Our Happy Wall Family

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

Are you shocked?!! It's only been ..what.. 8 months since the Wall Family last blogged....:) Well, so is life. LOTS has happened over the past 8 months. LOTS has changed over the past 8 months. I am not here to share all those details today..... but rather this post is to send out a Christmas greeting, basic family updates, and share our thanks to many wonderful family and friends!

Here are some basic family updates:

Keven - Still is a partner in his own company, Wasatch Drywall & Paint. Helping to manage a business keeps him busy but he still manages to be a Sunday School Teacher, devoted Tuesday night basketball player, fun Daddy, and wonderful husband.

Cary - Enjoying wonderful health after recovering from heart surgery last Christmas. Busy being mommy a.k.a. reading teacher, referee, cook, nurse, and playmate. Was called to be the 1st Counselor in the Brighton LDS Girls Camp Presidency. This has definitely kept her busy!!

Hannah - Our social butterfly. Busy taking dance and loving her preschool class. Enrolled in a musical kindergarten class where she has learned the basics of music theory and can play some simple piano. She can write her name and anything else you ask, as long as you can help her spell the words. :) She is also learning how to read and is excited to have a few books she can read on her own. Tall as ever and continues to amaze us with her sweet, sensitive personality.

Spencer - our busy boy! Wow, this kid loves anything that causes a mess - toothpaste, toliet paper, and pouring water all over are just a few favorites. He also has an obession with car keys and vacuum cleaners. Random, we know. He knows his whole alphabet and loves to point out letters off the billboards we see around town. Everyone continually tells us that Spencer looks like a little man... and we must agree. How we love our little man!

Early in April this year we had the opportunity to sell our home. Both Keven and I had felt impressed to sell it and after exploring that option we had a buyer a few weeks later. So we are relocating.... still looking at where exactly to relocate. We definitely have felt guided as we have searched for homes in the past and continue to feel that as we look now. We don't know exactly where we will end up but believe the Lord is aware of us. We have a few offers in on short sale homes and are hoping to have some answers come February/March. Right now we are living in Holladay and enjoying the fun people we have met.

What a year 2011 has been! At this time last year we were getting home from the Mayo Clinic, moving into a new home, needing LOTS of help to care for our family, etc, etc. Wow. What an experience last Christmas was for our family! Definitely a life changing one. Thank you again for the many of you who gave us assistance during that time. I think we will be forever issuing thanks for the help we were given. A special thanks to those secret folks who delivered an unforgettable Christmas tree to us. We don't know who you are....but your awesome tree is up in our house this year and will be up every year to remind us of the true spirit of giving. A story in the Ensign this month made this statement, "I learned that real charity is a priceless spiritual gift that propels us to act in the Savior's place." We believe that to be true. We also believe that those who are recipients of these acts of charity receive priceless spiritual gifts because their lives are touched forever. We know this from personal experience.

At this Christmas season we find ourselves feeling very grateful for the birth of our Savior and what His life means to us individually. His mighty example is so humbling and touching. We personally testify that He is real and His mercy is available to all. We have felt that mercy and can testify from personal experience that we have seen miracles and wonders brought from His charitable example.

We love you all and wish you a wonderful Holiday Season!

The Wall Family - Keven, Cary, Hannah, and Spencer :)

P.S. Sorry there are no pictures. We had a fun video we tried to upload - a awesome video that Keven made for my, Cary's, one year heart surgery anniversary - but it wouldn't work. So just picture our smiling faces together and hopefully that can satisify any picture needs you might have:)

2011-04-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been awhile! What's up with the Wall's? Everything and nothing at the same time. We always seem to be busy, but life has mellowed out over the past few months -- which is great!! We were able to get a second car so I have my own vehicle again! That has been great! It has been awesome to have the freedom to go whenever I would like. I really had missed that. We got a little Nissan X-Terra, perfect for a family of four. I am feeling LOTS better! My energy level is good and I enjoy doing whatever I please! I don't go see my cardiologist again until June. I am fully done with cardiac rehab, have been more over a month. I was let go with flying colors and am enjoying exercising on my own again. I am anxious to get out and do some hiking. I love a good stroll in the outdoors! Life is taking on a more normal routine again. I feel like the past 9 months we have been living in this crazy survival mode....but now we are all feeling great and enjoying life to the fullest! Keven is busy at work. Business seems to be good, even in this down economy. Hannah is enjoying her dance lessons, playing outside, and looking forward to preschool. She asks me about school all the time and doesn't like it that she has to wait until the end of summer. She just turned 4 and informed us on her birthday that she was getting old and needed to get married. ??!! How random! We told her she needed to get A LOT older before she could start thinking about that.:) Spencer is talking so much, saying anything and everything! He has finally started saying yes. He has loved the word no for so long. Yes is a wonderful change. Spencer will turn 2 in May, how the time flies! And me? I am busy being a Mom -- my favorite job. I also have recently acquired a new job with Intermountain Health Care. I used to work for them long ago and decided it was time to go back. With Keven being self-employed we needed health insurance. What a crazy issue health insurance is, but people like me sure cannot go without it. We have a health insurance policy now but it expires at the end of the year. With Obama's new health regulations we cannot be denied insurance but it also means we can only get health insurance for truckload of money and the benefits are not good. Anyway, I have once again been reminded that the Lord loves us and knows what we need. I found a job that was perfect for our family! It also allows me to use my previous health experience and B.S. degree, and most of all -- it is super flexible! So I work part time, about 20 hours a week. I can work whenever I want. I work in the employee health department managing two respiratory programs. I really enjoy what I do and am incredibly grateful to have been able to obtain a job with benefits. I typically work Tuesday and Thursday. Keven is able to work from home those two days so he can be with our kids. It is just worked out perfectly. Yahoo for this wonderful springtime! Warmer weather! New Flowers! Easter! Outdoor activities! I am excited!

2011-02-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

My mind continues to be amazed at the medical technology we have. Last week I saw a pediatric cardiologist that specializes in pacemakers. Her and her staff were able to change the settings on my pacemaker and check it out. What is amazing about this is that it is the simpliest thing ever! They put a little mouse over the spot where my pacemaker sits and from there this little mouse is able to communicate with a computer that can then change settings on the pacemaker, print data of when the pacemaker is typically needing to work, and they can also tell how long the pacemaker battery will last. Truly amazing! I am continually amazed and impressed! Anyway, they said my pacemaker is working in a beautiful fashion. It only functions about 20% of the time, which is very low amount for most pacemaker patients. The doctor kept telling me how healthy I looked and how everything is looking wonderful - I love hearing that stuff.:)

It is so nice to have this surgery behind us and now my family and I can move forward in a positive manner. It is so nice to play with my kids and have energy to do all that is needed of me. My doctors tell me I should continue to notice my energy increasing. Love that. I am anxious for spring and summer so I can go back to my other love -- the mountains....... :)

We are planning to get a second car either this weekend or next weekend and I am super excited about that! I haven't had my own car since last August! I feel like getting a second car is the final step towards recovery and freedom!

Keven and I just got called to be the 11 year old scout leaders in our ward. I have never been involved in scouts so I am really excited to learn more about this program. I am really excited to do this with Keven, excited to help the boys, and excited to do campouts! Keven and I had the opportunity to be a Ma & Pa on trek this past summer and we had such an amazing, spiritual experience. We look forward to teaching & helping the youth again.

Hannah and Spencer are growing so big. I recognize that my babies are not babies anymore. Hannah will be four in just a few weeks and Spencer will be two in May. Spencer has started speaking in sentences and Hannah has started talking about going to school. Hannah asked me if she could go to school soon because she can't wait! I hope she keeps that attitude when she gets into school! Hannah is taking dance lessons and absolutely loves them! She is always asking if it is "dance day" yet. I was able to go see her class last week and it was hilarious! Hannah tries so hard to follow the teacher and learn the dances. I was so proud watching her!

Happy Valentines Day! The next time I post I should be the driver of my own car! I feel like I am 16 again waiting for my license :)

2011-02-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

Yahoo for hitting the 8 week mark!!!! We made it!!!!

Wow! Where do I start? I have loved returning to my normal routine! Which has been my most favorite actvity to return to?!! So many to choose from -- Lifting, driving, cooking, cleaning, taking care of my kids, etc. I would have to say my favorite has been lifting my little man, Spencer. Oh, how I have loved that!!!

This week it has been fun doing our normal days of playing, house chores, running errands, etc. And the best part is: I FEEL GREAT!!! Before I had surgery doing the normal day was hard. I am happy to report that that is NOT the case anymore. (BIG SMILE). I love it! I was telling some friends at church how excited I was to do my own laundry. They were laughing at that but seriously! I have really enjoyed doing my laundry this week. Thanks to the many that have been doing my laundry for me! I can happily do it myself now!

The kids wanted to play in the snow the other day and our walk needed to be shoveled......so I totally shoveled it! It felt wonderful! I can tell my bones and muscle are healed and my body felt good doing the workout. Keven wasn't too happy with me and I think I made my neighbor nervous but truly it felt wonderful!

The staff at my cardiac rehab say I am progressing well and my doc says things look awesome! They are all excited for the renewed energy I feel! I see my new pacemaker dr. next week. I am interested to see her and get my settings checked.

We are looking to get a second car in the next few weeks! I am very excited about that one!

Thanks again to all the many people who have helped us in any way over the past few months! There are SO many to thank for so many things......meals, babysitting, mommysitting, cleaning, rides, treats, flowers, surprise visits, listening ears, kind words, cards, emails, calls, etc. How do we adequetely say thanks for all that we have received??..........I don't know if we can, but please just know how we appreciate everything! We love you all so much!!!

2011-01-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

Here I am in a quiet house. One child sleeping, the other playing at a friends. These are the only times I get a quick change to blog. I am always amazed at people who seems to be doing everything on so many different internet fronts - facebook, blogs, emails, searching the web, etc. How do they do it all? I surely cannot. But I am completely okay with that.

Things are good here at the Wall home and in heart surgery recovery zone. We are at 7 weeks post surgery. Once we hit the 8 week mark things will really return to more normal. The 8 week mark in next Thursday!!! How exciting! I am looking forward to picking up Spencer and giving him a HUGE love! He will probably get sick of me, but these loves are long overdue!

Cardiac Rehab is going great! I am able to walk for 30 minutes on the treadmill at high grade. They have me doing stretches to help build upper body strength. I can tell they are working because I am able to do much more than before. It feels so great to feel my body healing and gaining energy I lacked before my surgery. My doctors said that I should have more energy and ability than I have had for years -- that is very exciting to me! I love to hike so I am anxious to hit the trails this summer.

Now that I am feeling better I have started thinking about future activites. I like being able to focus on some of these fun things like putting in our yard, watching Hannah's dance class, being able to cook dinner for my family, getting to know our new neighbors, etc. Good times.

Thanks again to all those who continue to offer us support. I have amazing friends who have been such a big help in taking care of my children and helping our house function. My friend Ritz, a.k.a Martha who is a special friend from Brighton Girls Camp days, drove all the way from Springville to spend the day helping me. And she is doing it again next week! And Yeehaw, a.k.a Michelle, has picked up my kids and taken them to play at her house every Friday this month to lend us a hand. My dear friend and neighbor, Becca Sorenson, has taken my kids most Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also a pro at helping me get Spencer into his crib. For Emily, Angie, Elaine, and Allyson! They have all come to spend the day at my house cleaning, doing laundry, etc. I sure love all these ladies dearly and am SO grateful for their sacrifices in helping my family!!

I loved seeing some of my old young women this week who came to visit - thanks for the cookies! And thanks to my wonderful Aunt Cindy who always leaves me the sweetest messages.

I am already looking forward to next week's post when I get say I have hit the 8 week mark! I am anxious to jump back on the bandwagon! :)

2011-01-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

Today I started my Cardiac Rehab -- and I loved it! It started by having a little exam and seeing how my general strength and mobility are looking like. They ask LOTS of questions and then assign a workout program designed for your needs. I am happy to report they were pleased with the strength and mobility I have. My blood pressure looked great and my oxygen levels were high. After checking stuff out they decided my workout program would be to start doing general exercise (such as walking on a treadmill) over the next two weeks while we wait for the bones in the upper body to heal. After that we can start doing more aggressive exercise and upper body toning. I was able to walk on the treadmill for twenty minutes today and it felt wonderful!! I will continue going to Cardiac Rehab on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until I am back to my usual self! So exciting!

Having this surgery has been such a humbling experience. I have learned so much over the past few weeks and feel a renewed gratitude for life, living, and enjoying the moment. I have also been incredibly touched by the blessings of service. Our little family has been given so much assistance over the past couple of months, and we have been amazed at the Christ-like kindness from those all around us. THANK YOU:

Russ And Sharon (My incredible in-laws!!) - for letting us live with them for 6 months while we built our home. For helping when I was sick before surgery and for helping us after surgery with rides to the airport, babysitting, mommy-sitting( as Keven says!), etc.

Betty (My Mom) - for coming so many days to help clean, do laundry, babysit, etc. For always bringing my kids some little surprise that makes them feel special.

Jamie (My sister-in-law) - for arranging meals and babysitting all through December. For taking care of Hannah while we were away in Minnesota. For always being willing to run to the store for milk and bread.

Becca & Clint (Our neighbors & dear friends) - for also arranging meals and babysitting in December. For taking our kids twice a week. For always being willing to run over and get Spencer into/out of his crib. For shoveling our driveway and running errands for us. For providing us with meals many times!

Ray (My Bro) - for always being willing to come help at a moments notice. For playing with our kids. For helping shovel our driveway. For bringing us treats.

Whitney (My sister-in-law) - for cooking us yummy dinners. For watching Spencer while we were in Minnesota. For always being willing to help. For letting me borrow the Tales from Avonlea Series!

Lydia (My Sis) - for bringing us dinner. For playing with our kids.

To our Family and Friends who had a special fast for us.

To visitors that always bring words of comfort and love.

To the Canyon Rim Ward who helped give us a special party before we left for the surgery. What a blessing that party was for us and what a blessing all those special ward members are to us!

To the special angels who left us an very unforgettable Christmas tree!

To our new ward, the Country Crossings 5th ward, for bringing us meals for the past few weeks! That has been such a huge blessing for us and we feel so grateful!

For friends whom have helped and will be helping us do so many different things. How we appreciate you!! (Rebecca, Michelle, Allyson, Angie, Elaine, Emily, Martha, etc.)

For prayers! For cards! For emails! For help moving! For help organizing! For phone calls!

THANK YOU!! From the sincerest part of our hearts! THANK YOU!!

Happy 2011!!

2011-01-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011!! I love the New Year! I am all about the opportunity of setting new goals!!

Here are a few pictures. I have been a horrible picture taker lately so here are the simple few we have.

I wanted to document recovery a little bit. Here is a picture of me just before getting released from the hospital and above is a picture taken around Christmas. The corner spot of our sectional has become my domain. Very comfortable and offers the best, comfortable sleeping spot.

Here is the one of the newest Sunbeams!! Hannah was so excited to go to Primary and she had a wonderful time!

Our favorite little man with "bear" in hand. Spencer LOVES this bear, literally. He will not sleep without it. Whenever it is time for a nap or bed we just tell Spencer is get bear and he wil find it, insert it into his mouth, and say "nigh, night".

Me and my little man. I really miss loving my boy. This was one of those rare moments Spencer would hold still long enough so I could snuggle him on my lap, with Daddy helping lift him.

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Whitney gave Spencer this dinosaur hat for Christmas. Super cute!

A little family guitar hero. Hannah does not understand this game at all but she loves to pretend to play with her Daddy.

Life has been rolling along rather smoothly. I feel like I am getting better every day. It is SO nice to notice that difference. It is five weeks this week from surgery, only 3 more weeks of recovery mode!! I feel like my energy level is really improving, but now that my energy is returning I notice the discomfort of healing bones. I think I was too tired to notice before. I spend a lot of time using a heating pad to help with my discomfort. I still cannot sleep on my back or left side, but I am very grateful I can sleep on my right side. I feel more comfortable reaching up, which is helpful for trying to get my kids things. Next week I get to start something called Cardiac Rehab. This program is like having a a person trainer for a few weeks. I attend a special gym a few days each week where a learn stretches that will help me gain mobility and upper body strength back. I will also start walking on a treadmill to get strength back in general. I am much looking forward to this. I think it will help my prepare for life as a functioning mommy again. :)

2010-12-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for all the well wishes and holiday wishes!

Our Christmas was wonderful! Low key and simple. This was the first Christmas since we have been married that we were able to stay home and not worry about getting to see all our family, grandparents, etc. I must say that the holiday seemed a lot more simple without those concerns. We had a nice Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve with my family. We opened gifts, which made Hannah very excited. This is the first year she has been into opening presents, and she was REALLY into it! My Dad gave Hannah and Spencer little play laptops and they were a big hit. So big in fact that Christmas morning at our house Spencer would have nothing to do with opening any gifts because he just wanted to play with the laptop. :) Hannah was also really into Santa this year. Christmas morning she came out and just sat staring at the tree. Then I heard her whisper, "He came!". So cute. Christmas we visited with family and enjoyed spending time visiting with those we love.

Recovery is coming along nicely. I am being patient and feel a great deal of gratitiude for so many hands that help me. I finally feel like I can say that I am beginning to feel better. Keven pointed out that I can talk without getting out of breathe. He also says he can tell I have more energy because I am more fiesty. :) My sister-in-law, Jamie, pointed out that I am walking faster. I notice that I have more energy to move around my house and don't tire as easily as I used to. I even felt well enough yesterday that I convinced my sister-in-laws, Jamie & Whitney, to take me to Target. I really wanted to get a few things in my home and had already tried explaining to Keven what I wanted, but what he came home with was always far from the picture in my mind. Now, I hope I don't sound like jerk. I feel like I have been decently patient with having everyone else pick stuff out for me. But I really wanted to pick out a few things so my sweet sister-in-laws pushed me around Target in a wheelchair and helped me out. Doing that took all my energy. We came home and I couldn't do anything all night because I was so tired! SO....... I will probably avoid that activity for awhile, but sure appreciate my sister-in-laws help!

2010-12-21T11:06:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! This has been such a wild month! So Merry Christmas all! I wish each of you a very Happy Holiday Season!!

Things are going well here at the Wall Home! We are slowly making our way through this holiday season and through the ins and outs of each day. Here are a few updates on heart surgery recovery...... 1. My fever left last Friday and has not been an issue since! So grateful for that one! 2. I washed my own hair for the first time Sunday. May sound like a silly thing to be excited about but that is a big accomplishment! And you would be surprised how tired you get just trying to do something like that! And 3. I actually only woke up twice last night! After heart surgery your body does the weirdest things - one being that your sleep schedule gets really off. Ever since surgery I have gotten used to being awake for most of the night, but last night I fell asleep at 9 p.m. and didn't remember waking up until close to 5! Loved that!

People keep on asking me if I feel like I am getting better and my answer may seem funny, but I have to tell them that I don't know. At some moments I feel like I am getting better then at some points I feel like I regressed to a worse state. When I saw my doctor last week she reminded me that it will be awhile before I feel better. They said after 8 weeks I can start back into my normal routine but reminded me that just doing my normal routine will wear me out. So she then said to plan on 6 months to a year before I feel really back to myself............wow..... Dr. Yetman said that many people get depressed after heart surgery because you are so limited physically. I don't feel depressed, but I do sometimes get impatient with my limits. I really am not that impatient, because I really don't feel like doing much, but sometimes I get frustrated having to ask for help ALL the time. For example, the other day I was so hungry and hated asking Keven to help me again for the 50th time that day so I thought I would just get it myself. Well, I went to the kitchen to find a bowl and then realized I couldn't reach them without hurting my chest. I opened the fridge next and realized I couldn't lift the milk, which is where I gave up. I was so frustrated I started to cry and when Keven tried to find out what was wrong I was angry. (Big sigh). It is good to have experiences that teach us humility :)

2010-12-16T18:18:00.001-08:00

Hello family and friends! It's Cary here!!! I am so excited to be posting and updating about this past week!!

I feel like so much has gone on over the past week. First, we moved into our house! Yahoo!! It is SO wonderful to have a bed again! Thanks to so many friends and family who came to help us! We are so blessed! Second, we have been adjusting - or maybe I should say I have been adjusting - to life on a couch with others caring for my children, cooking my family dinner, and people doing my laundry, etc. It's not easy....but I am so grateful for all the wonderful help we have received. I really don't have the energy to do anything else anyway. My sweet children have been so patient. Hannah is very tender with me because she knows I have "hurts". She will so carefully come sit by me and hug my arm. Spencer is still trying to figure out why I won't pick him up. He runs to me often and pats my leg, which is his cue for wanting to be picked up. It's nice when people will sit him on my lap and I can love him for a little while.

I had a check up with my doctor at Primary Children's today. I expected to spend an hour or so there and it turned out being an all day event. I had to have a echocardiogram done and it was very uncomfortable. You do those tests laying on your left side but my left side has a pacemaker incision, some broken bones, etc. - you get the point. Laying on that side about did me in....but we made it! The staff up there even gave me a cute pink, flowery, fleece blanket for being so brave. :) Turned out I had a fever so they made me stay to do blood work, tests, and such to make sure there was no infection. After awhile I was worried they were not going to let me leave, but all my tests came back mostly normal. I have some fluid on my right lung, and some blood tests were a little off but not enough to keep me there. So I have to check my temperature over the next two days and if the fever doesn't go away then we must go back. As of tonight the fever was still here so keep your fingers crossed that it will go away!!

I need to take a moment to thank my sweet husband for all he is doing, has done, and is continuing to do. He is a super star! You can't even imagine all that he has taken on for our family right now. He is working full time, being a full time, single parent - as I am totally worthless right now - and is trying to run our household, etc. He is my full time nurse and caregiver. He helps me dress, washes and combs my hair, assists me in and out of bed, feeds me, makes sure I take my medicine, and does so with a smile. While we were up at Primary's today one of the nurses turned to me and said "Wow, you can tell he really takes good care of you." How correct she was! So thank you sweetie!!! I love you!!

Okay, I need to run. But I have lots more to add and many more to thank so stay posted!!!

This is the Place!

2010-12-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

Cary and I flew home yesterday...an all day affair. Cary did a great job, but was EXHAUSTED when we reached Salt Lake City. My mom, grandma, and Hannah met us at the airport. Hannah was so cute, and gave her mommy a kiss on the cheek to help her feel better. I think it worked. The normally strong Cary cried a little bit.

Then, when we came home, we helped Cary into the house to another surprise. Some kind, awesome, AMAZING friends, who refuse to tell us who they are, gave us this...

A Heart Christmas Tree...with gifts for Hannah, Spencer, Mommy and Daddy. It was so touching, so kind and generous...so much more than I can explain. I'm not sure if it helped mend broken hearts or tore mine right out of my chest...I think the Wall Family has just adopted a new tradition. Thank you to whoever you are. Christmas will never be the same for us.

We also got some beautiful flowers from our kind friends at Wasatch Drywall and Paint. Aren't they awesome!

Today has been crazy. I think our kids have had way too much fun while we were away, and we had some tired children all day today. So, mom, Hannah and Spencer are now all in bed...and I'm left watching the news:) Cary is getting some sleep, which is nice. She gets uncomfortable mostly because she's on her back all day long. Her appetite is not 100% back yet either. She is usually able to eat about 5 or so mini meals a day...to go along with her medication schedule. She told me today that her taste buds are whacked out. She wanted to eat chili at about 8:30 tonight (which is weird by itself) and after about 3 bites she let me know that the chili tasted like ladies perfume. What can I say to that? So I asked "which one?" What I want to know is why is she tasting women's perfume to begin with?

We continue to see progress every day, and are continually thankful to everyone's help and concern. We have better friends than we deserve. Good night!

Discharge!

2010-12-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

It is 11:30 Rochester time, and I am blogging now because I thought Cary had blogged before. A lot has happened today.

Cary got paced for the first time last night. I've become 1 with the lingo, so for those who don't know what that means, it means that Cary's heart rate dropped far enough that her pace maker jumped into action to help regulate her heart rate. That sounds bad, but really I'm happy. This has been one of her problems that has caused her grief in the past, but no longer. Now, instead of fainting spells or chest pain, she'll just have a little help from her new friend.

While Cary was showering this morning I told the doctors about her being paced, and their response was "good...that's why it's there." I really appreciated his candor. There are a lot of things in life that seem bad in one way or another, but if we try and expand our vision, we see that they are huge blessings. So...Cary's heart surgery, her pace maker, and our trip to Rochester, MN, have all been huge blessings in our life.

Cary got discharged today. We are staying at a hotel in town until Wednesday afternoon, when we will fly home! The hospital staff has all said that we've come a long way in a very short time. Cary's uncomfortable, but every day walking more, being able to converse more, stay awake longer, etc. Hopefully for her sake she'll be able to get some sleep tonight.

As for our home...well, if only that could have happened quicker than we all thought!...or as quick as we thought...heck I'd be happy if it would have happened slightly longer than we thought...but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We know the underwriter is looking at the file because of all the stupid little letters and hoops we are jumping through now. I assume everyone has them. Our lender seems to think it's all done, and hopefully tomorrow we will have a closing date. I don't have a lot of hope of it being done before we fly home, but maybe Thursday closing?

I appreciate all the people who have fasted, prayed, expressed love, thoughts, flowers, hospitality and in general gone above and beyond anything I could have asked for. I shouldn't name anyone, but some I would feel remiss if I don't...so here goes. First to family. My brother and sister and their families for keeping our kids while we are away. My parents and in-laws for their concern. Thank you Becca, Jamie, Whitney, Elaine for helping coordinate meals, babysitting, mommysitting for when we get back. Thanks to Rod, Melissa, Doug, Troy, Ashley and Ashley. These are the people I work with who have allowed me to take so much time and energy away from work during this process...as well as the build of my home. They are awesome.

Thanks to Brighton Girls Camp and the special bond these girls share. We've been shuttled around Rochester by one of Cary's brighton friends, Tibet, and her husband while we've been here. He is a resident at the hospital and she's taking care of their 4 babies, but they insisted on feeding us, driving us around, and visiting us at the hospital. Rochester was a small extension of Utah thanks to them. Thanks to the Shield's family and their newfound friendship during this experience. They went through this with their daughter a couple years ago and offered a lot of advice for us.

Thanks to our 2 wards, the Canyon Rim Ward and the Country Crossing 5th ward. The Canyon Rim ward held a shower for us before we left, and it was awesome. Elaine is a lifesaver. They have showed us so much love over the years. It was really hard to leave. Similarly, our new ward family has reached out to us in a way that made me feel like we've been there for years already, (and we don't even have a home there yet!) I was so surprised to get phone call after phone call from people in the ward who wanted an update. Thank you so much to both wards!

The doctors, nurses, volunteers, clinic workers, shuttle drivers and Sprinhill Suites at Mayo Clinic have re-defined Christianity for me. Thanks to them for their skill, care, concern and love they've shown us over the past week.

And finally, not to sound cliche, but so much has just fallen perfectly into place that there is no way this is all coincidence. I am thankful to Heavenly Father for His help in making this all happen.

Hopefully the list is complete...I'll have Cary double check it all in the morning. If I forgot someone I am sorry. Thanks.

And I'm sorry this blog is so long. I guess I get long winded after midnight! See you in 2 days.

The Gig is up!

2010-12-04T14:39:00.000-08:00

Well...Cary was well enough today to read my blog posts!!! Uh oh! She said I need to "give more details." Here goes.

This morning Cary had an echo. It looked great. What they look for is back flow from the atrium back into the venticle. They call it regurgitation. The cardiologist said that there was almost none! That was the last bit of information to prove that Cary's surgery was a great success. Cary and I were super excited to learn that.

Also...Cary started eating real food late last night. Technically it was 1 saltine cracker and a couple bites of "ice cream." Today she ate parts of breakfast and lunch and...(this is the funniest)...part of a reeces miniature cup.

The doctor's anticipate that we will be discharged on Monday. We have booked our flights to come home on Wednesday evening. It's been a great experience being here at the Mayo Clinic. Everyone has been great. Especially our doctors, Dearani, Cannon, and Cetta. Also, Andrea and Eric Cannon have been awesome! I have to admit Brighton girls are the best. Besides being our shuttle, restaurant and laundromat, they also visited and brought COOKIES!

Also, it snowed here.

Day 3?

2010-12-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

The days are starting to run together. We spent our first night together in our step down room. Today, Cary had the chest tubes removed and has been walking around a bit. She's started taking her pain meds orally and just barely finished her first whole cup of raspberry sherbet. YUMMY HOSPITAL FOOD!!!

I'm good. And blogging is becoming boring. Basically, all is well, and hopefully we will learn about when we will come home in the next few days. More to come later.

"The Morning After"

2010-12-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

Day 2:

After a lengthy evening of...well...nothing...the most ex

citing thing that happened was that Car

y had the breathing tube removed, around

9:30. She was READY to have it out about 8:00...but the doctor's said no. Turns out that Propopyl, one of the sedatives that Cary was getting weaned off of, is the same medication that killed Michael Jackson. Something about w

hen you are on it you forget to breath or something. Oops!! So they wanted to make sure that Cary was awake enough to remember to breathe before they took out the breathing tube. Anyways, after that happened, I was asked to leave so Cary could get some rest.

Side note, I went to an awesome little restaurant called the Canadian Honker for dinner. Thanks Shields family for the suggestion an

d for the coughing pillow! Cary's been huggi

ng it close.

Then today, Cary has been very sleepy, but she got out of bed and sat in a chair for about 3 hours in the ICU. After that, they sent us down to the "step-down" room...the next step before we get discharged. She's doing great. A little sick to her stomach, very thirsty (she's had more soda than I have had today!), tired and weak

but everyone says she's doing very well. We've had visits today from Dr. Dearani (the Cardiov

ascular Surgeon), Dr. Cetta (the Cardiologist), Dr. Cannon (The pace maker guy) and a host of other guys.

Right now Cary is eating dinner. Not eating s

o much as slurping broth. They have as many flavors of broth as I have hands!!! Chicken AND Beef!

Anyways, I'm bored writing and I'm sure you're bored reading. Here's a little love from Cary...ENJOY!

Post Op

2010-12-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

It is 5:40 local time, and Cary has been out of surgery since about 4:00 local...which means that she was in surgery for 6 to 6 1/2 hours. Dr. Dearani (sp?) said that the surgery went "exactly as planned." He seemed a little self confident yesterday, and that was confirmed today. But he is almost universally accepted to be the best at what he does, and he proved it today. He was able to repair Cary's tricuspid valve and make her atrium smaller. He also installed a pace maker to help keep her heart rhythm regular. Everyone is optimistic that she won't need it, but Cary and I are glad it's there...just in case.

I am debating taking a couple snap shots of her with her breathing tube lying in ICU, but I think one of these days Cary will read what I've written, and I'd get in trouble. So let me just say 2 things:

1. Cary is doing great and recovering and

2. No John Doyle it wasn't breast enhancement surgery.

More tomorrow!!!!

2010-11-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

We made it!! We arrived in Minneapolis last night around 6 p.m. My cute friend Andrea picked us up from the airport, took us to her home in Rochester, and then fed us a home cooked meal! What a pal! Brighton relationships have such a blessing in my life! Then she took us to our hotel and we got settled for the night. Thanks Tibet a.k.a Andrea and her husband Eric for all they have done for us and all they continue to offer to do for us! :)

Today has been a LONG day....but an extremely peaceful and educational day. Our day started with an appointment at 6:50 a.m. and did not end until 6 p.m. First was blood tests, then echocardiogram, followed by a cardiac MRI, then chest x-rays, EKG, etc. The afternoon was spent meeting with different doctors - Dr. Cetta, Dr. Dearani, and Dr. Cannon. We also slipped a portable EKG test in there too. Lots to say about today but I will sum up a few main thoughts.

First, the Mayo Clinic is incredible!! We have never met more friendly, sincere people. Everyone is available to help you and treats you with such kindness. It is amazing!

Second, we have felt so educated today. In Salt Lake most doctors/medical staff/people don't know anything about this heart defect, but that is not the case here. It was SO nice to come to a place where people know and understand this condition. So many things were clarified today and that brought a lot of peace into our lives. I think we have gotten used to not knowing much about this defect and also having most medical people around us be unfamiliar with this.

And finally, I am amazed at the peace we are feeling. I fully expected that after meeting with all these doctors I would be super nervous for surgery tomorrow but that is not the case. I left the Clinic today feeling complete peace. Every doctor we talked to left us feeling secure and positive. The cardiologist, Dr. Cetta, told us he was very encouraged by what he saw in our heart films. People with this heart defect usually have very bad right ventricle function, which leads to extreme, irreparable issues. He said my right ventricle function was not normal but extremely good for a person with Ebsteins. How exciting! Dr. Dearani, our surgeon, is a very honest, direct man. He came in and told us his exact thoughts. He said he is not exactly sure what he will do in surgery tomorrow. He believes there is a 50% chance of fixing the valve doing a slight cone procedure and the other 50% chance is that he will just have to replace our valve. But after talking with him we feel very at east with whatever choice he feels he needs to make. We talked about surgical risks and he felt very confident. He has worked with so many patients with this heart defect and he feels our surgery will be completely successful. Dr. Cannon is a cardiologist that specializes in heart rhythms. He wants us to have a pacemaker put in during our stay here as well. We felt complete peace as we talked about that choice and know it is the right thing to do.

SO, tomorrow is the day! We check into the hospital at 7 a.m. Surgery is supposed to be about 6 hours. We are feeling good and very much at peace. We acknowledge that peace to the power of prayer, the power of faith, and the blessings that result from fasting. Thank you to all that have helped us in this! We love you all!!!

On Our Way!

2010-11-29T10:50:00.000-08:00

We are on our way! I was a little concerned we wouldn't make it out, just driving to the airport was wild! But we did make it out of Salt Lake this morning and are now in Denver. Our next flight to Minneapolis was supposed to leave around 2 but has been delayed to 3 so I thought would take the 3 hour layover to update the blog!

The past few days have been very touching. We continue to be strenghened and uplifted by the kindness of family and friends. How blessed we are!

We had the opportunity to fast with our family on Sunday. Being together with both sides of our family was wonderful. Keven, with help from other family priesthood holders, gave me a blessing. I don't remember a lot of what was said but I do remember how I felt -- love and peace. Thank you to our family for joining us in this and thank you to others who also participated.

We spent Sunday night at Grandpa Martin's viewing. Grandpa looked SO peaceful! We are glad his suffering is over! We are sad to miss the funeral today but are sending prayers to our family there.

Hannah went home to cousin Maleia's house after the viewing. She was SO excited to go! She was out the door, in the car, and buckled up before we got the chance to say goodbye. Silly girl! We are very glad she was excited to be where she was, it sure makes it a lot easier to leave. Jamie texted us last night saying that Hannah and Maleia were laughing and giggling in Maleia's room as they went to sleep. How sweet! Thanks to Jamie and Sean for taking our Hannah!

We parted with Spencer this morning. Keven's parents drove us to the airport and Spencer came too. I think he was getting tired of my kisses as we drove, but I wanted to get in all the love I could give to my boy. Spencer is staying with cousins Madison and Lily. They are such cute girls and have been so excited to have him over! Madison has been asking me for the last week if Spencer could just come home with them then. :) Thanks Ryan and Whitney for taking our Spencer!

Tonight we are being picked up at the Minneapolis Airport by my friend Andrea (a.k.a Tibet!). Her husband is doing his residency at the Mayo Clinic so when they heard we were coming out they offered to help us out. We truly appreciate their generosity!

Tomorrow morning we start a full day of testing/appointments at the Mayo Clinic. Bloodwork at 6:45 a.m., followed by echocardiograms, mri, ekg, consultations, etc. We will post again tommorrow night after we know more details about surgery and our plans. We are scheduled to have surgery Wednesday morning but we should know all final details after our visit tomorrow.

Wish us luck for a successful flight out of Denver!

2010-11-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Not sure exactly how to start this, but the best words that sums up my thoughts are this: THANKS!!!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who support us! We truly appreciate all of your prayers, fasting, phone calls, emails, etc. We have been so touched by the different people who have come forward with words of comfort, actions of servce, offers of service, and friendly listening ears. And thank you for putting our name in the temple!! We are so blessed!!

The past few weeks have been crazy. We were supposed to move into our new house, get things set up, and then take off for the surgery. Well, getting our house finished took longer than we thought. We finally got our Certificate of Occupancy today but our loan is still in underwriting which means we will most likely not close on our house before we need to leave. Now, I recognize miracles can happen so we might get a miracle and close tomorrow......but not likely. Luckily our builder said we could move a few things in before we go -- like our bed! (I really want to come home to my own bed!) Craziness I tell ya! BUT, it all works out! At least we will have a home eventually and we feel blessed in that manner.

Sunday evening Keven's Grandpa Martin passed away. We will miss him but are grateful that his suffering is through. Between that and our house craziness it has been a little wild. On the bright side, at least we have had some other things to distract us from our adventure next week.

Thanks again for all your suport, prayers, and love! We truly have felt uplifted and strenghened! Happy Thanksgiving and Happy BYU/UTAH Game!! GO Utes!!

Going Public...

2010-11-15T19:17:00.000-08:00

No pictures of the house today. I need to put new pictures up, everything is almost finished! We should be moving in this weekend or right before Thanksgiving sometime......we hope :)

Today I am going public :) Going public about something that has been going on in our little family. It's a long story, but I will try to sum it up quickly.

I am going in for heart surgery. The surgery will in December 1st. The surgery will be done in Minnesota, at the Mayo Clinic. We leave to go there Monday, November 29th. We will be there for a couple of weeks. We plan to be home for Christmas unless anything crazy happens.

I was born with a heart defect called Ebstein's Anomaly. This defect causes the tricuspid valve of your heart to be in the wrong place and the valve is disfunctional. A couple of months ago I developed a problem with an irregular heart rhythm. This lead to the decision that it was time to do some work on my heart defect.

This heart defect is very rare. In the past there has not been a great solution for fixing it. But there is now a new surgery out for people such as myself. It is called the cone procedure. This is an open-heart surgery in which they use your own heart tissue to reform the bad valve into a cone. The cone shape helps funnel blood into the correct places. This surgery is still very new but very successful. We will be having it done by one of the most experienced men in the country, Dr. Joseph Dearani.

They entire process of discovering I had a irregular rhythm to finding a new cardiologist to discovering I needed heart surgery to going to the Mayo Clinic has been a very spiritual process. We know the Lord has been with us and believe He will continue to be with us.

We plan to help keep family and friends updated about our surgery on this blog so there may be a lot of crazy things appearing here soon.

We would love any prayers that could be sent in our direction. We have felt the prayers of our family as we have proceeded this far and would love any extra support we can get. :)

Halloween......and the House!

2010-11-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Oh, look at my cute puppies!!! Hannah has been really into pretending to be a puppy. You can ask her friends and cousins - I feel like she is responsible for teaching all to walk on all fours, tie things around your neck for a leash, and scratching behind the ears with your hands. (Thanks to so many who humor Hannah in this game - cousins Lily and Maleia, and Hannah's Caleb.) So it seemed a good idea to let Hannah have a puppy costume and some time to really go puppy! Spencer enjoyed the costume too or should I say many people enjoyed watching Spencer in the costume. Whenever he ran his little puppy tail would bounce like a real puppy. It was hilarious!

And the house! It really is coming along! We are supposed to close the end of next week!

Some of these pictures are recent and some are outdated but all worthy of documenting for history's sake...

This is the bonus room above the garage.. a.k.a playroom

Kitchen w/ the cabinents

Pretty sure this is Spencer's room

Archway into the master closet

Master bathroom

The hallway!

This week is counter tops, flooring, touch up paint, finish electrical and plumbing, and exterior. Big week!

2010-10-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Howdy Friends and Fam! Here are the newest additions to the future home!

Insulation!! Foam, fiberglass, and then batts!

Garage area
Front of the house. There is a big truck blocking the view so the picture is kind of off but I wanted to try and get a front picture in this stage.

Front archway. I love archways!

We have a front door!!

This week they are finishing up insulation and then the 4 way inspection will be done. On Thursday the drywall will begin. Soon after will be the roof and house exterior!!

2010-09-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here is the front of the house with the roof trusses.

This is the roof over the bonus roof.

Front of the house with trusses!

This week they have gotten SO much done! These builders are wonderful and so great at keeping subs on a good schedule! Plumbers, electricans, and hvac are all in and will be done early next week. 4 way inspection next week and then it is Keven's turn! Yahoo for insulation, drywall, and paint!

Latest and greatest

2010-09-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

We haven't had a lot of progress this week...we've been waiting on our roof trusses. We are optimistic that our house will still be finished by the middle of November...hopefully in about 6 weeks. Here are some pictures of the framing.This is our front porch (on the left), with Hannah's room next to that and Spencer's room on the far right. Hannah loves to show everyone "her window."

Yes! We will not only have a 3 car garage, but I hope to be able to use it.

This is a picture of our family room, from our kitchen. It's not much to look at right now...but that corner will have a fireplace some day!

This week, we hope to have our trusses installed, the bonus room framed, and get a start on our HVAC, plumbing and electrical. If all goes right, by next week we'll be insulating and drywalling. Look for those pictures!!!!!!

And then there was framing!!!

2010-09-19T18:18:00.001-07:00

Here is the updated house progress! Foundation and framing!!

Getting ready to pour foundation!!

I must say that I have been super impressed with our builder. They have totally kept to the schedule they have outlined! If they keep it up then we just might actually

be in the first of November!!

2010-09-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

Wow! Are you shocked!?! I am actually blogging! Keven and I want to document our house being built so we decided the best way to do that would be to blog it!

So here is the beginning! WE HAVE A HOLE!!! Yahoo!! It is so exciting to finally see some progress!!!

And we got some new family pictures! Many thanks to my great sister-in-law, Jamie!! She took them and did a great job!

Our kids are getting SO big! Where does the time go?!!

What a busy summer! Keven and I were a Ma and Pa on Trek, Cary went to Girls Camp, and then there was the Brighton Staff Reunion. We also spent lots of time doing our construction loan, getting house plans finalized, etc. Life has slowed down since summer ended and we stopped attending the Canyon Rim Ward. Our callings at the Canyon Rim Ward kept us very busy so now we have lots more free time in our schedules. It's different, but nice as well. Sure miss all our friends there!

Stay posted for more home progress! And more Wall Family updates!

2010-05-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

I finally am updating with pictures! I had my sister-in-law take some shots of my kids for Mother's Day. Here's a few of my favorites.

Spencer always, and I mean always, has his finger touching his lips. I was so glad Jamie caught this pose of him!

Thanks again Jamie!

Now for a Wall family update. As many of been asking -- yes, we are officially moving. We are sad to leave behind such wonderful people, but also excited for what this new move will bring.

When Keven and I bought this home 4 years ago we felt very strongly that it was where we were meant to be. We looked at several different places, tried to put in offers on two other houses, and then we found our current home. I still remember walking into the front living room - I turned to Keven and told him that I knew this was the house.

When we first thought of selling it was very worrisome because we bought our home on the high, high tide of the housing boom before the economy fell. Throughout the selling process we have felt the Lord's calm influence, and we feel so grateful for the way everything has come together.

This ward has become our family. We have made many dear friends that will be our friends always, we have been given wonderful opportunities to serve, and we have been blessed in too many ways to count.

We find we are still seeing the Lord's blessings as we start to move forward. As we have experienced this process of selling, moving, and then purchasing again we have found the Lord is always aware of our needs. Random things always seem to hiccup in the works and then suddenly everything comes together in ways we never imagined. Our hearts are very full of gratitiude.

We will close on our house the end of May. We will then close 2 weeks later on some land that is a bank repossession and begin the build process this fall. The land is located in South Jordan, about 106th S. and 2500 W. We are so thankful for this opportunity to take further steps towards fulfilling goals of our little Wall family.

2010-03-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

I am officially such an awful blogger. But no one is perfect, right?

I will try to update as best I can. Here is a person by person list of funness!

Keven = Busy finishing the semester, balancing his new love of racquetball with his Dad, working super hard at work, working super hard at home, working super hard with some new business ventures. Does everyone see the working hard theme?!! What a stellar man!

Cary = let's see, right now my life consists of a few main themes. Kids, family, Brighton, YW's, United Health Care, and 5k prep. My kids and family are my world. Sure love them, more then I can express! Hannah told me last night that I was her best friend....now that is pure joy. I asked her if I could always be one of her best friends and she said yes. I hope she remembers that in about 12 years! Anyway, Brighton is taking up a lot of my time these days. I am working on helping to produce a new CD for this camp and it has been quite the project - but I love any excuse to play the guitar! YW is great! I absolutely love the YW in our ward. You are the best ladies! I also absolutely love the other leaders I work with! I have a small part time job I do with United Health Care, and when I say part time is really is about 4 hours a month. I am a health site reviewer and help review and approve new health sites for this insurance company. I love this work! It allows me to use my degree in Health Care without being away from my kids. I am also prepping for a 5k. At the beginning of the year I planned to do a 10k, but I think I was a little overzealous. I actually really dislike running, but my sweet sister in laws have encouraged me to try running with them. So here comes the Taylorsville 5k in July! Thanks for the encouragement Whitney and Jamie!

Hannah = just turned 3!! What a big girl! She is always amazing us with her growth and knowledge. Her prayers are always entertaining and endearing. Recently she prayed that Pinocchio could become a real boy. Gotta love that! But her evening prayers always contain a "thank you so much for Jesus". She loves to ride her bike and do anything that is outside. She is starting to take a little dance class in a few weeks, just something for fun. I am excited to see how she does. She loves her cousins and is so excited when we get to play with Lily or Maleia. This girl also loves to read. She has had an obsession with books from day one and it has never left.

Spencer = is such a sweetheart. He is growing so big and looking less babyish every day. He is ten months now and has 6 teeth! His hair is long enough now that is curls at the end. He is crawling all over and trying to walk. I foresee that coming very soon. He LOVES Hannah and is so happy when she takes notice of him. The last few weeks he has been struggling with an ear infection that has not wanted to leave. Poor boy.

Well, I think that is it. Sorry I have not put on pictures...I can't find my camera cord. Maybe next time...:)

Yahoo for 2010!

2010-01-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

Alright, get ready for another pictureless blog session!

Goodbye 2009. It was a good year -- but I am all about moving forward. So Happy 2010 wishes to all our friends and family! I hope this year brings health, happiness, and growth to all of you!

Us Wall's are already excited for what this year will bring. First, we got a fun surprise of being able to do a cruise the end of January with Keven's parents. They are turning out to be our vacation pals and we couldn't ask for better! Second, things at Keven's work are going so well. Keven has worked very hard developing a new division at his company and it has been such a wonderful opportunity. We are SO grateful for this blessing and offer thanks for it each day. Third, Keven is graduating with his Associates Degree in May! Yahoo! And will then begin a bacholer's program in the Fall. What a blessing to be able to go to school! And finally, fun and exciting projects on the horizon. I am helping do a music CD for Brighton Girl's Camp. I love playing the guitar and am grateful for the excuse to play more often!

Welcome to some of our new friends! Baby Jenna Sorensen and Baby Jacob Holbrook! Super cute babies!

2009-12-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

I have realized there are several reasons for my delay in updating my blog. One of those reasons is because I feel like I always need to post pictures with my updates. Well, who says you have to post pictures?!! There are no blog rules! So, here you have it. Plain, simple, pictureless blogging. I love it!

Yahoo for December. And yahoo for a simple Christmas! Keven and I have made it a priority to do things simple this year and it has been SO great! Simple gifts. Simple plans. Love it. Doing things simply have truly made the small portin of this Christmas season more pure for me. I am grateful to celebrate the birth of our Savior and rejoice in His life, teachings, example, and atonement.

Nothing crazy new with us Walls. Just living the good life, in simple holiday fashion. Hannah has fallen in love with the Christmas Carol cartoon Mickey and gang does. She likes to say "Bahumabug" like Scrooge. Very cute. Spencer is a hansome lad that continues to be my snuggle pal. He is getting in the crawling mode. He does the rocking back and forth on hands and knees. This boy loves to jump so when he learns that he can move on his own I wonder if I will be able to keep any control over him? I'll keep you posted on that one.

Does anyone else believe that this is one of the coldest winter seasons ever?!! Seriously, I don't remember it being so cold! I have always felt I can handle the cold well but I think I might be becoming a wimp. I am cold all the time! Sorry, not trying to complain here- as I am not one for complaining. I am just stating a fact. :)

We are excited for all the new friends we are awaiting to meet -- Baby Holbrook, Baby Sorenson, and Baby Nixon. Also to Baby Jace and Baby Jacob who have arrived but we haven't seen in person yet! Love you guys!

Wow, I really am all about the pictureless blogging. How simple and easy. Look forward to more of in the future. :)

New Family Pictures

2009-10-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yahoo for new pictures! And thanks to Aubrey who took them for us!!

I wanted to show this picture because it really portrays Hannah's go-go personality. This particular pictures shows all the cute granddaughters. Do you notice the one girl who can't seem to stay looking forward? That would be our Hannah. Aubrey shot TONS of pictures, and only a few of them actually have Hannah looking in a somewhat forward direction. The pebbles that could be thrown off the bridge which much more entertaining!!

A Much Needed Update!

2009-08-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

Alright folks, here it is. Our long awaited post of pictures. Hang on tight because we have quite the stream of pictures. Welcome to some of the Wall 2009 Summer highlights!

Here is our cute Spencer Russell Wall on his blessing day ~ July 5th, 2009.

This is Hannah hugging her bestest friend, Caleb. My how Hannah loves her friend! The Sorensens have now moved from our little neighborhood and Hannah is missing Caleb quite a lot.

The shirt says it all! What a cute Utah Man we have!!

Spencer is getting super big! He is now 3 1/2 months. He has the sweetest smile and dispostion. He also is going to be a tall boy, he is already growing out of his 3-6 months oneies!

Brother and Sister chillin on the bed. Hannah is a great big sister!

Farwell to Aunt Lydia who is teaching English in China until December!! We surely miss her lots!

Our cute Spencer in the tub!

We had a surprise 60th birthday for my Mom. Here is part of the crowd from the party.

These are two of my Mom's wonderful friends, Chris and Mary. Thanks for coming ladies!

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

Here is the latest addition to the Wall Family. Poor Keven has wanted a dog since we got married but so far it had been to no avail. It only took our neighbor, Billy Stone, and some superb selling tactics to get a dog in our home. I am not a big pet person but this little dog has fit in quite nicely. Pebbles is one of a kind! The right size and perfect energy drainer for Hannah!

Yahoo for a successful garden! I am still amazed at the wonderful vegetables we have been harvesting! - especially as I have ignored this garden all summer with Spencer being born. If ignoring a garden can produce this great stuff then I would recommend it to all!

The Paget Family Reunion - thanks for a great time everyone! We loved it! And thanks to the Cranes for putting it all together!

Here is Hannah participating in the little kids donut eating contest!

My first donut eating contest - I am a huge fan!

Hannah and Garrett

Keven playing the blind folded dueling game.

Garrett kept pretending to be dead and Hannah was very concerned.

Here is our wild girl! Hannah has spent the summer jumping on the trampoline, riding her bike, playing with the neighborhood friends, swimming in the kid pool, etc. We love our Hannah!

This is Hannah's first horse riding experience. I thought she would be scared, but she was quite the opposite. She loved it!

Thanks for staying with me through the end of our picture session. What a great summer we have had and yahoo for the coming fall! Hope all is well for all our blog friends!

Ironic

2009-06-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Alright, here is my rambling story. I find it SO ironic!

So, I have been raving about how this delivery has been a breeze compared to our first delivery. It really has for the most part, but the past two weeks have given me a run for my money. This is why.

#1 - Last week my sweet husband got me a used elliptical machine for my birthday. I was very excited, because as most women can attest, the weight with the second baby does not come off as fast as the first. I have been very anxious to start exercising because I would love to be able to wear my clothes again! Anyway, I technically should probably not be exercising at this point in my recovery but I guess I felt rules don't apply to those such as myself. So while using the exercise machine for the first time a screw came loose and I went crash. No fun. Totally sprained my ankle, but really am lucky it wasn't worse. Needless to say, I have stopped using the exercise machine. My sprained ankle is doing lots better. When I first hurt it I couldn't even walk! I was super scared because I couldn't imagine trying to care for a newborn and 2 year old on crutches. Luckily after a few hours I was able to limp around on it. Since then it has gotten better every day. You probably wouldn't even notice I hurt it if you saw me now. And as a kind friend said, maybe I got thrown off the machine to save me from getting myself hurt worse since I really should not be exercising anyway.

#2 - Monday night I started feeling funky. Tuesday I didn't eat because I felt weird. By Tuesday evening flu had set it like crazy! Seriously, I don't think I have ever had the flu this bad. Nursing and not holding down food for a few days is not a good combination. But hopefully I am now on the mend. I did get checked for swine flu and I am negative. Thank goodness! And thank goodness for IV's that can put fluid into you when you can't do it yourself!

Last night Keven and I were talking about how crazy the past two weeks have been, and I find it quite ironic. I truly had felt this delivery recovery had been too easy, I have felt so great! Especially for having a c-section........but I guess you never know what is waiting around the corner.

Hopefully there are no more health adventures awaiting us. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

The Boy

2009-06-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick update on the boy!

Spencer is such a sweet baby! He is easy going, mild, and loves to cuddle! He is growing in a manner to catch up with the likes of Hannah's big baby size. He gained a full pound and two inches his first week and a half home! His hair is blonde with a redish tint to it. Everyone says he looks like his Daddy, which I must agree with.

Here are a few fun photos to share!

Can you believe this? Already a thumb sucker! No, not really. But we have caught him this way a few times!!

And then there were four!

2009-05-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Spencer Russell Wall!!

Born May 15th, 2009 @ 9:02 a.m.

7 lbs 9 ozs 19 1/2 inches

Updating...

2009-05-06T12:35:00.001-07:00

Hello friends. I am here to update our little blog since it's been almost a month since my last post. I wish I could upload some pictures for you, but sadly I can't find the necessary cord equipment. I think it got misplaced in our office move...... So the updates.

#1 - Our house projects are finally almost done! Yahoo! The basement is finished (okay, we need to touch up our molding, but it's close enough for me!), the kitchen projects are done, and the boy's room is officially painted w/ crib and dresser up. The paint job in the baby's room turned out great! I am still getting used to the basement color, but I could rave forever about how I love the baby's room!

#2 - We are 9 days and counting until our scheduled c-section for "the boy". Can't wait!! I think Hannah is finally grasping the idea of a new brother. Today I found her playing around with the baby car seat I pulled out to clean. When asked what she was doing she told me she was cleaning brother's seat. Super cute.

#3 - Other updates? Let's see......life is just pretty much the same thing for us! Keven is still working with Superior Insulation. He loves it and so do I. What a great company to work for! He is still serving in the Elder's Quorum Presidency, always the constant fix-it man for everyone, and the forever comedian. We sure love this guy! Hannah is busy as ever, but learning and growing so much! She continues to amaze me with her speech level. She can say everything and anything and is always coming up with new phrases and sayings. She loves playing outside and would spend all of her time in the backyard if allowed. Can't complain about that! And me - well I am just here, busily preparing our house for new baby. Super excited to be almost done with pregnancy! I am looking forward to summer days with family and friends. I still serve in the YW and also find myself busy with Brighton, as is that season again. I have got 7 of 8 devotionals scheduled so I can go into new baby world with peace. I love the neighborhood activities I am lucky to be involved in- bookgroup, playgroup, bunco. Super good times!

That is about it! Stay posted for the arrival of Baby Wall next Friday, May the 15th!!

2009 Home Projects

2009-04-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the promised pictures of why I feel like I have been so out of the blogging world. We have been working on some major home projects for the past 6 weeks and are still in the middle of finishing. Our home is officially a huge mess but it will be worth it!

First, Keven is amazing. He is seriously the most handy man ever! All these pictures show work that Keven has done with his own two hands. He never ceases to amaze me with what he can do!

The first big project we undertook was re-roofing our house. OH MY, that was huge! And we are SO glad it is behind us! Just as a word of advice to any others that may need a new roof, you may seriously want to consider hiring it out! It was such an incredible amount of work and we would never have accomplished it except for the amazing neighbors we have! I felt so guilty watching the men who were literally on our roof ALL day and into the late evening. They looked SO exhausted!!!
Thanks again to all of you who came and gave us a hand because we would never have finished it without you! We are truly blessed with wonderful neighbors and friends!

The next big project has been finishing an unfinished room in our basement. We are planning to move our upstairs office downstairs to this new room and let "the boy", as I like to call him, have the other upstairs room.
Finishing the room downstairs has also included MANY other things. At the same time we have put in lights in our living room, which did not have lights before. We were able to have our basement and upstairs insulated -- yahoo for finally have a warm house!!! We fixed our upstairs ceiling, as it was struggling from new lighting, a swamp cooler hole, and nail pops from new insulation.
Wow! Are you feeling overwhelmed reading this??!! I am feeling tired just looking at all this work!

Here are a few insights to our lovely projects -

New upstairs lights

Holes in the wall from insulation. We had to patch them up and repaint.

And this is the after picture. Can't even tell them were MAJOR holes here before!

Here is Hannah's cute hand print in the plaster of our wall. She had a hard time keeping out of all the mess!

This is one of the first pictures of our unfinished room. Keven knocked out walls, then framed the room, put up insulation, and then drywall. Seriously, what a handy guy!

Like the archway? All praise goes to Kev!

We were able to paint a bunch of our house this weekend and this is the basement color. It didn't turn out quite like I planned but it is always nice to have a fresh coat of paint! Thanks to our family for helping out with that project!!

And here is our tile-less floor. Keven is now getting ready to lay laminate flooring in the basement hallway and new office.

And don't you worry, there is still more to come! We need to put up the floor molding, paint the baby's room, and then put in the A/C!!

We are five week away from new baby! People keep on asking me if I am ready for a new little one and I am surely getting there. I think once all these home projects are done I will be more than ready! But for now I am content to wait until the house is back in order. I am not a good person in living with a mess but I have had to become one. Keven has done a very timely job with everything so I am not complaining, I just will be happy when we are living construction zone free!
I know I promised a picture of me but I still haven't taken a recent shot. I PROMISE that will be my next post! And also the updates of our continued home projects!

Happy Birthday!!

2009-03-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Birthdays! Hannah celebrated her 2nd birthday this past week - how the time flies!

On her birthday we were able to play at the park with her boyfriend, go to dinner, get an ice cream cone, and pick out a toy. Miss Hannah picked a baby doll with a toy car seat. It is super cute to watch her carry the doll and/or stuffed animals in the car seat, she loves it!

Sunday we had a little party with our family. Hannah did a great job of blowing out the candles. Blew them right out before we had even finished singing!
I made a cake in the shape of an ice cream cone and I am happy to report that it turned out looking okay! I get nervous adventuring in things such as cake decorating, but this one turned out better than I expected!
Thanks to all our family for coming to Hannah's party! She was spoiled rotten and we greatly appreciate everyone's kindness!

Also, I have been asked several times about posting a picture of myself with the prego look. I promise I will work on that soon. I will also post the pictures of our house projects, as there have been so many going on lately! So get excited for a fun post of growing Cary and changing house!

Hannah's Happenings

2009-02-26T11:45:00.001-08:00

Hooray for Hannah's latest Happenings!
I apologize, as this post will be completely about Hannah and her newest adventures!

First, Hannah had her first official haircut! Her hair was getting quite long so we decided it was time for a trim. Here is the before picture.

And here we are after!

Daddy did a great job holding Hannah in place and a movie did a great job of keeping her somewhat entertained. We took off a few inches. I was the bold and daring hair cutter, who very much appreciates the encouragement I got from family and friends. It wasn't as hard as I thought and it turned out great!

Second, Hannah is potty trained!!! A couple of weeks ago she decided she didn't like wearing diapers. She started taking them off more and more and we didn't want to press her to keep wearing diapers so we took the plunge into potty training.
The first few days were pretty rough but then it suddenly clicked and since then things have been great! I am still in shock over how quickly she caught on and how well she has done. I truly was expecting it to be more difficult. She has had a few accidents but besides that she is doing fabulous!
Hannah loves her big girl underwear and sports just them continually.

These last few pictures show one of Hannah's newest interests. She loves to color! We have tried to drill down the fact that coloring only occurs on paper, but that hasn't quite sunk in.
One day we came in to find her decorating herself and our bedspread in black pen. And the pictures do not do justice to the job she did. She was covered in black ink! So were our bedspread and pillowcases.
Keven and I were shocked to silence. We first took pictures, laughed, and then tried to once again drill down the "no pens" rule we have. Gotta love it! Our bedspread will now have a new design made from the love and artistic ability of Hannah!

Our Current Projects..

2009-02-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

January has flown by and I am super happy to have February here because I am definitely ready for spring!

We are keeping busy at the Wall house with different projects for each of us:

Keven:

Framing the basement room.
Practicing his "born-again" spending habits
Learning how to crochet

Cary:

Updating Hannah's baby book
Trying to keep my pregnancy weight gain to a minimum
Reading "Emma" by Jane Austen

Hannah:

Learning not to read books when it is nap time
Getting ready to potty train - we even have underwear. (Right now she likes to sleep with it but hopefully we will soon be wearing it!)
Recognizing alphabet letters. So far we have I and O down pact.

Here is a cute picture of Nanna. She LOVES to put on our shoes and wear them around the house.

And for those who regularly read our blog, this is an update to a previous story I posted back in December. Just a little fill in - Keven lost our t.v. remote in a late night rambling about needing to hide it in a special place. Well, we did end up finding it two weeks later. It suddenly just appeared on the floor of our room one day. Keven is convinced it was Hannah's secret doing. The picture above is a special remote our Uncle Todd and Aunt Colette gave Keven for Christmas. They thought this one would be big enough not to lose! Thanks again to Todd and Colette for the great gift!

Happy 2009!

2009-01-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Yahoo for a new year! We Wall's are super excited for it! I wish I could say I have holiday pictures to share but sadly I don't. I have been an absolute horrid picture taker as of late. But we had a great Christmas and are well into our new year with excitement!

We have made some fun progress in this first month of January. First, Hannah officially graduated into a big girl bed! So far she has done great! She has only fallen out once, on the first night. She is doing good at staying in her bed at nap and bed time. What an awesome girl!

This is Hannah with her big girl chair and new bear. She LOVES bears so we thought a big bear would be fun with her graduating to a big girl room.

Keven celebrate his 27th birthday on January 12th!! Hannah and I made him a birthday gift card bouquet. Thanks to our family and friends that showered him with gifts and meals!

And here is our Nanna in her Christmas dress! See all that hair! -- well, we have decided to have her first official haircut sometime in the next few week! Just a few inches off. We will keep you posted on that fun happening.

Christmas Letter

2008-12-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

December 2008
Dear Family and Friends,

Another year has come and gone, and we are excited to share some of the year’s joys with you this holiday season:

Hannah celebrated her first birthday this March. It was a great time to be one, because Mommy fully expected Hannah to eat the cake all by herself. Hannah has since demonstrated a profound love o f all that is sweet, topping it all off by being a Daddy’s girl. Hannah is now almost 2, and is a walking, talking, singing, dancing fool. Her favorites? Well, let’s look at them together…

· Food? Pizza, String Cheese, Bananas
· Drink? Water
· TV show? Basketball games with Daddy.
· Song? Twinkle
· Christmas Song? Silent Night
· Primary Song? I am a Child of God
· Activity? Read books, love the Kitty, go on walks. Did we mention read books?
· Favorite Quirk? Hannah has become adept at taking off her clothes during bedtime and will sleep naked in her crib, until she pees on herself.

Hannah is enjoying her very long hair; it goes mid way down her back. She is also a never-ending energy machine. She loves books, music, strollers, trains, and teddy bears. Nanna, as we like to call her, amazes us all the time with her growing knowledge. She can count to ten, sing songs, and carry on very cute conversations. We sure love her lots!

Cary is doing very well. She does a great job making sure everything runs well. Between her calling as Laurel advisor, being a mom and social butterfly, she finds herself very busy. She was called to be on the Brighton Girls Camp Executive Committee this year, and enjoyed planning firesides for Brighton, as well as chairing the music committee at the girls camp. Her first year was a lot of fun for the family, and we did quite a few hikes up in the mountains. Cary learned that Hannah can sit still for more than 15 seconds if she is strapped to Cary’s back for a hike in the mountains. The biggest thing in Cary’s life right now is her growing belly. Although her husband cannot see it, Cary feels our next son growing big and strong in her tummy. We’re all very excited to welcome him to our home, due the end of May 2009.

Keven has been busy too. In June, he was offered a job with a different company in order to help them get an insulation division off the ground. Four months later, he moved back to Superior Insulation in order to help them get a drywall division off the ground. He loves the challenge and even in this down economy sees growth coming to the company through his efforts. We are excited to see where this new adventure will lead us. He is also going to school, and serving as 2nd Counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency. Besides work, Keven finds odd things for himself to do. He is known throughout the family as the ultimate wheeler and dealer, always finding a way to do some little project he wants. His latest have been building his own dream computer, and now he is trying to fix an HDTV that he got for free.

In conclusion, life continues to move onward. We are grateful for all we have, and recognize that many of you have been instrumental in making these blessings possible in our lives. We pray that during this special time of year we can all grow stronger together and stronger in our convictions of truth.

May we end this letter by saying GO UTAH! BCS BUSTERS x2 !!! Merry Christmas!

A Quick Story

2008-12-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

My cute husband will probably kill me for sharing this story but it is too funny to not share!

Keven has a habit of talking in his sleep. He doesn't do it often, just everyone now and then. Well the other night he woke me up in the middle of the night and proceeded to tell me that he needed to find a special place to put the remote control to the T.V. I thought this was such a funny thing that I just laughed at him and turned over to go back to sleep, wishing him well in his pursuit for a special place for the remote control. That was 3 days ago........and since then we cannot find the remote control anywhere! We have looked and looked but to no avail. So apparently he found a VERY special place for the remote! So special, we can't find it!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, I think it is hilarious! And I love to tease Keven! So, if anyone knows any "special" places for remote controls let us know!

It's A......

2008-12-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

B O Y !!!!!!!!

We are still in slight awe at the fact that this Wall family is getting a boy! You see, all the grandchildren on Keven's side of the family are girls so having a boy is a new thing for us. Keven and I both suspected it was a boy but we were too afraid to voice much of our thoughts because in the Wall Family you usually get girls. Girls are great -- we love Hannah to pieces! -- but we are very excited to have a boy!

To answer a few questions -

1. Hannah is still grasping the idea of a new baby but she says she is happy for a brother. When asked what we could name him she said "Boobi".

2. We have no idea what we are going to name him. In fact, we are totally up for suggestions if you feel the need to share!!!

And thanks again to our cousin Heather who is a super great ultrasound tech! Thanks for the sneak peek!!

November Update....without the Pictures

2008-12-04T12:37:00.000-08:00

Wow! Is everyone shocked?? I am blogging two days in a row! Shocker, I know.

I decided that since I cannot get my pictures to upload I am going to try to share our latest highlights with words. So as Hannah says --- "Ready, Set, Go!"

*We have decided that Hannah does not know how to say YES. Don't you worry, she can say no, but we do not think she knows the word YES. We are working on that one!

*A few weeks ago I attended a shower for Katy Merrell Blommer. My sister-in-laws and I made an awesome diaper cake! It looked so cute! I will have to post that picture when I am able to!

*Hannah has started undressing herself after we put her to bed. We never know what state we will find her in in the morning. This makes for an exciting start of the day! My personal favorite is when she is stark naked with no diaper on.

*We had a shower for an old neighborhood friend a few weeks ago. It was like an old 10th ward reunion! Loved seeing friends and past Young Women leaders!

*UTAH smashed BYU!!!! Oh my, that was truly lovely! We got Hannah decked out in red and enjoyed watching Aunt Jamie eat humble pie!! Go Utes!!!

*Thanksgiving was great! I am always up for a turkey dinner! Keven made an awesome chocolate strawberry cheesecake. It was super good, and this coming from a person who does not typically enjoy cheesecake.

*We went and saw the lights at Thanksgiving Point. Hannah was mesmerized!

*We find out what we are having in just a few days! Get excited my friends, we certainly are!!!

Stupid Computers!!

2008-12-03T14:03:00.001-08:00

Okay, I have been trying to upload some pictures for the last hour and it isn't working. Stupid computers! And stupid Windows Vista! Oh well, just know that SOMETIME in the near future I will hopefully get our cute November pictures up!

To Answer a Question.......

2008-11-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

So...for the past 6 months or so I have found that I am asked the same question over and over again -- "Hannah is getting big, when is the next baby coming?!"

I am usually weary of asking people questions like this because you never know who may actually be trying to get pregnant or who is having issues in this regard.

I am not bothered when people tease me about it. I think it is just the Mormon culture we live in to assume that when a child reaches a year or more you can expect an announcement of another baby to arrive.

So....to answer a question that EVERYONE seems to be asking ---- YES - we are pregnant!

It's funny how everyone guesses things before you say something. When we told our families we were pregnant I swear no one was shocked. Most people we have told were expecting this announcement from us. How funny, I guess we are very predictable.

So to answer some more questions...

1. We are due May 18th.

2. Hannah will be 2 years and 2 months when the next baby is born.

3. We would love to have a boy, but we would also love to have a girl. We really just want a healthy baby!

4. Yes, we are super excited to welcome another child into our home!

Halloween 2008!

2008-11-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it?? I am blogging again in just a matter of days! Go me!

Ta da....here we have Hannah in her cute costume!! She really liked getting dressed up, except for the wig. Thanks again to our neighbor, Becca, who made the costume!

We took Hannah into my Mom's work to do a little trick or treating and she was a big fan. I honestly think Hannah has had more candy in the last few days then she has had in her entire life!

Here is our treat spread for the evening. We have a tradition of making homemade rootbeer and cookies. Gotta love that!

Hannah held her own pretty well when it came to trick-or-treating. She walked a few streets on her own while the other kids her age were in strollers.

This is Hannah and her counter part, Caleb. Super cute!

Bad Blogger!!!

2008-10-30T13:22:00.001-07:00

So, I have officially been a horrible blogger. I have also been a horrible blog checker. But I really am going to try and be better. Everyone has such cute posts and fun things on their blogs, it inspires me to be better. I really am not an artsy person. For example, I hate scrap booking - which I must state reminds me of blogging in a way. I am not saying I hate blogging, just that I enjoy taking a walk or reading a book better. BUT I am going to be better! Just you wait!

Here is a taste of the things we have been up to the past few months:

The Garden..

Things went quite well for our first year at gardening. We had more than enough Zucchini to share. The green peppers were good. Our tomatoes were REALLY small. The rest of the things we planted didn't really turn out as we are pretty sure we didn't water enough. Better luck next year!!

Keven's Projects.....

Keven is a superman! Here is our new kitchen floor done by the creative Keven. Also, the bread you see down below is Keven's latest hobby. Sometimes his cooking skills really put me to shame. But I am okay to admit that cooking is probably not one of my strong points.

Our Cute Hannah Banana...

What can we say, Hannah is so cute! She is constantly making us laugh and surprising us with her expounding knowledge. She can say anything! Lately I have been able to get her to smile at the camera too!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween to everyone! We are super excited to take Hannah treat-or-tricking! I will post pictures of her cute costume soon - thanks to Becca! And don't be shocked, I will probably post tomorrow or in the next few days so get excited!!

Picture-less

2008-10-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

***The following message from Cary has a correction by Keven-the editor in chief***

It is a rare occurrence that a post needs correction, but that speaks to it's importance. Be it known that Cary's camera is not in Keven's car but in Cary's car. Cary will verify this fact with all who care to investigate the facts. Thank you- Keven (Editor-in-Chief)

I have been trying to remember to get our camera from the place that eats things: that would be Keven's car. Whenever an item goes in there I may not see it for a long time, and that is my story for this picture-less post. I keep forgetting to get the camera from Keven so I can update our last couple of weeks. So, here are some highlights without lovely pictures.

**Hannah was found ringing her fleece pants in the toilet.

**Dinner with the Romney's. Yahoo for the never-ending pasta bowl at the Olive Garden!

**Hannah tells us that EVERYTHING is loud.

**The Canyon Rim GNO was great!

**Ward Volleyball - love it, love it!

**Keven finishing our kitchen floor!

**Hannah asks me to sing all throughout the day.

**Cookie making with Grandma, aunts, and cousins.

**Hannah got tackled by our neighbor, Mitchell. It was hilarious!

**The General Relief Society Meeting.

**Hannah saying "Hi Mommy" and "Love you Daddy".

Hannah's Fashion Tips

2008-09-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

Lately Hannah has been super into dressing herself. She continually pulls her clothes out of her dresser and tries to put them on. It is now typical throughout the day to hear Hannah yell out in frustration and come into her room to find her tangled up in a shirt or struggling to put Keven's socks on.

I thought I would give you some of the fashion statements that Hannah is pursuing quite frequently these days!

I took this a few weeks ago and had to post it because I think it is so cute! I can never get Hannah to hold still for the camera so pictures with her smiling and looking at the camera are rare and few.

This is Keven as he is working on a little kitchen project of laying new tile. I am hoping that this little project is done before the Canyon Rim GNO! Hopefully giving Keven a deadline will encourage a timely finish!

2008-09-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here is another catch-up post with the latest of our activities!

We spent Labor Day weekend with the Wall Family at Payson Lake. We had a great time, but have found that camping with kids makes you super dirty! Hannah loved playing in the dirt, I think that really was the favorite activity for her and all the cousins! Here is Hannah in the stroller with cousin Madison.

Cousin Kaden was super nice to share his ball and play with Hannah.

Can you see the dirt??? It seemed the kids just rolled in the dirt!

Cute Madison!

What a super cute family!!

Grandma and Grandpa Wall

This is the parents attempt to get a picture of all the little cousins. It was pretty funny trying to get them to hold still and look our direction for a simple picture.

Hannah and Lily playing ring around the rosies!

WELCOME TO ELLENIE MAE LESKO!!!! She was born 5 weeks early, weighing in at 5lbs and 110zs. Elle is a super trooper, as are her proud family - Sean, Jamie, and Maleia. What a crazy surprise that has definitely had some ups and downs. But baby Elle is now at home and doing great!

We were able to go to Wheeler Farm with Whitney and the cousins. I took Hannah and Maleia to see the cows and they were not big fans. A certain cow kept mooing at them as loud as he could and they both cried.

Maleia was able to play at our house for a few days last week while Mommy was with Baby Elle. They are such funny playmates.

And here are some family pictures from a bridal shower for my cousin, Kaydrielle. Here are Mom, Kelly, and Aunt Cindy.

Kaydrielle, the beautiful bride!

Erin, Stacy, Baby Liliana, and Aunt Gloria

And finally, Keven and I recently celebrated our 3rd anniversary! Crazy, it seems like we have been married forever! Keven makes fun of me when I say this because he thinks I mean being married to him has been too much work, but that is far from the case! It just seems so natural to be married and I have a hard time remembering differently! Yahoo for 3 years and many more great ones to come!

We were able to make a quick getaway trip to St. George for the weekend where we also saw Les Mis at Tuacahn Ampitheater. It was incredible!!!

Little addition by Keven: If anybody hasn't seen Les Miserables, (or has seen it somewhere else) it is worth the trip to St. George to see it amidst the red rocks. Besides, they did an awesome job! I want to go back...the only bad part about the whole trip was a blocked extra point...

Once again, more pictures!

2008-08-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Once again, it's been a long time since I have blogged. I guess that is what happens in the summer for me!

Here is me with my cute friend, Taco. She was my camper when I was a counselor at Brighton Girls Camp several years ago. She was a counselor up there this past summer and did a great job!

Yahoo for Breakfast at Chicks!! These are my Heber breakfast pals! Once again, we missed you Heather and Nicky!!

This is my cute family up in American Fork canyon where we went camping for the weekend.

Here is Hannah, she loved the water jug.

So, this is a typical picture of Hannah during the day. The first thing she does after breakfast and getting dressed is "read" through her books. It is super cute!

Keven and I got the opportunity to go backpacking with the Scouts in our ward this past weekend. I have never hiked Mt. Timp before and let me tell you it was a good workout! Here is Keven and I at the top in the shack we slept in.

This is a view of the mountainside.

Here is Keven and I with our packs on the way down. And I must say that I have done a good deal of hiking in my day but my calfs have never been as sore as they are from this backpacking trip!

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures!

2008-08-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry all, bear with me. It's been such a long time since I have posted and there have been lots of fun Wall events!

First, here is Hannah on her first ride on the Merry-go-round at Lagoon. She was a big fan!
Matt, Bradley, and Mom on the train
Lydia and Ray
Yahoo for good friends! We were able to get together with some of our Soriety/Institute gang for a barbecue. It's been SO long since we have been together, there are several out of state, but we had a great time! Heather and Nicki, we missed ya! And Christian too!
Hannah and cute Tate had a great time playing in the pool. And they were good at giving loves.
Here is Hannah and I on one of our hike adventures. Hannah is a great hiker and I love getting out in the mountains I love.

Cute Aunt Strings has been a great hiking buddy with us.
Lake Mary, one of my favorite hiking spots.
Hannah and our trusty pack! She never sits still, but she loves to hike in this thing. Gotta love it!

And now for the Days of 47 Rodeo! I had never been to a Rodeo before and but I enjoyed it.
Thanks to Russ for the tickets, the YW leaders who let me skip out to go, and for fun family to go with!
Keven and I hosted the 2nd annual block party we have for the 24th of July. We had a great turn out last year and this year was the same! This is Hannah's friend Chloe, who is such a good pal to her.

Missy and Missie
Keven, Mr. Dahl, and our lovely next door neighbor, Aletha.
Karlene, Kelly, and Kylie

And now, the latest adventure, Girls camp!! Here is Jolene, our handy and wonderful Camp Director!
Getting ready to leave - Missie, Amelia, and I.

Learning our camp theme song.
Swimming in Park City.
Sky ride in Park City.

Gotta love skits!
These gals are sporting the lovely bones they found on our hike.
Amy and Tamarra helping make dinner. Straight up!

Bishop Bradshaw being a great sport by wearing our one of the birthday/dinner hats.
Courtney spiced up her hat just a little.
Go Canyon Rim Ward Women of Worth!!!

These are my fabulous Youth Leaders! They were a great help to me!
Brother Skoubye and Bishop Elkins were so great to be with us the entire trip!
Getting ready to go home! Do we look dirty? or tired?

Thanks to the awesome YW leaders I was able to work and spend time with. You ladies are grand! Thanks for such a great trip and all the learning that came with it! Sure love you gals!

Last but not least, Brighton Date night. Keven and I were able to get a babysitter(Thanks Amy!) and go play with our Committe and Brighton friends. This is Keven doing a rope event called the Perch.
Yahoo for Ribbit! This is us by the NEW bunk beds up at camp! Yes all you past Brighton staffers you are seeing and reading correctly, ALL the cabins at Brighton got new bunk beds this year! They are amazing!
Here is my ending picture. How beautiful, I love the outdoors!

2008-07-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

OH, the joys of tag... here we go!

3 Joys....
1. The Gospel - and all the wonderful promises and blessings assoicated with it!
2. Keven and Hannah
3. A ride in the mountains

3 Fears....
1. Keven or Hannah dying - it makes me shiver just thinking about it!
2. That certain health problems will take my life at an early age.
I don't want this to sound the wrong way but I don't necessarily fear for me but for those I would leave behind.
3. I must admit that the state of our government makes me nervous.

3 Current goals....
1. Finishing The Biography of Gordan B. Hinckley. (10 pages away!!)
I started reading this a few months ago and it has taken me way longer than I thought. But it is great! I totally recommend it!
2. I am trying to work on a music project that Keven has been encouraging me to do for the past year. Sorry to sound so discreet but for some reason I just get embarassed talking about it.
3. To do my best to make Girls Camp an impacting event for the Young Women.

3 Current Obessions....
1. Food Storage.
Crazy, but true. I literally I have planning and scamming about this for the past month. We have been working on our food storage for the past year but for some reason I have been finding myself thinking about it all the time - what I should get this week at the store, how much more water we need, etc. Random, I know.
2. More Gospel Knowledge.
I realized a few months ago that there are many things about the gospel that I don't feel I know well enough so I have made it a priority to change that. Keven has been a great assistance - I tell ya that kid is so blasted smart!
3. Hiking!
I have always loved it hike! My favorite hikes included Mary, Martha, and Catherine, Secret Lake, and the lovely A&B Hike that included 7 peaks and 12 miles! Since I had Hannah I have not done much hiking and I have sorely missed it. So I have tried to get out once a week to take a hiking adventure.
Yesterday was great! I did my first hike with Hannah in the baby hiking pack. Thanks to the Brighton staff and campers who let us tag along, Aunt Lydia/Strings who helped steady me over the snowy regions, and yahoo for Hannah who was a trooper! We went to Mary, Martha, and Catherine and 5 miles later we were still doing great!

3 Random facts about me....
1. Most people do not notice but my left arm does not straighten all the way. I broke my elbow several years ago and was never able to gain all the motion back.
2. I am a full on neat freak.
3. I don't like competition. Friendly banter and games are all good, but any other sort is not my thing.

And now I tag ANYONE would might like to participate! I would love to hear from all of you who regularly check things here!!

Youth Conference, T-Days, and Horseback Riding

2008-07-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

Alright, get ready. Here are the latest events of the Wall's and the Canyon Rim Young Women!

I got the opportunity to go to Youth Conference with the Young Women. It was great! I am glad I was able to go, it was super nice to spend time with my girls and get to know them better. We started out by having a devotional at the Draper Temple site by President Hilton. This will be the temple our stake will be attending when it is finished.
Then it was off to Camp Williams! The girls in our car really wanted to stop at the gas station before heading out there so we arrived for some training late. This army guy you see made us get down, do push-ups, and yell "we will never be late again for a camp meeting". While we were doing push-ups he suddenly looked at me and said, "Are you a leader?" To which I replied yes. He then profusely apologized for having me included with the girls. I didn't mind, I thought it was funny!
Yahoo for repelling! I am SO proud of our YW/YM as they were stellar repellers! This is the free fall side.
Here is Bishop Elkins! What an awesome guy! He is in his 70's yet he got right up and repelled as quickly and confidently as the rest of the youth! I was super impressed!
Here is me! The last time I was at Camp Williams on this training equipment I broke my elbow. I am happy to say that this time around all went well!! Go Tamarra! She is the one eating the creamy and let me tell you, I have never seen someone who loves creamies as much as Tamarra! Elaine, on the far right, is our Young Women's President. She is also 8 and1/2 months pregnant! --What a trooper! Elaine and I were the only YW leaders there from our ward. We also got in trouble from the stake leaders because they thought we were too loud at night with our girls. Oh well, right? We sure had a great time!
Lexi and Abbie
David, Jamie, Haley, Kylie, Amelia, and Liz.

Okay, now on to Taylorsville Dayz. Each summer we get the great fun of participating in T-Days because Keven's Father is greatly involved with the city. This is Hannah at the parade. Uncle Sean was throwing water on her and she could not get enough of it!
Maleia and Hannah waving their flags!
We invited our neighbors to come because her husband was out of town. This is her little boy, Caleb. I thought this picture was super cute!

Hannah loves ballons lately. She also loves to dance. Here we are trying to play with balloon and dance.
Horseback riding!! Our YW go horseback riding each summer and it was great! I was so impressed at how our girls did. They all jumped right on these horses and acted like naturals. Way to go girls!
Brianne, Kylie, Amy, Ericka, and Kylie

Amelia!
So, I have to be honest. I really am not a horse person. The last time I rode a horse it tried to buck me off. Since that point I have not been a big fan so I really wasn't planing on riding a horse. But my girls are very encouraging and after watching this cute horse, I decided to give it a whirl. Harley was a great horse who is gentle and mild. Thanks Harley for giving me some faith in horses again!

The Dancing Queen!

2008-06-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Howdy all!! This is a video I took a few weeks ago and I had to post it because I think it is so darn cute! Hannah loves to dance and twirl! And Keven and I love to watch, over and over again!

Hope everyone has a great week! Wish me luck, as I am off to Youth Conference at Camp Williams! Keven will be a single parents for the next few days so wish him luck as well!

2008-06-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Last time I blogged I mentioned my excitment for the Garage Sale season to begin. I have normally felt I have good luck with acquiring what I desire from Garage Sales, but there has been no such luck this year - what a bummer! This past weekend some of the ladies from the neighborhood and myself got up bright and early to go check out garage sales and it was a TOTAL let down. This is due to the fact that both times I tried to get some plastic, outdoor play stuff for Hannah another person would sneak in front of me and get it first. I am offically shaking my fist at them. I also tried to get a used hiking pack and table and got beaten out. I did manage to get a great hiking pack later, which I am super excited about - gotta love great stuff for great prices - but I am taking a little break from the garage sale business right now.

This week has been fun as Keven has still been home with us. He has been busy installing a few A/C's, but otherwise we have loved having him around more! Tuesday was my big turning 26 day! We got to play all day and that was the greatest gift of all! We went to Park City to do some shopping, played at the park, went to pick up a fun hiking pack, ran errands, ate a yummy dinner, and ended with a fun surprise party for Jeff - it was his birthday too, only he was turning 30! Happy Birthday to you Jeff!!

Here is me with my lovely ice cream cake, I have never had one of those before! Thanks to Keven and family for being so kind!

JUNE..how nice!!

2008-06-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hello fun friends!! IT'S JUNE!!! What a great month!

I am so glad for summer! The mountains truly call me to during this time of year as I am anxious to hike and spend time with the mountain trails I love!

Life is good! Our little family has come to a new crossroad as Keven has accepted a new position with Standard Dry Wall. He has been working for Superior Insulation for the past 2 years and he has loved it. Just a few weeks ago he had someone approach him about a new position with SDI. We weren't looking for a new job but this new job offer will be such a great opportunity that we are very excited for the new experiences it will provide. Yahoo for Keven! And Yahoo for wonderful growing experiences!!

Because of certain circumstances Keven has the next two weeks with paid time off so Hannah and I are loving having lots of Daddy/Hubby time!! We plan to play, get projects done, and have a fun trip to Park City!

Another reason I love June is for the great season of Garage Sales!!! You may think that is silly, but let me tell you -- Garage Sales are AWESOME!! I have found some amazing things for incredible prices! This weekend is the opening season for me as I am going to attend a huge garage sale in the area! Yahoo! I am on the lookout for outside playgear, a child hiking pack, kid books, and possibly some patio furniture. Wish me luck!

Here are a few random pictures of Hannah from the past few weeks. That girl is SO great! She just cracks me up!

This is how I find her reading. on the floor with the book in the air. Love it! Have I mentioned Hannah loves to read?? This last picture shows Hannah with her purse, jewelry, and pretend cell phone. Thank you to Emily Holbrook for getting Hannah into such girly things!

The Wall's meet the Mexican Riviera!!!

2008-05-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ya know, I just have to say that cruises are GREAT! Keven and I are not huge travelers, but we definitely agree that cruising has got to be one of the best ways to travel!

Get ready for details from our Mexican Riviera adventures!!

Here we are getting ready to board our ship, The Vision of the Seas!

We learned some fun facts about the Vision of the Seas -- when stood up is as high as the Eiffel Tower and contains 70 Statue of Liberties worth of metal. Crazy!

This is the bay area of Los Angelos we left from. Our ship left about 5 p.m. Sunday evening. We had a great time exploring the ship, adjusting to our sea legs, and watching our ship leave the bay area!

We also got a quick chance to call home to check on our baby girl. She was just fine and after that one phone call I decided that we couldn't call home again because Hannah was just fine but it was too hard for her Mommy!

This is our fun cruise group, Keven and I and his parents, Russ and Sharon! We took this picture at the very front tip of the ship.

This is Keven and I playing with our camera on our first real day at sea! We spent most of the day playing cards, reading books, swimming, etc. It's so nice to have relaxing days like that! We had to dress super formal for dinner that night so Kev and I dolled ourselves up a bit.
That night we went to a show in the theather. They had shows every night! This particular night was a group immitating the Temptations. They did a pretty good job!

Our favorite part was our fun friends we made that night, Debbie, Rick, Barb, and Dan. They were teasing Keven and I about not knowing the Temptation songs. After that we just struck this friendship and enjoyed spending time with these guys during the rest of our trip!
Yahoo for the Temptations!

Here are Russ and Sharon on the boat we took to get to Cabo San Lucas. We all had great luck with no sea sickness. But others of our group did not far so well on this little boat ride.
This was taken on route to Cabo. Once we got there we couldn't walk two steps without being offered some type of fun Mexico tourism stuff. One guy convinced me to come to his shop because he said his bracelets were only a dollar. Then two minutes later is decided they were actually 22 dollars. Silly man.
These lizards are all over and the people in Mexico like to use them to earn money off tourists. They let you hold them, you take a picture, then they ask for money. I didn't even want to hold this lizard, as I am not a reptile fan, but this lady forced it upon me while Keven and Russ laughed. I was worried it would pee on me and they assured me it wouldn't. Well, that was a bunch of bolony! Luckily I was quick and it missed me!
This picture is great! This guy with the guitar followed us several blocks until we went into a restaurant. Then he proceeded to sing the Mexican version of "Margairitaville". It was great, especially since we couldn't understand certain phrases he was saying!
We went to the beach, two actually. One where tourists are not allowed to swim and one where they are. This picture was at the beach where they aren't allowed to swim. But don't worry, Keven had to go check it out. The waves don't look too bad here but they were sooooo strong! I went in far enough to have it reach my ankles and it nearly knocked me over! I can definitely see why some of the beaches in the area are just for looking and not for swimming!

Here we are in Mazatlan. We went a tour of the old and new part of the city. The mountain in the background has one of the highest lighthouses in the world.
We stopped at a boardwalk that goes all along the city beach and there we met some "professional divers". (By professional I mean local citizens who do crazy things for money.) There is a a very high cliff with stairs carved into the rock. These men come around asking for a dollar and then dive off the high cliff into the 5 ft. water below. Each night when we came back to our room we had a different towel creature -- bunnies, swans, and even a flying pig!
Each night they had a different triva or relay game. Keven and I grew to be big fans! The first one we participated in was a T.V. Trivia, seeing who could guess a program by it's intro song. We didn't win that night but Keven got an honorable mention for doing a backflip while trying to impersonate "The Fresh Prince of BelAir". The next evening we partnered up with our new buddies in "The Qwest". You had to do all sorts of crazy thing in a very quick manner. This is me sporting very red lipstick, which I had to leave on some bald man's head.
This is one of my favorite cruise pictures! This is our friend Rick dressed up as a lady. He was hilarious!!! I laugh everytime I picture this!
This is Keven participating in a hula hoop contest, which he totally won!!!

This is us with Kev's parents after we won 1st prize in "The Qwest"!!!
This is from Puerta Vallarta. This spot was definitely the most Americanized. Here I saw a Chili's, McDonalds, Domino's, Starbucks, and Hooters.

Keven and Russ went scubadiving so Sharon and I did a lot of shopping. As we were walking around some guy came up to us and asked if we were from Utah. We said yes, then he asked if we were Mormon. We said yes. He was all excited and I was like, "How did you know we were Mormon?" He said that we were the only ones around wearing long shorts and t-shirts. Alright for being modest!

Here is a sunset from the Vision of the Seas!

This was a parade they did onboard the ship. A staff member represents each nation onboard the ship by parading that nations' flag. It was pretty neat! These were our waiters, Elmer and Debashish. They were singing to us at dinner. They were both super cute and so kind. It was really interesting to learn about their countries -- Elmer is from the Phillippines and Debashish is from India.
Here are our fun friends!! Go Debbie, Barb, Dan, and Rick! Honestly, these were some of the nicest people ever, and we had a blast together! If you go on a cruise, make friends with those around you! It made it so much fun!! We made friends with the people sitting next to us at dinner. They were from Seattle and loved Five Crowns! We also met lots of fellow Jazz fans from Utah!!

That is it!! For the record I would like to write that I was super excited to come home. Loved the cruise, but missed my sweet baby. When we got to our house I ran through the door and Hannah took one look at me and cried. It's like she didn't remember who I was, she wanted nothing to do with me!! Oh, sad was I!! She went to Keven but everytime he tried to hand her to me she would cry and hang around Keven's neck. That was probably one of the saddest stories for 2008.

But no worries, all is well now. It took her about a half hour to forgive me for leaving and now she loves me again. In fact, my non snuggly girl is giving me hugs a lot more these days! And my baby is really a big girl! Keven and I both agree she grew tons while we were away. She can now run, jump, and say bird, & blankie.

4 Days and Counting!!!

2008-05-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

It's offical! We leave in 4 days for our cruise! Can you tell we are super excited!!

While we are very excited, we are somewhat sad about our favorite Nanna. We have never left her for this long and this is a long time -- 8 days!!

We know she will be fine. My Mom and sister are coming to take care of her at our house. Plus, Uncle Ray will be here. We keep telling ourselves that she will be getting so much attention that she won't even notice we are gone. I think that statement is more to comfort us then her.

I really have felt good about leaving Hannah, it has just been the last few days that my heart as suddenly taken this sad tugging. Both Keven and I are finding ourselves squeezing in extra hugs, kisses, stories, songs, etc. because of the long stretch we will have without them!

Last night we were playing with our Madsen friends, whom are our heros as parents. Keven asked them if we were still good parents for leaving Hannah on this trip and they said we were still great parents! Thanks guys! We appreicate your vote of confidence!

So with that said, wish us luck! Mexico, here we come! Yahoo for sun, good food, and good times!

It's been awhile..

2008-05-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Wow!! It has been a long while! We have been keeping busy but I have not been a good camera Mom lately. I realized that I took hardly any pictures of Hannah this month! It's like I thought since she was a year old that the picture taking stopped. Well, I am now feeling pumped up to be more dedicated to picture taking!

And here are some of the random happenings of the Wall's from the past week or so.

Dude, who doesn't love Twister!! We had a birthday for the Laurel class at my house a few weeks ago -- hilarious! I haven't played Twister for years but I totally played it up with the girls and I was laughing so hard! It was great!
Here is Hannah after her first fall down our stairs. Poor Hannah! She loves climbing stairs but she has a hard time getting down them. While I was at Young Women's she got away from Keven for just a few mintues and in those few mintues she climbed the stairs and totally fell down, landing on our tile at the bottom. She was pretty scared but within a few mintues she was back climbin the stairs again! Silly girl! She has a bruise on her head, but really I think Keven was more upset then she was! He felt awful!
Yahoo for Maleia's birthday party!! We had a super great time! Hannah met a new friend name Cowan, who is super cute.
These next few picture are great! Gotta love the scramble of little kids for a simple balloon. I was laughing so hard taking these! One yellow balloon and three little girls trying their best to get ahold of it!

This week for Young Women's we made cookbooks for college. I was very excited about how they turn out so I took a picture. Super cute huh!!

Well, that is it! Life is good so we can't complain! We leave to go on our cruise in a week and a half! Gotta love that! Hannah is talking up a storm, I just wish I could understand what she is saying! I have come to recognize "Ray", "Go", "Boo" - for her bear or ball, and "Ta dah". Keven is working hard everywhere he goes! And he has become quite the farmer! I will have to take picture of our garden because it looks great! Keven re-routed our sprinklers and started planting seeds on Saturday. He is offically the cutest farmer I know! I am doing the same old stuff. Love playing Mommy! Finished up the Brighton Manual I was working on and it looks great! I am enjoying gettting to know the new Brighton Staff. Love hanging out with the Young Women in my ward, they keep me very humble. My brother Matt is doing great on his mission! He left for Wisconsin yesterday and we got to chat with him on the phone. He sounds so wonderful and anxious to serve -- how great!!

Ready or not, here comes Elder Bushman!!

2008-04-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Yahoo for Elder Bushman, he is an offical missionary!

Matt reported to the MTC yesterday, and I must say that the MTC is rad! I had never been inside and I just loved it!

He was set apart Tuesday night -- such an incredible experience! And then off we went Wednesday morning to the MTC. Our family was very touched by the presentation, the Spirit was so strong! Seriously, part of me just wanted to jump up and offer to leave on a mission that very day!

We tried to make our goodbyes short and sweet, and we all did pretty good.....except poor Bradley, who was so upset! But Matt was SO ready to go! He told us all he loved us and said, "See ya in two years!"

Matt's Farewell!!

2008-04-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

Yahoo for Matt's Farewell! We missed all you family from out of state and hope you enjoy these pictures since you couldn't be there!!

Hannah's Birthday Pictures!!

2008-04-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Thought you might all enjoy a few of Hannah's most recent pictures!!!

Birthday and Easter Fun!!

2008-03-26T09:36:00.001-07:00

Okay, everyone hold tight. I know there are a lot of pictures here but please bear with us! We had a great weekend and want to show many fun pictures of Hannah the birthday girl!

This first one is of Hannah at Olive Garden. On her actually birthdate, she got her pictures taken and had a special dinner with Mommy and Daddy. She loved the pasta!

Here is the beginning of Hannah's birthday party! We had our families over to celebrate and the weather was so good we put up the trampoline. Hannah is a big fan. I believe her cousin Maleia thought it was average. Thanks to Grandpa Bushman for giving us the old tramp!

Here is Aunt Whitney, Uncle Ryan, and Cousin Lily.

This is Aunt Lydia with cousin Madison.

Here are cousins Kaylynn and Cameron. They are sporting the birthday hats I could not get Hannah to wear.

Guess who this is??! ME!! I am displaying the homemade birthday cake for Hannah!

Now, is this incredible or what! My sister in law Whitney made this. She has always had the creating cooking talent in the family!

Here is my brother Matt and our neighbor Mitchell. Mitchell took a strong liking to Matt that night, I thought it was pretty cute.

Here is the birthday girl gettting just a little tired. She is sporting a tu tu that Aunt Whitney made. Can you tell Aunt Whitney is SUPER creative!

Here is a better picture of Hannah's birthday cake. My neighbors have a cake decorating book so I borrowed it and tried the easier looking cake. And tah dah, here is what we have! I must admit that it turned out better than I thought it would. It has four layers and LOTS of frosting!

Hannah enjoyed her birthday cake a lot! She didn't shovel the cake in, but slowly enjoyed it. We haven't given her much sugar in the past year so I think this was a real treat! We did give her some ice cream but she didn't care much for it.

And here is cute Hannah on Easter morning in her Easter dress. (Thanks Aunt LYdia!) We had a full Easter weekend. I would have had more pictures but I forgot to bring my camera to the Easter Egg Hunt and Egg Dyeing Party we went too. Hannah didn't like the Easter Egg Hunt because it was too cold and I don't even think she noticed we dyed eggs. But it was a great birthday and EAster weekend! Thanks to all our fun family that came to Hannah' party, we appreicate your thoughtfullness!! Happy late Easter!!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

2008-03-20T10:19:00.001-07:00

Random Happenings!

2008-03-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Here are a few pictures from our random happenings over the last few weeks!

Here is my little Hannah! Is her hair crazy or what? I tell ya, I really cannot control it sometimes. People always give me these fun suggestions on how to do her hair, but actually doing it and having it stay in are two very big accomplishments.

I love this picture! Our neighbor came over for lunch because her husband was out of town. After lunch her son, Mitchell, annouced that he had a dance to show us. We put on some Disney music and he proceeded to dance through the living room doing this body wave type of thing. It was hilarious! The best part was when I suggested that Hannah could be his dance partner. He informed me that she wouldn't work because he needed a little girl to dance with. I thought, "Wow! Is Hannah a large girl?!!" Apparently to Michell she is.

This is Hannah's new favorite place to play, our empty fire log holder. I caught her in it last week and now she sits there each time we play downstairs.

Here is Hannah playing with her boyfriend, Caleb.

This is a little glimpse of what Hannah likes to do ALL day! Seriously! This little girl loves books! She loves to eat them, carry them around, look through them, and have them read to her. It is very typical in our house to have a trail of books that go between Hannah's room and into the living room and kitchen. I have read to her since she was about 8 months old and she really likes it. It's getting more entertaining to read to her because she has started repeating little words from the books -- like Cheese and Kitty.
And stay posted -- it is Hannah' birthday this week and we are super excited!!!!

Important Corrections!!!

2008-03-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hello...this is Keven Wall. It is important that several key errors are corrected as quickly as possible. Therefore, I step out of my normal role of overseer and sit down at the computer. Here goes.

First of all, although Cary did win the last game of Risk that we played, this singular event, though rare and beautiful in its own right, does not erase innumerable previous defeats (She's never beaten me before, and I doubt it'll happen again)

Cary is looking over my shoulder right now trying to tell me that I'm mistaken. "I don't think so dear..." anyway, since I'm here, I ought to let the world in on the happenings of Keven Wall. Life is not to terrible. In fact, it's pretty good. We are counting down the days until we go on our cruise. I think we are at 61 right now! It's great! We're slowly buying cabana wear and saving pennies for tips. I've been boning up on my Texas Hold'em. Do they play that in Mexico?

Work is good. Not working is better. Today we bought Super Smash Bros Brawl, and it already is pretty awesome. I am excited to wail on my brother's in law next time they come over.

Hannah is adorable. Cary is beautiful. I'm pretty lucky. Don't ask me how or why.

There. I have left you with but a mere sampling of the thoughts in my brain. Now everyone knows why Cary is the only one who edits this ____ blog. I just want to end by giving a shout out to Megan Hilton, only because I know she is always the first to read these blogs. HI MEGAN!

Not too Much New

2008-03-05T06:26:00.001-08:00

Hello my friends! It has been awhile since my last entry. Not too much is new with us. Here are a few updates on our happenings and current projects.

So, Keven and my brothers like to play RISK. I have never been into the game but lately whenever they play they always want me to join in. So far I have played three games, and I have won them all! You'd think they stop asking me to play! I had to take a picture of this last game because I cleaned them ALL off! Normally I really
don't care if I win, but I did feel some grand satisfaction this time!

Here is something I discovered when I came home the other day. I have a great husband! He is a busy man but always makes time for Hannah and I.
Keven 's new project is an old computer he got his hands on. He has been wanting to rebuilt a computer for some time and is excited to get started!

This picture looks random but I wanted to get a shot of some of Hannah's new shoes. She is such a good walker and has loved being able to walk outside. I can't believe how big she is getting! Only a few more weeks until Hannah's 1st birthday!

Right now I am keeping busy with Young Women's, family stuff -- like getting Matty ready for his mission, trying to finish my book for Book Group -- it's a long one this month but a great book, The Uglies, and Brighton Executive Committee. I am working on a manual for Brighton so until that is done you probably won't see a lot of blogging from me, but know I love you all!

The Hair Styling of Cary Ann Wall

2008-02-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

I am currently the Laurel advisor in my ward and my girl's had a Valentines Dance at school this last weekend. I mentioned that I used to do up-do's and one of my girl's, Ashley, asked if I could do her hair for the dance. I was a little nervous since it has been a long while since my hair do days. But ta dah.... here is what the up-do turned out to be! I must say that I was pretty excited about it and so was Ashley!

Some Deep Thoughts...

2008-02-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

I have never been one to create a post that contains just my thoughts. I have especially never been one to create a post containing deep personal thoughts -- but my heart is full tonight.

When I was thirteen years old I attended a camp, good old Brighton Girl's Camp. It was there, surrounded by the beautiful nature created by our Heavenly Father, that I first gained a testimony of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. You might never guess that one week at camp could make such an impression on a young girl, but it did for me. Feeling the Spirit, gaining a testimony, and truly understanding that I was a special daughter of my Heavenly Father changed my life. As I left camp that week, I clearly remember taking a moment to look back at the incredible mountains of Brighton. It was then that I felt the Spirit so strongly and knew that one day Brighton would be a big part of my life.

I had no idea that the testimony I gained that week would help me through many years to come. The Lord truly is aware of us and knows our needs.

Time goes on but impacting memories stay clear, as did my Brighton. When I was nineteen years old I was hired for my first year as a counselor. I was elated with the idea that I could help young girls gain a testimony - one that could guide them through the rough years that lay ahead. Over the next few years I was blessed with the opportunity to serve on staff in different positions. I was always grateful to serve, feeling that I was giving back to a program that laid a foundation for me.

My last year of service was the summer of 2005. I will never forget the Spirit of that summer. The Lord is so real and can be found in ALL beautiful things.

Tonight I was speaking with my good friend Floss. She is the President of Brighton and has been for the past 20 years. What an incredible example she is to me of sincere, Christ-like love and compassion -- and my heart is so full because of her inspiration and the inspiration of other wonderful, inspired people. I am so grateful to once again give back to a program that has given me more than I could ever imagine.

Happy Valentines Day!!

2008-02-14T14:02:00.001-08:00

Yahoo for days like today -- it's great to have an excuse to tell the people we love, "I LOVE YOU!".

It was four years ago today that Keven and I had our very first kiss. It's crazy to think of how far we have come since that point! If someone told me that night that I would marry Keven Wall --the Keven Wall that was only a friend because you don't date people from high school -- I would have been shocked! But here we are living the good life and I am so blessed!

I love you Keven!

Here's Hannah!!!

2008-02-08T09:16:00.001-08:00

Here's our cute Hannah.....walking!!!! Yes, it is true. She started walking little bits a couple of weeks ago and this week she has taken off big time! Every day she is going further and keeping her balance a lot better!

I thought you all might enjoy this picture of Hannah and our cat, Shadow. Shadow has developed a new talent for supervising Hannah's bath. She sits on the tub, just like the picture shows, watching Hannah throughout her bath. Pretty silly if you ask me.

These other pictures are Hannah walking and also some fun braids in her hair! I love to french braid and decided it was time to try it out on Hannah's head of hair! Hannah was not a big fan of sitting still but I did my best -- and I think it turned out pretty well!!

Some of our Latest and Greatest Adventures........

2008-01-29T13:44:00.000-08:00

Alright! Here we are, ready to share some of the latest happenings for the Wall Family!

Our ward had a cake auction this last week. Keven and our pal Clint decided to make cheesecakes and decorate them with the their personal preferences -- The U or BYU. Sadly, our ward has a great deal of cougar pride so the BYU cheesecake went for more money. But we still loves the Utes!!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Martin!!!! We went out to a special birthday dinner to celebrate his birthday, and it was great!!!

Here are lovely Jamie and Sean. This is Keven's younger sister and her husband.

We went to a Japanese restaurant where they cook your food in front of you. This was our cook and he was quite entertaining!

Keven, Sean, and Grandpa Martin.

I haven't been a big fan of giving Hannah cookies, cake, ice cream, etc at her age. But we thought a little bite of chocolate from the cake would be fun -- and if you can't tell, she loved it!

Yahoo for Weddings! This weekend we were able to go to Idaho to see my Uncle Jim be married. Nearly a year ago he lost his wife, my sweet Aunt Carol. It has been hard to see my Uncle so lonely since that time. But he made friends with a lady that he and my Aunt Carol have known for quite some time. She, Joan, was also a widow. They have both found happiness with each other and we are excited for them!!

This is me and some of my cousins. These ladies are wonderful! Love you guys!!

Here are Joan and Jim with Hannah.

Cute Daniel was so nice to dance with Hannah for a good portion of the night. Hannah really enjoyed it!

Matt dancing with Hannah.

OH, these girls are so great!! How I love my young cousins! Merissa, the one with the knee brace, had surgery just days before the wedding and still made the trip from Wyoming to Idaho. What a trooper!

This is my Mom, Aunt Cindy, and Aunt Gloria. They are a fun pair that keep all the family laughing!

Missionary Matt!!

2008-01-16T13:13:00.001-08:00

Here's a little shout out for my little bro, Matty!! He has recently received his mission call to serve in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mission!!! He is leaving April 9th and is super excited! Congratulations Matt!!!

Go Jazz!!

2008-01-15T13:26:00.001-08:00

So, the Utah Jazz season has surely begun and Keven has been really excited about it all! He loves to watch the games and talk Jazz with everyone and anyone!

My friend Cat works for the Huntsman's and surprised us with some extra tickets to watch the Jazz vs. the Suns game in the Huntsman suite -- good times! She surprised us even further when we got to the game by getting us tickets to watch a quarter of the game on the actual floor!!!

I have never seen these men close up before, but let me tell you -- they are HUGE!! It was soooooooooo great to watch the game from such a close view! We were amazed the whole time! All these shots are ones we took while watching the game from the floor, the nice man I sat next to took the shot of Keven and I. The one with the back of Bell was great! He was passing the ball in right in front of us, that was pretty neat!

Go Jazz!!!

Happy 2008!!!

2008-01-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!! Please bear with me as I share MANY of our fun pictures from our lovely Holiday!!

These first pictures are at East Canyon where we had a little vacationing fun between Christmas and New Year's. Keven got a Guitar Hero for Christmas and it was very popular with all the family!!

This is one of our favorite neighbors, Clint. He is holding his son Caleb,
whom we all refer to as Hannah's boyfriend.

This is my cute neice, Maleia. I loved this picture we took of her. She is a good playmate with Hannah, even though her favorite activity is pulling Hannah's hair! But that's okay, we love Maleia!

This is Hannah throughly enjoying some Ravioli. We were all shocked by the amount of food this little one could pack in. At this particular sitting she finished the entire can! She was SOOOOOOOO messy, if you can't tell!

Here is our living room on Christmas morning! The other picture is at a Wall Family Christmas Party. We did White Elephant gifts and Russ got my gift of a silky nightie!

Here is our sweet baby in her Christmas get up. Keven is holding her the Sunday before Christmas in her Christmas dress. And I am holding her up on Christmas day so you could all see her Santa hat and little bootie's. So cute!!

And these final pictures are a continuation of the WAll Family Christmas Party! Little Baby Lily, the youngest of the WAll Clan. And Sean and Whitney both enjoying their new White Elephant gifts!

We wish you all the happiest of New Years!

Christmas Fun!

2007-12-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

Alright for Christmas Fun!! Here are some of the latest and greatest activites from the Wall home!

My sister-in-law Jamie has been showing her cute craftie stuff on her blog so I felt like following suit. I have to say that I am not a craftie person, but I have wanted to make something like this for Hannah's room. So Wa la!! I prepared the wood, got the vinyl lettering from a kind lady in our ward, painted the wood, and applied the vinyl!! I must say it turned out much better than I thought it would -- I was worried about putting this all together myself since I am not very artistic.

We had a nice Christmas get together with the Holbrooks and it was great! Jeff and Keven are just like kids when we get together, it really is funny to watch them! It's nice they get along so well because Becca and I spend most of our time chatting it up!

Emily is hilarious!!! Hannah went to bed and Emily kept on asking where Hannah was, super cute! And you should see this girl dance! Oh my, it is so funny!

In this picture Emily is holding a ten dollar bill. We have a little game with the Holbrook's dealing with this ten dollar bill - which is basically passing it back and forth because of an ongoing dispute about who owes ten dollars to who. There have been some very creative ways to pass it too! It has been going on for over 2 years now!!

Here is the lovely Wall Family!! We are enjoying Temple Square lights!

Here is my sweet baby. She is the busiest girl, but surprisingly has not noticed the Christmas tree so far this season -- until the other day. She finally realized there was a whole tree of fun and she has been going to town! She loves to take the ornaments off and eat them, shake them, and ring the bells.

Alright for Christmas Fun!! Hope you are all having some as well!!

Our Week in a quick Recap..

2007-12-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Busy is a good word to describe this time of year and this last week! Thanks to all those who we got to see at fun Christmas parties ~ which would be cute Holly and the good, old Brighton gals! I loved seeing all of you! (And thanks again Holly for the awesome dress for Hannah!! WE both love it!!)

Here is our week in a quick recap....

This is Hannah when we went to dinner one night. She is SOOOOOOOOO funny! She has started this new thing where she likes to blink, especially when we try and take pictures of her.

Hannah also had her first ear infection. She has done pretty well regardless, but we are glad she has gotten back to happy self!

Now, don't be alarmed. This crazy looking man is just Keven. He was getting ready to shovel the driveway.

Hannah has become quite the busy bee. She is into everything! Her new favorite activity is to look at herself through the dishwasher and stove. She also loves to pull down the dishtowels and eat them.

Our little family also had the opportunity to play Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus in the our ward Christmas play. And I must say that Hannah was one cute Baby Jesus!!! When they asked us to play this part they also asked if Hannah could sit and be quiet during the whole play. Obviously they didn't know Hannah well! ( I was surprised they hadn't noticed her behavior in church!) I just told them that we would love to participate but I could not guarentee Hannah to be quiet. But she did pretty well......I am guessing she was not the first Baby Jesus to blow raspberries and clap her hands!
I wish I could show a picture but silly me forgot the camera! Bummer!

Don't Worry, the Wall's are BACK!!!!

2007-12-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

Alright, you might have noticed that I have disappeared the last few weeks from the blogging world. I guess it is just that time of year! ~ But I am back and have a few pictures from our Thanksgiving Holiday to share!!!

This is my first offical, homemade Thanksgiving pie!!! Can you tell I am so proud of it!! What is funny it that I don't even like fruit pies!!! But Keven and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year and I was determined to make a homemade pie. I did eat a few bites and it tasted pretty good!! And I also would like to add that our first time hosting Thanksgiving went very sucessfully!!!

Go UTES!!!! Don't worry, Keven and I are still proud supporters of U of U Football - even though our team once again let BYU steal the game. Bummer.

We love Aunt Lydia!

I don't know if you can tell but Hannah is covered in orange. I guess she really liked the yams!! It might be hard to tell in the picture, but when we cleaned her off we found yams behind her ears, in her eyebrows, and in her hair. We couldn't believe how quickly she was getting them in her mouth - then we realized they were coated in brown sugar. Hannah really had not had sugar until that point so she truly enjoyed the experience!

Tagged......

2007-11-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am finally doing it. I have been tagged by two different people and have not followed through....(sorry Char and Jess).....but my cute pal Paris has inspired me to do so. So here it goes!

What was I doing 10 years ago: Well, I was 15 years old and a sophmore in high school. At this time I was coming out of my "dressing like a soccer player" stage. Seriously, I used to wear soccer shorts, t-shirts, and my hair in a tight bun every day! Wow, glad that stage has passed!! I think it was the fact that my friends and I started hanging around with lots of boys that made me change my dressing habits, even though I was never really into boys. I preferred being "the good friend". I also remember that at this time I had an incredible seminary teacher who taught me so much! Thanks Brother Fillmore!!

What was I doing 5 years ago: I was living with some friends in the "Party House". Oh, good times! I was going to school and applying for the nursing program. I was serving on the InterChapter Council for Lambda Delta Sigma. I also had just broken up with the first boy I really dated, Michael Cook.

What was I doing 1 year ago: Keven and I had just moved into the home we are living in now. Wow, we sure love it here! Go Sandy!! I was working for the Transplant Team at LDS Hospital. I was also about 5 months pregnant with Hannah.

What was I doing yesterday: Yesterday was a pretty average day. Hannah and I did our same routine of eating, playing, and napping. We went on a walk and passed out flyers for our little book group. Last night we went on a fun adventure to Provo and had dinner/chat time with some Brighton friends. Hannah really enjoyed playing with Marion. We also got to visit Aunt Jamie and Cousin Maleia!

5 Snacks I enjoy: Chips and Salsa, granola bars, fruit, cookies, and muffins

5 Things I would do if I had $100 million: Pay tithing, buy a house, buy a cabin, help family members, and save/invest the rest.

5 Places I would run away to: Honestly, I could run away with Keven and Hannah to just about any place and enjoy myself! But..... I would love to go to a cabin - somewhere quiet where I could enjoy the beautiful scenary and ponder. I would love to go to Hawaii - never been, but hopefully one day! I would also love to run to a spa and get a long massage! I would love to go to Prince Edward Island!! I am an Anne of Green Gables fan and have always wanted to see the landscape there. Finally, I would love to run to Brighton. A part of my heart will always belong there.

5 TV shows I like: Ya know, I have to be honest - I am really not a big tv watcher so there aren't many shows I like. The one big show I LOVE to watch is 24!!! Also, I must admit that if I get the chance I like to watch Little House on the Prairie. Silly, but true.

5 Things I hate doing: Having flour on my hands ( It makes me cringe!!), listening to someone sniff the snot in their nose ( this is my biggest pet peeve), hearing Hannah cry, finding out that someone has died, and cleaning the litter box.

5 Biggest joys of the moment: Having such a wonderful husband. Keven is and always has been everything that I need - I am so lucky and blessed. Having my beautiful Hannah. Being able to stay home with her. Teaching in Primary - this has been a very humbling experience for me. And my good friends, especially the new ones we have met in our neighborhood.

Now I am supposed to tag at least 5 people -- Kim, Ritz, Becca, Jamie, Amanda, Whitney, Heather, Holly, Theirry, and anyone else who would love to participate!

Such a Big Girl!!!

2007-11-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

It has come to my attention that my sweet baby is turning into such a big girl!! I am so happy for her growth and development, she is so happy and I love it!
Let me give you some of the ways my sweet baby is turning into big girl!

#1 - Hannah can crawl. Yes, it is offical. I must admit that she would rather have us help her walk and doesn't like to crawl a ton. But when she wants something, she knows how to get it!

#2 - Hannah LOVES to pull herself up! She does it all over -- in the bathtub, her room, and onto her playing table. Here is a picture I got of her doing it.

#3 - Hannah has offically had her crib lowered down. I must admit that moving her crib down was when I realized how big my sweet baby was getting. She really is no longer a little baby.

#4 - Hannah is now just eating three meals a day, like the big kids!!

#5 - Hannah is starting to feed herself. She has mastered eating little bits of bread. We love watching her do this! At first she would try so hard to get a little piece into her hand and then work so hard to actually get it into her mouth! Now she grabs a bunch of bits and can get them into her mouth quite easily. This next week we are starting little bits of vegetables!

#6 - Hannah loves to say Da Da and Ma Ma all the time! Yesterday we were in church and she kept on yelling them as loud as she could! We felt so proud to think our daughter was so excited about us!!!

#7 - Hannah's baby carseat is too small. Her little chubby legs and feet rest over the edge. Luckily I think Santa might be bringing her a new one!

#8 - Hannah is down to two naps a day.

#9 - And last but not least, Hannah is a big girl because she wore pigtails in her hair for the first time yesterday. I couldn't believe how old it made her look! ( And I must admit part of me felt a little sad!) I didn't get a picture of them because Keven and I had to hold her down to get them in her hair and then had to run to church. By the time church was over, so were the pigtails!

Thanks for listening to the ramblings of a proud mother. If you can't tell, WE LOVE OUR HANNAH!

Daddy and Me

2007-11-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

Well, for all of those people who don't know, Keven coaches a middle school
cheer squad. Go Centennial!!! They had a cheer competition
this weekend and did great! The squad made Hannah an honorary cheer leader and even gave her an outfit to wear! This is Hannah and Daddy, dressed up in their cheer gear!!

HALLOWEEN!!!

2007-11-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hannah's first Halloween was great!!!! She looked SO cute dressed up in her costume with her little black nose! We wanted her to be a bear because lately she has really been into growling, but the only thing we could find close to a bear was Winnie the Pooh!

We took Hannah around to visit our parents at work and everyone tried to give her lots of candy. We kindly thanked them and said she wasn't able to have it. People seemed a little bothered by this until we explained that she was only 7 months old. Everyone thought she was much older than that!

This is the Sorenson family. They live down the street and have become very good friends of ours. They have two little boys, one just a few weeks older than Hannah. They stopped in to enjoy Halloween with us. Keven made homemade rootbeer to pass out to the neighborhood families that came to our house. We also took Hannah to visit a few of our elderly neighbors.

I LOVE FRIENDS!!!

2007-10-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

OH my, can I just tell you how much I love good friends!!! Last night I went to the Lambda Delta Sigma Fireside for Alumni at the University of Utah. I got to attend with some of my great friends that I made while involved in Lambda Delta Sigma, and let me tell ya........ good friends are wonderful!!! I remembered last night how lucky I am to have been part of such an incredible organization that taught me so much, gave me such amazing experiences, and most of all -- gave me some of the best friends I have ever had!!!

Theta ladies - thanks for the great time last night! I love you all!!

This is my good friend, Vera. She is my hero!!

Zoo Day!!!

2007-10-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

This last week we went to the Zoo with some of our neighbors. I haven't been to the Zoo for years and it was Hannah's first experience. I don't think she really cared much about it, but we had a good time!

This is Hannah and I in front of the Black Bears. I keep trying to point out the bear to Hannah, but all she cared about was the waterfall nearby.

Curly Hannah!

2007-10-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

I had to post this picture of Hannah because I think she is so darn cute!!! This is what her hair looks like after she gets out of the tub! I love her little curls and find myself very jealous because I am currently experiencing a hair crisis. My hair is no longer curly since I got pregnant with Hannah. But I guess we can't have it all!! At least Hannah with be able to enjoy the wonderful life of curls!!

Play time

2007-10-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

This week we got to play with some of our favorite friends!

First we played with Marion and Ritz! We went to see our friend Floss who had surgery. Marion and Hannah had a good times playing together. Marion was a good sport because Hannah keep on taking her toys!

We also got to play with our friend the Romney's. Hannah and Tyler already have a good relationship going as Tyler held Hannah's hand when they are only a few months old. This time Hannah enjoying grabbing Tyler's face!

I Think I Can....

2007-10-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hannah is so funny! Lately she gets really frustrated if the objects she wants are out of reach. You can tell she wants to move on her own to get them, but she can't quite figure out how! Typically she will get on her stomach and then wave her hands and feet, but gets so upset when she doesn't move! --(I must say I have to giggle when I see this because it reminds me of a beached whale!) Keven and I have spent many moments on the floor showing her how to crawl, but she just watches us like with this air of "You guys look so silly!". This picture is at one of those moments when she gets up on her hands and knees and does a little wiggle back and forth. It is so fun to watch her do this! She will stay there, shimmy back and forth, and look like she is about to take off crawling. But no....she goes back to the beached whale position. Gotta love it!

Go Brighton!!!

2007-09-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

This week we were able to take a little trip to Brighton with our old pals, the Marshall's ( a.k.a. Pebblez and Zazu). The fall leaves were beautiful and it was SO wonderful to see camp again!

Little Bear -- our future brighton counselor!!

Alright for future Brighton staff!

Keven, Cary, and Hannah on Brownie Rock

Yellowstone

2007-09-19T08:06:00.001-07:00

Alright for Yellowstone! These are various pictures of us in front of geysers and such. The one of Hannah and I on the left is in front of Old Faithful. Hannah was super impressed by that!

2007-09-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

The Happy Wall Family!!!! This was taken on the day we blessed Hannah.