palmer family

lucas is now 2!!!

2012-01-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

we took lucas, his friends and cousins to the kangaroo zoo for his second birthday! it is an indoor bounce house with all sorts of bouncy houses. lucas was very apprehensive for about the first 30-40 minutes. his aunty, raylin, let him sit in her lap and get used to the idea of playing. once he warmed up he had a blast! lucas' aunty mercedes was in town, from california, for his birthday. our friend, kimmi, made the dino cake! grandma & grandpa palmer bought lucas a jack in the box and lucas just loved it! he measures 1/4" taller than jack at age 2. little boys are so much fun!!!

christmas at the palmer's

2012-01-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

christmas is so magical with kids involved. jack and lucas left out homemade cookies, diet coke and carrots for santa and his reindeer. santa's elves stayed up until 2 am putting together a train set on a table for the boys. we went to my aunt's ward (church) for their christmas musical program. i really liked that christmas fell on a sunday. it was so nice to hear choir music and sing. we stayed with tradition and took christmas jammie photos of all of the cousins! eunice and allen always make a fancy, yummy dinner christmas night and this year, my sister brought a goose! we hope your holiday was wonderful!

santa and gas masks

2011-12-24T20:45:00.000-08:00

on thursday we went and visited santa at trolley square. i think they have the best set up and santa there. plus, there is never a line. jack and lucas' cousins, peter and alexis, joined us (though peter slept through it). jack asked santa for a train set. when santa asked lucas what he wanted he responded, "i don't know".

we took some artsy fartsy photos for our christmas photo this year (thanks to my friend ben!). a lot of folks turned their noses at it (which was to be expected). the art world hailed us as geniuses and the photo was even featured in 'Now Salt LAke' a local magazine. http://www.nowsaltlake.com/articles/view/7163/?page=1 a lot of people asked what statement we were trying to make and the answer is, none. we just like gas masks and and i wanted a family photo of us in them at the salt flats. we lit the tree and brought out a generator. we photoshopped out the extension cord. we blew this photo up really big and had it printed on wrapped canvas. it was to go downstairs, but blake's parents like it so much they want it upstairs.

tonight we celebrated christmas eve as an extended family. the kids had fun playing with their cousins and opening presents. my aunt lori got all of the cousins really cute disney christmas jammies. i love that we continue the tradition of taking a photo of the cousins in matching pajamas in front of the christmas tree. we did this tradition with my cousins growing up. the magic of christmas is alive with these sweet children. merry christmas and much love!

i am thankful for....

2011-11-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

it is nice that we always have thanksgiving at the palmer's house. all of my family congregate at eunice and allen's house. unfortunately my grandmother was ill this year and was not able to make it. this year aunt lori and uncle david took over the responsibilities of assigning food. we had a delicious feast. my sister, raylin, continued a tradition we did as kids (with the millers in california) and set the kids up to make crafts. the kids had a blast and loved making costumes, hats, centerpieces and necklaces. after dinner we loaded up our boys to go watch the muppets. lucas proved to still be too young to watch movies and daddy had to take him home. he wanted to run around pretending to be a dinosaur. we are so thankful for our health, family, jobs, roof over our head and our friends.

M-I-C-K-E-Y....

2011-11-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

we loaded up the car and nanny (kim) and headed to california for 12 days. we stayed with our good friends, the wilburns, on the way there and back. blake flew and joined us half way through. it was an adventure and we had a great time. i had 7 photoshoots and a wedding while i was there. we took the boys to disneyland for their first time! jack has an infinite love for mickey mouse and he was all grins when he got to meet the mouse in person! we only were there until 4pm, but we accomplished A LOT. best moment of the day was when jack was pick to train to be a jedi and fought darth vadar. he loved it!! by the end of the day lucas passed out with a sucker in his mouth. the boys loved the jungle cruise and jack insisted on going on the buzz lightyear ride twice.

family!

2011-11-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

we got to visit lots of family while in california. there were still some family that we missed seeing. we stayed part of the time with my mom in fullerton and part of the time across the street from my sister mercedes, in corona. we had lunch with my aunt pat and uncle bruce, visited my uncle's parents the millers and got to see a lot of eunice's family!! we were fortunate that my best friend, adam verboon, let us borrow his SUV and little point and shoot camera. it was nice to not lug around my big SLR camera everywhere. the boys LOVE their uncle adam. the main point of the trip was that blake's cousin, AD, got married. it was a beautiful wedding!

san diego

2011-11-24T08:26:00.000-08:00

we spent a day in san diego. we visited the LDS temple, went to balboa park and spent an hour or so at solona beach. this was lucas' and kim's first time at the beach. all lucas wanted to do was shovel sand. we eventually got him to put his toes in the water. jack and lucas did not want to leave the water. they were freezing and shivering and kept saying "water!!!!"

this is halloween!

2011-11-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

this was such a fun year and perfect weather for trick or treating (not always the case in utah!!)! being a part of our family is either fun or obnoxious....i am going to go with FUN!!! we pick out a theme every year (always a year in advance!) as extended family. this year was alice in wonderland. here were the players: catherine was the queen of heart, blake: king of hearts, jack and lucas: tweedle dee & tweedle dum, alexis: alice, peter: the white rabbit, raylin (mom to peter and alexis): the butterfly (which is what the caterpillar turned into at the end), alora: the cheshire cat, heidi (catherine's cousin): the mad hatter, ellie: the butterfly.

let's talk costumes:

eunice made jack and lucas' pants by lining and stuffing them. we purchased their shirts, bow ties and hats. eunice made the collars and attached the bow tie. she modified the hat by removing the rim and making them a little smaller. catherine wore a black dress and shoes she already owned. i borrowed the black tutu from heidi, attached some stick on felt to my shirt, purchased red gloves and cut off the tips and then added accessories.

let's talk hair and makeup! the week prior to halloween i bleached my hair and dyed it that crazy red. the night before halloween (i was in california) and my mother and sister rolled small foam curlers in my hair. i then ratted it out and used a ton of hairspray. my cousin, heidi, is a MAC makeup artist and did mine and raylin's makeup.

after trick or treating we got all of the cousins together for a pizza party. it was such a fun night! halloween is more magical with children, that is for sure!

jack and lucas pick out pumpkins

2011-10-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

eunice, blake and i took the boys to pick out their halloween pumpkins at sacco's produce. lucas was asleep when we got there, but eventually woke up to help his big brother find some good pumpkins. lucas is talking more and more!!! he likes to read books with his grandpa and point out all sorts of things. jack loves to be the big helper and is almost ready to start potty training! jack is amazing with his shapes, colors and numbers. one of the daily favorites of the boys, is throwing all of their pillows in a pile and jumping into them from their beds. the boys are going to be tweedle dee and tweedle dum for halloween. we love this time of year!!

jack's birthday adventure!

2011-08-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

jack turned 3 yesterday and we had quite the adventure. at 10:27am we caught the front runner train to the gateway mall in salt lake city. we then hoofed it a couple of blocks. we cooled off at a deli and had some water and snacks. we then walked over to build-a-bear where jack and his grandma picked out a bear and dressed him in a soccer outfit (i was hoping for darth vadar, but oh well!) after that we headed to barnes & noble where jack picked out a dinosaur train book. we then got the boys dressed in swim wear and played in the water feature. we cooled down at california pizza kitchen and then road TRAX back to the front runner and made the train in 6 minutes to spare. jack had such a fun and special day!!

jack turns three!

2011-08-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

after our big adventure that day in salt lake we came home, ordered pizza, opened presents and had cupcakes. this was a small affair. his family party is not until labor day weekend. his grandparents gave him a ball and bat, aunties raylin & mercedes gave him some cool star wars toys and we gave him some dinosaur goodies. jack grew 4 1/4 inches from last year! he was exhausted by the day's end, but he had a wonderful day!

jack's swim party!!

2011-08-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

i will add more photos from the photographer we hired later this week. it is hard to believe jack is turning 3 tomorrow!!! we celebrated a little early since school starts on the 24th around here and the roy aquatic center also closes. all jack wanted to do for his birthday was swim! so, that is what we did. we rented out the bowery and went swimming! this place is a blast and has a kiddie pool with a frog to slide down in. a bigger pool with a playground in the water, a lap pool and high dive pool and a pool with 2 big slides. jack went down the big slides a couple of times. he had such a fun day. tomorrow eunice, lucas, jack, alora, roger (alora's daddy) and i are hopping on the front runner and riding the "train" to salt lake. we are then going to build-a-bear for grandma and jack to have a special time building one. after that we are going to play in the water feature there and then go get pizza at california pizza kitchen. of course, birthday's are a big deal to us, so we are also having a taco party for the family that was not able to attend the middle of the week swim party on labor day weekend. my cousin, heidi, made the adorable whale cupcakes. it is hard to believe jack will be 3 and lucas will be 2 so soon!!!

eunice & lucas & raylin

2011-08-29T14:37:00.001-07:00

this is a miscellaneous post! the 1st photo is of lucas. he likes to get into daisy the dog's crate and get stuck. the middle photo if of eunice on her 70th birthday. allen planned it all out to have jack's 1st finger painting framed and i did all of the leg work. blake hung it next to a painting he did as a child. the last photo is of my sister, raylin, and her family on her 25th birthday. her daughter, alexis, is 5 and her son, peter, is 3 months.

oregon trip

2011-08-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

we had a family reunion at the end of july in bend oregon. we stayed on elk lake and had a blast! this was for my dad's side of the family, the VanDeWarker's. the boys loved camping (well, my version of camping in an RV). they loved the water and the boat. i had no idea what good cooks we had in our family. we ate beyond well! 2 of my sisters and my brother were there. we had a family night where we did a 10 minute presentation. we also had a family game night and it was so great sitting around the camp fire bonding with family. my grandpa took jack "fishing" for 5 minutes. jack enjoyed it. we were smart and brought a sitter with us. she proved to be very helpful. it was a long drive (13 hours) but, we survived all of the whining.....and the kids weren't bad either. haha!

our new family photos.

2011-07-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

beth fischer of patiri photography took our family photos last week and captured exactly what i wanted! bravo to her!!

4th of july

2011-07-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite things about holidays is getting together with family and watching the new generation of cousins play. they all love each other so much. we now have 6 cousins under age 5 that live in utah by each other. we had two BBQs with the family over the weekend here at the Palmer's house. we had the kids play in a bunch of toddler water features, watched the big firework show in clearfield and ate way too much watermelon. i am so thankful that my in-laws open up their big house to all of my family to come and eat and play.

thomas the train

2011-05-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

we spent memorial day out visiting and riding thomas the train in heber valley, utah. it was so much fun. thomas was there as well as sir topham hat of sodor. we went on a 25 minute train ride and the boys loved it. well, lucas was tired, so he only sort of loved it. he did like walking up and down the aisles. blake's parents and their dog, daisy, joined us. we were glad to have grandma and grandpa along for the fun adventure! after the ride we took photos and then visited the gift store where grandma "indulged" her grandsons. jack got a conductor's hat, train whistle and thomas mega blocks set. she also bought tee-shirts, a bag and socks for the boys. after all the fun we started to get sprinkled on, so we headed into town to the spin cafe for a yummy lunch. it was a great day!

swimming in southern utah

2011-05-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

our last day in hurricane was a fun one! we went with the wilburns to a splash pad and then on to a swimming center in washington city. it was a blast! i shot part of the wilburn grandkids that night and we had a pizza party. it was so much fun i want to do this once to twice a year. really, is there anything more fun then hanging out with the wilburns? if you know them, you know that there is probably not much more fun than that!

zion's national park

2011-05-25T23:15:00.001-07:00

we had a blast at zion's today! the boys loved the trails, animals and water. nanny manette was a huge help! the weather was warm, but not to hot. there was a squirrel that was way too tame and practically crawled up my shoulder. he hopped into the stroller and stole lucas' cracker. we saw a really pretty snake and a vulture at the park today. after we hiked and finished lunch we took a scenic drive for over an hour and went through a 1.1 mile tunnel built in 1930. great day!

trading post in virgin

2011-05-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

we stopped in virgin to check out a trading post and petting zoo. it was darling and the boys had fun feeding all of the animals. jack particularly loved the horses.

lambs & dinosaurs

2011-05-25T23:06:00.001-07:00

we are having a blast visiting our friends, the wilburns, in hurricane utah. i loaded up the boys and our nanny, manette, and we ditched blake. we got here on monday evening and we head home on friday. on tuesday (05.24.11) we went to st george to check out a dino museum. we then headed to jumpin jack to let the boys play and then it was off to costco. after dinner that night, autumn (wilburns daughter) came over with her daughter, harper, and we ate popsicles, went across the street and saw the lambs and played with the dogs. it is beautiful down here and colleen wilburn is a great cook!!!

yeah, blake is rad.

2011-05-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

so, blake's friend, mike, did this first and we stole the idea and made it even better. my assistant, greg, came over one night after blake had grown his beard for a month. he then slowly shaved it in stages until smooth. greg shot his face at every step. it was pretty awesome and it turned out so well. i took about 5 minutes to assemble the final product in photoshop.

randomness and sadness

2011-05-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

just a random update. one of our closest friends (the addams) have left us for washington. mike got accepted to law school and both of their families live there. it just plain sucks. blake loved mike, i loved amber and our kids loved playing together. we are happy for them, but we know we will not be able to replace them, ever. so the top two photos were of our last playdate. the 3rd photo down is of jack helping with a photoshoot. (see the above post for details). as soon as jack is old enough i will train him to be my assistant. the bottom two photos are from my cell phone. while at a family birthday party jack put on one of his cousin's costumes and was a peacock for the night. funny stuff. the last photo is of lucas and his favorite hang out, the pantry.

easter day with family

2011-04-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

jack and lucas had fun with their cousins today. right after church they all went hunting for eggs. jack missed his nap today, so his mood was on and off from happy to very grumpy today. lucas liked shaking the eggs listening to the jelly beans rattle, but could not be bothered to find them. it was great to see our family today. my grandmother pulled a muscle and cannot get around very well, so we loaded up after dinner and went and visited them and brought them dinner. overall great day!

easter morning

2011-04-24T21:42:00.001-07:00

holidays are so much fun now that the boys "get it" and enjoy it. jack had been asking to go to church all weekend. grandma and grandpa palmer took jack to get his haircut this week.

big boys!!!

2011-04-17T22:33:00.001-07:00

our boys are growing up! both boys have been off of the bottle for over a month. the first 3 nights were hard for jack, but he is doing great now! it did not even faze lucas.

yesterday jack decorated a basket and put his binkies in it for the binky fairy. the binky fairy came and took the binkies and left him a little tikes guitar. last night he cried for about 40 minutes for a binky. tonight he only briefly asked for it once. no more binky!!! luckily lucas never took to one. next step: potty training!!

on the 11th of april, eunice and i loaded up the boys and took their photos for easter at the salt lake temple and in the palmer's front yard. lucas has started coloring and really has been enjoying eating big boy foods with his two front teeth. jack went and saw his first movie with his cousin, alora, this last week. 'hop' was sold out so they went and saw rio instead. he was very good and had lots of fun. lately jack will take his pants off and put them on his head and tell people he is the easter bunny.

i watched lucas, tonight, go lay down with his brother and hug, kiss and snuggle him. i love how much they love each other. with that said, lucas has taken jack "out" twice this week. once was a head on collision (a total accident) lucas walked away unfazed and jack was bawling. the second time jack got a bloody fat lip. boys!

catherine in california

2011-04-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

on march 25th i flew to california to shoot a wedding on the 26th. while there i took on a family shoot in san clemente. i stayed with my best friend, adam in irvine. the boys and blake survived without me, though none of them slept well. the wedding was in whittier and was awesome. sunday i spent the day with my mom in laguna and seeing her new place in pomona. that night i met her new boyfriend and got to spend time with my sister, mercedes. monday adam and i headed for disneyland to relive our youth. tuesday, mercedes and i went to long beach and had breakfast at an adorable diner. right before we left the long beach pier we saw a cute little seal. then i was on a plane headed back for utah. my in-laws helped hold down the fort and everyone was still in one piece. it was nice for the break, but i was happy to be home with my boys (all three!)

the boys.

2011-04-05T13:09:00.001-07:00

the boys are getting so big! lucas is running around and climbing everything giving his grandmother heart attacks! jack's vocabulary is getting bigger and he loves protecting his brother and saving our electronics from the ever-drooling lucas. the bottom two photos are of lucas stealing his cousin, alora's, cupcake and trying to eat it all! lucas finally has two teeth!! the top image is of jack with his best friend and cousin alora. they are so cute together!

weekend with michelle

2011-02-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

our cousin michelle (my grandfather's niece) has been serving a mission for her church for over 12 years in cambodia. we were lucky enough to have her stop by and visit us on her way to denver. she is returning to cambodia at the end of march. me, jack, eunice, my aunt and cousins took her on a tour of the state capitol on friday. jack had a lot of fun at the state capitol and was a very good boy! today we had a potluck and had a family party for her. at the party the little cousins had fun playing and goofing off. this last thursday eunice and allen's dog, daisy, had surgery to remove a lump. this has concerned jack terribly. jack sat down with his little guitar and made up his first song. it went something like this..."daisy get better, daisy get happy (over and over)" then he moved on to each of us, "mommy get happy, tata (grandpa) get happy, nana (grandma) etc..." it was sweet. lucas is becoming such a big boy. we have to be careful because he can now reach things on tables and desks. he recently pulled a cup of water down on top of himself.

the boys

2011-02-22T20:46:00.000-08:00

so it seems like every time i blink and these boys grow and learn something new. i have not been taking as many photos of them lately, so i figured i would today. lucas is almost 14 months and is finally getting his first tooth. lucas can crawl up onto everything and get into trouble faster than any kid you have ever seen - hence the cut and bruise on his forehead. today jack danced with me for 90 minutes to michael jackson's 'this is it' movie. his favorite was the monster dance to thriller. grandma eunice bought jack a puppy hat (pictured above) and a sock monkey hat. jack loves gallery stroll and looking at art. lucas cannot be bothered with it yet.

what's happening?

2011-02-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

since my last post, both boys have grown an inch! jack continues to love spending time with his best friend and cousin, alora. they talk on the phone, go bowling together and have regular playdates. my best friend, adam verboon, came for a visit in january. my boys love their uncle adam. adam taught jack to draw a circle. blake and adam went snow boarding a couple of times. lucas is a climber! he climbs everything! i caught him with one leg out of his crib today. we lowered the mattress. today he pushed the toddler picnic table to the wet bar in the basement and proceeded to hold on and hang from the counter. he is silent when getting into trouble and must be watched!

lucas is one!

2011-01-03T22:48:00.000-08:00

lucas had his family party this last sunday. i did a mini shoot with lucas and he is just so cute! his theme was star wars and our friend, kimmi, made an amazing R2D2 cake! he was so tried by the time he was to eat the cake. it is hard to believe i have a one year old and a two year old! lucas got lots of clothes, toys, teething toys and a cool book from his great grandparents.

lucas's birthday party at the treehouse

2011-01-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

what an adventure lucas' first birthday was! the day started out normal. 2 hours before we were suppose to be leaving for the treehouse museum the basement flooded really bad. then a nasty storm hit and it took us 2 hours to get home. it should be a 15 minute drive. we got stuck on an icy bridge and we were lucky not to get in an accident. with that said, lucas and jack had fun playing at the treehouse. grandma linda (my mom) was here for his birthday. my cousin, heidi, made really cool R2D2 cake pops. they went great with the star wars theme and tasted great. lucas was measured by grandpa allen and daddy. he is almost an inch taller than jack was at a year. these two boys are such a blessing in our life. they love to snuggle, wrestle and play together. more photos to come later. we are having a family party tomorrow.

12 months lucas

2010-12-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

i cannot believe luc will be a year old this week. it seems like i just had him. he is still the sweetest most laid back little boy. he looks a lot like blake's dad, allen. he is walking now and getting around quite quickly. he loves to growl and put EVERYTHING in his mouth. he loves his big brother, jack and is a mommies boy. he is content exploring and playing on his own. he still has no teeth, but that does not stop him from eating!!! he is a good snuggler. he loves water - bath time is fun for him. i got the boys dressed up and took them to a barn next to the palmer's house. this was a quick 10 minute shoot. i feel like the luckiest mom alive having been blessed with two amazing boys.

our christmas

2010-12-26T21:47:00.001-08:00

we had a great weekend celebrating Christ's birth! we are so blessed with generous and thoughtful family members! we celebrate as an extended family on christmas eve. all of the kids open their presents that the family has given them, we open the present from the names we drew as a family a year prior, watch a dvd montage i have put together to review our year as a family and we have a potluck. i love getting together as a family, but this night always seems extra special. blake drew his dad's name and made him an art piece of an american flag. this was lucas' first christmas and he had fun. my grandmother got the boys disney shirts and jack loved pointing out all of the characters. jack has had a blast with the classic hungry hungry hippo game my mother gave the boys. the millers (including my cousin amy) have a talent for gift giving. the dr. set they got for the boys was a huge hit, especially since it was a mickey mouse set. this year disney and thomas the train seemed to be a recurring theme. even blake's aunt irma and uncle rick are always so sweet and generous to send us gifts for christmas.

of course eunice and allen spoiled their only grandchildren. jack now has an official thomas the train set! blake is going to build him a special table to hold it. what is cool about the boys being so close in age is they play with each other's toys. the boys got a pop up tent with a tunnel which they instantly took to. even lucas figured out how to go in and out of it with ease.

lucas and jack got over croup just in time to celebrate christmas. unfortunately eunice and allen, as well as mom (who is visiting for a couple of weeks), got the cold virus just in time for christmas! i made most of christmas dinner, to give eunice a break! my mother has been such a help doing dishes, cleaning, baby-sitting and helping assemble difficult kid toys!

we read a special book of Christ's birth 'beyond bethlehem' as a family on christmas eve and did some other special things that opened up that special feeling this holiday has. now as this holiday winds down we are getting ready to celebrate lucas' 1st birthday this week, ring in the new year and celebrate my 31st birthday!

our family christmas letter

2010-12-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

we are saving a few trees by not printing 100 christmas letters this year.

most of you that follow the blog know what is going on with the boys. jack turned two this year and is a busy boy! he has weekly playdates with kids from the neighborhood. he loves his 2nd cousin, alora. he is allen's buddy and loves the palmer's dog daisy. his favorite tv shows are mickey mouse clubhouse and yo gabba gabba. lucas is almost one and will be walking any day now. he still has no teeth, but loves trying new foods. he and jack truly love each other and it is so sweet. i hope they will be best friends growing up.

this year has been interesting since it is the first full year i have not had a real job. i have loved being home with the boys and i cherish every moment! my photography business has provided us with a good income this year. this summer did not pull in the cash i was hoping from my art, but we have survived. we are trying to get ourselves in a position where my income is not needed. we put our house on the market and moved out in hopes it would sell better with us not living in it. we set it up real cute and it was nice to have a clean house for once! well, after 4 months of only one crummy offer we pulled it from the market to rent it to a nice family. we will try to sell it again next year. in the mean time we are camping out at blake's parents house (they have a HUGE basement). it has been really nice having help with the boys. our plan is to buy a house close by once our house sells.

my grandparents are still alive and kicking. jack loves their house, especially now that he realizes mickey mouse is every where!

blake is still plugging away as a graphic designer. he has been with the same company for 8 years and it is proving to not be a job he can grow at. we are thankful he has a job and hope for a better one in the future. blake continues to work on his art in our new art studio at poor yorick in salt lake. he sold a few pieces this fall. he went to glacier national park, for a week, this summer with the boy scouts - we missed him terribly!

i just returned from shooting a wedding in mexico. it was seriously unbelievably beautiful. i watched whales migrating every morning, sea turtles being hatched and released into the ocean and had the best mexican food. blake and his parents did an awesome job wit the boys while i was gone.

we love this time of year, the christmas tree, mexican hot cocoa, making presents for our family, and living the true meaning of christmas. we hope you and your loved ones are doing well and are in good health. we love you all.

love, the palmer family.

baby luca is 11 months!

2010-11-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

my little baby will be one next month!!! i like that he is taking longer to become a toddler than jack. lucas still has no teeth and is not walking yet! he is close though!!! he is still a baby and that makes me so happy. he is a happy sweet boy. he is a sneaky one too! loves getting into things! he is very independent in playing. he still thinks jack is the funniest thing ever. he loves mashed potatoes with gravy and pumpkin pie. grandpa allen has the magic touch in getting lucas to go to sleep.

thanksgiving palmer style

2010-11-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

so i was not in my groove this thanksgiving and hardly took any photos. jack did not get a nap that day and almost every photo i have is of him scowling. the top photo is literally the best shot i got that day of the boys. lucas is growling. haha. my cousin heidi made some super rad cupcakes that looked like turkeys. the middle photo is the three cousins - alexis, alora and jack. we gathered at eunice & allen's for a yummy dinner. you would think it was the 4th of july with all the fireworks that were flying in eunice's kitchen when raylin showed up with uncooked yams. i went and hid downstairs. in the end all the yams (backup included) turned out yummy :)

me and blake

2010-11-10T21:18:00.000-08:00

so often i update everyone about the boys....here is what is going on in our life: i have a big art exhibit opening on november 19th. i had 14 women shave their heads to defy societies definition of beauty. several news channels covered the shoot i did as well as some local magazines. blake just celebrated his 36th birthday! yeah, he's pushing 40. blake got a new pendleton flannel and hat, from his parents for his birthday. my grandfather also made him a pen. he has been hard at work with helping me get ready for the exhibit, moving out of our house, helping his parents, and being a great daddy! blake is planning on hitting the art studio hard after my exhibit opening.

i am heading to mexico in 3 weeks to shoot a destination wedding in baja. i am sad to leave blake and the boys for 4 days, but i am excited for the break.

life is good.

rainy halloween!

2010-10-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

we were all looking so forward to halloween this year. especially since jack loves pumpkins and candy! once we got started the rain came. it was windy and cold and our fun trick or treating was cut short. we went to the local super market to get candy from the different departments and get the kids photo taken. even though we were jipped, it was fun. jack was woody from toy story and lucas was buzz lightyear. jack's cousin alora was jesse from toy story and his other cousin alexis was little mermaid and ellie was belle. we kept with tradition and ordered pizza and passed out candy. jack passed out at 7pm and slept till 9am the next morning.

luc is 10 months old!

2010-10-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

it is hard to believe we will be celebrating luc's one year birthday in 2 short months! he is still the sweetest most snuggly boy! all the ladies at church want to hold him so they can snuggle him. i think he is on to the fact that baby food is bland since he just wants adult food. we usually mash up what we are eating for him. he is so close to walking. he and jack love each other so much and play together well. jack is really good at looking out for lucas and things he is not suppose to play with.

10.10.10

2010-10-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

on 10.10.10 we celebrated our 12th year of marriage. at first i was upset that it was on a sunday, since we do not go anywhere or buy anything on sundays. but, as the day progressed i realized that i loved it was on a sunday. with our busy and hectic lives, neither of us work on a sunday and we were able to have a pretty relaxing day. we had breakfast with blake's parents and went to church in the morning. after church the palmer's watched the boys and we packed a small picnic and walked to the local park and enjoyed some quiet time. blake brought me flowers the day before and jack picked out a card all on his own to give to me. blake's parents generously gave us some gift cards to target since we need new clothes! i made blake chocolate molten lava cakes that he has been craving. we have decided in 8 years on our 20th we would like to go to alaska.

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

2010-10-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

i love fall! the crisp air, the apple pie, the beautiful color! jack especially loves the blow up vampire mickey in his grandparents yard. he has to watch it blow up every morning. luc and jack have such a special relationship, they are so adorable together. jack has officially hit the "terrible twos". even on his worse days, he is manageable. he is learning so much these days! his new favorite past time is shoveling rocks into a bucket. that's right, we got him working young!

rubber duckie, you're the one!

2010-10-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

lucas can finally take big boy baths with his brother!!!!! we have to be careful since luc likes to try and crawl through the water. jack was on cloud nine have his buddy lucas to take a bath with. luc loves the water. it is really nice having two water lovin babies.

jack and his bestie, alora

2010-10-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

jack and his cousin, alora, are 7 months apart (alora was born in january of 2008). they are best buds. jack got a cool red trike from his grandparents for his birthday. my aunt lori (alora's grandma) decided to get alora a trike too and we lucked out since alora picked the same one jack had, but in pink.

apple jacks.

2010-09-29T22:17:00.001-07:00

eunice and allen have some dwarf fruit trees out back and i cannot believe the amount of fruit they produce! we picked 2 (5) gallon buckets of apples and pears and there is still a lot out there! jack had fun helping! we want to make apple pie, apple streusel, baked apples, apple cake, apple pancakes, apple sauce, apple juice........

mi madre & lucas is 9 months!

2010-09-29T22:10:00.001-07:00

so much to say! my mom came for a 2 week visit. it has been fun spending time with her and for the boys to get to play with her. i did a photoshoot for her so she could have some current head shots. my sister, raylin, is 2 months pregnant with her hubby cliff. lucas is 9 months old today!!!!!!! in 3 months he will be a year and it is freaking me out a little. he crawls every where very fast! today me and eunice could hardly keep up with him from getting into the dog's water. he can pull himself up into a standing position. jack is still is favorite and loves watching and giggling at his brother. jack has some mad soccer skills. pictured above is a cucumber our friend joey gave us from her garden. i like to say it was a "c" for cat, but everyone says it is a "j" for jack. it was really great getting to spend some time with alexis (raylin's 4 year old daughter).

jack's birthday party

2010-09-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

we had a birthday party at the park on thursday with family and friends. our friend kimmi made the very cool soccer cake and shoe. my cousin, heidi, made the soccer cupcakes. jack did not really attend his party since he played on the playground almost non stop. when everyone was singing to him he ran off. so, i had his friend riley come blow out the candles. he got an adorable fireman's outfit from my aunt lori and cousin heidi - too cute! he is truly spoiled with so many gifts from friends and family. another favorite is his new eric carle hungry caterpillar pillow with a blanket on the inside (thanks cousin amy!). he has been good about sharing his new toys with his brother.

jack's birthday

2010-08-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

our day was pretty quiet. it started with jack and i snuggling for about an hour this morning. when he came up upstairs his grandparents sang happy birthday to him and he ran away. jack got to pick whatever he wanted for breakfast and he chose fruit snacks and a cookie. he did not eat the cookie and had strawberries instead. the rest of the day was as usual, lunch and naptime. i did take some photos of him in his soccer birthday outfit. i made him spaghetti for dinner and chocolate cupcakes (allen was kind enough to go to the store and get the mix for me). we opened gifts after dinner. he got a tricycle from his grandparents that he just loved. i am surprised he did not go to bed with it. after all the excitement we took jack to visit his cousin alora and bring them cupcakes. it was a fun day. i can't believe my baby is 2! in 4 months lucas will be one!!!

lucas is 8 months old!

2010-08-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

lucas is crawling around these days and looking for any thing to put in his mouth. he still thinks that jack is the funniest kid ever. he has turned into quite the mommy's boy. instead of smiling when he sees me, he cries or whines to have me come quicker. he is still the sweetest boy.

jack is two!

2010-08-30T07:46:00.001-07:00

i was hoping to get some great shots last night of jack for his 2nd birthday. i got a couple, but not what i was looking for. i am going to take more of him today. it is so hard to believe he is two today! we got him a leap frog toddler laptop (not as fancy as it sounds - $19 at costco) and eunice and allen got him a tricycle. we will post more later!

adios to catherine's dAd

2010-08-24T14:33:00.001-07:00

my dad came to utah to visit for a week. he went back to minnesota on the 19th of august, where he lives with his girlfriend, gina. jack liked playing around with him and lucas loves everyone. the photo of jack sitting in allen's (blake's dad) chair is funny. it is a little game they play. when jack sees grandpa going to go sit down jack runs and steals his chair. allen then stands with his hands on his hips while jack giggles. in other great news - allen beat cancer! so far so good! he is almost back to 100%.

suitcase

2010-08-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

red, white & blue

2010-08-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

eunice made a beautiful flag wall hanging and i wanted to photograph her and the boys in front of it. my cousin dorothy and lucas are buddies! this is dorothy playing with lucas.

catherine's dad visits

2010-08-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

my dad has lived in minnesota for 3 years now. he came with his new wife, gina, to visit his grandkids and clean out his storage unit. for those of you who don't know this is t he son of the grandparents who helped to raise me during my teenage years. jack liked playing with him. my dad even helped us move into our new studio at poor yorick!

flea

2010-08-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

mnost of you remember our bull mastiff bear. as you remember he passed away before we had kids. a family in my grandparents neighborhood have a bull mastiff named flea. he is beautiful and reminds me so much of bear. jack loved him! flea even licked the back of jack's head.

luc is 7 months old! jaCk is 23 months!

2010-08-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

it is so hard to believe that next month jack will be 2 years old and luc is already 7 months old! they are getting so big and soooo fun! they have finally hit the stage that lucas wants what jack has and when lucas takes it jack gets mad. if i say "share" jack is usually pretty good about giving the object to his brother. it is funny i caught it on camera above!

i am still nursing and now making a lot of homemade baby food for lucas. lucas' favorite so far is blueberries with apple sauce. jack is also on a blueberry kick right now.

jack repeats almost everything these days and loves to "talk"! he loves doggies so much it becomes an issue when he can't stay and pet them all day.

lucas is getting better at sitting up and he can roll and scoot around anywhere!

pictured above is the quilt my grandma van de warker made for lucas. she makes one for all the grandkids as they are born. i love my boys and love being a mommy.

4th of july

2010-07-10T21:29:00.001-07:00

we celebrated the 4th with our family. alexis and raylin were missing :( jack is best friends with his 2nd cousin, alora. they are so fun and cute together. the bottom photos is lucas with his 2nd cousin, ellie, that is 4 months younger than him. in other news we have moved in with blake parents and will be putting our house up for sale in the next few weeks. we figure it will be easier to show minus having kids there. we are looking to find something within walking distance from blake's parents. it has been really nice having the extra help from eunice and allen.

swimming

2010-07-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

at the end of june lucas turned 6 months old and jack turned 22 months old. i decided to take their monthly photos while swimming. this was lucas' first time swimming and he loved the water. jack is also a water boy! we went with some friends and swam for 3 hours! jack is amazing and learning so fast right now. he says at least one new word everyday. tonight he burped and quickly said 'excuse me'. lucas can roll over both ways now. he weighs in at almost 19 lbs! lucas can also sit up by himself for almost 20 seconds. having boys has been such a blast.

food & soccer

2010-07-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

lucas started eating solids at 5 1/2 months. he now has eaten sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes & bananas. i make most of his food and he loves food! blake is playing on a soccer league with boys young enough to be his kid (18-22 is the age range). he is doing great and they play really hard teams. i was worried the first week with my old man playing with these young whipper snappers, but he keeps up!

3 generations

2010-06-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

we are a boy family! here are our four guys! blake, his dad, allen and our two boys. our boys love their grandparents. allen is such a good grandpa!

lucas is 5 months & jack is 21 months

2010-05-30T19:54:00.001-07:00

lucas is still my sweet and patient boy. he giggles and smiles a lot now. he grabs at a lot of things and likes to chew on them. jack is 3 months away from being two!!!! jack's favorite friends are joshua and his cousin, alora. jack learns and says new words daily. he said good morning to uncle adam (verboon) this week. among his growing vocab are: daisy (the dog), outside, heidi, brother, baby, doggie, ruff, meow, moo, bawk bawk, owl, adam, please, sorry, help, cocoa cow (chocolate milk), water, ball, varoom and our favorite "taco!". he also says the usual stuff like 'no', mommy & daddy. jack loves animals and having books read to him. one of his favorites is 'hand hand finger thumb'. jack loves going to see his grandparents. he helps his grandpa allen weed the garden by carrying the bucket around. having these boys has been such a blessing and i love being home with them. as we head into my busy art and photography season i am figuring out how to see them as much as possible, but i know they will be in good hands with their daddy and grandparents.

lucas is 4 months & Jackson is 20 months

2010-04-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

lucas and jack are growing so fast!!! lucas just had his 4 month check up. since i have been sick, blake took him. lucas weighs in at 16 lbs 2oz!!!! that is 75% in weight. he is 24.75 inches long 45%. he is built like a tank! he is almost rolling over. he is even trying to sit up! jack is saying more words everyday. we watch disney's jungle book daily now! jack is happiest when we are running around outside! we are truly blessed!

monkey brothers

2010-04-15T22:43:00.001-07:00

my cousin, amy, found the matching sock monkey outfit for lucas! they were so cute! i am going to take more photos since i forgot to get the actual sock monkey in these photos. the bottom photo is lucas with his aunt raylin.

mow mow mow the lawn

2010-04-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

jack loves being outside, especially if daddy is involved. this last weekend jack helped grandpa & daddy do the lawn at his grandparents house. notice that jack holds on to his daddy's ears.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-05T20:06:00.001-07:00

lucas had his first easter and jack hunted for his first eggs. it was such a fun weekend! our church has general conference this weekend, so we were able to watch the leaders and prophet speak from the comfort of our own home. we then went hunting for eggs at the palmer's house. that night we had a delicious easter feast at the palmer's. jack's second cousin, alora, loves baby lucas! she calls him baby luke-ah and she loves to talk to him and snuggle him. so sweet!!! the easter bunny (palmers) brought a jungle play gym and a fun toy for lucas and lots of legos for jack!

dying eggs

2010-04-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

jack got to dye his first easter eggs with his cousin alexis. he wasn't quite sure what they were, but he did good and only broke one egg at the very end.

mustache men

2010-03-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

many of you remember the mustache jack wore when he was 10 weeks old. well.....we still had mustaches from that kit. however, this go around jack would not keep his on, so i could not get a shot with all of them. this week jack will be 19 months and lucas will be 3 months!!! lucas weighs in at 14 lbs!!! jack is getting over pneumonia and we think that lucas did not catch it! jack got a new table and chairs his size and loves them! jack is starting to like cartoons! he has shown zero interest in the tv till now. jack is happiest when he is playing outside - even if it is cold and raining! i have had to drag him inside on more than one occasion. lucas is sleeping through the night and i have finally found a bottle he will latch onto!!! yay! anyone with a baby with acid reflux i would highly recommend getting an RX from your dr. it has helped lucas so much and he is no longer puking. :)

we wish you all a very happy easter!!

Lucas' blessing day 03.07.2010

2010-03-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

We blessed Lucas on March 7th. It was freezing that day, so I did not get all of the photos I wanted. The Palmers bought Lucas a new outfit since he did not fit into Jack's!! I was blessed to have two beautiful blessing blankets made by Eunice and Raylin. Blake was less nervous about Luke's blessing and it went well. About 35 people came! It was so good to see friends I had not seen in a while! Lucas is now 14 lbs!!! A very big healthy boy!

lucas 11 weeks vs. jackson 11 weeks

2010-03-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

ok, so here we are to compare how the boys looked at the same age. the top feet are luke's and the bottom feet are jack's both at 11 weeks old. then there is jack's 11 week close up and luke's 11 week shot with a long sleeve onsie - what do you think? i think they look a lot alike.

snow day!

2010-03-05T15:53:00.001-08:00

most of the snow has melted, but we bundled the kids up to go play in it! jack loves his little red snow shovel. while we were out there our neighbor, carol, came by and brought us a toddler sled for jack to play in. he had a blast while daddy ran him around the yard! we tried to show jack how to make a snow angel, but he did not care for it!

sock monkey

2010-03-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

we were at crazy 8 and i found a sock monkey outfit on clearance! coolest thing ever! jack loved this outfit! his cousin, alexis, kept saying "he's so cute! he looks like a stuffed animal!" the next day jack grabbed it out of the dirty clothes and drug it around everywhere.

jack 18 months & lucas 2 months

2010-03-05T15:36:00.001-08:00

jack is officially 18 months doing what most 18 months old do - get into stuff, climb everything and try to find the sharpie! jack is a smart boy and loves exploring. he loves being outside!! he is happiest when he has something with a handle to push in his hand. jack weighs 24 lbs and is 32.5" tall. lucas is our big boy weighing in at 12.88 lbs!!!! he is 22.83" long. he is in the 85% for weight!!! he is a happy boy and coos and smiles. jack really loves doing anything that involves lucas. he will lay down to play with him, snuggle him, help him swing and give lots of kisses! jack and his cousin alexis recently played in the tub and had lots of fun!! jack finally has a "lovey" artie the aardvark! our friend flora bought it for him and he carries it everywhere!

blake

2010-02-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

tonight i decided blake needed a head shot and some photos of him working on art. he has been vamping up his bmx bike and making it an art piece. i don't know how i would feel about grinding on something i worked so hard on....but hey, it's his bike!

art studio

2010-02-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

so tonight we were in our basement and i was taking photos of blake working on art. when we are down there we put lucas in a cradle my grandfather made for us. jack decided he wanted to join lucas. it was pretty cute and luckily i had my camera ready to capture him crawling in.

brotherly love

2010-02-24T22:49:00.001-08:00

jack really loves lucas and it is soooo sweet!

Grandma & Grandpa's house

2010-02-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

Blake and Adam Verboon built a cool cardboard house for Jack and he LOVED it!!!!

My Art Exhibit

2010-02-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

I had my first real exhibit since taking time off to have Lucas - it was a lot of fun and Jack lasted almost until the end! It will be on displayt at the UAF gallery 230 south 500 west until mid March.

Uncle Adam Visits!

2010-02-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

So Blake surprised me with my best friend, Adam coming to visit for a week. It was fun seeing him and Jack loves him! He went home yesterday. So that is a picture of Jack helping me do the dishes by loading in his toys - lol! Lucas is a growing boy getting soooo big!! He has started cooing and smiling at me - I love it!

Jack's First haircut!

2010-02-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

Jack got his first haircut 2 weeks ago! We had wanted to wait until his 2nd birthday but his hair was getting ratty and he had this long rat tail. He looks like a darling little boy now and less like a baby! We went to Cookie Cutters and Jack did not want to leave.

Lucas & Jackson

2010-01-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

so the bunny jack is holding is 30 years old and was given to me when i was born.

Lucas 1 month old!

2010-01-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

Lucas turned one month old yesterday. Jack turned 17 months old today. I threw them on our bed and took some darling photos of them. JAck really loves his brother. Lucas is sleeping about 3 hours at night inbetween feedings. Jack is doing better at sleeping through the night despite his 3 molars coming in. I am adjusting two raising two little guys. I don't know what I would do without Blake.

luke's first bath

2010-01-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

so this is 2 weeks late being posted - but here is luke's first bath. needless to say he did not care for it! his second and third bath went much smoother. picture number two is from last week - it was our post-poned xmas eve family party. picture three is my niece alexis, my sister raylin & lucas. picture four is jack's new smile he busts out when he sees a camera. it is funny! jack has really been learning a lot lately. he is signing more and understands most of what we say to him. he is becoming more independent and insisting on feeding himself and trying to put on his own shoes. today i had two crying kids so i scooped both of them up and they fell asleep and i just sat there for an hour rocking both of them while they slept.

grandma linda & aunt mercedes

2010-01-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

my mom and baby sister, mercedes, came to visit from california. it was so great to spend time with them! i am adjusting to having a newborn and a toddler. jack is doing good for the most part. sometimes when i am feeding lucas, he does not understand that i cannot just drop what i am doing to play. my sister raylin and her hubby have been a huge help. luke looks a lot like jack did, just the hair is different.

3 day old photos

2010-01-02T06:55:00.001-08:00

we took lucas' 3 day old photos yesterday in my little studio. these are the photos that did not make the cut for the birth announcement. jack was dancing around and spinning and got dizzy and gashed his head open on luke's carseat! just in time for photos!!! i think luke is starting to look like jack did.

coming home

2010-01-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

we came home about 4:30pm on new year's eve. my sister, raylin, and her hubby cliff were there. later my grandparents and blake's parents came. my cousin, amy, let us borrow the going home outfit. raylin made the hat and blankie. there was a big welcome home sign, flowers and balloons - so sweet! at first jack ignored luke and then after about 2 hours he started to snuggle him and wanted him to play in his crib. the bottom photo is the two of them in jack's crib. jack kept laying next to him patting his head. jack loves to "hold" him and give him hugs. sometimes jack does not understand when luke needs to eat and cannot snuggle anymore. i am feeling great and loving having two boys!

Lucas Allen has arrived!

2009-12-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

Lucas is here and doing great! He came out face up instead of face down which cause a large bump and bruise on his head. His bump has gone down and his bruise is healing. He has dark red hair!! I hope he keeps it! He was born at 5:29pm (not 5:39 like I thought) on 12/29. He came in at 7lbs 6 oz (4 oz bigger than Jack) and 20" long. It took me 2 pushes once the midwife got there. Recovery has been great and I love McKayDee Hospital! He and Jack have the same chin and lips. Lucas has Daddy's nose & ears where Jack has my nose & ears. We think Luke has more of Blake's shaped face of oval where Jack's face is more round like mine. Jack had a tongue tied problem and Luke just had a mild one and we had it fixed right away since we knew to look for it. Luke is a great eater! We go home tomorrow and I can't wait to see Jack and have these two brothers meet. I am exhausted and hope to get more than 3 hours of sleep tonight! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Christmas

2009-12-26T21:23:00.001-08:00

this was a very simple christmas for us. we did not do a tree or exchange gifts with each other this year. xmas eve with the family was postponed due to illnesses. xmas day we spent with blake's parents and my sister raylin and her family. jack got a lot of fun toys and we had a good dinner with blake's parents. the bottom photo is jack with a our makeshift xmas tree. we have a video phone from acn and it was good to talk and see my mom and sister mercedes. jack is pictured with his cousin alexis above who does not look happy! we hope you all had a very merry christmas (or hanukkah) and we wish you all a happy new year!

39 weeks

2009-12-26T21:21:00.001-08:00

so here i am 39 weeks and ready to pop. i go in on tuesday the 29th to be induced. we will post photos of lucas this week.

jack helping

2009-12-08T22:07:00.001-08:00

the top photo is of jack and daddy helping me on a shoot i did for artist, melissa peck. it was cold, but he had fun watching what mommy does. the next sunday he helped grandpa and daddy put up the christmas train. he is not very good around xmas trees and we are not getting one this year. he likes the snow....we have yet to build a snowman.

34 weeks

2009-12-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

i took these photos on my laptop a couple of weeks ago. i have less than 3 weeks left! i am being induced on december 29th and i am ready!!! on days i overexert myself i have a lot of contractions that night. i am officially done shooting for 2 months. blake and i go and see the dr. on thursday. my biggest craving this time around has been slushy fruity treats. i have resorted to making my own by freezing jello. yes, even when the low is 10 degrees outside.

jack & cousins

2009-11-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

i had blake setup my little portable studio so we could take pictures of the cousins. by the time the last cousin got there jack was done sitting still. i didn't quite get the photo of jack that i wanted for our christmas cards, so we are going to try again today. jack will be 15 months this weekend. 5 more weeks until i am induced. we decided on mckay dee hospital and karen mcbride is our midwife. i have been fighting a sinus infection of some sort and have been a little low on energy. lucas is an active boy and moves in a way that makes it hard for me to walk at times. we are really excited for luke's arrival. jack's grandparents bought jack a little boy doll to get him ready for his brother.

today as we gather with our family and stuff our faces i think of all of the things i am so grateful for. i keep a daily gratitude journal where i list 5 things everyday i am grateful for. some may seem cliche, but i am truly grateful for my family, especially my boys....i am thankful for my health and the blessings i get with my talents. i am thankful for my freedom and our home. i am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and that it has been restored to the earth. i am thankful for good friends and neighbors. i am most thankful for eternal families. happy thanksgiving!

6 more weeks!!

2009-11-10T08:01:00.001-08:00

so i have 6 more weeks before lucas gets here! i am being induced at 39 weeks on december 29th. blake and i go in for an ultra sound on thursday this week. we are excited to meet lucas and for jack to have a little brother!

our baby's development

In these last few weeks before delivery, the billions of developed neurons in your baby's brain are helping him or her to learn about the in-utero environment — your baby can listen, feel, and even see somewhat. Your baby’s eyes can detect light and the pupils can constrict and dilate in response to light. Like a newborn, your baby sleeps much of the time and even experiences the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, the sleep stage during which our most vivid dreams occur!

Your baby's lungs are almost completely matured. Fat will continue to be deposited on your baby's body for protection and warmth. Babies gain a good deal of their weight in the final few weeks before birth

jack the pumpkin king!

2009-11-02T16:28:00.001-08:00

jack was mickey mouse for halloween and his cousin alora was minnie and alexis was little red riding hood. the second photo down is my grandma with the kids. the houses we went to were inbetween where my granparents live and my in-laws live. there were a lot of creative front porches. two of our favorite were the geese dressed up and the pumpkin getting hacked. by the end of the night alora and jack were tired and done. the last photo is my in-laws with the kids. there was not one of jack and alora not crying. oh well!

a friend's bday party!

2009-11-02T16:19:00.000-08:00

jack went to his friend's 2nd bday party the morning of halloween. it was a construction theme and he had a lot of fun! he did not understand the games yet, but he loved the cars and chocolate!

RIP Copper 09.2002-10.21.09

2009-10-22T08:03:00.001-07:00

yesterday morning - it is hard to see how skinny she was when she was lying down.
Copper & Jack in September of this year. She was still healthy then.

Copper & Jack in November of 2008.
Copper in 2005

A month ago Copper's health started to rapidly decline and about 3 weeks ago she stopped eating. We took her in for tests. They found nothing and said she could have cancer somewhere that they were unable to detect. She lost weight at a rapid pace (even with appetite stimulant pills) and was just so sad. In the end she weighed 42 lbs, when she should weigh 60 lbs. We decided to put her out of her misery. Yesterday, we took my baby girl to be put to sleep. We decided on the Animal Emergency Room in Sunset on Main Street. I am glad we went there. There was no one around as we left crying and they were very compassionate. We wanted to be there as she went to sleep since we were not there for Harley or Bear. We said a prayer together as a family, with Copper, asking that Bear be there to greet her as she crossed over. I believe families are eternal and I also believe that God knows how important animals are in our lives and we will be reunited with them when our time in this world is over. On the way home I felt a peace that help comfort me, though I could not stop crying until I got home and again felt a peace wash over me. I know she is ok now and not suffering. I cannot imagine starving to death can feel good. We are not going to get another dog until Jack and Luke are a little older in another year or so. We are going to donate most of her things to the shelter we adopted her from.

The story of our dogs

2009-10-22T07:23:00.001-07:00

Bear in 2007 towards the end of his life.
Bear on the last day of his life. We took him to his favorite river with Copper & Bella.
In his younger years he would try to catch fish in this river.
He was the ultimate lazy lap dog! 2005

Copper with Bella in 2007.
Copper & Bella 2007
Copper & the Bear Man in our old home in Syracuse in 2005.

I really feel the need to tell the story of our dogs. Mainly Copper and Bear who were both rescued.

Bear: When we bought our first house we knew we wanted to get a dog, preferrably a Bull Mastiff. We saw the price tag on the Mastiff and realized it would not happen. The last few days of the closing of escrow on our first home in La Habra, CA we would stop by daily to peek in the windows. There was a note left on the door stating that there was a large brown dog in our back yard who needed a home. The neighbors had rescued him from death at the pound (they had known him since he was a puppy) and they had 3 dogs of their own and could not keep him. He needed a home. We rounded the corner to the back yard to be greeted by these big barks and a dog that stood taller than me on his hind legs. I said a sweet hello and he melted. We opened the gate and there was this big brindle Bull Mastiff who was 2 1/2 yrs old. We sat down and he sat on our lap! He was under weight and had scars on both sides of his cheeks where his ears had been draining and the flies ate away at his face. He was sweet. We rushed to my in-laws who lived 3 miles away to call Becky to let her know we wanted to keep him. She was so happy and crying. She had found a home for him, but that morning the man called and said he did not want the dog. So, that was that, Bear came with our house. He lived there before we did. He was a gentle giant. He did not get along with other male dogs, but he loved the ladies. We eventually got him a puppy, Harley (she later died, just before she turned 3, with what we think was lead posioning). Mastiff's live between 8-12 years. When Bear was 11 we knew he would not make it through the next winter. He had arthritis terribly and tumors. We know he would have been great with our kids. He was 165 lbs when he died and he should have weighed 155, but his bad thyroid and arthritis made it hard to get the weight off of him.We bought a dog, Bella (coon hound), to ease Copper's pain as she lost her best friend on September 5th, 2007. To this day we miss the Bear Man.

Copper: My baby girl. I used to work for TURN where I started off as direct care staff. I had a client (we will call him Bob) who I would take weekly to walk dogs at the animal shelter in Ogden. Bob was blind and we would walk this beautiful Coon Hound puppy, Charlie. She had the softest ears! We would walk her tot he park and lay in the grass as we would throw grass and Charlie and pet her ears. She was a handful, but so cute! I wanted to take her home with me, but I had 2 dogs (Bear & Harley) already. One week we came and Charlie was gone, she had been adopted. We were so happy for her, but there was no dog quite like her. 4 months go by and in that time we lost our sweet girl Harley. After 3 months of no companion, Bear started to get depressed. We went in search of a new dog for him. I went to Layton on a Saturday to Pet Smart to see what dogs the Wasatch Humane Shelter had there. I told them I was looking for a Hound dog, preferrably young and female. They sent me to their HQ in Bountiful. When I got there they they said all of their puppies were in Taylorsville (a far drive!). I asked if they had any hounds in Tayorsville. She said they had a Coon Hound named, Charlie. My heart lept! Could it be the same girl I walked 7 months earlier in Ogden? I asked to see a photo and sure enough there was a grown Charlie!!! I raced to Taylorsville to find Charlie now full grown and in a cage too small for her to stand in. I took her for a walk. She was an unruly mess! She did not know how to walk on a leash, she peed everywhere and she had no manners! I did not care this was my dog! She was meant to be mine! I found out 3 different families ahd returned her and no one wanted to deal with training her. I adopted her and we renamed her Copper. During the first 2 months she drove everyone crazy (my sister Raylin lived with us)! Blake wanted to bring her back. I said no way! After 6 months she settled down and started to trust us. After a year of her living with us she was the perfect dog. She calmed down and her and Bear were best pals. He would give her daily ear baths.

She would come to my work and visit this group of guys with disbilities. One man, Ron, never participated with the group and would isolate himself. We had tried everything to get him involved. I started bringing Copper and Bear to teach dog classes. In the middle of class I hear clapping and I look over and there is Ron clapping his hands wanting to pet Copper. He and Copper became good friends. Ron came out of his shell. Ron would sit down and Copper would gently jump up onto part of his lap and lay her head on his chest. Years later as Ron was dying, of cancer, we visited him in the hospital. She laid her head on his bed and he sat there petting her. When Ron was at home on hospice Copper would visit him at home and he would light up as she came into the room. She knew to be calm and gentle and Ron would lay there for a 1/2 hour just petting her.

She was always anxiety ridden and we fear that one of her previous owners abused her. She was gentle with Jack and had the patience of a Saint. She lived to be 7 years old and I miss her terribly. We always thought we would have her until an old age.

gardener's village & copper

2009-10-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

we went to gardener's village this last saturday with a bunch of our family. it was way too packed there!!!! i would recommend going during the week and not on the weekend. it was worse than disneyland! jack really liked the pumpkins. we are carving pumpkins tonight with my sister, raylin, and her family.

on a sad note....copper is not doing well. we spent a fortune trying to find out what is wrong with her. they could not find anything in the fecal or blood tests. nothing in the xrays or lump on her throat either. they said she could still have cancer in her body somewhere. she has not been eating (i have even been home making her food) and weighs 44 lbs. she should weigh 55-60 lbs. we are going into the dr. again this week and if she does not show signs of improvement by the end of next week we may have to put her down. she is basically starving to death even after the anti-biotics and appetite stimulant she has been taking. she is my baby girl and we really hope she pulls through. blake has given her a blessing and we pray for her, but she is not improving. please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

downtown disney

2009-10-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

we were not able to go to disneyland this time since i did not want to pay for half of a day ($90 these days to get in!). instead we went walking and shopping around downtown disney. we got jack and his cousin their haloween costumes. the black california hat was bought for jack by my mom. pictured above is my mom, linda, and mercedes sitting on the "L". the lego store was pretty dang cool. over all we had a great time there and enjoyed doing some trader joe's shopping! we stayed with my mom who did such a great job accomodating us and our special needs!!

family party!!!

2009-10-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

sandy and albert lamoureaux were nice enough to host a bbq at their house. it was so much fun! we were able to spend time with family and enjoy their delicious food! also, jack was spoiled everywhere he went with people giving him gifts!!! pictured above is aunt lydia, uncle sonny, the palmers, arcy & eddie. we are also pictures with sandy & albert. we visited allen's true love (long story!) diane and her hubby john in south pasadena. holy cow!!! all i can say is their kitchen has 6 sinks! jack is pictured with diane. the cow's name is helen and sits out by their pool.