End of Summer 2009

I figured since I was so behind, it was easier to do just one big post of all of our end of summer fun. Just warning you now, lots of pictures! At the end of July, we were able to go down to Pocatello to Dave's parents house and spend time with Kari & J and their kids. It was a fun weekend and the kids had lots of fun playing in mom's mini water park.

One of Amani's favorite toys was the water ring. Her and Maggie used it as a drinking fountain. It was so funny!

Amani and Maggie relaxing in the pool.
At the beginning of August, we were able to go to Reed's Dairy Family Day. It is so fun. They have really good ice cream for cheap, carriage rides, horsey rides, and a petting zoo. Of course, that was the one day in August where it was cold so we had to wear jackets but it was still fun.

Amani in the petting zoo. At first, she was a little scared but ventured out on her own after awhile.

Amani's first horsey ride. She whined when we first put her on but then once the horse started to move, she thought it was pretty cool.

Mommy & Amani after the horsey ride.

The family at Family Day

In the middle of August, we went to Bear Lake with my family. It was tons of fun. I had never been there for longer than a couple hours so I was really excited. It is such a big, beautiful lake and warm too!

Me and Dave soakin up the sun!

Amani was trying to feed me sand. Yummy!

Amani & Mommy on the beach

Amani playin in the mud with her Uncle Justin. He had made a little mini pool by digging in the mud so Amani decided to go sit in it. It was pretty funny.

We were able to go to my dad's cousin's ranch and ride horses again. The pictures didn't turn out very well. We figured it was because of the building's insulation-but I don't really know. Oh well, I got a couple to turn out ok. Here is Amani riding a horsey again with Grandma.

This is our little dead fish. By the end of the 2nd day, she was totally comfortable with the water and would just lay there and sunbathe. It was funny.

Friday night, we went on a hike up to Bloomington Lake. Dave took his fishing pole, of course. It was a nice hike and very beautiful.

That is the end of our summer in a nutshell. We had lots of fun and lots of great trips. And with the way Idaho weather has been the last week, I guess summer is really over and time to get ready for winter. :(

4th of July and SLC

Well, since I just sit at home all day, the least I can do is get some blogging done. I am feeling lots better and am just trying to adjust to having a 3/4 cup sized stomach. Meal time is the hardest-trying to figure out what to eat and how fast I can eat it. But, I am learning and will figure things out.

We have had some fun times since I got home from the hospital so I figured I should post some pics. 4th of July is my favorite holiday so I made sure I felt good enough to celebrate! Especially in Idaho Falls-best 4th of July town ever! We went to the parade in the morning. Amani was so good, she didn't try to run in the road or anything. She just sat in different people's laps watching all the floats.

Her little 4th of July outfit-I love having a girl!

Her cheesy grin

Amani and Daddy at the parade

Happy red, white, and blue family after the parade

Amani and Mommy

Daddy took Amani swimming in our complex pool. It was kinda windy so we didn't stay long, but Amani loves swimming with Daddy.

Hangin out with Aunt Sydney-waiting for the fireworks

Waiting for the fireworks

We went to SLC for a follow up doctor's appt. Amani was having a blast playing with the scale in the room.

While we were there, we got to visit our friend Tyler. We went and visited his mom at work. She works at an Alzheimer's home. At this home, they have lots of pets-one of which was a baby kangaroo. Amani didn't know what to think. It was so cute though. It would hold it's foot up and suck on his toe. So fun!

Super glue, staples, and stiches. Oh my!

Hey Everyone! This is Dave and I am writing to tell everybody the latest news on Trista.
On Saturday June 13 we came to Salt Lake to see a doctor about some pain that Trista was having. When Trista was 18 a mass or tumor was found on her liver. Every time it was tested the results came back and said that it was not cancerous and it shouldn't be worried about. Over the past couple months she has been having terrible pain coming from that region of her body. She went to the hospital in Idaho Falls but they could not figure out the problem. Trista spoke to the doctor about her liver and a couple days later we had a referral to come see a liver specialist in Salt Lake. The doctor in Salt Lake looked over her records and said that he was going to admit her that night and remove the tumor as soon as possible. As we were waiting for the day of the surgery the doctor came in and said that he was going to correct a problem with her stomach. The reason for this was because a part of Trista's stomach was not working. We were aware of this and Trista was doing great with the medication she was given to help her stomach regulate. The doctor said that he would take out the part that wasn't working and attach it to the parts that were. On Tuesday Trista had a long surgery and everything went well. She now has about 60% of her liver left and about 10% of her stomach. She had to stay in the ICU for a couple days but she is out and recovering. We think that she will be able to come home sometime this week. We Would like to thank all of our friends and family that have helped us out over the past couple weeks. It is appreciated and we are grateful for all of you.

The pictures posted below are some things that have happened since we posted last.




Uncle Ty and Trista's little sister Aunt Ami reading a story to Amani in the hospital to keep her entertained

On Saturday our nephew Eli was baptized. Eli's dad and Uncles are looking at who knows what. They said that they were watching a Hawk get attacked by two small birds.

Amani putting out the vibe for all the boys at the baptism. "hey how you doing"

I had to laugh at this because Eli is wearing a McDonald's tie that his dad found at D.I. I thought it was awesome.

Me and Eli. That kid is a tank with a heart of gold.

Eli sporting the white jump suit getting ready for the water.

This is our wildlife. Ducks are common and we have seen a bunny too. Strange enough the bunny was around Easter time.

I found some outdoor carpet at Home Depot that fit perfectly on our patio. Amani loves to be out there now and she is playing with the tube it was rolled on.

Trista wasn't the only one that has had some problems. Amani slipped in the tub and split her chin open. We had to super glue it back together and couple weeks later she cut the bottom of her toe. Her little toe was stitched up and lots of screaming went on. Her chin and toe are better now and she runs around looking for the next thing to split open.

This was just after she fell in the tub. Nice ring of blood on the shirt.

I have a good explanation...I promise!

My computer is finally giving up. It has been trying to break for months now and is finally giving up the ghost. So this weekend I was able to get the rest of my pictures off of it and get them onto my external hard drive so I could post them with Dave's computer. So, I am going to do a little back blogging. We haven't really been up to anything exciting. I tell ya, we really are boring! I did buy Amani a really cute Easter dress though and I have been excited to post pictures of it.

She was having fun playing in it.

It is the cutest dress! I love having a girl.

She does the funniest poses.

This is Amani with her newest cousin, Lily. Dave's sister, Kristin, was watching Amani for us and said Amani couldn't stay away from Lily. She didn't know what to think of this tiny person. I can't blame her though. Lily is super cute!

The end of April, we had a really nice Saturday, so we went for a walk by the greenbelt in Idaho Falls. It was nice to get out in the sunshine and get some fresh air after being inside all winter! I can't wait for summer!

I love this spot! It is the best place for cute pictures. Amani was ready to go home though. She was getting kinda grumpy.

Here is my little climber. She has hit that stage of her life. I definitely don't appreciate it. She climbs all over everything. Her favorite is this though-my coffee table. She spends most of her day up there. She lays on it to watch tv and stomps on it when she wants attention. Crazy child!

Here is Amani's new bed! We decided it was time for a big girl bed. She loves it. She uses her little stool to climb in and out. It's so cute!

It's so big that she gets lost in it. But she sleeps so good in it! That is all that matters!

1st Birthday

Ok, yeah I know, it was over 2 months ago. But like I said with the holiday posts, better late than never, right?! :) Amani turned 1 on January 10, 2009. I can't believe that she is already so big! We had a party at my parent's house and lots of the people she loved were able to come over and celebrate with her. I know if she could say thanks, she would. She had a blast!

We started out the day interestingly enough. We were running her bath water and went to find her to get her out of her pajamas and this is where we found her. I guess we didn't get her pj's off fast enough for her. She was ready for her bath right now! It was pretty funny.

Here's our birthday girl at Grandma & Papa's house-ready for her party!

Playing with her new presents. She did open a few more this time around. She didn't know what to do with all the presents. She loved them all and continues to play with all of them. Her room is her favorite place.

So clean before her own special chocolate cake. I must have been crazy!

I have decided she looks like she has a beard. She started out so dainty. It was hilarious. She just started picking off the top and didn't want to dig into it.

Eventually, she did dig in! This is when she was pretty much done. Like I said, I must have been crazy!!!

Bath time! The water was disgusting!
She had a wonderful birthday, surrounded by wonderful and loving people. Thanks to all of those who came and thanks to all those who sent their love. I am slowly catching up-2 more months to go.....

Thanksgiving, Christmas & everything in between!

Yeah, I know. It was forever ago. But, I figure, I should at least post some pics from our celebrations.

Here is Amani on Thanksgiving. She definitely enjoyed it more than anyone.

Amani and her cousin, Jake. Jake is such a good sharer! They are really good friends and are so cute together too!

Amani got croup midway through December. That was definetly something I only want to do once in my life. Needless to say, it was a long week. But she was tough and pulled through well.

Amani's favorite food is linguine alfredo. She is a good sharer too. Although, she gets really messy!

My new Christmas Eve pajamas!

Dave and his new Christmas Eve pajamas. He is so silly!

Amani on Christmas morning

Amani would not open up her presents. She would only watch me open her presents and then play with them afterwards. This is the only present she actually opened.

So cute!

We went bowling just after Christmas with my family. It was tons of fun!

This was pretty much a run-down of our holidays. Sorry it was so late!