Good news and Sad news

This past week has been good and bad. Last Sunday I got to see my old roomie, Rachel Snyder. She was in town and was kind enough to stop by. I haven't seen her for over 5 years, so it was nice to chat and catch up with her. :) It felt like I never left...except for the husband and 2 kids.

Now the very bad and sad news. My little family and I just came back from a funeral in Driggs, Idaho. A cousin of mine passed away this past Tuesday. :( Angela Ly Cooke passed away Tuesday night from a car accident. She was pregnant and neither her or the baby made it. My heart hurts just thinking about her being gone. The funeral service was in Driggs, Idaho....that's where she lived and she had the accident about 15 minutes away from her home. Her family from Minnesota was there, and her sister who lives in Rexburg were there too. It was so nice to see them all, but I was it was for a happy occasion. My heart really went out to Angela's husband. I can't even begin to imagine the sadness and pain that he must be going through.

But I've realized that in times like this, it's when the gospel and atonement comes into play, and it becomes more real than ever. All the sadness and pain eases just a little when you remember that there is life after this one. Because our Savior was willing to give his life for us, we will live again. It warms my heart to know that I know the truth, and that I'll see Angela again one day.

Cornbelly's Pumpkin Patch

Yay! I absolutely love October because it's the month that starts off the holidays and festivities! I bought Nenji, Rylan, and me Halloween shirts and was way excited about wearing them to the pumpkin patch. I wanted to get a shirt for Fi Dan too, but I knew he wouldn't wear it, so it was just me and my babies. Anyhow, we took them to Cornbelly's pumpkin patch yesterday. It's located in Lehi, and it was an awesome pumpkin patch. It was more than the regular field of pumpkins, corn maze, and a couple of hay stacks. This place had it all. It had the usual pumpkin field, cornmaze and hay stacks, but it also had a tractor train, swings, jumper house, a stage where Princesses tell stories, haunted house, etc. It was a really nice day. It was a sunny day, it got a little warm, but it's better than the kids being cold. We rode on the train tractor, and Nenji LOVED it. (His new thing is trains...he loves Thomas the train). Afterwards, we ate and took some pictures. It doesn't seem like we did much, but it felt like we were there the whole day.

While we were there, I saw some kids with the most amazing face paint! I wanted to get in line and get my face painted too. I tried getting Nenji to get his face painted, but he just screamed and cried when we got in line. :( Party pooper. We were there for about 2 hours and the kids were pooped out. They came home and took a nap, and later that night they slept almost the whole night through. :)

I am excited for this Halloween though. Fi Dan, who hardly gets excited about the holidays (before we had kids), has already bought Nenji and Rylan their Halloween costumes. Nenji is going to be Spiderman and Rylan is going to be the ever adoreable Hulk! Can't wait, hopefully we'll get some good pictures. :)

Yay! We were in the Princess tree house! :)

Nenji totally thought he was cool.

My little Farmer Ryaln.

Mr. Farmer Nenji!

Daddy and the boys.

This was the "Chicken Show". There were little chicken puppets

in the cages that would pop out and tell chicken jokes.

Nope, daddy didn't give us a warning.

Inside that monster was a haunted house.

Nenji and Fi Dan went through it.

Ry and daddy on the tractor ride!

Me and Nenji on the tractor train!

He loved it.

Halloween shirts! We had such a good time! I love the holidays! ~

Similac Recall...and more!

Last week was a drainer on Fi Dan and me. We usually get Similac formula for Nenji and Rylan because that's what WIC gives us. Anyway, starting last Sunday, we noticed that Nenji was not eating well and that he was having diarrhea. He also started throwing up in the middle of the night. Not good. When Rylan woke up that Monday, he had diarrhea too. I happen to be watching the news (which I don't normally do) and I saw that there was a recall for the Similac formula that Nenji drinks. We immediately took him off of the formula and by the end of the week he was feeling better. Rylan has also gotten better. Rylan's formula wasn't recalled, so we can't figure out why he had diarrhea too! By the end of the week I was a very cranky and tired mommy, but I'm so grateful for Fi Dan because he's such a good daddy and husband. He really hung in there with me, even though he has school, he was up with me every night taking care of the boys. I'm just glad that they've recovered from it, because diarrhea and throw up are not a good combination... especially in the middle of the night.

Another exciting thing that happened last week, Cami, Josue and little Kaleb came over for dinner! Kaleb is so tiny, I forget how tiny newborns are! I'm so excited for Cami and Josue and can tell that they'll make excellent parents! **and I can't believe that I didn't take pictures...or that I didn't even hold Kaleb! No worries, I have many plans on seeing that cutie again.

Today has been rather uneventful, which I am grateful for, but here a few pictures that I took of the boys. I did laundry last night and didn't get to folding it. I left it in the living room and found Nenji laying on it like it was his bed. And to make it more hilarious, he was watching TV. He is such a silly kid.

Rylan is now about 5 months and 1 week. We decided to start him on rice cereal. He's doing really well. I love the way he eats and just thought I'd share it. :)

Delicious Ideas from ourbestbites.com

With two babies, I find it nearly impossible to eat healthy or even cook. When I've had time I've been looking up some yummy recipes. My go-to blog lately has been http://ourbestbites.com/ . I love the ladies that write the blog and their awsome ideas. I just thought I'd share the site and maybe you'll find something you'll fall in love with too!

* My favorite recipes from this website:
-Apple Dumplings
-Breakfast English Muffins
-Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pastry Pockets


**AND since Halloween is coming up, I should point out that under their Crafts & Special Features, there's a super cute substitute for carving pumpkins. It's their Mason Jar Lanterns. :) Enjoy!

Early Christmas gifts!

Our camera was lost (or stolen, if you asked Fi Dan) during the process of moving. I haven't been able to take pictures of the little ones. Originally, Fi Dan wanted to get one of those hi-tech cameras, with the big old lens. I totally objected to spending that much money, and I knew if I had to haul a huge camera around, I would never use it. I just wanted a small little camera to carry around and have it in hand whenever I needed it. Of course I wanted a nice one too, that would be fast, with good quality. So he went and did research and found an awesome one. We just received it yesterday, and I've been snapping pictures of the boys.

In addition to the new camera, he's wanted a mini-laptop...or whatever they're called. He's using our 2nd room as his study room, and we have the laptop in there. His laptop is pretty big and heavy, and sometimes I take it into the living room to use while the kiddos play. He's worried that I might drop it or something, so he bought me a mini-lap top.

I'm loving my early Christmas gifts, and now I'm so not expecting anything for Christmas. :) Yay for husbands who like to keep up with technology!

Nenji playing. :)

I love his smile!

My Rylan sitting at the edge of the slide....so brave!

Love him! I should have wiped his drool first.

:)

Good Sunday!

One reason I love living here in Provo, UT is because it is so peaceful and quiet on Sundays! When you take a walk down the street there are hardly any cars, you don't feel rushed and you can just enjoy the moment. Today was a good Sunday. We went to Stake Conference, and heard wonderful talks. My personal favorite was one given by Elder Holland. He spoke about not giving up in these latter-days. We came home and took a nice long Sunday afternoon nap. Then we took the kids out to play. Since it was such a nice day, Fi Dan asked if I wanted to go have a dinner-picnic by the temple. I absolutely love Fi Dan, especially when he thinks of great ideas like that. It was a perfect evening. :)

My boys! I love Fi Dan, he's such a wonderful daddy.

*notice Rylan starting to bug Nenji already.

Yay! I'm so glad we got one with both of them smiling

and looking at the camera!

Rylan thinks Nenji is the funniest thing in the world.

My little Rylan at 4 months and 3 weeks!

What a chunky little monkey!

Cousin-Friend-Sisters

This past weekend I was so fortunate to be in the company of one of my dearest cousin-friend, who I consider sister to me, because we practically grew up together, Susan. :) She came to Utah for a friend's wedding, and stayed with us from Saturday to Tuesday night. Nenji and Rylan loved having Susan there too. Sunday, we went to church. Monday we had a BBQ with some friends and walked to the Creamery on 9th. Tuesday Susan and I took another walk to the Creamery on 9th for their yum-o ice cream. We did a lot of talking and catching up. It's been so long since any of us cousins have been able to hang out for a long time like that, and it brought back good memories. Hanging out with Susan made me remember how lucky I am to have such good cousin-friends who are like sisters, and sisters who are such great friends. So here's a tribute to them! I love you all so much and you cannot imagine the joy you bring into my life. :)

*I wish I had old pictures too, but unfortunately digital cameras weren't around yet.

Susan! I love you! Truly one of my dearest cousin-friend.

Kashia and Me. :) Sometimes I think we should have been twins.

Me and Kalu. I love to tease her, only

because we're sisters and good enough friends she won't mind.

Such a good older sister because she has such a big heart.

Aww, Tser! Sum it up: You make my heart smile.

**I couldn't find individual pictures of I-I and Cheng, so this will have to do.

I-I, life would not be the same without you. You've touched my life

in so many ways. Thank you!

Cheng, you are the best. Thanks for all that you do for all of us..

especially the awesome bridal/baby showers.

Yay! I found a picture with all the girls I meant to find.

Pakou, Tser, Penny, Jamie, I-I, Kashia, Maychee, Susan, Kalu, and Cheng,

you girls make my life all the more sunnier. Thanks for the memories,

laughs, and joy you bring to me.