Wheelers Weekly

Catching Up. . .

2009-11-17T09:04:00.001-07:00

I know I have missed WAY too much so I am just going to start fresh. Some highlights of our life lately are:

1. Keane turned 4. Our camera broke so I had no camera for a couple of months. But he had a really cool shark cake, ate Panda Express (his fav) and went to see Ice Age 3 Dawn of the Dinosaurs (because he is still not over his dino-obsession.) Happy Birthday Keane, we'll always have the mental images!!

2. Little brother Brian got hitched to the beautiful Haylie Farnsworth. It was lovely and I wish I could hack Annie Randall's website so you could see some really gorgeous pics but yet again we were without a camera and so I hacked this one off the family website. Congrats!

3. Halloween. It was simple but fun for us. Thanks to my neighbor Brenda for taking a pic of my kids while we were trick or treating. As you can see we have a she-vampire (she wore high heels the entire time we were trick or treating), a cop who rubbed his mustache off (I swear he looks like Ryley in the second pic--seriously where are his eyes!!!), and a cowboy who was supposed to be a redneck but refused to wear his coonskin hat. We'll take what we can get from Cash these days. We had fun just trick or treating around our hood.

The night before we went to the school carnival in our neighborhood and the kids got kind of overwhelmed in the huge crowd. As they finished a game, Lucy and Keane went over to pick a prize from the bucket and I saw a neighbor and said hi to her for literally less than a minute. I looked down and Lucy was at my side and Keane was not. Keane is a very cautious child and NEVER wanders, so I knew he was somewhere panicking. We frantically searched for him and a couple of minutes later we saw him standing alone with crocodile tears streaming down his face. I felt awful. Through his sobs he explained that he was trying to find a mom or dad to help him but he didn't know who were the nice people and who were the strangers. Sad. So we went home feeling exhausted and as we walked in he says to me, "You were not the bestest mom tonight because you lost me and you forgot my jacket!" Okay I deserved that. But seriously I know that I am not the only mom who has lost her kid for a couple minutes!

4. Lucy broke her arm. Yup it finally happened, our first broken bone. It is simple math really--

Rollerskates + Hill at the Park - Wristguards = Lots of Copays > X Rays + Pediatric Orthopedic Specialist

Now imagine all of that over the Square Root of Lucy in bad mood divided by a cast that developed a lovely odor. It was a simple buckle fracture and she had to wear the cast for about 4 weeks so it was not too bad. She was definitely glad to have her arm back though. These pics were taken the morning she got her cast off. Keyword here is morning. She doesn't love mornings and most of them she makes faces similar to these, which she specifically asked me to not post on the blog (oops):

5. Lucy got Student of the Month at her school. She never ceases to amaze me with how smart she is. Everything comes pretty easy for her so far and she adores her teacher. So cliche, but she is growing up too fast and we are always sooooo proud of her. They give the award out at flag ceremony in the morning and this is what her teacher said about her, "Lucy is a hard worker. She strives to do her best every day. She always comes to school with a smile on her face. She is a great friend to her classmates. I enjoy having her in my class." Which I think is funny that she shows up to school with a smile because she leaves every morning with the face you see in the above pictures. Way to go Lulu.

Here are all the classes lined up for flag.

Her brothers are so supportive aren't they. haha.

6. Cash turned 2!

I love this kid's mug more than anything. He keeps me on my toes for sure but he is just so loveable. It makes it easy to love him when he is literally a miniature version of Tyler in every way. Happy birthday Mad Dog!

The cake is supposed to be a stencil of a money sign but it didn't work out perfectly. Oh well. The cake was homemade chocolate cake from scratch (The Fat Sisters recipe--love that cook book!) He liked it so that is all that matters.

7. Obsessing over this place:

We are planning a trip for hopefully sometime in the Spring but we are counting on Santa to help us out with some tickets or gas money or something!!! Lucy was 2 last time we went and Keane was 4 months. They are the perfect heights and they love everything Disney. I know it will be a blast and I am literally losing sleep thinking about how much fun it is going to be. It's the happiest place on earth you know.

8. Speaking of height requirements, we have been using that excuse a lot lately to get the kids to eat better. "You better eat your fruits and veggies so that you can ride Space Mountain!" Well Cash has been trying extra hard. . .to the point of exhaustion. Check it out. The music from "UP" is playing in the background. Funny. I love that movie.

9. Missing these guys a lot lately. We are used to having them around and are still getting used to the fact that they live in UTAH!! Looking forward to hanging out at Thanksgiving.

10. I have been doing a lot of this lately:

Running, not cross dressing. I have been training for 6 months for a race that is coming up very very soon. I am super excited and just ready to get it done so I can sleep in past 4:30am for once!!! Let me know if you have any ideas for any good running or work out songs that could help keep me going. Wish me luck!

Best Wife in the Nation! (Sorry Chris!)

2009-10-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Not only can she do what all wifes and mothers do on a daily basis and do it well she can fish with the best of them. Last month we were able to take a trip with Aubree and Chris to fish some waters in Idaho and like always they didn't let us down.

The only thing better then catching a fish is having your wife catch one as well.

Some other pics from the trip!

I love u!

Summer Summary - Episode Two

2009-09-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

Ouray, Colorado. If you have ever been there you know that is enough said. This place is beyond beautiful. It is like no country I have ever seen. We were lucky enough to sneak up to the Clarkson's cabin-under-construction for the 4th of July. We planned on camping next door to the cabin since they were still working on this masterpiece, but when we got there and saw the bear paw and nose prints on the windows of the cabin, it didn't take much to convince us to stay in one of the empty rooms. There were windy cliffside roads that would make anyone dizzy with nerves, amazing peaks all around us, streams, old historic mines, and did I mention a lack of oxygen!! Elevation was around 13,000 feet. Muchas gracias to the Clarksons for there serious generosity in letting us stay there. This was a fun adventure for all of us.

Fourth of July Morning Parade

Damon, Colleen, Sage, Emma, Monson, Soren, Thane, and lil Liam!!

If you think you have been on serious quad rides before you are wrong. We took all the kids up this mountain. . .

Yeah and it was hours and some extreme off roading. But the view was completely breathtaking. We felt like we were in the clouds. And I had a hand on each kid because this is no place to trip and fall--believe me!! Talk about anxiety.

Some more of the view.

Lake near the cabin.

The town is nestled down into a small valley surrounded by these towering peaks. On the night of the 4th, when it gets dark, everyone decorates their jeeps and rides down the canyon into the town.

Then they shoot the fireworks off right up and over everyone. I think that Cash's face is the perfect nervous excited face.

It was by far the coolest 4th of July we have ever experienced. Thank you Clarksons!!!!!

PS-At the risk of appearing narcissistic and just down right embarrasing I am posting this picture. There came a point on the quad right when I just couldn't take it anymore. I yelled to Ty "Stop the quad!" I leapt off and began spinning on the green hills and singing "the hills are alive"! If I only had the dress--darn. Does this count as stopping and smelling the roses? It was invigorating, and I got a standing ovation from my audience (well Ty). You would do it do if you saw mountains like these.

Summer Summary

2009-09-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

Contrary to what our blog has reflected, we had a completely unforgettable summer. Now that we are over our depression (due to its end), we are finally ready to talk about it.

Mission Beach 2009 . . . Wheeler Style!

We had been looking forward to this trip for a long time and it did not disappoint. We went for early morning walks searching for shells, critters and even found starfish!

Ate super healthy . . .

Swam hard . . .

There may have been a serious game or two of ultimate frisbee (is that brotherly love or a take down? Nice stride Shelby! )

Boardwalk bike rides. . .

Fun with cousins . . .

Played in the sand . . .

Some of us love the sand more than others.

Can you just hear his thoughts?
First Pic: "Oh yeah, cookies sound good."
Second Pic: "What in the ?!?!?"
Third Pic: "ARGH!"
Fourth Pic: "Score! I found something resembling a cookie in the sand!"

Did I mention that I somehow talked Ty into running a half marathon with me, Nikkii and Stephen?? It was magical to say the least. Can't you tell by this pic (that I stole from Nikkii's blog) how magical we are all feeling? No but seriously, we had Coach riding a cruiser behind us armed with water and power gels. Running at the beach is always the best running ever and it was so fun to be able to do it with these hoodlums.

Stay tuned to see how many of them I can talk into running a marathon with me this November!!

Cash was quickly put in charge of animal control . . .

Fun at Belmont Park . . . (which one of these two looks like a more capable driver?--scary!)

(pic by Matt)

Just so many happy faces everywhere . . .

Okay so here are the real happy faces. We had to attempt a family pic so Matt Blonde my bro-in-law took some really cool pics. I love, LOVE, LOVE my in-laws. We have so much fun together and they are truly my bestest friends. But the main reason I love them is because they laugh at my jokes and are really good at doing dishes. Haha. Definitely looking forward to many more beach trips with these folks.

By now the kids are sorta done smiling.

And so the sun sets on Episode One of Summer Summary. Until next time. . .

Who's Who at the Zoo

2009-06-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Took all the kids too the zoo this week. The weather cooled off a little and we decided to take advantage. I guess it is sad when you think the weather is cooling off when the high is 93 degrees.
The kids were awesome and thank goodness for Grandma we had a fantastic lunch and didn't lose anyone!!!

Rhino Rears--I could never get them to all look at the camera at the same time.Cooling off at the waterfall.
We are really going to miss these little blonde smileys when they move in less than 2 months!!
Cash and his trademark grin. I dunno about this kid.

Classic flamingo poseThis was just before we lost 2/3rds of them to heat exhaustion.
Little hatchlings

After this photo we couldn't get Clark out of the egg, or get him to speak or make eye contact. I think he felt like he was literally back in the womb and was ready to take a nap. He even went into the fetal position when we picked him up. After packing the kids to the parking lot (there were a few hills she had to tackle with 4 kids riding in the wagon), Grandma demanded that the kids get out and push her to the car. While all of the other Grandmas are carefully buckling their brood into the car, my mom was screaming "Faster kids, run faster!" This is why I love my mom.

THE END

Big City. . .Little Sis!

2009-06-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

I know it is alarming to see that I (yes this is Kristin and not Tyler and there will be no trout in this post) am posting on the blog. Yet again I have neglected this thing and I regret it. So here's to a big comeback. And what a way to kick off--Ty and I just returned from the most amazing trip to Chicago. At Christmas time we had received some money to take a trip and we booked our flights right away. It seemed like May would never get here but before we knew it we were boarding a plane and on our way. It has been a couple years since we took a trip together and way too long since we had seen Chris and Aubree so we knew we were in for a fabulous weekend. My littlest sis got married last August to quite the guy (that would be Chris) and they moved out to Chicago. (He is a pilot that flies out of O'Hare Airport.)

I also have to state that most every picture in this post was taken by Chris. He is a very talented photographer (by hobby, not by trade) and we were lucky enough to have him constantly snapping shots. When you are old and married like us, you hardly ever get pictures of yourselves together. We will be using some of these as our engagement photos for when we renew our vows this summer. Haha. At any rate (and he wasn't cheap), these photos mean a lot to us. Thanks Chris.

Needless to say, it is a whole different life out there. So much fun. I don't want to be like one of those people that is showing their vacation slides while everyone else is asleep so I'll just list some of the highlights.

Aubree & Chris's ADORABLE apartment. (I should've taken a picture of the air mattress we slept on because it is the only one we have ever slept on successfully without rolling to the middle.)

The city skyline was breathtaking. Everywhere we turned looked like a postcard. Although these are not postcards, just Chris Schroeder originals.

Architectural boat tour. Fun AND educational.

Here we are at the John Hancock Building.

Super delicious Chicago deep dish pizza.

Dinner overlooking Michigan Avenue at the Grand Luxe Cafe.

Wrigley Field is barely a mile from Chris & Aubree's apartment.

The infamous bean. Gotta love it. The weather was amazing as you can see. I don't know what everyone is talking about with the ice and the 30 degrees below zero nonsense. It was beautiful.

Jumping Bean.

Someday you should ask Ty what he did right before this photo was snapped.
Sadies photos. WHAT? I never got asked to Cheap Dance and as a result of my bitterness I never asked anyone to Sadies so I was always dying for a picture like this. Next time I will be sure to bring matching shirts.

Boys playing Flightplan on Iphones while we shopped away.

Then it was the boys who got distracted at the Orvis store. It didn't take us long to find some guys that enjoyed our company.

Oh and Chris can cook too. Chicken tacos that literally melted in our mouths. The pics don't do it justice. Not pictured here: honey wheat banana cinnamon walnut pancakes, and cookies and creme milkshakes. (I just noticed that Chris seems to be holding his knife in a menacing fashion. I wonder why?)

Maybe he was just hungry because look how happy he looks now!
AMAZING Latin Restaurant for Saturday night date.

Meeting Schroeder's friends Joe & Megan and enjoying their fantastic view of the city from the 43rd floor. Their whole wall is windows. (Yeah this is the view from their living room! Frealz!)

Balcony.It was a little windy up 43 floors. The camera does love this girl.Ty wore a helmet for safety reasons during one particularly windy part of the night. Or maybe he thought that he really was landing a plane (note the iphone in his hands).What do you think is going through that head of his? Such a deep thinker he is.

Then we scored this sunset like I have never seen before.

It looked completely fake. Very very cool.
A giant hot fudge sundae at the Ghirardelhi Shop.

Fireworks from Navy Pier overlooking Lake Michigan. Just beautiful. (it was incredibly windy in this pic)

(Ty, Kristin, Chris, Aubree, Megan, Joe)

The thing we enjoyed most of all was spending time with these two. They are two truly great people. They are the best of friends, incredibly unselfish, extremely talented, hard working (I learned some great techniques for removing peanut butter from my carpet), beautiful, thoughtful, and not to mention gut busting hilarious. We owe you guys big time for showing us country folk such a darn good time! We'll never forget it.

Oh and being together wasn't so bad either. Can't believe it has been 8 years!!! Only infinity more to go!

(ps-we are registered at Target, Dillards, and Cabela's)

One of the Best Days Ever!

2009-05-04T14:20:00.001-07:00

Since we started having kids I have looked forward to the day that I would be able to share my love of the out doors with them. Since the time they were little they would go on campouts and we would fish lakes from the shore. They were just a little to small to do the fun and adventurous things. Last year during our father and sons outing we wanted to go fly fishing at a lake that has proven to provide some fun outing over the years. (This is actually one of the many times that Kristin had fallen in love with me because in all the times she had been fishing she never really experienced the joys of catching a plethora of fish in one day!) After some thought, I was able to find a way for Keane to fish right next to me on my pontoon boat. I rigged him up with some flies and a bobber and we ended up catching enough fish to keep him interested within a two hour span. Keep in mind he was two and a half years old at the time.
Over the last month I have been telling Lucy that I wanted to take her fly fishing and let her fish in her own float tube right beside me. This has been a day that I have looked forward to for six years and it was finally here. She was excited up to the time that we were actually getting into the truck to leave then the tears started and the nerves kicked in. Not knowing what to expect throughout the day I hoped for the best but expected the worse. On the ride up we got her excited and hopped up on sugar which proved to be successful.

On our last fishing trip to Colorado I got some kids waders and wading boots from my cousin, so Lucy was set up from head to toe (well from the neck down since I forgot to put sun screen and hat on) she looked like she was ready to go pro! Even though I knew she was nervous she was a real trooper and stuck it out for three hours on the lake. From the time she got on the water to the time she got off she was catching fish even while eating fruit snacks and gold fish! She beat her mom’s record of nine fish and ended with eleven total. To top off a great day there were two times that she actually caught two fish at the same time. In all the years I have fished I have never done this.
Keane on the other hand acts like he is a pro since this wasn’t his first rodeo! He likes to tell us how it is done and rightly so the boy can catch fish! I put him with my dad since I was taking care of Lucy and from the beginning he was catching fish. One thing that everyone needs to know is Keane no matter what we are doing always falls asleep in the middle of our activities. A couple of weeks ago when we went quad riding all we could see is Keane’s head bobbing back and forth every time he would fall asleep. On this trip he didn’t let us down, it was a good thing that the fishing continued to stay hot while he was asleep!
I can’t wait for our next adventure, I am thankful for kids who like the outdoors, a wife who will let us get away and a grandpa who loves to take his grandkids to do fun activities!

Lucy's First Catch of the Day!

Another of Many!

Life Vest $27.99

Waders and wading boots "Free"

Float tube $150

Gas for the truck $38.92

Fishing permit $10.00

Happy Kids "Priceless"!

Double, Double!

Colorado Fly Fishing

2009-04-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I began to have a desire to fish somewhere other then Arizona still waters. Nearly fifteen years ago my father and I were drawn to fly fishing through the movie “A River Runs Through it”. Being into fishing my whole life this was naturally the next step in the progression of a fisherman’s life. Conveniently at this time my dad had to make a few trips to Colorado where his father is from (My grandpa) to take care of his estate since he has passed away. I remember the Christmas of my junior year in high school getting a float tube and some of my grandpas fly fishing gear with a note stating that we would be going to Colorado later that summer for a first time fishing trip with our cousin Jimmy.

This trip would set me up for the next 12 years of my fly fishing career. Since I have picked up fly fishing I have rarely fished with a spin cast rod and reel (not that I don’t like it) I have just grown a love for what we like to call the Long Rod!:) So back to the story, a couple of years ago while I was sitting at my desk at work late one evening I got the urge to set up a trip where we would be able to fish some quality water and have a chance to catch a lot of nice fish. I found myself calling my cousin in Colorado and before I got off the phone with him we had a trip set up! When I got off the phone I felt like I had buyer’s remorse….. What had I have done? I hadn’t even talked with my wife to see if this would be okay……. I can’t even remember how I broke the news to her, however she never gives me a hard time she knows that I love the outdoors and that I have an addiction, as long as I don’t abuse it.

This is the third year that we have been to Colorado and like always it didn’t disappoint us. This year we were lucky to have my brother in-law Chris on the camera which makes the trip more presentable. We all had our moments of catching fish my best day by far was the first. This is also the day we had the best weather with each day getting progressively worse. On the last day it was so cold that what ever was out of the water for more then a couple of minutes turned to ice. We would go to reel a fish in and your reel and line would be frozen, this by far has been the coldest weather I have ever fished in. Next year we are going to try out a new place.

This is what it is all about!

Tyson Taking Fly Fishing to a new level (GQ)

What we will endure to catch a fish

Hard at work

Preview of next year!

Christmas Overview

2009-02-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Christmas this year was great, in so many ways. Since it is currently past Valentine's Day, I will just show you some of the highlights.

*Hayride, bonfire, dinner with family and friends at the Wheelers. When you are cold like this. . .
You need a hot chocolate mustache like this to make you feel better.
*Progressive dinner with the Ellsworths (sorry no pics)
*Santa at Bass Pro Shop (He was terrific, singing carols and talking with the kids forever, although as the pics show, the boys are a bunch of Santa scaredy cats. Keane is standing outside of the frame most of the time. . .clutching his hat)A boy can dream can't he? Sorry Cash, you weren't THAT good this year.
*Christmas Eve movie (Tale of Despereaux) with Ellsworths
*Luminarias--yes we are in short sleeves and flip flops, it wasn't that cold!
*Getting in our footsie pajamas and sleeping on the "magic" (hide-a) bed so that we can see out the front window and wait for Santaand putting out some swag for our visitors.
***Christmas Morning!!!Seriously, can't the dang reindeer finish one carrot before starting another one??? Don't they know there are starving reindeer in Africa!!!
And then check the nerve of these arctic mammals. Yes that's right, POOP. In. my. yard. Eeeeew.On the way from one party to the next. A little tired don't ya think?A memorable day, with fabulous family and three little angels that made it so much fun. My favorite is watching them cling to their new treasures. I mean I have always dreamed of having a son and watching him doze off into a Christmas slumber while snuggling his CHAINSAW. Okay but this one is frealz. Lucy got a cabbage patch from my parents named Lyndia, (mom's name is Linda, coincidence? I think not!) I love watching her play with it and tuck it in and all that stuff. It brings back all the good years I had with my cabbage patch doll, Amy.
I love Lucy. The End.

Wheeler Wash

2009-02-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

After you drive through the mountains and snow, and your car looks like this:
you must visit the posh Wheeler Car Wash. Where you can dine at our oreos and milk cafe (courtesy of Lucy)See wild animals, this is the rare miniature schnauzer, don't worry she is behind a protective screen and is no danger to small children, only spare socks and food scraps.All of your seats and car seats will be detailed by this guy who was holding a "will vaccuum for oreos" sign at the corner. He seems harmless.Then, drive off into the beautiful Arizona sunset. Thank you for your patronage.

Hunt For A Christmas Tree 2008

2009-01-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

The day after Thanksgiving we went up with all of the Wheelers to do some tree huntin'. Armed with Ty's chainsaw, an empty trailer, and a bunch of anxious children we headed North.

It was a blast! Although we made the sad discovery that no matter how many layers the kids had on, nothing we had was very waterproof. Which means that they got cold very quickly. (note the tear on the left cheek--we had been out of the car for 5 minutes--no joke)
Nothing some goldfish can't cure.
They hurriedly picked this tree and demanded we go back to the car.
Anyhow, after the qualified hunters did their job, we all ended up going home with some great trees. Although they didn't all live up to expectations when they got home (ahem--the Teeles), we did our part to thin the forest and prevent forest fires.

A fantastic tradition.

PS-Evidence that bigfoot is alive and well.
The next few photos were all taken on the way home and are a few of the reasons I love Arizona!
More chainsaw massacre. . .Beautiful.

Thanksgiving Recap?????

2009-01-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. This is really bad but we have gotta start where we left off.

The morning began with a lovely run with the Matt and Nikkii.
And when the sky looks like this,the worms begin their annual Thanksgiving exodus to the bountiful land of Gutterville,which can lead to early morning Thanksgiving smiles like this:Which help distract him from waiting to ride these:While they are being repaired by these two, who can pretty much fix anything.
The car ride looked like this:
Notice that we've got smiles on 2 outta 3. Mr. Grey Skies on the right was so upset that we made his hair look "handsome". Every time with this kid! He refuses to let us put any kind of product in his hair unless we reassure him endlessly that is will not result in any degree of handsomeness in any way, shape or form. We have to tell him over and over that he looks fuzzy. And then he is ok. Seriously.

Onto dinner, which was some fabulous food to say the least at Aunt Shawna and Uncle Paul's house. Fun to skype with a few missing cousins (Katie and Sarah!), watch some football, and let the kid's play.

THE END

Oops I Did It Again. . .

2009-01-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

OH. MY.

Do I have some catching up to do.

Better late than never I suppose,

So here goes!

Christmas Down Der…….on da San Juan…..

2008-12-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago Christmas came early for me! (By the way this is Ty! I am hijacking my wifes blog...) I chose to fish the San Juan River in New Mexico with my brother Damon and brother in-laws Chris and Tyson. We found a weekend that would work for all…and put it on the calendar. Thus the planning began this included travel arrangements, fly tying and endless reading of forums to get the low down on what was happening on the Juan. The last time I fished this river I went three days with only three fish, my dad went three days with no fish so YES to say the least this was a very intimidating river for me. With the plans in place and the endless notes taken we were ready!

(Fish Eating Midges on top of the Water)

We were ready until the night before when the dreaded phone call came from Chris, he was stuck in Scranton Pennsylvania because of freezing rain. (Chris is a pilot) We weren’t sure if he was going to get out of there…. best case scenario was he would be able to fly into Durango Colorado Friday morning the worst case was that he wouldn’t make it at all. We hoped for the best and went forward with the plans. All day Thursday we weren’t sure what was going to happen and then finally after sitting on the plane for over two hours I get this text from Chris “Later Scranton” from then on I knew we were going to have a great weekend.( Who said that singing “I have Sunshine in my soul today…”) wouldn’t work?
We definitely made it a fun filled two days packed with fishing, traveling, comedy and just a “good ol time!” We left Thursday after work for a seven hour journey that quickly turned into eight and a half hours since we stopped at the Gallup Wal-Mart. With a grocery cart full of food diet Pepsi and fishing license we were on our way to Farmington New Mexico and the San Juan. We arrived at 2:30 a.m and just as we hit the sack Chris was getting up and flying to Denver. After a few hours of sleep and a good breakfast we found our way to Durango Colorado to pick up Chris at the airport and shortly after we were off to river.
Everything was falling into place, not as planned but it all came together. The first day offered up few fish but the ones that were caught were nice fish that were worth the effort that we put in. We finished the evening with all of us catching fish Chris and I hooked into two very nice fish as Damon held his own. I think Tyson spent most of his time tying up his fly’s for some reason he kept loosing them somewhere along the way of our travels. Hungry and cold (From sitting in 40 degree water all day) we thought we would drive the 45 min. to eat at Costa Vita’s. This was well worth the drive in and so was our trip to Wal-Mart for some hand warmers. On our three minute drive to the Farmington Walmart Chis was telling us about a time when he was in the checkout aisle there. There was a Navajo man he started talking to and he asked him where he lived...he said "Kayenta". He asked what he was buying...he said "Dog food"....I asked if he had driven all the way from Kayenta (130 miles away) to purchase dog food only....he answered, "They don't have big bags of dog food in Kayenta"....So it was upon entering Walmart that it all came together. Right in front of us, an old Navajo was man pushing a shopping cart with nothing in it but 1 large bag of dog food....Classic

The next day we had success and a lot of fun we all had caught fish and had some great laughs. I have to mention that on the trip home we hit some bad snow and winds on the rim. After sometime Damon couldn’t handle the snow in the headlights and became deathly sick. After three stops we were able to get him to sleep so we could get home. Thanks to Damon, Tyson and Chris for a great weekend I am still recovering after getting home at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.

(Lucky Catch!)

(When all goes well you catch ....)

(This And these lead to....)

(This....)

(And this........)

(Not sure what he's measuring......)

(This guy must be endorsed by Orvis or maybe he is just rich!)

El Cash-O . . . Numero Uno

2008-12-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

So I guess I have more catching up to do than I thought. Sorry. This was Cash's official first birthday party which due to strep throat we had to postpone until Nov 22. It was so much fun. Ty's parents have moved out to some wide open space and it is always fun to go out there and play. We ate yummy Sweet Pork Salad and had Aunt Shawna's famous mint oreo icecream cake for dessert. The kids had a blast. Needless to say, Cash made a haul. He deserves it I guess. Thanks everyone for your help. Unfortunately my picture taking skills are suffering because I am noticing a lot of blur, red eye, and things I wish I would've photographed but didn't. I'll do better next time.

Ty was in charge of the activities which proved to be quite entertaining. There was an equestrian course where the kids (and some adults) had to complete jumps, turns, and direction changes. Hilarious. I give the gold to Tony on that one.
This is Ty demonstrating the course to the contestants. I always wanted to marry a cowboy.

Quad riding. Lucy looks dressed to ride on the back of a carriage doesn't she?
It wouldn't be a day at the Wheeler's without some random creature being captured. Unfortunately this little guy lost his tail in the name of the children's curiousity but all his important parts are still in tact.
We also milked a cow (made from a diaper box, some wood, udders made from plastic gloves filled with water, and a balloon for a head). As you can see the head has shrunk and she is now udderless, but that is just what happens after you have kids. OH! bad dum schhhhh! (that was supposed to be the drum noise that you make after a funny joke)

And the crowd favorite, the rattlesnake stomp.
You tie a long balloon around each child's ankle (we just used curling ribbon), and the object is to run around and pop everyone's balloon without getting yours popped. Of course it was instant devastation to each child when their balloon was popped. Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth is how I would describe it. So we played it a few times. Seriously hilarious. If you have a large group of children I highly recommend this for a good laugh.
Keane, although not the swiftest or trickiest, somehow ended up being the last one with his balloon still alive. This made the other children hot with anger and they all chased him in a furious mob. They ran fast. They stomped hard. But just as their feet would hit the pavement Keane's little stride would jerk his balloon just out of their reach. We were all in stitches. Maybe you had to be there but that is one memory that is burned in my brain and will always make me smile.

Opened presents.
Last but not least, the traditional dive in. READY--
SET--(he looks pretty focused doesn't he)GO--

I THINK HE LIKES IT!Happy Birthday Cash, we love your squinty mug!

In Honor of Twilight

2008-11-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

So I have not read Twilight, but plan on doing so in the next couple of weeks. For all you junkies out there, Bella and Edward (Damon and Colleen) showed up at one of our Halloween parties. Enjoy the movie!
(And don't forget to comment and tell me how badly I need to read it, and that you will lend me your copy so that I can get started right away.)
Yes that is a bloody baby arm protruding from her truly pregnant belly! I guess that comes in a later book. Quite disturbing. Somewhere in their house is a wandering one-armed doll. Are you picturing Sid from Toy Story?

(She is due in February, even though she is not even showing yet-darn that skinny Colleen!)

Survival

2008-11-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

What? I was busy doing dishes--okay?

He is one year old now, he can find his own dinner!

I think you know why the fruity pebbles are sticking to his face in that specific area.

Cash "Coopah Supah Doopah"

2008-11-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today is the day. My baby is one! It has flown by. I guess this means I can't use the excuse that I just had a baby anymore. Dang it! That one was working so well for me! This little guy had quite an eventful beginning. And since by now you know that I like to tell a story, here comes another one.

So I am 2 weeks from my due date and I go into see the Doc. He says I am dialated to a 5 and asks, "Are you sure you aren't in labor?" Needless to say, after almost delivering Keane on the freeway, the fact that I live 30 minutes from the hospital, and I am already halfway dialated, Dr. said that he doesn't really feel good about sending me home and would I be interested in going over to the hospital and seeing if we could get things going. To the hospital you say? I just so happen to have a babysitter already lined up (thx Amanda and Susan!) and there is a suitcase in my car packed for three days. I think I am ready Doc! So I headed over to the hospital and after 30 minutes on the phone of trying to convince Tyler that I was truly at the hospital. He came to meet me. I was SIKED!!!

I am one of those sick people that loves labor. Maybe it is the distance runner in me, I don't know, but I love to see how the body and mind handles pain and overcomes it. I feel like labor is like a roller coaster, and as soon as it is over, I look forward to the next time I can do it again. I know, I have issues.

So the nurses were a little turbed that the doc had sent over an induction but he reassured them that I would go quickly. I could see the look in their eyes "sure that's what they all say" they were thinking. Well we got going on the pitocin and not much was happening. An hour went by and Dr. came to break my water on his lunch break. YES. Well things definitely started happening and FAST. After 30 minutes or so of some serious non stop contractions, I decided to ask for my epidural. I knew that I was not progressing as quickly as I thought and was thinking we would be laboring for a few more hours.

So I sit up, the anesthesiologist is cleaning my back and the nurse (very cute and nice girl named Brook Brown) is standing in front of me helping me to brace for the epidural. Epidural begins, needle goes in my back, and just as she is trying to find the "sweet spot" I feel a baby coming out. WHA?!?!?!? I grabbed nurse Brook's shoulders and looked up in panic. I had NEVER felt this feeling before, the urgency to push and not able to stop pushing. The nurse was shocked too, well after calling for backup and a couple minutes of panic while we got the epidural finished and I managed to keep the baby in, I flipped back onto my back and the nurse took a look. Sure enough, there was little Cash, RIGHT THERE and ready to go. So somewhere in that 30 minutes I managed to completely dialate and just didn't realize it until I sat up.

I was very excited. Then I was also disappointed, here again! I had gotten an epidural at the completion of my labor, when I did not need it! UGH! If I had only known that I was almost done. Baby #4 maybe. Anyhow, Cash came quickly and he came out crying. Music to a mother's ears. A sign that baby is strong and breathing and most likely healthy. Well they took him over to clean him off, and Ty took the video camera over to get some shots of our new little guy.

All of the sudden, the crying stopped. I watched the happenings over at the table where my new baby lay. My heart stopped as I notice the nurse trying everything to revive him and. . .nothing. 10 seconds...20 seconds...30 seconds and nothing. I felt completely helpless. He lay there limp and now purple as the nurse called for an EMT and bagged him in another attempt to bring Cash back to life. I looked at Ty and he read my thoughts which were, "turn off the camera, I don't want the death of my baby on film". Just after this, he gasped and began to cry again. OH RELIEF! He was back. They whisked him away to the NICU (newborn intensive care unit) for more tests and observation.

Turns out that a lot of babies that come out crying and then stop breathing end up having a serious heart valve defect. Everything will function normally in the womb and with the first few breaths but as the blood and oxygen begins to circulate through the body, everything malfunctions. They did chest x-rays and blood tests and everything came back normal. Phew. There was a problem though, since Cash decided to come through the chute at light speed, there was still a lot of fluid in his lungs, and he was having a lot of difficulty breathing. His breathing was very audible and labored and I could tell that each breath he took was serious work for him. They would have to observe him and let me know what the plan was going to be.

I usually am an optimistic person and this situation was no different. I knew that he would be okay in a couple of hours and then he would come into our room and get to meet everyone and everything would be normal. So as all of our family members arrived and were anxious to meet him, I walked down to the NICU to get an update. "He's not doing too well, we are going to have to admit him," the nurse tells me. I try to maintain composure but the reality of everything that happened earlier, and the fact that my baby is now in intensive care has finally hit me. I walk out to try and explain to everyone what she just told me and I totally lost it. Like in a bad way, like let's just say high octaves and two IV bags that came out my tear ducts. Oh well, what can you do.

Well after about 3 days, Cash had worked it all out and we had made friendly with some great nurses at Banner Gateway (nurse Margaret in photo). I loved watching these nurses handle the babies. Tubes and IVs in these itty bitty little bundles of pink flesh (and they knew just what to do to soothe them. I loved how they always talked to them. There was not one cry that went without a lengthy verbal reply. They would say "What are you complaining about, I just styled your hair?" or "Register, (Cash's night nurse called him "Register" get it, Cash Register) you just ate! Aren't you ready for a nap or something?" They were so sweet, gentle, and understanding of an anxious emotional post pardem mother. I spent lots of time in there feeding Cash and watching him breathe. He got better and better each day and at the end of the third day they were able to take his IV out and we were able to take him home!

Some of you may know about the fact that months before the birth in each of Lucy's prayers she would say, "please bless that when the baby comes out and he stops breathing that they will be able to help him get his breathing back". It creeped me out so much that she was forbidden to pray at all for the last trimester. So after all this happened it made me wonder how she knew about this? How do you explain that?

One year later, this kid has brought nothing but happiness to this home. Heavenly Father must want me to have more babies because Cash is as easy as they come. He sleeps at least 12 hours a night, and has since he was 7 months old. His cheesy grin is sooooo contageous and can cheer up a grouchy sister in 2 seconds flat. He is not much of a cuddler, but his other sibling make up for that and we will never stop trying to force our physical affection onto him! You know you secretly like it Cash. But seriously, he hasn't given me a kiss in 2 months! Why do you have to be so difficult! He loves to eat, and I think that is pretty obvious. Although he doesn't eat THAT much. I promise. He is just big boned okay! Ha. He is known for that "stone cold" expression that he has most of the time (just like his Dad).

Although he is a fabulous baby, I can tell this kid has some serious fire in him. While pregnant, doc said, "if you are waiting for a red head, this one is it." He was extremely active in the womb and has not stopped. Keane was so low key that we didn't even have to put hardly any child locks on and Cash...well he is completely opposite. I would say his top three loves are steering wheels, electronics, and being outside. Those three things pretty much consume his every thought. I see him at meal times and bed time and the rest of the time he is BUSY! We ADORE our little Cash Man and are so thankful to have him in our family.

What a handsome blonde!! Check out those deltoids!
Oh, and you're kinda cute too Tyson.

GURTH!

GIGGLES!

GLUTEOUS! (that is a nice big chewy, booty folks--it doesn't get any better than that!)

A Day Off

2008-11-12T23:46:00.001-07:00

Hey kids, let's go to the park. Sure you can wear whatever you like.

But Keane has to pick up his mess first. (He spent minutes trying to pick up scraps of paper with his mittens on, and he needs to pull up his pants. Can you tell what kind of dinosaur that it is? stegosaurus) Grandma is going to be there.some cousins too...
...it will make you smile.

Marlee's Partee...and Halloween

2008-11-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

We love this little one for so many reasons. Shelby and I had so much fun being pregnant with Marlee and Cash. During our pregnancies we were cleaning models homes together, right up until the end. Despite our due dates, we ended up delivering just 2 weeks apart! Aside from being buddies in heaven with Cash, we love Marlee because she is just the sweetest little thing you'll ever meet. She just had her first birthday and since she was born on Halloween, it was quite the costume birthday bash! It was so much fun and no where near what Cash's first birthday will be like!!! Poor deprived Wheeler kids. I hope that her and Cash grow up to be bestest buds. Happy (late) birthday Mars! I am sneaking our Halloween pics into this post too.

Here is the man himself--POPEYE like you have never seen him! My kids love watching Popeye, so when I suggested we do this for Halloween, they were all on board. But this little guys seriously rocked it. From his pantyhose & batting forearms, to his authentic corn pipe, he had a great time, even singing the theme song. In fact, the other day Lucy was describing a bad dream that she had where some stranger had tried to kidnap her and Keane told her that he would just eat his spinach and beat him up. Attaboy!

Here is Olive Oil herself. Lucy was such a good sport to let us spray her hair black! I just wish she would have waved her skinny arms and said "Popeye, SAVE me!" Come on Lu. She actually got first and Keane second at the party costume contest. Although the judges were Grandma and Shelby so I don't know if it was completely fair.
Here is the sheriff and the little known archnemisis of Popeye, Bluto or as Keane still calls him "Noodle". Cash's beard is all slobbered off. I love those boys. Check out the forearms on that sheriff! Can I count Ty's forearms as part of our food storage? I think if we get hungry enough we could deep fry those suckers and have enough meat for our family of five for at least a month. What a man. My man that is.

The whole crew together. I didn't get a good ensemble shot. Sorry.

This is Halloween day at Ty's office. We go in every year for the cubicle trick or treating. But seriously don't these two look alike? I swear, Cash is Mini-me of Ty. One of my friends told me after she babysat Cash that she could never do it again because the whole time she was cuddling him and feeding him his bottle, she kept thinking it was Ty and it made her uncomfortable. Ha.

These are some friends of ours (Taylor, Miken, Dade and Tayen Gardner). The pic is blurry but they looked freakishly good. That is family togetherness. Cash went right to Taylor and never cried once. Hey Cash, beware of deranged, skitzo murderers next time.

Good Times at the State Fair

2008-11-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

My mom had a fantastic idea to take all the kids to the fair while the Schroeder's were in town. It was super-arizona-october-hot, but we had a blast nonetheless. Pictures don't lie! Just look at these faces!

Riding an elephant! Seriously awesome. Although Keane had a panic attack on his way up, hence the grandmother caboose.
Aubs, Benson, and Lu on the ferris wheel.
Keane and I at the very top. Gulp.
Petting zoo. Do these two look like they have the same expression?
Bumper cars, a must do for all 3 year olds.
The infamous water guns, where Benson, Lucy, and Clark trashed some other little kids and won some serious poundage of plush! Thanks Coach Aubree!
I'm so proud! sniff, sniff
Lu and Ben on the Footsie Wootsie relishing their victories.

THANKS GRANDMA!

Frog Season

2008-11-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

As the weather cooled off, we said goodbye to our last catch of the season. And wasn't he/she a beauty. Keane named him "Tiger" and Lu named him "Rascal". How did we catch this thing? Funny story. After my last big enrichment (Sept 3), I was carrying some loads out to my car and this little guy was waiting for me. I knew it was a tender mercy, because our entire night was about tender mercies and everything that happened to me after that night I like to put in the tender mercy category. Anyhow, to the horror of some onlooking sisters, I scooped him up into a laundry basket and carried him to my car, as he peeed the whole way.
Got him home, and put him in a nice deep, very deep, bin. I added some rocks, grass water, and dead crickets that were conveniently located all around my backyard. Yeah, just call me Snow White. Animals love me. Well to our disappointment, we woke up the next morning to find him gone! I don't know how he jumped that high but he did. While we found frog "scat" in our yard for the next couple of days, we never found him.
Then, a couple of weeks later, after rolling in from Sunday dinner, "eagle ears Ty" heard him along side the house. We had a good couple of days and then decided to put him in frog heaven, this little secret pond that is close to our house. So one night, I was trying to be a "good" mom and make my kids go to sleep in their own beds. We read stories, said prayers and tucked them in. Lucy zonked out right away, but Keane usually insists that you lay by him for at least an hour or two or five! And as much as I love to lay by him, it is getting impossible execute my dream of a smooth bedtime routine, and spending a little time with my Ty guy. I tucked him in and said that I would come back and check on him in a few minutes and that he needed to go to sleep. I came out and Ty was already asleep. Oh well. So I started some laundry. A good 20 minutes later, I peeked in to check on Keane and discovered that he was sitting patiently on the end of his bed waiting for me to come check on him. It melted my heart and so I went in and said, "Do you want to go with me to the froggie pond and we'll let Tiger go?" We snuck out. As I pulled up to this pitch dark farm road, we got out of the car and approached the water. As we got close, I heard a flurry of activity in the water. I panicked as visions of the Crocodile Hunter ran through my head and I just knew that this was our punishment for not going to bed on time! Needless to say, we survived and hopefully Rascal/Tiger is living the good life down at the pond.

PS-While playing with the frog one day, I asked the kids if they thought it was a boy or a girl. Lucy flipped him over and examined his underside. Then she said, "I know for sure that it is a girl mommy frog because look at her floppy belly, it looks just like yours mom!" Oh how I love that girl no matter what she did to my abdomen when she was in it, and no matter what she says about it now that she is out of it!

Money Walking

2008-11-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Our little Cash Man is growing up. This month he is officially off of formula (great for the budget) AND he is walking!! He is our earliest walker, although Ty and I have conflicting memories. Here is a little glimpse. No he is not potty trained, I just think his juicy, gigantic buns are so adorable in Keane's underwear! I love a wobbly toddler.

California Dreamin'

2008-11-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

So my ever so lovely Mother-in-Law turned 60 this month! We knew that we had to do something special for her. She is a very special lady. One of those overworked and under appreciated types. Ain't she a beauty?

We decided to kidnap her and take her on a girls night out she would never forget! Sis-in-law Nikkii called her at 2:30 in the morning. She said, "Hey mom, whatcha doin? You have one hour to pack for 3 days. Someone will be there to pick you up in 1 hour. Love ya! Ba bye!" So I picked up Lindsey and after we picked up Susan, we stopped off at QT, where Shelby and Nikkii were standing on the corner with their luggage and hot pink posters saying "San Diego or Bust!"

When we first caught sight of the girls Susan said "Oh, look a car wash! Actually no, they have suitcases. Hmm. They must be runaways." Of course seconds later she realized that they were her daughters! Hilarious. We stayed in a beach house in Mission Beach for 3 days. The first good laugh of the weekend. I posted a lot of pics because it was too much fun. Wicked fun. In no particular order:

We ate very, very large slices of pizza.

A fabulous birthday dinner at Mimi's, that was supposed to be at Cheesecake Factory, but due to inclement weather and angry stomachs, Mimi's was the place. I think you can tell by the photo that we are all very cold and thinking only of the cheesecake we are not about to eat.
Nothing will make you feel better than eating Ben & Jerry's late at night. You shouldn't be surprised to learn that this was my idea.

It is really hard to loosen these girls up, but somebody had to do it.

Fun in flip flops on the boardwalk. Take note of all the orbs in this photo. Just like the homeless people, they all hang out at the beach. Wouldn't you? That is Granny Lively in the upper left, and I like to think that is my own Grandma Edith right next to my face. I knew that lady like to party!

Walking up the boardwalk. A prerequisite to downing the most delicious breakfast ever at The Wavehouse. Good idea Nik!

We had a $25 limit shop-a-thon to see who could come up with the best ensemble in one hour. Honestly I thought Shelby and I rocked it but Lindsay came away number one. She has been to design school! I think that should disqualify her! No fair. But yes she looked the best.

Who needs a man? Okay, okay I do, but not to load my roof rack! Ahhhhh yeah!

Does this look like a little bit of happiness?
Thanks to all the hubbies for holding things together while we were gone. I came home to happy kids, who were all still breathing and in one piece, and the house was clean too! What a guy! I wish I could afford him as a housekeeper and nanny.

Happy Birthday Susan!

We also laid on the beach, ate granola, laughed so hard, flat-ironed our hair, missed our kids and husbands, and much much more. I asked a million times "Is this where I get off? Do I turn here?" This is what happens when you are married to Ty. You just buckle up and turn your brain off and he takes care of the rest. So being the navigator was not a role I was comfortable with. Thank goodness for Nikkii. And thank goodness that Colleen got a good nights sleep because on the way out, I had to switch drivers in Maricopa! Yes that's right. Not even one hour out of town. I hadn't slept in two days okay people! Don't judge me! Thanks Colleen!

This was just a little taste of the fun we had. Needless to say, the weekend delivered. It was the most fun six girls could have. I am so lucky to have seriously amazing chicks for in-laws. They are truly my best friends and I know that they are in my life for many important reasons. Thanks gals! Here's to many more!

PS-I'll never forget our nights on the hide-a-bed Shelb! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your little bed-wetting problem. That can just be our little secret!

Breaking All The Rules

2008-11-12T06:44:00.000-07:00

Here I go, about to do the unthinkable--blog an entire month in one day. "Blogging doesn't have to be so daunting," a wise older sister once said. . .yesterday at the park. "It is so pointless for Kristin to have a blog since she never posts on it," a wise younger sister once said. . .behind my back (on the phone with our mother) from her high rise flat in Chicago. They are both soooo right! Right? While I have the best of intentions, and even a page in my "notebook" dedicated to "posts to do", action is what matters. So buckle up and get your scrolling finger ready!

Keane Walking with the Dinosaurs

2008-10-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a little slice of our birthday celebration for the Keane Bean. As many of you know, Keane is obsessed with dinosaurs. Actually, I think that obsessed is an understatement. He loves to watch them on TV, (Prehistoric Planet on Discovery Kids is an amazing show--clip at the bottom), imitate them (as you can see to your left), sleep with them and play with them. This obsession is fueled by the fact that giant plastic dinosaurs are only 88 cents in the novelty toy aisle at Walmart. Needless to say, we own pretty much every species. Some of you may think that this picture is nothing but a photoshop creation, perhaps by my new and ever so talented brother-in-law J. Christopher Schroeder, but that thought is false! If you have ever witnessed Keane become Keaniesaurus, you would know that this is what he really transforms into. Yup, volcano and all.

So we decided to take him to a show called "Walking with Dinosaurs" that was coming to US Airways Center. (Below is a little taste of what the show was like if you are interested.)

We didn't tell him our plan though. So we dropped Cash off at Grandma Linda's and headed out. We hit up Red Robin for a little birthday dinner.

Here we are! Sorry Cash, we still love you. We were just afraid you would be too meaty of a temptation for Tyrannosaurus.

When they came to sing to Keane, he was completely taken aback. It was really cute and they were all laughing at him. He was focused on his free sundae when all the sudden they began to sing and he jumped a little, then looked up at all of us with a little bit of a shy, surprised and flattered face. Glad we got a shot of it.

Then we were off to the show, the kids still not knowing where we were going. As we parked the car, Lucy began to catch on but we told her to keep quiet until Keane figured it out. We settled in our seats and Keane was very excited to see what he thought was going to be a basketball game with Uncle Tyson as the star. Ah yeah, it was all playing out perfectly to be a great surprise. The lights went down, and out came the narrator/paleontologist, and the gig was up. He giggled with delight for seriously 10 minutes straight, finally realizing that he was about to meet all of his treasured dinos in real life!!! Even during the really frightening parts, he was giggling, even though big sis was in serious tears at one point. The show was terrific. The sounds, the music, the sheer size of these things was amazing. Well worth the money, and a night that I am sure he will never forget. Happy Birthday my little paleontologist!

The first video is during the intermission. He is talking about all the dinosaurs that may be appearing in the next act, and then working with sis to excavate some bones from a dinosaur egg he got for his birthday. Thanks Grandma Linda! The second video is a little clip from the show. We were not allowed to bring our video cam into the show, so these are just with our little one. There are a ton of good ones on you tube if you want to check them out.

At the completion of the show, he completely lost it. I mean like, the gasping for air, not even able to form words type of crying. I think that he knew that his precious, scaled, large-toothed friends were gone forever (except for the toy aisle at Walmart and his two dimensional tv screen). He cried for a solid 40-45 minutes. I thought it was kind of cute, because it was his own little 3 year old way of saying that he had such an awesome time, he couldn't fathom the thought of the night ending. So in the car, after we were all buckled in and waiting to pull out of the parking garage, I turned on our camcorder and flipped it towards the tear flowing, spit spewing, air choking toddler in the back seat. I said "Did you have a good birthday Keane?" With a look of rage and desperation in his eyes, he proceeded to tear his arm rest completely off of his booster seat, and throw it straight at me. Priceless. We are still working on getting that video off of the camera and onto the computer. It is a digital camcorder but we can't quite figure out how to do it yet.

Above is a little tribute to Keaner's favorite dinosaur. . .ALLOSAURUS! This is a clip from his favorite show. Just to warn you, there is a part where he eats a baby dinosaur. I know it is graphic but come on people, it is the circle of life okay??? It was either this or diplodicus mating rituals. If you have toddler boys (ahem. . .Jana, Amanda, Nikkii, Colleen. . .) this can also act as a babysitter. Your boys will want to play this over and over. Hey maybe it will help you get the dishes done. Although I am quite sure that I am the only one of you with dishes in my sink.

SIDENOTE: Yes I do have other members in my family and I do love them all equally. I have just chosen to spotlight Keane a little because of his recent birthday. More of EVERYONE to come soon.

Notice the size of the smile greatly increases post dessert. I think this is true for every girl (especially mine!)

ODE TO KEANE!

2008-09-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Although I have not kept a journal the past few years, my memory is impeccable. So as I warned you in my first post, I am about to do some "flashbacking". (Yes I can make up words on my blog if I need to) I will warn you now that this is the WHOLE story. I apologize if this is too much info for you but this is my family journal so this is just the way it has gotta be. (Sidenote: I sometimes feel the need to make commentary on my words, even as I am writing them. Weird, I know. So as not to confuse the reader, such commentary will be in italics. . .you'll see what I am talking about, just keep reading.)

Aaaah where do I begin? So rewind to a late September evening in 2005, myself being 38 weeks pregnant and walking more than four furious miles (flanked by my chicas Lucy and Gretta) around my neighborhood in high hopes of throwing myself into labor. While I thought I was feeling some rumblings, when you are 38 weeks pregnant pretty much everything hurts all the time anyway. So in defeat and disappointment I settled into bed that night, realizing that I was doomed to another week of pregnancy.

If you know me, you know that I don't really have a lot of patience when it comes to surprises, and I could hardly wait to meet my sweet little baby boy. Lucy and Ty definitely had the whole "Daddy/Daughter" love affair going on, and I needed someone to cuddle on the couch with too! I was completely thrilled when we found out we were having a boy, and began to plot numerous ways to make him fall in love with me! (This cjane post about mother/son love is so true)

Anyhow, I drifted off to sleep and awoke to a warm gush of water. Yes, I think you know just what I'm talkin' about! SCORE! It IS going to be today. I was so ready and now exhilarated at the prospect of meeting my little guy so soon. After diving into a bowl of honey nut cheerios, I concluded that there were just a few things that I needed to do before I left: take a shower and do my hair and makeup extra fancy (because the day you have a baby is the only day when you are the center of attention, the heroine, the athlete, you are photographed, videoed, seen partially or fully nude by a dozen or so people, AND you can pick up a little phone by your bed at 9pm and say "Yes, I would like a banana and an oatmeal raisin cookie so that I can eat them with my new baby, which I grew in my body, and then even though he is the size of a watermelon I pushed him out an opening the size of a lemon, and I may just need a little snack to assist me in the recovery of that amazing feat, so if you could just send one of your cute little candy stripers over to room 124 with that, that would be grrreat." --sigh--I digress--) and of course I would need to make the beds and do the dishes and straighten up because my mother and mother-in-law would surely be stopping by when I returned home . . . needless to say, 2 1/2 hours later I was ready to go.

So I was a little crampy, but not in extreme pain at all, and I was thinking that I would be in labor most of the day. Little did I know that all the primping and straightening up had helped my little guy to position himself perfectly for a quick exit (or entry I suppose). I had a perfect plan. I would load up Gretta and Lucy and our bags, and I would drive them to my mother's house, then pick up Ty from work, and then he could drive me to the hospital and we would begin to get settled. At the insistence of my mother and sister, I decided to let Jana (who lives 5 miles from me) drive me to the hospital. It just so happened, (thank goodness) that her husband was home that day and she was able to just jump in the car with me and go. Because I wasn't in serious pain, and felt completely capable of driving myself, I reluctantly agreed.

About a mile from Jana's house, it started though. I think all you ladies out there know what "it" is. That sharp, hard, relentless, cuss worthy labor that paralyzes you. You can't breathe, think, open your eyes, talk. . . nothing, you just focus on surviving those contractions and hope you get a break between them. Oh baby, I love that pain!!! Kudos to Jana who picked up some serious speedracer moves, no doubt from hubby Byron, and got me to the hospital faster than any ambulance or helicopter could have. As it became evident that things were progressing quickly, my dad was able to pick up Ty from work and meet us at the hospital. As we get out of the car to walk in, Ty realized that it was go time and he grabbed a wheel chair and we were off!

As we entered our room, I changed clothes and laid on the bed. Everybody does it differently: you've got your screamers (ahem--Jana), and your moaners, and your criers, and your cussers, but for some reason, when I am in that moment of excruciating pain, all I want to be is silent. There is no right or wrong way about it, but that is just my way to relax and focus on the task at hand. The disadvantage to that is that none of the nurses seem to feel a bit of urgency if you are just sitting there silently laboring. A few minutes ticked by and I began to feel immense pressure. It kinda felt like, oh I don't know, a 14 inch cranium of an 8 pound baby attempting to exit my pelvis!!! I asked Ty to see if there was a nurse that could take a quick look and see what all the pressure was about.

Well, wouldn't you know it, as soon as she got a glimpse of my undercarriage, there was a flurry of about 9 nurses in there preparing me for delivery. Turns out that I was fully dialated, and ready to rock. (YES! Music to my ears. . .oh, and could you put some fresh batteries in the camera and hand me my lip gloss Ty?) I elected to have an epidural, as we had to wait for my doctor (LOVE Dr. Layton-highly recommend him) to cease the reseeding of his lawn, shower and make the trip down to the hospital. Looking back, I should've just gone for it. Those labor & delivery nurses are so capable. Well, he arrived and a few minutes of pushing and little boy Wheeler was born. What a handsome devil with a bit of dark hair and just the sweetest little face you ever saw. Such an incredible moment that was shared by both my and Ty's mom. As for me and my boy, it was love at first sight. No plotting or planning, just natural and strong.

We had narrowed the name down to Chet or Keane. We felt like Chet was a name for a red headed, rambunctious little boy. Whereas, Keane was a name for a laid back, easy going type of kid. We decided that we would put off naming the little guy until the next day. That night Ty went to tend to Lucy, and I was alone with my new little love. He slept in my arms, ate like a champ, and was nothing but a Class A gentleman. He was Keane for sure! Not a doubt about it.

Ty and I were so grateful for this new little spirit in our family. We knew as we plopped him into the back seat and drove home that our lives would never be the same. I think that no matter how many times you welcome a child into your family, that feeling is always there. The feeling that your Heavenly Father is so near, and maybe even a little nervous for this valiant spirit to embark on his perilous journey on this earth. The feeling that my Heavenly Father trusts me with this task and now I have got to rise up to meet it, no matter how overwhelming it may seem at times. As we arrived home, introduced our little Keane to his red-headed sister, and began life with two, I couldn't help but think of him at different stages of his future life and imagined what kind of man he would grow up to be. I felt then, and still now, so excited and privileged to be the mom of a very special little man, Keane Tyler.

This is the little guy freshly birthed, in the hands of Grandma Susan. Awwww, it's not that bad! We'll protect you from Lucy, we'll try atleast. Speaking of, while we were all oooohing and aaaahing over this. . .

Lucy was enjoying her new found independence in many ways. . .

Next Post (maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, I just don't know) : Keane, The Early Years (yeah, there are only three) and his much anticipated dinosaur birthday!

One measly word . . . sooooo much trouble!

2008-09-29T01:13:00.000-07:00

So I start blogging, and immediately get my bad self into some big trouble. When I wrote "and coming tomorrow. . .Ode to Keane", what I meant was "Can't wait to do my post tomorrow night after Enrichment, and Ty's math homework, and if I don't get it done Thursday, I can just do it when I finish putting together my Super Saturday sign ups" (which for us is actually Fantastic Friday, thx for the idea Sarah!). Well I most certainly had NO idea what was entailed in creating a Super Mormon Craft Day. The sign ups, the photos, the pricing, the ideas, the paint colors. We had a family reunion all day Saturday so long story, lengthy excuses later, and a few scathing remarks from family members tonight, and here I am again to make good on my promise.

But seriously folks, let's focus on the bigger picture. I did my first post on Wednesday, and I am doing my second on Sunday. That is not too bad right? I will never use the "tomorrow" word again unless I mean it.

Are we good now? Yeah? Ok let's get started then . . .

DRUMROLL PLEASE. . .

2008-09-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

Alright! Alright! I know I have a lot of explaining, apologizing and recognizing to do. So here goes--

(Here is the explaining)

Yes I have had this lovely blog set up for a couple of months now, with no posts. I know! Although I have the best of intentions, at the end of the day (and the beginning . . . and during most of it) I seem to run short on time. This has been on my list of things to do and I just seem to keep procrastinating it. Well procrastination no more! What could be more important than to chronicle the daily happenings of "da wheelas"??? This is something that has to become a priority. There is just too much fun stuff happening to not record it. I admit that I feel completely overwhelmed with how to begin and backtrack and introduce you to each of our offspring and --whew-- (run-on sentences wear me out), but ya gotta start somewhere and that somewhere is right here. I will warn you that the main purpose of this blog is to be our family journal. Some of what we post may not be interesting to some of our readers, but we'll do the best we can. I will probably do a lot of "flashbacks" too include special moments and pictures from the past as well.

(Now for the apologizing)

Confession: I have been looking at (and enjoying) all of your blogs regularly, but have never commented for fear of retribution due to my past lack of blog. So from here on out, I will look AND comment. Thanks for letting me lurk :) .

(Last but certainly not least. . .the recognition)

First, I've got to thank mi amiga fabulosa Amanda. She is one of the, no she is THE most creative, beautiful, unselfish, and just generally lovely gals I have ever known. And I am lucky enough to be one of her close friends. She not only created the header for my blog (as well as two others so that I had a choice!), but she is responsible for most of the amazing photos of my sweet children (including the three that you see on the header). Thanks for the push to get started. Thanks to all of you who have given me grief over the past year. Every time that any one asked me "When are you gonna start a blog?!?!?!" (with a somewhat angry and accusing tone most of the time) it pushed me one step closer to this day!! And last but not least, my Grandma Ellsworth. I could quite possibly be the worst granddaughter in the world. In every loving and thoughtful birthday and Christmas card, my Grandma has mentioned that this would be a great thing for me to do, and now I am finally doing it. So here's to you grandma! We do love you!

Happy reading!

and coming tomorrow . . ."Ode to Keane"