorrow. Immediately I started crying. Chris has been battling cancer for as long as I've known him. He's had numerous surgeries to remove tumors from his arm, back, and for the last few months, tons of kemo to try and kill the tumors in his lungs. When I last spoke to him, he said things were looking promising. I don't know now if he was lieing to me to make me feel better. But now I know the truth. They have only gotten bigger, and the doctors say there's nothing more they can do. He's at his home now on a morphine drip. Shane (his brother-in-law) said that he's delusional and drifting in and out of consciousness. I can't believe this is happening to him! Chris is such a good guy with a huge heart! Ever since I've known him, I've known that he could do great things in life.
I met Chris when I was in Denmark. We became good friends there, and have kept in touch ever since. He lives in Provo, so we were able to see each other often. He used to "translate" for me in church. But I have to confess, we played more hangman than translating. I'll never forget the thing that made us truly friends though. It's kind of weird the way it happened, but it was the funniest thing I'd seen in a long time. Even thinking about it now makes me laugh. We (the Fredriksens and I) had taken a trip to Stockholm, Sweden to visit the temple there and do baptisms for the dead. It was an AMAZING experience! On the way there we stopped at a candy cart along the road to pick up some treats. Keep in mind Danish and Swedish candy is ALOT different from American candy. I bought this thing in a little bottle that the kids told me was like Pixi Stix. WRONG! It was NOTHING like that! This stuff was NASTY!!! It was this type of hot and sour salt. Danish kids love this stuff. I thought I was going to die when I tried it! Well, you can imagine I thought this was a great opportunity to prank Chris. Since I bought it in Sweden, Chris had never seen or tasted it before. So when I got back I told him, hey you should try this stuff I bought it's soooooo good! Of course I dumped a huge bunch of it in his hand and no sooner had he licked it up he was running to the bathroom dry heaving! HAHAHA!! I laughed SO hard which was really hard for me to conceal because we were in church! He was in the bathroom for about 15 minutes. When he came back he said what was that CRAP you gave me?! I've never tasted anything so gross! Then he tried to get me back for the rest of the time I was there until I left. He never did though. Hahaha. We were friends ever since.
It breaks my heart to hear that he will no longer be with us. I'll miss him and his friendship! To Chris, Du er smokt og dijlig og jeg vel inske til himlen. Jeg elsket dig mine fyorde!

Cry Baby Titi Mouse

Connor just wants to throw fits today. He just cries and cries if he's not being held. It reminds me of what Kortney's kids say when someones being a ball baby. Cry baby titi mouse. I'm not sure where they came up with it, but Connor is definitely being one.

Update On Alex

Kortney mentioned Alex needed an update. She's right. I don't not talk about her much because I don't want to, she just never does anything new. But here's the scoop on her. She's off track still. She'll be going back next week October 1st. She isn't at all enthusiastic about going back, but I have to confess I'm looking forward to it. 3 weeks of trying to entertain her all day isn't easy when she gets bored as easily as she does. But we've been making the best of it. She spends her days mostly hanging around the house doing little projects. Then I make her go play with her friends if she stays inside too long looking like she has absolutely nothing to do. We were planning on trying to get her into an activity, but so far just haven't gotten around to it. Don't worry though.. she's off track for another 3 weeks in November. I don't like her track schedule. Every other month for 3 weeks at a time. It makes it impossible for me to ever go back to work if I was going to. Good thing we weren't planning on me going back any time soon.
Anyway, so Alex is fine, and there's not really much else new. I've been trying to find out what she wants to be for Halloween, but the only idea she's come up with is a cat which she was last year. We'll figure it out. :)

Too Cute For Words..

He's Gettting Married When??

So on Monday we all found out that my cousin Paul was getting married Saturday. A week is a little short notice to suddenly decide to get married isn't it? They just sort of sprung this on everyone like, oh by the way... Even his parents didn't get a lot of notice. I was told that the reason they did it like that is so they could save money on having to decorate and send out a million invitations and things. I guess that's smart? Personally I liked having to plan it out and make it nice. All they're doing is the ceremony in the temple, and a pot luck family dinner tonight. Pot luck? They could at least plan that couldn't they? Oh well. I'm kind of stressing on what I should bring though. I don't know of any simple cheap side dishes. All the ones I have are a bit more complex and require a little more skill. I'm leaning towards lemon-butter seasoned vegetables, or a strawberry spinach salad though. These last few days I've had to really plan out my cooking. Yesterday just because I wanted to make it, I made pork chops with apple cherry stuffing. MMMMM!! Then today I have to plan a side dish, and tomorrow I have to make something for John's brother for his birthday. Who knows what I'll do for that. He's a very picky eater. Well, back to wedding, at least we don't have to bring a gift. They said they require our presence not presents. That's nice. Both of them have been living on their own for a while so I guess there's not a whole lot they really need. Like me when I got married. I'd had my own apartment for a while and pretty much had all the basics already. I know they did get some stuff from Grandpa. Anyway, I've got some planning to do. If you think of any last minute quick suggestions, feel free to let me know!

My Family

I wanted to talk about my family today and let them know how thankful I am to have them in my life. I don't have any pictures like I should, but I'll try and fix that.

My mom Elaine-
I don't know what I'd do without my mom right now! She has been there to help me with the baby so much, and I'm so thankful for that! Everyone who has kids knows how hard no sleep can be! She is a very loving and attentive "nana", and the kids love her. Connor gets a little nervous at first because he hasn't quite figured out who she is yet, but once he spends a little time with her, he loves her. My mom has been there to help us out with so many other things too. We wouldn't have a lot of our furniture if it weren't for her. Thank you for all your help and support mom, I love you!

My dad Morris-
My dad I think is the best dad anyone could ask for! He's very loving, generous, smart, funny, and always willing to lend a hand. He's always asking me if I'm ok, or if I need anything. I appreciate that so much! I appreciate him in general. When we first moved in to our house, there were some problems that couldn't be ignored. Like the swamp cooler leaking, the sprinklers not working right (or at all), and then our sink sprung a leak. He was there through it all helping us get everything fixed and under control. Thank you dad! Because of you, John has learned how to do sprinklers by himself. You're a great teacher! I love you!



My sister Kortney-
My "little" big sister. I can't remember the last time she was bigger than me. Hahaha! But she's always been there for me. She's looked after me my whole life. Protecting me from mean kids when we were younger, and even though we fought constantly as kids, she's always been one of my best friends. I have so many memories with my sister that I love and cherish. Some worse than others, but still special. Like when we were in the basement and I had a lose front tooth but it wasn't ready to come out yet. Then Kortney punched it out when we were play boxing. I didn't think it was funny at the time, I was actually pretty mad. But looking back on it it was a fun time. I love my sister and I am thankful for her and all she does for me!

My brother-in-law Cody-
Cody is one of a kind. I wasn't sure what to think of him when I first met him. He was so different from the kind of guys I was used to seeing Kortney date. But as I got to know him better I really liked him more and more. He's a very sweet guy who takes excellent care of his family. Don't let him fool you, he's a teddy bear! Hahaha...he'll probably be mad I said that. But really, he's one of the nicest guys I know. He loves hunting and fishing, and being outdoors. He's a guys' guy for sure. :) Cody, you're a great brother-in-law, and I couldn't ask for a better one! Thank you for everything you've done for me!

My husband John-
Last but not least, my hubby. I couldn't write about my family without taking a minute to talk about him too. He is the foundation to my world, and I owe my happiness to him. There is nothing he won't do for his family. I can't tell you how grateful I am for him. He makes me laugh, he makes me smile. He makes sure I have everything I need. I am so thankful to have him in my life as a part of my family! Honey, thank you! I love you, and I always will!

13? Yeah, You're Old Enough...

I was just reading an article about a website called Marryourdaughter.com. People actually put their daughters up for auction to suitable wannabe husbands. They price them between 24,500 to 47,000! One woman commented "we price our daughter so high, because we see her as an investment". Makes you sick doesn't it? Well, luckily this is a hoax. It was created by a guy in Brooklyn to create awareness of a very real problem. Many women he knows were married off in just this type of fashion. Some married and having kids as young as 13. Warren Jeffs comes to mind I'm sure. This guy who created it is trying to do something very noble. He said "this is an issue that people are extremely complacent about, and I said, 'I think I can find a way to get people to care, or at least start talking about it." He hopes that it will create controversy and spur outraged readers to pressure the local legislators to elevate the marriage age. I think that's a great idea. These poor women who are robbed of their childhoods to become under aged wives and mothers. At the age of 15 for most girls, it's basically enslavement. Well.. I hope he succeeds in what he's trying to do. I know it made me want to change things!

Bad Luck Monday!

Have any of you ever had one of those days where everything keeps going wrong? I'm sure you have. Well, today is that day! I don't know if it's because it's Monday, or we just have some bad luck. First, I should tell you about some of the things we've had to do in the past week.. my car needed to be registered. But before we could do that, we had to replace the windshield. It got nailed by a rock on the freeway and had a huge crack in it. So that cost a nice chunk to fix. Then my brake light was out, so we had to fix that too. Today, I discovered that my phone was broken. It still lets me call people, but that's it. I can't get my messages, texts, anything like that. The lady who tried to help me fix it over the phone said she couldn't fix it and I had to wait 3-5 days for someone else to call me and try to fix it then. But it doesn't stop there! Oh no, then I had to get my oil changed today too. When I got there they told me my air filter was shot, and my brake light was out again! *Sigh*. Then on the way home I needed to stop for gas. But guess what! My gas latch wouldn't open when I pulled on the lever! So I couldn't get gas. So I'm kind of feeling like nothing else could possibly go wrong right? Wrong! I get home and the house smelled like burned rubber. Alex blew up the vacuum by sucking up plastic! Now we get to fix the belt on that. It's been a rough day so far. But it's not over yet! I hope nothing else goes wrong!

Some Tid-Bits About Me

I've seen a few of you do this now and I wanted to do it too. It looked fun!

My roommate and I once: drove all the way to Wendover just to get an ice cream cone.

Never in my live have I: sky dived.

High School was: Fun! But not until my junior year. That's when I got into Pep Club. Then my senior year was fun because I was in A'capella, girls ensemble, and I didn't have any hard classes.

When I am nervous: I play with my fingers. But I do that when I'm bored too.

My hair: is long and dry. I need to deep condition it.

When I was 5: I was ALWAYS getting hurt.

When I turn my head to the left: I see my kitchen.

I should be: taking my car in for an overdue oil change. (oops!)

By this time next year: Connor will be 16 months old!

I have a hard time understanding: Math. For those of you who don't know, I can NOT do math!

My ideal breakfast: that's tough. Probably pancakes and eggs. Or maybe just going to IHOP!

If you visit my hometown: Well, if you visit Salt Lake, you can go to the Gateway mall which is cool. If you go to Biloxi, you'll see everything still being rebuilt from Katrina.

If you spend the night at my house: You'll get to stay on a blow up mattress in the baby's room.

I shouldn't have been: so unmotivated to work out more when I was pregnant. Maybe I wouldn't have so much weight to lose.

Last night I: watched tv with John after the kids were in bed and it was nice.

A better name for me would be: Slambam, boomslammer, Kam slam... take your pick! :)

I have been told I look like: Alecia Silverstone, Drew Barrymore, or Olivia Newton-john

"Shhh... be vewy vewy quiet"

John's mom and Jim were just here. It's always nice to have family visit, but when you run out of things to say, that can be a problem. There were a lot of long pauses in the conversation. She mainly came to see the baby. When he fell asleep after they were here for a half hour though, things started to get quiet. At least there's always small talk right?

Up In The Night

I thought after 4 months things were supposed to get better, not worse when it comes to the baby sleeping better. He's up ALL NIGHT!! Here's how his schedule has been lately... he goes to bed between 7:30 and 8, wakes up around 12, I roll him over and he goes back to sleep until around 1 or 1:30 usually. Then he gets his bottle. Let's say he goes back to bed at 2, he wakes up at 2:15, 2:30, and again at 3. Keep in mind I'm having to get up and turn him over every time or he starts to ball, then John doesn't get any sleep and he has to get up between 4 and 5. So he's up again at 3 and I turn him over yet again. He sleeps until 4 or 4:45, then decides he's up for the day. That is just not going to work. So by then John is usually up anyway, so I just let him cry in his crib at that point. Then sometime around 6 he might go back to sleep. In which case, he'll wake up again at about 7:30. Now tell me... is that a complete nightmare or what?! What do I do with him? Drug him at night so he'll actually sleep? I'm exhausted and I don't know what his problem is. Have any of you had this happen to you before? How do you fix it?

It's F F F FREEEEZING!!

I am so freakin' cold! Where did summer go?! I'm sitting here bundled up in a big sweatshirt, furry warm socks, and long warm pants, and I'm still cold! I've been this way the past few nights now. It just feels so darn cold to me! John absolutely LOVES it. He's a human furnace, so this kind of weather is his favorite. Cool, crisp, and me freezing my butt off so when I curl up with him, my cold feet and hands feel like heaven to him. He's really warm in return so it's nice to me. I love fall and the changing of the leaves and everything. But does it have to get so cold so fast? I know... I'm just a wuss. It's not that cold during the day. It's at night when I start to freeze. It's funny, with as much body fat as I have, you'd think I'd be roasting non stop! Hahaha! Seriously though.. thank goodness for electric blankets, warm husbands, and heaters! Without them, I'd never survive!

Cast Your Vote

Ok, here's what's going on. John's boss is a jerk. He doesn't get any respect at work, or credit for what he does. On top of that, his normal work week is 60 hours. Then he's been putting in 20 hours of over time a week because his boss keeps throwing projects at him that needed to be done yesterday. So now he's pushing 80-90 hour weeks, and his boss told him today that he needs to work MORE hours! Plus if he didn't work more, it could cost him his job! What is his problem?! He knows John goes to school and has a family, and yet he asks more of him? So I'm taking a vote. On one hand, he makes decent money (but not what he's worth by far). On the other, he's worked to death with no appreciation, and his injuries are due to work. Who thinks he should stay and put up with it until he gets his degree, and who thinks he should just quit before it kills him and find something else temporarily until he gets his degree? We're torn on this one for sure. Any inputs?

Sunday Is Family Day

Today was such a nice relaxing day. Sundays are always nice days to be with family. We played games, and read, and just enjoyed each other's company. Then we had my parents over for dinner. I made a homemade chicken pot pie. It turned out soo good! It was so nice to have them over and just visit and spend time together. Mom played with the dog which was funny, and the kids loved all the attention Nana and Poppy gave them. Next we need to have Kortney and Cody and the kids over again! We don't do enough as a family I don't think. I remember when we'd go to Grandpa and Grandma's every sunday. I loved going because not only would I see Grandpa and Grandma, but most of the time there were cousins, and aunts, and uncles there too. Now it's like the only time I see family, and not just extended but sometimes immediate too, is on special occasions. Well, in that case, I'm going to try and make regular days into more special occasions! I miss having everyone around. So.. mom and dad, thanks again for coming over tonight! Kortney and Cody, you're next! And everyone else, we need to see more of each other too!

We're All Connected

I just received an email about a boy who went missing in Texas. I was asked to forward it on to people, and I did. But it made me think of something.. we are all connected. It's mind blowing to me to think that someone in Texas knew someone else, who knew someone else, who knew someone in Utah, who knew someone who knew my sister, who then knows me and I know more people. Doesn't that just seem incredible? If you think of things in that perspective, we're linked to nearly everyone in the world by association. How CRAZY is that! Anyway, I hope this boy is found! If any of you would like to be able to forward his picture on to anyone you know, I'm sure the family of this poor kid would appreciate any help they can get. Just give me your email address, and I'll send it along. Otherwise, I sent it to Shana, it might reach you anyway.

With Pain Comes Bills

John has had a "busted" hand for several months now. Since before we moved out of our apartment he had injured his hand, and up until a few days ago never knew exactly what was wrong with it. Then about a month or so ago, his leg started to hurt really bad. He went to a sports injury specialist who so far has been the only doctor who could diagnose his injuries. Turns out he'll most likely need surgery for both. He's torn a ligament in his hand, and they suspect a pinched nerve in his back causing pain in his leg. I knew he'd torn something... John is so accident prone, how could he not have? Well, now we've got to figure out what we should do. Obviously he needs them fixed. But how will we afford it, and when does it need to be done? The insurance will cover a lot of it thank goodness, but we're still paying on my hospital bills. We can't afford to get another one right now. This is going to take some careful planing. After surgery who knows how long he'll be out of work for. Maybe I'll need to get a job to compensate for a while? But he most likely won't be able to take care of the baby by himself, so I'll either need to be there with him, or we need to find someone who can come and help out while I work. Anyone up for some possible babysitting? We'll see how things go over the next little while I guess.