Birthday Boys

Both Tye and Kaden are one year older (and hopefully wiser, too).  I must say, May is the best month to have a baby.  I lucked out and got two May babies!  They each had a birthday party and now we are anticipating Kaden's baptism this weekend.


May 13 - Tye's 6th Birthday

I wasn't planning on having a party for Tye this year, but he had a whole party planned in his head.  I couldn't break his heart.  He wanted to watch Megamind in the theater and have a pinata.  So I added pizza and a birthday cake and called it good.

He pretty much passed out as soon as all the guests had left.

How can my baby boy be 6???  At least he'll still snuggle with me.  Happy birthday, Tye!  We love you!


May 28 - Kaden's 8th Birthday
Kaden originally wanted to have a water party in the backyard, but the weather hasn't been all that great so we gave him the option of a few places we could go for the party.  He listened, but had in his mind to just stay home and play party games.  Okay.  That's easy enough.  So that's what we did.  One game at the end got a little rambunctious, but all in all I think it turned out great.

It's hard to believe Kaden is 8 and will be baptized in a few days.  He is such a great kid!  Happy birthday, Kaden!  We love you!

One Year Ago

Today marks the one year anniversary (for lack of a better word) since Nate's infamous (in our lives anyway) motorcycle accident.  Kind of crazy how time just ticks on by.  It's been quite the year, but also very rewarding in some ways.  We have learned a lot over the months.  Funny how trials become blessings.  We were able to go to the annual Pleasant Grove Fireman's Breakfast yesterday.  A lot of them recognized Nate and came up to shake his hand.  The first lady to recognize him came right up and told him how great he looked.  I know it made his day knowing they all remember and still care.  He does look great.  You would never know he split his face open like a watermelon and broke it all to pieces by looking at him today.  Of course he has scars, but you wouldn't ever guess how they got there.

Nate had his eye muscle surgery on the 18th.  All went well with that.  He wishes he would have done it sooner, really.  He hasn't had any problems with double vision since.  His orthodontist is still very optimistic about his jaw not needing to be rebroken and set.  He gave Nate an approximate timeline of 3-6 more months then the braces can come off.  That will be a joyous day for him!

Looking back at everything up to today I can't help but think about the blessing he was given by my dad in the emergency room one year ago.  He was blessed he would heal and be made whole again.  He has almost made it!  That blessing got me through some of those tough days.  He really healed very quickly.  I knew "becoming whole" wouldn't be an over night deal in his situation, but to know it would happen has brought a lot of peace and comfort.  It doesn't mean he's back to exactly the way things were, but for the most part everything that was broken is fixed.  Couldn't ask for more.  I was asked to talk a little bit about the accident and how faith got us through it in Relief Society today.  The Relief Society president had no idea it was the one year mark when she asked me to say a little about it.  I guess it could have been a coincidence, but I'm sure it wasn't.  I don't know if anything I said made sense or if anyone went away from it with any great insight (I know I got side tracked and lost my train of thought a couple times), but it helped me look back and see a little deeper of how we were blessed and how Nate was, without a doubt, protected that day from more serious and fatal injuries.  Faith is a wonderful thing.  I think most of us have more faith than we realize.  I am grateful for my faith that sustained me on May 29, 2010 and still today.  I know our Father in Heaven hears our prayers.  He loves us and wants to bless us.  We need to show him we want and deserve his blessings by striving to keep His commandments and applying the atonement in our lives.  We are truly blessed when we obey.  Sometimes the blessings are obvious, sometimes they aren't and sometimes the worst and unthinkable happens, but the blessings are there and they are real.  Still, a day doesn't go by where I don't thank Heavenly Father for the miracles we were blessed with.  We are forever grateful.

Austin, TX

I went with Nate to Austin, TX for a few days last week.  He needed to measure one job (about 15 minutes is all it took) so we turned it into a little get away.  No kids and no plans.  It was 3 days and 2 nights of whatever the heck we wanted to do (minus the travel).  Sleep was one thing at the top of my list.  I slept in and had naps.  It was glorious.  We did some shopping, went to a couple movies, ate lots of good food (hit a couple Diners, Drive-ins & Dives places) and went to a state park.  Austin is the "Live Music Capital of the World", but that didn't suit our fancy much.  We drove down 6th Street since that's where a lot of it takes place.  We decided bars with bands we don't care about just wasn't our thing.  It didn't seem like there was a lot to do or see there (if you know differently, please, do tell) and it was rainy most of the time (at least it was warm rain), but it was fun to just be with Nate and be somewhere warmer since this spring hasn't given us very enjoyable weather.

I've seen turtles in boxes, yeah, but not out in the wild.  This place was swimming with them.  (Ha, ha!)  It was really fun to see them come up to the surface then they'd disappear again.

 Ahhh.... look at this cute little baby one.  It was my favorite.  Then I started missing my babies.... so we left.

Walking on one big, massive boulder. 

I think this is a Cardinal, but I'm no bird expert.  You don't see many colorful birds like this in our neck of the woods.  I did have a wood pecker try to get through my roof a few times years ago when we first moved in.  Pheasants used to visit too, until we got our dog who LOVES to hunt birds.  He still spots them now and then.  Sometimes I think they taunt him.

California Road Trip

We took a short road trip to Southern California at the end of April.  We had a really fun time and missed all the cold, snowy weather at home.  Couldn't have been timed better. :)  I met Nate in Las Vegas since he was headed home from California for work and his layover was there.  The kids did great.  One potty stop and one Haley-is-freaking-out stop and we were at our hotel with Nate.  We drove the rest of the way the next morning.  On our way we stopped at some outlet shops to buy the boys some new shoes (since they have worn holes completely through the toes of their current pair).  There were tour busses with a bunch of asian tourists.  While we were in the Sketchers store an asian couple saw Haley and kept calling her "beautiful baby".  She was nice and smiled at them at first, but when they tried to touch her hair and get a picture with her she was out... game over.  I just said thank you and wisked her away.  They could tell they upset her and I could tell they felt bad.  We were able to visit family (Eric and Kim) and a friend (Amber)- I totally forgot to get out my camera for those visits. :(  We went to Legoland and the beach and that's about it.... besides the urgent care clinic, but we didn't consider that enjoyable.  (Eliza ended up with a swollen eye so we decided to take her in.  The doctor took our money and said go see your doctor at home if it gets worse.  Nice and thanks a lot.  It was a ridiculous wait so we ended up at a rocky, sea weedy beach because it was close to the urgent care clinic that we had to go back to when it was our turn.  We still had fun, although Nate and Eliza were gone for two hours of it.)

LEGOLAND
We met our neighbors, the Carters, there.  Tye had heard they were going and came home and basically told us that we were going too.  So that's how this trip ended up even being planned.  {Thanks to Josh and Aimee for letting us crash the Legoland party.}

The kids loved Miniland.  Here they are on the strip in "Las Vegas".... it's luckily G rated at Legoland.  Haley decided to climb into the New York City display.  That child was on one.   We even lost her for a minute when she decided to go use the potty by herself.  Luckily a lady saw her walk in alone and could tell I was in a panic.

Rachel is having a melt down because a (mild) roller coaster scared her and the thought of going on another put her over the edge.  She got over it though.  She wouldn't go on the biggest one, but went again on the one that initially scared her.

BEACH

Nate got a nice hot stone massage from Tye and Haley.... minus the hot and massage.

Collecting shells..... mostly broken pieces of shells, really.  Rachel did this for hours.  The other kids joined in for a few minutes.

Headed home.

Welcome to San Francisco

My husband and fellow co-workers (my brother-in-law and brother) just got offered crack in San Francisco. Yikes!  I think that's a first in all Nate's travels..... and hopefully the last proposition he gets.  Sheesh!  What kind of neighborhood is he in anyway???

Misc. April Photos

Here are some sweet, awesome blurry pictures of Rachel and Tye going off a ramp.  A whole 6 inches!  That's impressive. :)

Tye had a meltdown (he didn't wreck), but I can't remember why now.  I must have been very sympathetic because I documented it.  Isn't that a sign of a potential "mother of the year" if you take a picture of your children in their distress???

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in the following pictures are solely those of Haley and no other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Bishop household. 

She says she likes to be "naken".  I say this summer is going to be interesting.  If you see her running down the street "naken" please let me know.  Thanks.

We went to Classic Skating for the PTA sponsored skate night.  My mom watched Haley and Eliza and I was able to sit and watch the rest of the kids have a blast.  It was kind of fun to reminisce about the good ol' days when I would go there as a kid. One of the most memorable ones was my appendix had been ruptured for a while without anyone knowing, but it was at Classic where I must have jarred something loose because I ended up in pain, sick and almost passed out while at a birthday party when I was 8 years old.  I didn't tell anyone.  Endured the rest of the party came home and was so sick.  Anyway, long story short- my parents were out of town and grandma took me to the doctor.  Told him I didn't hurt anywhere. (I was lying because I heard people talking about the hospital and surgery.  My mom was gone... I wasn't about to let that happen without her.)  Came home, was still sick.  Mom came home as soon as she could.   Finally mom pushed super hard on my belly and the pain... Oh the pain!  Rushed me to the doctor, who then rushed me to the hospital.  Appendectomy.  Surgeon said it had been ruptured for probably 3 weeks.  The appendix was surrounded by fat so in a sense that's what saved my life and kept the infection from being worse than it was (although it was really bad), but it also hid the problem and let it fester for 3 weeks.  So it was good and bad I guess.  I survived (obviously and Yay!), but Classic Skating will always bring those memories back. 

This was a little heartbreaking.  Kaden couldn't find a friend to play with and I found him sitting in the backyard all alone.  But he soon found one and all was well.

Our kids have been enjoying our neighbor's sand box.  When I do laundry I usually end up with piles of sand on the floor from everyones pockets.

Here is documentation of how Eliza will sit on my lap so her toes won't touch the grass.  It's really fun to make her touch it, though.  She freaks out and I get a good laugh.  I really am a nice mom.  I promise.

Ponies and Piggies

 Eliza's first little pony tail and piggy tails.  Adorable!  Now if I could just get her to hold still while I put them in and get her to keep them in....

Teeth

Teeth are falling out left and right it seems.  First off, Tye lost his very first tooth on Easter.  {Cheer, clap, shout hooray!}  His new tooth was growing in behind it so Tye worked on it for a couple days, but it eventually came out with his daddy's help.  Unfortunately the Tooth Fairy was a day late coming.  I think it's because she helped the Easter Bunny with his big day and just got behind or was too tired or something. ;)

I just checked his other loose tooth and the new one is also growing up behind.... I hope the Tooth Fairy didn't go too far away.

Rachel also lost a tooth that I finally yanked out after hearing her complain about it everyday for a week.  All that was left of it was like an outer shell covering her new one coming in.  It was interesting.  She left a note for the tooth fairy since she chipped it so it was in two pieces....

Easter 2011

Lucky kids had 3 egg hunts this year.  One at Grandma Swensen's in her family room since it was raining and SNOWING (April 9th).  One at the neighbor's house and one at Nana Bishop's.

Coloring eggs.

Easter Sunday.  (After church.  I made the girls coordinating skirts.  The boys?  Shhhh... don't tell them they didn't get anything new.)

I can't for the life of me get all 5 to look at me at the same time and/or keep their hands to themselves!