Girls trip -LA!

On Sunday evening my friend Kim called to see if I wanted to head to LA for the "So you think you can dance" finale! She had put her name on a waiting list online for tickets to the show the beginning of the season and they notified her that she had four tickets to the finale! After some juggling with tim's work I booked my tickets and Tim drove us to the airport Monday afternoon!

We got into LA late that night and met up with Kim's friend Charis from Colorado then off we went. We stayed at her relatives house near LA while we were in California. Then it was up early the next morning for the prerecorded performance. 

We were up by 5:30 am and drove into LA. We arrive at the studio at 7:15 and there was already a huge line to get in. We did not realize that having the tickets did not necessarily mean we would see the actual show live that evening. Nonetheless we were pumped and excited to be there! Kim's sister Cara happened to get there before us and saved us a spot in line! Which meant for the Nappytabs number we were sitting center on the front row -it was amazing! Kim had a quick conversation with Allison Holker who we all adore since she is from Utah, is an unbelievable dancer, and is also dating twitch (not that it matters but it doesn't hurt). 

Picture taken from SYTYCD website

Being at the morning performance validated your ticket to return to that evenings live performance. The producer suggested we get back in line around one and that they would be checking tickets at 2:15 for the 5:00 o'clock show. When exiting the show the line had already started at 8:30 am. So we jumped into line as well. Thankfully after talking with the group infront of us we worked out a system that the four of us would leave for a couple hours, then return to wait in line while they left for a couple hours. It worked out great! So we headed to breakfast at Farmer's market. While we were there eating they began shooting a commercial for something there. Then we headed to "The Grove" for some shopping where we saw Mario Lopez recording "Extra." We did a little shopping because the dress code for the show was a crazy...no open toed shoes, no jeans, no t-shirts, no white. I now understand why everyone seems to be in tank tops in the audience :/  Thankfully they did not actually follow their dress code but we enjoyed walking around and shopping anyway!

Me and Cara waiting in line; Mario Lopez filming; Cara, Kim, Charis, and me waiting to head inside! While at the whole foods store to use the restroom the paparazzi were snapping pictures of some Victoria Secret model with her child shopping. 

The show was amazing! It was so fun to see all of the best numbers of the season. We sat just behind the judges. The seats were perfect. When they show the zoomed out view of the judges or all the judges you can see us happily cheering in the background. My family was even able to spot us! They are pointed to me :)

Carly Rae Jepsen performed that night although the whole crowd was a little bummed that she sang her new single instead of Call Me Maybe. It was still good. Our favorites Eliana and Chevon won!!! After the show we even got to talk with Napoleon and Tabitha -who are so nice -picture shown down below! We also talked to Adam Shankman who seems like he would be a funny nice guy, but was in fact the just the opposite.  

After a long and super exciting day we headed back over to The Grove and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Kim said that we had to try the avocado rolls. I am not one to try new foods or anything that has a fruit or a vegetable in the name but I will admit they were delicious! When we got back to our car the parking machine showed that we had been there for just under 15 hours. No wonder we were all exhausted. 

The next morning slept in then headed to Manhattan Beach (which I found funny since we were in California at Manhattan Beach). The water was a little cold but nothing worse than the splash pads around Utah County. They currently had soccer practice going on just past the south of the pier. It looked like so much fun! All the little kids were running around on the beach just playing soccer. 

Charis spotted this...medal...(not sure what to call it) on the pier. Kerri Walsh and Misty May Manhattan Beach Champions 2008.

At the end of the pier there was a small aquarium. Can you spot the two fish below? If you look for their mouths then eyes it is a little easier. 

Feeling the star fish.

After walking around some of the little shops near the beach we stopped and enjoyed some ice cream at the creamery. Plus look at this awesome chair Kim is sitting in!

It was so fun to get away with the girls for a few days. Plus to see the So you think you can dance finale! We decided that from now on we will all put our names in for tickets and hopefully we will be able to go again! Just don't tell Tim :)

Brigham City Temple

On Tuesday September 11th we drove to Brigham City to visit the temple before it was dedicated. I was a little surprised how much fun the boys had. Ian loved looking around and had a million questions. "We are going to Jesus' house. Do we get to see him?"

Aaron enjoying see pictures of apples and shouting out with tons of excitement, "Apple!" He also enjoyed seeing pictures of any animal, partially horses where he would shout at the top of his lungs "neeeeeeigh." Apple is the one word that he pronounces the perfectly! This is video clip I got of him the other morning.

We tried and tried to get a picture of us together but this was as good as it got. Aaron did not want to take a picture.

The temple was beautiful and I am so glad that we were able to take the boys to look around inside before it was dedicated. The weather outside was perfect and the boys enjoyed some downtime. They were even more excited that we were able to visit Grandma, Grandpa, Andrew, and Hunter for a rest of the afternoon before heading back home! 

New Van!

It was has been a whirlwind of a week but on Wednesday I we decided to post our Murano for sale. Thursday morning I received a call from a couple that was very interested. That night they drove down from Bountiful to test drive the car. They loved it and we made us a fairly good offer. We said we would get back with them because we did not expect things to happen so quickly. So on Friday we went car shopping. We had already been discussing the idea of a van for quite awhile. While I would really like the new Ford Explore, with little kids and the cost it just was not practical for us. 

  

After test driving multiple vans and looking at a lot of Honda Odyssey's we both decided that used vans smell and look horrible :( The salesman helping us asked us if we had considered the nissan quest. It was not even on our radar given our previous experience with Nissan. Low and behold he showed us this van and we both fell in love! When he opened the doors we knew it was out of our price range because it smelled and look brand new. Plus it had all the upgraded features -dvd, backup camera, roof rack, toe hitch, etc. You can imagine our excitement when we discovered it was a used 2011 Nissan with 20,000 miles on it and the price was perfect! 

So after a long long day at the dealership we sold the murano to the other couple through the dealership to avoid income taxes (that would be his thumb over the lens). Then we purchased our new quest van (which also meant we did not have to pay sales tax on the value from our murano that was put towards the van)! Thanks to all the tax information from Andrew, I would have never thought of that myself :) Good-bye murano :( Although I still enjoy the calls from the new owners (older couple)..."How do I make the air conditioning blow on my feet as well as my face?" That would be the mode button. "I need to charge my phone but I can't find the cigarette lighter." There are three: one below the glove compartment, on in the middle console, and one in the trunk. It always brings a good laugh to my day :)

Hello new van! Which we still absolutely love and cannot believe that it is ours! I still need to adjust to the fact that is is much bigger I am not very good at parking yet. The boys think that they can play musical chairs every time we get in the car. They also believe they should be allowed to watch a movie when in the car even if it is only for a couple minutes just because they can. Movies are only allowed on car trips longer than an hour and a half. We have loved being able to carpool to and from preschool when possible. The boys also love to push the buttons and have the doors automatically open for them. We feel so blessed to have everything work out so smoothly!

MacNair visit

After a whirlwind of a day Jim and Nan arrived Thursday evening. The first week was a blur for me and a lot of laying in bed watching TV and many many chic flicks. We are so grateful that they were able to come and stay with us. While it was not great that I had broke my foot it was perfect timing for us that they were here. Here are a few things that I do remember happening that week.

While Tim was at work Jim & Nan took the boys with them to the grocery store. I was lying on the couch when they returned and the boys were beyond excited. When I looked back to say hello all I could see were balloons (superhero for Ian, Nemo for Aaron), buttercream monster cake, and various superhero and nemo fruit snacks. I am not sure there was any actual food :) Jim and Nan's response was that the boys helped them with the shopping. Clearly they were very excited and we all laughed!

Ian wanted to show Papa and Nana how good he was at riding his bike. We are still working on looking where you are going and not at who you are talking to while riding. Needless to say, he looked over to be sure they were watching, cut his wheel too sharp, and face planted into the cement. After a few tears and a fair amount of blood were shed he jumped back on his bike and took off again.

First thing in the morning Ian and Aaron would going running downstairs to find Papa. They always knew that papa would be awake and happy to get them some breakfast.

The kids had so much fun with Papa and Nana visiting. They were able to enjoy seeing what the kids do on a regular basis as well! Aaron loves the Lionel Train set he can be caught sitting in the same spot often watching the train drive by. 

They love reading and if you ask either of the boys to go and get a book they will bring you 10 and expect you to read them all!

The new bike path they are putting in just below our house is nearly finish! I clearly stayed home and they all headed out for a evening bike ride. Tim will pull the boys up and down the big hill at the beginning and then Ian can bike the rest of the way! I was finally able to go on a family bike ride last week and Ian is amazing! I cannot believe how much he improves each day!

Silly Nana and Papa!

Finally with only a few days left I was feeling better and we were all able to enjoy some of the fun things here in the valley! Ian's request all day and every day is to go to boondocks! He loves being able to squirt Nan and Papa on the bumper boats. 

Aaron on the other hand was not too excited. He had to stay and hang out with mommy since neither of us were able to ride the gokarts or the bumper boats. Aaron did enjoy mini golfing and thankfully no one was injured in the process.

Ian decided that the go karts were really loud. Although he did enjoy "laser" shooting us when driving by.

We also learned (in the top right picture) that golfing it not daddy's thing :) However Ian and Papa got a hole in one!

Ian right after he realized that he made a hole in one!

The aftermath from the bumper boats!

There may have been something in the water :)

Aaron enjoyed watching them in the bumper boats, especially when would "accidently" spray Aaron as well!

We headed to City Creek one evening. They boys love playing in the fountain!

We also enjoyed the splash park while daddy was at work.

 While the water was off the boys loved watching the big trucks digging for a new house.

We were also able to squeeze in sometime to visit the Hogle Zoo! The best part was watching the polar bear swim! The picture on the right is one that Ian took of a peacock. See if you can spot it!

We also enjoyed getting shakes for dessert!

Aaron may have enjoyed the ice cream a little too much!

Finally after a bad hair day for the kids on Sunday we took them to get haircuts! It was Aaron's first official barber shop haircut and was really quite sad. No more little curls in the back :( After their fabulous haircuts they came home and played dress up with Nana and Papa! 

It was so great to have Jim and Nan visit and help out with the kids and around the house! I am glad we were able to actually get out of the house and enjoy some of the things we had all been looking forward to. Thanks for all of your help, I am not sure what we would have done without you! 

P.S. I am not in any pictures because 1) I look half dead after my foot surgery 2)Tim is always pushing me around in my wheelchair thus he does not have any hands to take pictures :)

First day of Pre-School (2nd year)

Ian started his second year of preschool at kids village on August 20th! As you can see from the following pictures he has been very very excited to go!

He now brings home reading books each night and enjoys reading them to anyone but mommy :(

Yes Ian is wearing just his underwear! If you follow our blog I am sure you are not surprised:)

As you can see he is getting very good at reading/memorizing! 

Broken Foot

On Sunday morning I was headed out the door for church with the boys. Tim was in bed sleeping since he had worked that previous night. Ian had left his shoes for church in the car. I did not want him to get his feet dirty outside so I carried him to the car. While I was carrying him to the car he was wrapping his legs around my legs in order to hold on a little better. I reassured him that I would not let him fall and for him to let go because he was going to cause me to trip. In mid-sentence I stumbled and tripped in the garage on the cement. I was able to put Ian down but fell on the side of my foot. After hearing and me feeling a loud crack the tears started flowing. Ian ran as fast as he could into the house and hollered on his way that he would get me a lot of bandaids. 

I was supposed to teach the lesson in primary that morning and Ian was in charge of the prayer and theme. After an hour of laying on the couch I realized that their was no way I was going anywhere. I could not stand to have my foot touching the ground. Tim took the boys to church and dropped off the materials for the lesson with the other teacher. He came home and thankfully the Well's were able to watch after our kids and we headed to the ER. In the picture on the left you can tell where my foot is swollen. It looks pretty good there given it had been iced for hours. After a few hours they concluded that my foot was broken. So they made a splint, wrapped up my foot, gave me some crutches, and recommended I meet with my podiatrist as soon as possible.  Ian thought that my crutches were quite fun, they also were great for sword fighting.

On Monday I saw the podiatrist and found that I had fractured my fifth metatarsal bone -also called a Jones fracture. The bone had thankfully not split completely but was still held together about a 1/4 of an inch. I had two options: Wear the boot for at least eight weeks hoping that it would eventually heal itself (with a high probably it would not given the intensity of the break and surgery would be needed anyway), or have surgery and wear a boot for four weeks. Initially I had decided that I would just wear the boot for eight weeks another surgery just sounded horrible. After talking with the doctors some more, others in similar situation, and a lot of research online Tim and I decided that surgery would be the best option. So on thursday I headed into surgery... (picture below this is a little gross beware)

My foot looks absolutely disgusting I know. The crazy thing is that it has now been four weeks since I broke my foot and the bruising is finally gone. For a while I though my toes were just going to be black and blue forever. Thankfully they only had to make one small incision to put in that massive screw. What such a long screw? I asked that same question. Apparently the long the screw the quicker you are up and moving.

Tim took a lovely video of me after surgery which will not be posted on our public blog! Basically for about 30 minutes I was a "little" annoyed that Tim would not take me home. After 30 minutes of me complaining the nurse decided to go ahead and let Tim take me home (he is a nurse after all). I do not remember anything about coming home, or sharing with Tim and our friend Heidi that was watching the boys how great it was to be high. I also do not recall Tim showing my family the beautiful video of me right after surgery and me calling him a piece of ____. You can figure it out. I am not sure it was such a good idea to bring me home immediately after surgery. Tim had argued with the nurse and me about staying there but apparently my hospital nurse had heard enough of me :)

The next week was horrible. I could not stop throwing up. I had all kinds of anti nausea medication but unfortunately nothing was helping. Not to mention I had an awesome head cold on top of that. All the throwing up brought dehydration and it was just a viscous cycle. Thankfully Tim was able to take some time off work, my parents were here to help out, and Tim's parents (I'll post more about their visit later) also arrived the day of my surgery and were here for a couple weeks.

After about a week and a half I was finally up and feeling so much better. I could not walk without my crutches but luckily we also had a wheelchair that Ian loved to push me around in. Yes, it was a little scary but he did a pretty good job pushing me. 

Aaron and pike loved cuddling with me. Which clearly I did not mind.

It has now been four weeks since my surgery! My bone has still not completely healed. Which makes me so grateful we decided to go ahead with the surgery. But I no longer have to wear my boot! I still need to be careful until it has completely healed which means no running, jumping, or exercising. So sad since I exercise so much ;) I am now back to moving just like normal and yes even in my stilettos!