Gracey's Adventures

Role Reversal

2011-08-29T12:08:00.001-07:00

I remember growing up and always wanting two things: 1.) A baby brother, or 2.) a dog. My parents never gave me either and I think I've always had a desire for both of them throughout the rest of my growing up years. When my Dad and Karen had a little girl, I'm not gonna lie, I think I was more excited than anyone, (excepting of course Karen...and no I'm leaving out my Dad on purpose. I was that excited.) No, Rachel wasn't a little brother, but she was a little half-sister and I was ridiculously excited. So, that basically put to rest my desire for a baby sibling. Onto #2, I still had an unfulfilled want there. Every time I see puppies in a box for free or adoption day at a local petstore or see someone with a puppy I am just in love. So of course I have been hinting at the idea of getting a dog ever since Topher and I got out here to S.C. and had our own house with no "No Pet" regulations.

That all aside, won't you be surprised then when I tell you that yes, we got a dog, on Saturday, HOWEVER, it is definitely not my dog, nor was she my choice. No, no, no. TOPHER, who does not like dogs, did not really want a dog and certainly wouldn't ever hold a single cute puppy I thrust in his face...yes, TOPHER, chose our dog, and she is most definitely his dog.

Quite randomly too I might add. As of about a week ago, I had finally found the perfect litter of puppies. It was the breed I had been looking for, (Brittany Spaniel) and since it was mixed with a labrador retriever (also family friendly), and about $775 cheaper than purebred Britanny's, I had chosen my puppy. I was going to call this week and see about putting down a deposit, and I was going to drive out there in 6 weeks when the puppy was ready to leave its mommy and take it home with me. :)

But Topher, was still really hesitant. They were expensive, a big commitment and he just wasn't sure.

So, on Saturday afternoon we were running errands and there was a PetCo. I suggested we go in just to price out supplies and things we would need so he could put his mind at ease about the price of a dog.

We went in and it was Adoption day. I fell in love with the puppies, (not because I wanted to buy one, just because they're puppies, and I have to hold puppies when I see them) and Topher, fell in love with a sweet Gordon Setter/Retriever Mix. She was full grown (45 lbs., so small), 2 yrs. old, sweet and affectionate as can be, and Topher had to have her.

I mentioned about 3 times, that we could leave, that we could go price things out, but Topher was stuck on this dog. He took her out to walk her around twice and at one point just said he really had a connection with this dog, and later told me he couldn't imagine anyone else taking her home.

Well. I'd say that settles it. If Topher is ever that certain of something, I don't question it. I trust his gut more than anything.

So, about 3 hours later, we were out the door with a new dog and $165 worth of supplies for her.

Yeah, I think we were both a little in shock.

In fact, I'm still in shock. I have discovered that I am NOT dog person like I had anticipated I would be, and instead TOPHER is the dog person. He and Grace love her, and I'm....well...I'll get there. :) Like Topher told me last night, we can give her a good home, and I would rather she is here than on Death Row at a shelter. Did you know that dogs at a shelter can be there between 1-7 days and then they get put down?? So so sad. :(

She was on death row and this Kennel/foster care program rescued her from death row hoping she could get adopted. I'm glad she did.

We have named her Willow, because it's my favorite movie ever and let's face it "Sorsha" is a bit dramatic and Madmortigan didn't fit a girl dog. :)

Willow is already housetrained, she is obedient, loyal, sweet, gentle, quiet and just the best first dog a person could want.

Topher told me he thinks it's a blessing we got her, because if we hadn't, we would have gotten the puppy I had found, and it would have been SO MUCH WORK. Work that I wouldn't have been able to handle, and that Topher would have resented. Instead, Willow is easy, sweet, Topher enjoys taking care of her, and I'm realizing how wrong I was about a puppy. :)

Oh, and Grace loves her. I think it will be good practice for when we finally have a baby, not to mention a distraction for her. :)

So, without further ado, here is Willow.

3 years with a Miracle

2011-08-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows Grace, knows that she is energetic. They can see that she is happy, care-free, sometimes crazy, and frequently sassy. They'll find that she is almost always tough, rarely gentle, fairly loud, aggressively affectionate, quite witty, and that she is almost always trying to love something or someone. All of these traits are things you would imagine in a healthy, vibrant, full of life little girl. They make you think of resilience, and spunk and of a little kid whose spirit is unbreakable. Isn't ironic then, that all of these qualities are seen in a little girl, who by all outward appearances is strong, and tough, and yet at the heart, she is quite a contradiction to all of those qualities.

I was putting little Grace to bed the other night and laying next to her. We had just sad prayers and she had thanked Heavenly Father for her heart. I sang her a lullaby, like I usually do, and it was the Primary tune that says "He gave me my life, my mind, my heart"...After I sang this to her, she fell asleep and I just laid next to her and watched her breathe. Once upon a time, saying something that cliche would be ridiculous to me, but, being around little kids now for a while, I find it a perfectly normal thing for a parent to do. In fact, it is so so comforting and relaxing to watch my little one sleep and watch the rise and fall of her chest. I rarely am at as much peace anywhere else, as I am laying next to Grace just watching her sleep.

Well, I was lying there and I put my hand over heart, just to feel the steady, rapid little "thump thump" and I immediately started to cry! I don't know that I had ever really comprehended how fragile my spunky little girl is. But it truly hit me that she is a small, fragile little thing on the inside. That her heart is easily weakened, and that it is her spirit that is so resilient. What a miraculous contradiction. She is so strong and vibrant, and yet there is every reason in the world for her not to be so.

I'm so grateful for her, and the blessing she is in my life. I'm so grateful that she was given the gift of a new heart from some kind, and generous family. I'm so grateful that her spirit is such that she could take such a small, tiny little organ and give it new life. I'm so grateful that she is so strong, and that even though she could be weak, and sickly, she isn't! She has beaten all the odds and has always overrun any and all expectations with her health.

But, being reminded of the fragile nature of her heart and health is good for me, it is a good reminder to me to cherish her. I think I forget how special she is sometimes. Which, may sound bad to people that would never dream of being angry with her, ;)...but as her mommy, I do frequently forget what a miracle she is. It's hard to remember when she is yelling, or screaming at me, or kicking or throwing things, or throwing a tantrum on the floor, giving me the silent treatment, or when she has once again gotten into my craft room :). But, all of those things aside, the rotten truth of the matter is that at some point in her life, she will need another heart. I don't know when. But, I know it is lurking in our future somewhere. I try not to think about it, because I can't bear the thought of having to go through it again and having her aware of it all. I think it will be much harder when she is older and she will be scared. I would rather have her be unaware and to just have me hold her through it all. When she is older, it won't just be her family's trial anymore, it will be her's, and I can hardly bare that thought.

But, when I look at her and see her fiery spirit, I know that that is why she has so much spirit. She could never handle the future that's ahead of her if she were fragile and weak.

So, I will try to appreciate her spunk more. I will try to cherish my time with her more and to cut her more slack. After all, she is a miracle, just like every baby out there, and she's not perfect. Nor is her mommy. So, we will just keep chugging along day after day, and hope that Grace can keep beating the odds.

Gracey I love you. I'm so grateful for you, and your strong, fighting spirit. I love you just the way you are. I love you even when you yell at me, and throw things at me, when you slam doors in my face and when you sneak into the cookies. I love you I love you I love you. Please stay strong. :)

I wanted to post this so we have a record of what we did on her 3 yr. Heart Birthday, but, after my emotional ramblings up above, this will all seem rather mundane...oh well.

For Grace's Heart Birthday we took her to the bookstore to pick out a new book, and let her choose the restaurant for dinner. We gave her numerous options, like Outback, Olive Garden, Applebees, and Wild Wings, and despite every option we gave at her, she was adamant she wanted Chick Fil A. (I even threw Hooters in the mix to see if that would catch her interest! But nope. Chick fil A it was) So we got her Chick Fil A, took her to the park to run around and play and had a really fun time.

That night after Grace went to sleep, Topher and I decorated the house with hearts and red and white balloons and streamers. When Grace woke up she was so excited! It was really cute. I made her pink heart pancakes for breakfast with pink whip cream even.

At church she whispered to her nursery leader that it was her "heart's birthday" and then for dinner she really wanted to have our neighbors over. So we had a yummy dinner with our sweet neighbors and sang Happy Heart Birthday to her over a heart shaped Red Velvet cake. We had a really nice night and I was reminded how special Grace is and how blessed we are. I had to laugh out loud several times, because it just amazes me how much energy she has. I think I counted over 11 laps around the main floor and she was giggling the whole time. She ran into things and kept on going and kept on laughing, and it's that resilience that just astounds me. How many of us would run around in circles for 15 minutes, giggling all the way, run into a refrigerator, laugh hysterically and keep going? Well, Grace does. :) She just keeps going every day and I think she picks up speed as she goes! :)

We love you Grace and we are so grateful for you. Thank you Heavenly Father for answering all our prayers, some when we wanted, others when we needed them and didn't even know it. Thank you for knowing what we needed and when, and for knowing we needed Grace in our lives. I know now that she would be a force for good wherever she is, but I'm grateful we got to keep her here and have her mold us into better people for the next little while. Thank you for giving her a new heart and a new life. Happy Birthday Gracey's Heart.

As of late...

2011-08-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

So we are doing pretty well here in Goose Creek. As of about 2 weeks ago Topher passed off all of the tests and requirements to start teaching. So his first full week of teaching was just this last week. He seemed to really enjoy it and I think he perhaps enjoyed the "discipline" side of things a lot more than anyone would have thought he would. ;) He I guess gave his class a quiz EVERY DAY! And when a student didn't turn in his homework for the 2nd time in a week Topher made him stay after school, ON A FRIDAY and do quizzes for an hour and a half!!! Haha!! Serious. Who woulda thought Topher would enjoy disciplining so much?! Must be because these guys have to listen to him and Gracey...well, we all know Gracey doesn't listen to much of anyone. So, I guess Toph gets it where he can! Just kidding. Maybe. :)

Anyway, he's teaching and he seems to enjoy it.
We also sold our Honda Accord, don't ASK me why!! Toph's idea. So, we only have one vehicle, which I get to drive, and Topher rides his bike to work! FYI it's 10 miles. FYI there's no shoulder. FYI for the first 5 or so miles, it's not a paved road. It's a dirt, pot holed, non-lit, swampy road. Oi. Topher is crazy. Especially because he actually seems excited to head out on his bike every morning. Silly boy. Oh, and if he wasn't skinny enough to begin with, biking and PT with his division seems to be making him lose more weight! What in the?!! Not fair.
Grace is...Grace. She is ridiculously energetic, very strong willed and stubborn, she loves to push ALL her limits and her mommy's, and she is hilarious. She is of course still talking off anyone's ear that will listen to her. I'm convinced that she really does talk about nothing sometimes, just to hear herself talk. She has a wild imagination. We cleaned her play room spic and span, no boxes in there anymore! And her playroom looks awesome now. She played in there and Topher and I just sat and chuckled at the stories she was making up and how she talks to her babydolls in such a condescending "I'm your mommy and youre gonna LISTEN to me!" sort of way. She sighs and groans and gets frustrated with her dolls for not going potty before they left and threatens "sassy sauce" to them if they talk back to her. Its a hoot. Until of course I realize that her sassy ridiculous attitude is indicative of how she perceives ME! haha. Oh well.
I'm enjoying being out here as well. My close friend Martha from Bountiful came out to visit a couple weeks ago and we LOVED having her. Such a ridiculously awesome houseguest! She was so patient with us and our hectic little family. She was so so wonderful! I was not ready for her to leave and Grace cried for 2 days afterwards because she missed her so much.

We try to get out and explore and are seeing lots of new things frequently. It has been a bit hot lately. About 100 to occasionally 105 with humidity between 80-90%. Yeah, it's a bit warm. But we've been really grateful for the pool, the beach and air conditioned buildings. :)

The frogs are everywhere!! We had 10 of them on a 4ft. wide space of our house the other night. They're everywhere! But they're also really cute. If they were big ugly toads I would not be so thrilled. But when they're tiny bright green tree frogs, I don't mind at all.
When we first moved Grace didn't really realize that we were away from all of our family. She would mention them occasionally, but not much. (Sorry family! no offense! she does love you!) But I was surprised that she didn't seem to miss them. However, it turned out to be not that she doesn't miss them, but that she really just didn't comprehend everything. As of last week, she has cried to me several times, especially at night, that we don't live in Bountiful anymore. She says that she misses her cousins, and aunts and uncles, and Gamma and Gampas, and that we can't see them because we moved to "Sow Cawoyina". It makes her really sad and she is constantly asking me when we are going to back to Bountiful or when people are going to come stay with us. So, to all of you family out there I say, COME VISIT US! If not for me, than for a spunky, energetic, affectionate little Gracey that misses you all terribly. :)
Well, we love you all, and miss you TONS. You can always call us, or Skype with us, we LOVE it, (Grace especially does).

111th Submariner Birthday Ball....and more

2011-06-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

So...I could have sworn I had already posted this blog...but it was showing up as only a 'draft', so I am re-posting it. :)

I remember when I was little watching my mom and dad go to military balls. I would watch my mom get ready and I specifically remember thinking that she looked as close to a princess as we could get in our day. Im sure she wore several different dresses over the years but the only one i remember her wearing was a pink one with gems all over the bodice and a long train and a jacket. Maybe this isn't even what it really looked like, but thats how i remember it. Well, I won't hide the fact that when Topher got into the Navy, the thought of maybe going to a Ball in the future did indeed cross my mind. I thought it would be pretty amazing if I could go to the same extravagant type of affair my parents had gone to years ago. So, when a friend of mine here mentioned that yes, there are indeed Navy Balls, I came home and demanded of Topher that he find out when the next one is. He looked sheepish. It was the following weekend. My eyes probably bulged right out of my head when he said this. What?! This weekend?! You're taking me, right?!!! I mean....um, could we maybe, please, please go?

So Topher bought tickets to the Ball for me instead of a lawn mower. HaHa! Whoops. I bought a pretty, modest and inexpensive dress at Ross, we got a babysitter and went to the Ball!
It was definitely fancy, not complete with the chandeliers I had always assumed were there, but still very nice. There were important military personnel there that Topher told me all by name, and there were even retired WWII veterans present. The food was really nice and the speeches were really interesting. Everything was perfect except the music. Can I just say I found it totally inappropriate that at a Formal Navy Ball, they were playing Hip Hop music???!!! Because I do. Find it totally inappropriate. Not that I don't like to dance to silly hip hop songs, because I do. But thats at my house, when I'm by myself and in pajamas. Not when Im in a formal gown at a Ball with retired military. All i could keep thinking was that if my parents had gone to a ball like this they would have been sorely disappointed because they loved to dance and were dang good at it too.
So after 15+ minters of ridiculous music that only the extremely drunk couple was dancing to, I approached the DJ to ask that he play something classy that everyone would want to dance to. He told me that the current song was the last song and he wasnt taking any requests. Yeah, I don't think so!!!! I begged, and demanded that he play something appropriate for the occasion, and he complied. :) heheh. He played one slow song for me and almost EVERYONE danced. Obviously had he taken that kind of advice for the whole dance portion of the night a lot of people would have danced. However, then the drunk couple wouldn't have as easily been captured on video by over five people for YouTube purposes later.
Anyway, it was a fun night. I loved dressing up and seeing Topher in his dress whites. Have I mentioned before how much I love that boy in uniform??? Because i do.
Im putting in these last two collages just because they are so cute. This little dress Grace is wearing was actually mine when i was little. Its a German dundel(spelling?? Sorry mom!). Anyway, Grace wore it the other day and i was in love with how adorable she was in the dress! So cute!

The next collage i have fondly named Gracey's Sassy Series. She is such a Spit fire, and a drama queen to boot.

Lots of Pictures and A Little Bit of Lately...

2011-06-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been filled with a little bit of everything. We have been getting a feel for the hot that is coming in the next several months. About 2 weeks ago we started hitting 95 or higher every day. In the evenings it doesn't get cooler than about 75...and from what we've heard, in the heat of Summer it won't cool down much more than about 85 in the evenings. Yikes!We have discovered lots of frogs. We had one in our mailbox of all places the other day. Since then they are basically a daily sighting. In our driveway, on our patio, on the side of our house. They are always little and are either bright green or a dirty brown/green color. I like the bright green ones best.We also have massive bees here and huge moths. This moth was literally as big as my face! We of course have alligators as well, but those aren't as frequent a sighting. I spotted one at the pond across the street from our backyard last week that was about 4 ft. But as soon as it spotted me and my daughter running full speed in it's direction it dove back in the water. We also saw one that was at least a 7 or 8 footer in the pond down at Crowfield Plantation, and that was a little intimidating!! It was so big and just swimming around! Sadly, I haven't gotten pictures of the gators yet. But hey, I still have a few years to get em'. :)

We have found a couple good camping locations. We went camping on the Edisto River, the longest "black water river" in N. America. It really is black too! Something about the plants that grow along side the river puts a mineral or something in the water that turns it this dark black color! You really can't see anything under the surface at all, its really neat. We kayaked there and had a really nice and cool evening thanks to the rain earlier in the day. We couldn't find Grace's life vest anywhere so she wore one of ours. It was a bit big maybe? Oh, and she

couldn't bend to sit down. But hey, it worked!
We have explored Downtown Charleston enough now that we can actually find free parking along the battery and we don't get lost anymore! We know exactly where we want to go and what we want to see and can get there in no time flat! The Hydrangeas and Crab Myrtle trees

have been in bloom lately and they are so beautiful.
We have taken a little excursion to see Charlestown Landing, followed by Waterfront Park right on the Harbor in Downtown. Grace loves the Pineapple Fountain that you can walk around and splash in.
We were able to make it to our Ward's Ice Cream and Kite Social. Other than all the ice cream making big puddles around their cooler in the sand, it was a fun day. It was the day they were holding the Piccolo Spoletto (sp.?) contest which is a really neat Sand Building contest. The entries were really impressive!
In response to the heat, Grace & I have tried to take advantage of opportunities to get out of the heat! We play at the local County park and Splash pad once a week, go swimming at our community pool across the street (YAY!) & try to find fun things to do inside. Finger painting

was our latest venture. She seemed to like it a LOT. Me, not so much...clean up was a bummer.
When Topher's parents visited us, they helped us out tremendously in getting us an Aquarium membership. We have been able to go almost on a weekly basis for Grace to see fish, alligators, turtles, sting rays, sharks and otters. It has been a lot of fun and Grace is slowly getting more and more brave each time we visit. Last time she actually TOUCHED a snake! I mean, really, just touched it. Not pet it, just kind of poked it, then buried herself in my shoulder. Silly girl.
We also had the opportunity to go the Temple with our Ward last weekend. It was so neat to have the Ward put together rides, babysitting, food, and everything else we could need. I guess this was the Ward's first time having a really organized Temple trip like this where there was babysitting provided right next door to the temple and having Vans transport people...but It was such a success I hope they do it again! The temple is beautiful of course, but much smaller than any of those I have visited in Utah. It was neat to see that no matter the size of the Temple or the amount of workers, the Temple functions in the same way, doing just as much good here as in any other place in the World.

We've also gone blueberry picking, watered the lawn once, sometimes twice a day, (it is so hot!!) colored on sidewalks, and yes on Topher's face too (he shouldn't have fallen asleep!).

We are enjoying our time here, trying to stay busy and get organized. We miss our families, but are trying to get out there and make friends. Not sure if we're seeing progress there or not, but we'll keep at it!

To say that we are anxious for our trip to Utah in less than 2 weeks would be an understatement, but we are definitely counting down the days to visit family!! I know I'll miss Topher like crazy and it will be weird to experience the "home sick" feeling for S. Carolina, but I know that I will experience it all the same, because this is where my beautiful house is and my wonderful husband. Slowly, I am realizing that wherever my husband is, that's where my home is. It's just a little empty feeling without the rest of my family. But that's ok! We are happy and doing well. Thanks for checking in!

Visit with the Johnson Family

2011-05-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned before, our next set of visitors was my Dad, Karen and their little girl Rachel. The first couple of days they visited we did things like take them around downtown Charleston to see the historic district, walk along Market Street, that sort of thing. They enjoyed the atmosphere of downtown, and how can you not, really? Charleston is Great. :)

Although they SAY their primary goal of coming to S.C. was to visit us...I'm not so sure. ;) I think they're PRIMARY goal may have been going to Spain. Since my dad is retired Military, Lieutenant Colonel by the way, not to brag, but my Dad is AWESOME....they can get Military hops to a lot of different tourist destinations for the price of a inflight meal and movie. The flights are sort of random, sometimes you can catch one sometimes you can't, sometimes you wait forever, sometimes you get right on. Sometimes you get right on, and then they kick you off! Ha! (Yes, that happened to them this time around). Anyway, they really wanted to try and get to Spain while they were visiting. So, they tried for a day, caught a flight, but then before take off they had to get off the plane because of a malfunction. But they did manage to catch one a couple days later. They spent a week in Spain, and came back and had about 2 days with us. So, the 2 days after their trip we went to Magnolia Gardens. These are historical gardens back from Civil War Era and are beautiful. They aren't your typical castle manicured lawns and gardens, but more a etherial Lord of the Rings-esque design. Lots of ponds, with beautiful bridges, a bamboo garden, paths that follow the Ashley River, beautiful and very old Oak Trees, and lots of blooming Azalea bushes.

We took a tram ride that took us through and around the perimeter of the gardens. We even spotted some alligators and lots of little turltes! Grace and Rachel were pretty entertained, but my dad caught a few zzzzs.
After the Tram ride Topher joined us from work and we went in their little petting zoo where there were billy goats, peacocks, bunnies, snakes, and a really really cute cat of some sort. Like a jaguar only much much smaller and supposedly native to South Carolina the way it was hundreds of years ago.
The gardens were so so beautiful to stroll through. It was relaxing, beautiful and just a lot of fun.

We had to leave the gardens in rather a hurry though because we were trying to catch a ferry to Fort Sumter. We BARELY made it on too! But that little excursion was really neat because their visit was in close proximity to the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. Because of this the Fort was doing some really neat commemorative things. They had people dressed up as military personnel of that era and doing demonstrations of musket and cannon firings. It was really neat. :)

While they were here we also had to take them to Hominy Grill. We've decided its a must with everyone that visits us. They loved it just as much as us! So, I'm telling you! Even if Southern food doesn't sound like its up your alley...there IS something for YOU. Truly. There is. It is so good. :)

On our last or 2nd to last day, I don't remember, bad memory...Dad was a sweetheart and took the little girls to the Wannamaker County Park. There is a great big playground (several actually), a splash pad, a Lagoon and paved trails. The girls had a blast and Karen and I did too!! Dad was kind enough to take kid detail and Karen and I went shopping! yay!! Topher even let me transfer money over my budget to get some things for the house. I got the rug for our living room and our new bed set, and then just shopped because its so much more fun without kidlets!! It was super fun.

Anyway, our time with them was short, but we were so grateful to have them and had a lot of fun! Thanks so much for everything Dad and Karen! Bring my siblings with you next time! hehe

Thanks for checking in.

Love the Andersens

Visit with Andersens

2011-04-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Topher's family came to visit us. We had a very busy, fun filled week! Curtis found a 10k that is a pretty big deal here in Charleston, it's called the Cooper River Bridge Run. It literally has 40,000 runners and walkers and is the single largest 1 day event in all of Charleston. It starts in Mt. Pleasant, runs across the 2 mile Ravenel Bridge and ends going through historic Downtown Charleston. He signed us all up for it too! Which is funny seeing as how really only Topher and Anni are runners. But, you give this family a challenge and it will meet it. So, Venice, Curtis and Meg all got to training, (me, not so much) and we all managed to run it start to finish, (again, me not so much. I did have a stroller...and am in no shape at all). It was so neat to run and to be in that super charged atmosphere. Everyone was so friendly and you could just tell that everyone was running with their own personal motivations, and it just made it feel like you were doing something really worthwhile. The weather was great, the views were beautiful and the energy was just really neat.To reward everyone for their efforts Curtis and Venice got us all a beachfront hotel room on Isle of Palms. The plan was to just play at the beach for 3 days...but after everyone got sunburned on Day 1, people weren't quite as eager Day 2 or 3. Not to mention Curtis was bored by the late afternoon Day 1. Ha!! I guess it also posed a problem that on the morning of Day 2 we woke up to an absolute down pour. Not really the best beach weather. But, for the first day at the beach we really had a blast. Topher and his sisters skim boarded and boogie boarded. We built a sand castle...sorta. Made Gracey and Meg Mermaid tails. We had a lot of fun.So when there was the rotten weather we instead went to the Aquarium and played downtown. We also went to the U.S.S. Yorktown over on Mt. Pleasant and while they were here we enjoyed some awesome food! We went to a place called Hominy Grill where their slogan is "Grits are Good for ya!". The atmosphere, food and service were all awesome! I had fried green tomatoes, shrimp bignets, fried okra, deep fried cheese grits and shrimp bog!! What a southern feast eh?! So yummy though. We also went to, what in my mind, was the equivalent of a Southern Baptist Church Picnic type restaurant. The decor was ceramic pigs and the tables were of the picnic variety. We had styrofoam plates and there was an entire lunch cart just for coleslaw and pickles. :) Again, so so fun.

All together the trip was a huge success, and we all had a lot of fun. Come again soon Andersen family!

After Topher's family left we had a grand total of 4 days before our next set of visitors! My Dad and his wife and daughter came to visit us next. I will post about that next. But in the meantime, thanks for checking in on us!

Bugs are Ridiculous

2011-04-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

I have to write this down before I forget because it was seriously one of the funniest conversations I have EVER had with Grace. And that, if you know Grace, is truly saying something.
Gracey and I were eating breakfast this morning on our screened patio. Grace was looking at my legs and found a bug bite. She asked me, "Mommy, is that a bug bite?"
"Yes", I said.
"Ugh! Mommy! Those bugs bite me all over. When I was at the park they was like biting me all over! And, and, and they didn't even say sorry! And, Daddy says its because they don't have mouths. But, they do. They have mouths. Mommy...they just, those bugs are just, uhhh, they are just RIDICULOUS! Uhh! Mommy, they just, seriously, I don't like bugs! I HATE bugs!"
I should mention that that ENTIRE paragraph was spoken with me only occasionally nodding and "mmm" ing and looking at her sympathetically.
At this point I just told her I was sorry. But, she was not done.
"Well, why there all those bugs anyway? (She has her hand out by the way, with the palm up, and one hand on her hip too) There were no bugs in South CaroLINA. Why there bugs here? What they DOING here? Bugs are just creepy...Seriously. (she tilts her head down and raises her eyebrows and looks at me very seriously) I hate bugs."
Now maybe none of that sounds as funny as it really was. But if you had heard the tone of her voice, seen her facial expressions as she raises and lowers her eyebrows, or when she juts her hip out with a hand on it and has the other hand out in the air with her palm up, like she just can't believe what a crazy world she lives in. She was so ridiculously cute and I was repressing laughter so that she would just keep talking because it was so so funny and was just making my day.
Anyway. That's all for now. :)

Day #7- Arrival in Goose, Creek SC

2011-03-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

As I said in my previous post, on the eve of the 6th day of our travels we stayed in Columbia, so when we woke up on day 7 we had about an hour and a half drive to Goose Creek. We got there around 8:30a.m. so we could do our "final walk-thru" with the builder and this was the first time Topher had seen the house with all the upgrades and options I had chosen! In case you weren't aware, I flew out to Charleston in November to select all our options for the house. Topher couldn't take off any school at the time so I had to come by myself, and have crossed my fingers ever since that I didn't pick out the wrong thing!

We got to the house and both of us loved it. It just felt so good to finally be there and to see how everything had come together.

After checking out the house we went to breakfast, and then headed to the Law Office for Closing.

Everything went smoothly and the only anxiety I had was over signing away our money for the next 30 years! It's sort of a relief to know that we don't have to stay there and be in debt for 30 yrs, month after month after month. Instead, we can move, have a moment of relief with no debt, and then go into debt again with a different Mortgage company!! Ahhhh...so nice. NOT! Oh well. It's a beautiful house, neighborhood and area and so we're happy.

We got our house keys and headed to our new house! Topher was the most excited about our Garage door opener. He was so excited to open our garage, and park inside it!! And then to not have to carry our luggage up a flight of stairs! Oh. Wait. We did have to carry them up a flight of stairs. Hmmm... At least it was inside the house? :)

So, at this point of the story I should probably fill in what happened between breakfast and the Law Office. Well, we got a phone call from the moving company, saying that their driver was in the South Carolina area. Not in the Charleston area, but the South Carolina area. Well, in our heads that meant we still had a couple hours. They asked if they could deliver in the next little bit, and I said that at the very moment it wouldn't work because we didn't have our keys yet. I said that we would be in the house by about 2:00 or 3:00 and would that please work? She said she would call the driver and then call me back and let me know and we could go from there.

Well, about an hour later, she hadn't called back yet. In that hour, I had also learned that we would be in the house by 1:30 or 2:00 instead of 2:00 or 3:00. So, I called her back and told her this and asked for an update, only to be told, "Oh, sorry. We already put ALL YOUR STUFF IN STORAGE!!!!!!" Saying that I was annoyed, is a massive understatement. I was miffed. Mostly, my miffed-ness stemmed from their estimated delivery date - 8 DAYS LATER. What?! You want us to live in an EMPTY house for 8 DAYS!!?

*sigh*

Topher and I both took our turn, calling them and politely asking if there was ANY way to get our things sooner, Topher was of course a lot more polite than me...but we both got the same answer - "NO".

So, we went to the grocery store, got lots of frozen dinners, and unpacked our sleeping bags (I knew they would come in handy!!).

For the next 4 or 5 days we basically just shopped all day for furniture. We knew we needed mattresses, a kitchen table, barstools, living room furniture, sprinklers, ceiling fans etc...and so we would head out in the morning, shop practically all day and then come home to a yummy t.v. dinner which we would eat on the floor in the kitchen or outside on the ground in our screened porch. We would then put Grace to bed on her makeshift sleeping bag bed in her room, and then put ourselves to bed in our makeshift bed out of sleeping bag pads and a sleeping bag.

Let's just say sleeping on the floor SUCKS. Topher and I woke up every single morning sore as can possibly be, and not wanting to move. So one of the first purchases we made were mattresses. A Queen for us and a Twin for Grace. UPGRADES! yay!! They came on about day 4. :) Also on day 4 in our new house, I was out at Target getting some groceries and some tools for Toph to install the ceiling fans, and someone said that it was the 17th. The 17th, the 17th...why should that date be important to me....what IS IT?!! - - -oh yeah. It's the DAY BEFORE MY KID'S BIRTHDAY! Can we just say that I'm a bad Mom right now, and get it over with? I'm a bad Mom!! I had completely forgotten about her Birthday up until the night before. I hadn't shopped, gotten a cake, decorations...nothing. If you remember my post for her 2nd Birthday, birthdays are kinda a big deal to me darnitall! And I forgot my own kid's! So, I stayed out shopping until 10:30 getting her a few things I knew she would like, an ice cream cake, a balloon and Tangled paper plates and napkins.

Then Topher and I stayed up past midnight wrapping the couple of presents I had gotten for her, along with the presents our family had sent with us (the wrapping jobs hadn't made it across the country) and assembling the pink tricycle we had gotten for her.

We woke her up singing to her that it was her Birthday and, to say that she was thrilled doesn't do her smile justice. She was so so happy. She came into our room where we had her presents laid out and was so excited and happy! She loved it.

Topher spent the morning pushing her around the hall in her tricycle and she carried her Belle doll from Aunt Dacia

EVERYWHERE. It was really sweet.

But I think the BEST present we got that day was an OMA!!! Mom had gotten into the area a couple days before and had been in Georgia with Sam's sweet daughter Kim. They decided we would meet half way in Augusta, GA and so Topher and I started the 2 1/2 hr.- 3 hr. drive there. We took a really beautiful scenic route there and had dinner at what, in my opinion, is the World's Largest Golden Corral. It was massive!! We had dinner with everyone, and Gracey got MORE presents, and then we took Mami home with us! YAY!!!! A whole week with my mommy all to myself!!. It doesn't really get better than that. I know that I was the envy of both my sisters. And rightly so. Mommy time is highly coveted time.

Mom helped us shop for barstools and outdoor furniture, install ceiling fans and just keep us company. She also went to our first week of Church in our new ward and I held her hand and even cried before we went in, cuz I'm a big baby like that. I miss my ward, and my neighbor who went to Church with me! I miss home! I tried not to hold her hand when anyone was around. Then I'd REALLY be a big baby. But I couldn't help it! She was there! And that brought out my instinct to cling to her! *sigh*

Well, on Tuesday we received our household goods and what a happy day it was!! The movers were great, very careful and attentive to me and where I wanted things. They delivered everything, and then they left the whole big mess in my house. Even worse, was that everything came out of the boxes just as dirty as I had put it into the boxes. What's up with that?! I thought things would come out brand new, like Christmas! Not greasy and dirty, like when I never cleaned them! It seriously made me not want to unpack anything. I did not want to put all this dirty junk in my brand new, shiny clean house.

Mami was so great to be there and be helpful. If it had been me by myself I would have sat in the middle of the room, on the floor and hyperventilated. But my Mom proceeded to put my house in order one box at a time, one room at a time, all the while encouraging me to get off my rear and do something productive.

She was so great!

After a few days of hard work, we decided to go to the Beach! It was a nice break and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Topher's friends came a few days later to go house hunting in the area, and that was fun as well. But not as great as having Mommy!! She was the best ever.

Sam joined us on Thursday and made Mommy much happier and then we went into town on Friday. We walked along Market street, took a Carriage Tour of historic downtown, toured the U.S.S. Yorktown and had a nice dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant downtown as well. Such a fun day it was!

They proceeded to leave at 4 a.m. the next day and I cried like a baby for a while. I'm such a mama's girl it's ridiculous. But. In all honesty, I'm just a 'family' girl. I miss my family so much while I'm out here. I can't think on it too long or I just start crying again. I am happy, and I am doing well. I love my house, I love our neighborhood and the scenery here in the South really is beautiful. It's green and lush and I do like it here. But it is most definitely not yet Home. Home is where the majority of my family is. And that is, and will for who knows how long, be in Utah. I miss my siblings and parents so so much. But I am grateful to be here, in a beautiful place, with my sweet Husband and crazy cute daughter. I know we are where we are supposed to be, and I hope my heart catches up with that thought soon, because being heartsick is no fun.

On a little bit more interesting note, it has been raining on and off, HEAVILY, for the past 2 1/2 days or so. It rains so much here when it rains! It does not rain the Utah way, no sir. It POURS. I took these pictures to show my very watered lawn. We even have a mini river in our backyard!

I left the front door unlocked when I went out to take pictures, and I when I came back, this is what I found...a Gracey, wearing my shoes, still in her pajamas and determined to come outside in the rain. Later on in the day, she escaped again, only this time in her rain boots, and very determined to find some puddles to jump in. Speaking of her rain boots...did you notice the picture up above a bit with her in her princess dress? She isn't wearing ballet slippers, or dainty church shoes. She's wearing her rain boots...per her request.

Anyway. Thanks for checking in! I will try to post again as we make

more progress on our house and unpacking. Hopefully things will start to fall into place a little more each day, and in the process we can start to build a new 'home' here in beautiful South Carolina.

Love you family!

Day #6- Chattanooga!!

2011-03-20T18:46:00.001-07:00

On Day #6 we left Manchester and drove about an hour and a half to Chattanooga, Tennessee. This very quickly became our most favorite day and destination of our entire "cross-country" road trip. Our primary sub-destination inside of Chattanooga was actually Lookout Mountain. A very large mountain that rises up in the corner of the Chattanooga Valley, half of the mountain is in Georgia and the other half of the mountain is in Tennessee. On this mountain were several different things to do and see, and we wanted to try just about all of them. Our first stop was Ruby Falls,

A 145ft. tall waterfall that is 1,120ft. underground. I know! Cool, huh?! An underground waterfall?! That is just awesome. So, we went there and got a military discount, (yay!) and took about a mile long tour inside these underground cave systems that led to, finally, the beautiful Ruby Falls. This was so much fun to explore and we really loved it. Grace seemed to really enjoy everything as well, until we got to the waterfall and the way it works is that the lights are off around the waterfall and then they turn them on for 7 minutes per tour group. They also turn on some loud, but pretty, music as the lights are on. I guess this thoroughly creeped her out so she screamed and cried for the whole walk around the path surrounding the actual waterfall.

After the cave tour and pretty Ruby Falls, the tour spit you out at their Gift Shop of course, to get you to spend even MORE money! haha. So, we bypassed the gift shop, but did head out to the exclusive and very large playground that is only accessible to those who go on the tour. :) To say the least, Grace LOVED it. It didn't hurt that a sweet little southern belle named Kaylee took it upon herself to play with and take care of Grace either. She adopted Grace for about 35-45 minutes and just played with her all over the playground. Carried her, held her, spun her in circles, lifted her up to the top of the slides and then caught her at the bottom, scooping her up and talking to her. How adorable, right?! Grace loved it, because hey, any mommy other than her own is top notch in her book! This sweet little girl couldn't have been older than about 9 or 10 and she was just such a sweetie! Grace STILL talks about her. I went and told the mom what a sweet daughter she had, and that whatever she was doing, she was doing it right, because she had one sweet, maternal and friendly daughter on her hands. She was shocked, because I guess Kaylee is the 'bossy one' in their family. Well, this made me feel slightly better. If that is how bossy little girls turn out, then maybe I can stop worrying about Grace. :) Maybe someday she will make a great big sister.

After Ruby Falls, we continued up the Mountain to a Civil War sight. In the Civil war there were several battles fought in the Chattanooga area, and so there is now a National town park, and a little museum and gift shop all teaching about the battles fought for Chattanooga. This, obviously was Topher's favorite thing on our entire trip. Watching the little mini diorama drama was thrilling for him, don't ask me why, but it was. They had a little mini theater with pictures displayed on a projector screen, and then narrated description of the battles fought, and where they were and how they plotted their strategies and all the battle outcomes. All the while, you are looking at the diorama that has all the miniature men in uniform and the rivers, and mountains, horses, camps, and everything is lighting up with miniature light bulbs as they become part of the narrative.

I don't know if that makes any sense at all. But, it was Topher's favorite! He even bought himself a Navy Sailor hat back from the Civil War era and authentic Civil War bullets found in the Chattanooga Valley.

When we left the Battles for Chattanooga we thought it was only about 2:00 or 3:00. Well, little did we know that we had lost an hour, and then to top it off, it was Daylight Savings! So, we lost 2 HOURS!! This was not cool!! So when we got in the car to head to Rock City, (also on Lookout Mountain) It was 5:30! We got to Rock City, they informed us that they sell the last ticket at 6:00 and that the park is only open until dark. So, Topher and I proceeded to try and race through it as quickly as possible! After a while, we realized that really we had plenty of time to just enjoy the scenery, and luckily, it had started sprinkling before we got there, so everyone left!! We had the whole park/garden to ourselves!!! Boo-yah!
Rock City is just like a giant landscaped rock garden. It starts on one walking path and continues through a huge maze of rocks, little cliffs, bridges that overlap one another and then just beautiful trees, flowers, fountains, ponds. It was a lot of fun, and ended up being my favorite of the whole trip.

There is a spot in Rock City, where they have 7 state flags displayed. The reason for this is that they have found a spot where you can see 7 states at once. There is a plaque pointing in each of the 7 directions and telling you how many miles to that state border. This was our first view of South Carolina!

Like I said, it had sprinkled a little bit just before we got there, and a little bit while we were there, so were probably 3 of the 10 total people visiting the garden. So, no lines for Funnel Cake! yay!!!! (Dacia, I missed you! You needed to be there to eat funnel cake with me.)

There is one spot at Rock City that I had seen pictures of and was the most excited to see and that was Lovers Leap. Legend has it that 2 enemy Indian Tribes lived close by. The daughter of one and the son of another fell in love, and when they were forbidden to be together, the boy was put to death on this cliff, and then the girl jumped to her death to be with him. Not a very happy story. But romantic, in that sick sort of way. Haha. Anyway, this is the supposed cliff, and its really beautiful. If you are wondering why the water is green...they dyed it for St. Patrick's day. Lol.

We left Rock City around 7:30 or 8:00 and drove to Augusta, Georgia. The plan had been to actually make it to Goose Creek, but because we had such a fun day, and we lost 2 hours, we didn't think we'd make it there at a reasonable time, so we instead just drove to Augusta and got there at about midnight. :)
Stay tuned! Day #7 we close on our house!
Miles today: 392 miles
Total Mileage: 2,176 miles
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Road Trip Day #5

2011-03-17T12:04:00.001-07:00

On day #5 we crossed over the Mississippi River to go from Arkansas to Tennessee and decided to check out Elvis Presley's "Graceland".

I did a famous person report on him when I was in 8th grade and so I have always had some interest in him. Topher, well, he just went because he loves me and is a good sport. So, we got there, neither of us knowing what to expect in relation to prices, tours, what there was to see or do, etc... So, Topher went to the ticket booth, and assumed that this was important to me because I hadn't really considered NOT going, and so, the sweet boy paid $60 to get us both in to see Graceland. Well, I didn't have my glasses on, so I thought the tickets were $13 a person, not $31!! So of course i didn't say anything because I thought $13 was reasonable! Let's just say that Topher was a little confused when I was extremely upset that we had to pay so much! He thought he was going out on a limb and getting something special for me, and really I thought it was a ridiculous rip off and would never have paid that much to see Elvis Presley's living room!

But because Topher is a sweetheart he told me that it was already done, we couldnt change it, and so we had might as well enjoy it since we had to pay so much to get in. Well, it took a while to convince me to do that, but I eventually got there.

I still would say that it is a rip off, and not worth the money at all, but, we still had fun, and now I can say I took the Elvis Presley Tour.

Something else that bummed me out about Graceland though, was that we had only been thinking of spending 30 min. to an hour there, but because we paid so much for the tickets, AND they made us wait in line for an hour to get on the tour bus, we ended up being there for over half the day. This was disappointing to me because our next stop was going to be Nashville, and I had had a lot of things I wanted us to see and do there. But, no such luck when you get there at 7:00 p.m.

Needless to say, we got there really late, probably around 7:00 so it was too dark to see or do anything anymore. :( Next time hopefully.
We did stop at the true to size replica of the Grecian Parthenon, and that was really neat, but because it was so late, we couldn't take the tour inside or anything.

We then stopped at a White Castle to get some sliders, (that was our shout out to you, Karen!) and then we continued driving to Manchester, Tennessee.
Sadly, because I am writing this so behind schedule, i don't really remember any cute stories from the day.

The only thing I remember that was sort of cute is this: Before we left Utah, Dacia and I went shopping together. I picked up some Barbie movies for Grace for in the car because, to my dismay, she absolutely loves them. One of them especially, became her favorite for the trip and was probably watched on average between 2-3 times a day. By day #5 she had the songs almost completely memorized. When we were at the Parthenon, she kept running ahead of us and singing, and putting herself high up on the stairs, or anything that was set higher than us, and just singing. She would sit there, singing and twirling and with the biggest smile on her face, singing all the words to Barbie, The Swan Princess. It really was so very cute. I loved just watching her; that sweet, exuberant smile on her face, singing, and if she caught me looking at her, she would get bashful and smile even bigger, but in turn sing quieter. Such a sweet girl she was.
Every night she would ask us, "We going to nuddah howtail?" No fail, every night she asked that question, and then would ask if we could go swimming.
I just loved the way she said hotel.
Anywho...that was day #5.
Miles Today: 283
Total Mileage: 1,784

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Road Trip Day #4

2011-03-12T19:28:00.001-08:00

On Day #4 we started out in Oklahoma. Per recommendation of Dad and Karen we stopped in Oklahoma City to visit the Alfred P. Murrah Memorial. I had vaguely heard of the Oklahoma City Bombing before, but really didn't know much about it. Afterall, I was only 7 when it

happened, and really my memory doesn't go back that far.

The attack happened on April 19, 1995 and was an act by a former U.S. Army soldier. He was angry at the government for the handling of certain things and took it out on this Federal building by putting together 7,000 lbs. of explosives. He wanted to send a message. His 'message' killed 168 people, 19 of which were children ranging from 3 months to 6 years old.

I can't imagine what could ever possess a human being to do such a thing to another human being, to children. I can only hope that he wasn't sane. And that people like that are few, and are hopefully stopped before they do similar acts of evil.

The memorial built to remember the victims of the bombing is beautiful. It is very thought provoking, serene and peaceful.

(Photo from "Travel & Photography" by Jim Nix)

The memorial has two large 'gates' that enclose a reflecting pool. One gate has 9:01 engraved at the top, and the other has 9:03, the reflecting pool is inbetween them to signify the time of the bombing.

The field of chairs is to symbolize the 168 empty chairs around people's dinner tables, that now sit empty. 19 of them are smaller for the 19 children that were killed.

The tree I photographed up above is actually called the Survivor Tree because it survived the explosion as well as the fires that followed. It has been left in the exact same place, and as it blossoms every spring it is meant to encourage young people in the city that growth is still possible, and that their future is still bright.

Being at the Memorial, walking along the sidewalks and reading the names of the lives lost was a very sobering experience. But it made me very grateful for some things. It made me grateful for my family. It made me grateful for the gospel. It made me grateful for people that pull together to lift each other up. It made me happy to know that, no matter how many people are out there that have hatred in their hearts; for every 1 with hatred, there are at least 100 with love instead of hate. Good truly does outweigh bad. People are mostly good, kind and encouraging, and that is a comfort to me, to know that most people still have the light of Christ, and if we are hurt by an act comitted by someone who has lost that light, that those of us with it still intact will pull together, to raise one another up in faith and love. So, even though I left with a prayer in my heart for all the people affected by the bombing, I also left with a renewed gratitude for my many blessings.

OKAY...so. I am going to kind of switch directions now. I apologize if that was a bit dramatic, but, as I have said several times before, this is my journal, so I may be a bit too open for the public eye sometimes. If that is the case with this entry.....sorry. :/

After visiting the memorial we headed to a "must-see" which is the Bricktown District, and the Bricktown Canal.

There is a lot of shopping and restaurants here, and they all surround a canal with several bridges and water taxis. The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery. Topher and I both were smitten with the city and esp. this area. It was so fun and had a bit of southern charm, we really loved just strolling up and down the sidewalks, eating frozen yogurt and enjoying the sunshine.

So while we were walking along the canal, there were some ducks. Well, Grace decided she wanted to see these ducks. She walked up to the water's edge and in her most sing-songy doting voice said "Come hewe duckies. I won huwt you. Come heeee-ewwe."

When the ducks didn't come, she continued "Duckies....come hee-ewee! Come hewe...now, or I wiw pank yo butt. If you come hewe, I be nice and just pet you, come hewe!" I should note, that while she was bossing the ducks around threatening spanked bottoms, she had her hands on her hips in the most perfect 'bossy mommy' pose I have ever seen. It was hilarious, to say the least. I was laughing so hard listening to my Gracey talk in this sweet, loving mommy-esque voice, and then threatening spankings, to DUCKS no less! Hah! That girl cracks me up so much.

I also wanted to mention, Oklahoma is where Topher's Dad served his mission, so we wanted to give a 'shout out!' to Curtis and say that we thoroughly enjoyed Oklahoma City! It was a really endearing and charming city and we very much want to go back someday. Only, next time maybe we could have Curtis be our personal tour guide? :) That would probably make the visit even better.

We set off from Oklahoma City a bit after the Canal and continued on through Arkansas, (which was also beautiful) and stopped in West Memphis, AK. Originally we had thought we'd made it to Tennessee for the evening but soon realized that West Memphis is actually on the West side of the Mississippi river, and until we crossed over to the East side of the River, we were officially in Arkansas. :) So we stayed the night there and planned to cross the Mississippi the next morning and explore Memphis.

Check back tomorrow for an update on Day #5- Graceland!

Thanks for checking in! We love and miss our families so so much! I esp. am missing my family and just playing games and eating dinner together. I miss you family! You are all in my prayers each night and I hope you are all well.

Mileage Today: 527 Miles

Total Mileage: 1,501 Miles

Road Trip Day #3 - At least its not Amarillo!

2011-03-11T14:00:00.001-08:00

So, Day #3 started out in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our goal for the day was to drive from Albuquerque, NM to Weatherford, OK. This is about a 7 hour stretch of absolutely. nothing. That stretch through Texas is the most flat, and barren stretch of land I have ever seen. Flat as far as the eye can see with no trees, plants, animals, houses, hills or anything of the like. I tried to look up things to see or do along the route and there was just about nothing. There was Cadillac Ranch, a crooked water tower, and the largest Cross in the U.S. And that's about it! So...I decided...I could at least be grateful that Topher's military assignment wasn't going to be filled out in Amarillo! Not that it was that bad, but...what am I saying, it was! Topher didn't want me to say that. He wants me to positive. And I am! I'm grateful we're not moving to Amarillo because I'm POSITIVE I'll like Charleston better. :) There. Me=Positive.
We did find online some info about Santa Rosa, New Mexico that looked nice. There was supposed to be an area with natural lakes and such that was supposed to be really pretty. There was supposed to be a swimming hole, and several parks and we had decided we would have lunch there.
Hm....not sure how swimming or anything would work...when theres, no water though...

This was Park Lake. It looks like it could have been fun...if when you came off the slide there was water to catch you. Or if when you dove off the diving board you weren't going to hit the ground with your head. :) Yeah, to say the least, the water level was pretty darn low.
So, we decided we would check out The Blue Hole. This was supposed to be a "must see" in Santa Rosa...but all it was was a very pretty little spot of fresh water that was 65 degrees and 80 ft. deep. Not so sure we would want to swim in there either. :) It is supposed to be a really neat place to go Scuba Diving, and it was indeed really quite beautiful. It was very clear and Grace loved the fish that were swimming in it.

After wading in the cold, teal water, we headed to a nearby grocery store where we bought things to make PB&J and drove about 10 min. outside of town to the Santa Rosa Lake State Park. It was such beautiful weather and there was a nice cool breeze. We ate lunch and Grace & Topher played around the camp table kicking Toph's soccer ball around, throwing rocks and yelling at spiders.
We Utahns are classy wouldn't you say? She walked around like this for, oh, let's see...ALL DAY! Everytime she walked about 4 steps her pants would come down and usually end up around her ankles. At least if I saw it happening that's what the outcome was. HA! If Topher saw, he actually helped her instead of just sitting and laughing. I know, I know, I'm a great mommy.

A funny story from lunch came up after we had finished eating. Topher came and sat by me on the bench and was hugging me, and yes, possibly giving me a couple of kisses...Grace walked up and said "Daddy! Daddy! I'm gonna go hide! And you come find me, ok? I'm gonna go hide...right, over THERE! (she then proceeded to point to the exact spot she was going to go hide) Daddy! You come find me, ok?! As soon as you done kissing eachover, come find me!"
We laughed so hard! What a patient girl to let us finish kissing first, before asking her Daddy to come play with her. And not only that, but how helpful of her to tell us where she'd be hiding as well!
After lunch we continued on towards Amarillo, TX. A place called Cadillac Ranch was about the only thing that came up as "things to see" between New Mexico & Oklahoma City. Surprisingly, it was actually pretty fun! I guess that as a piece of American Art a few guys thought that Cadillacs, stuck half way into the ground, would make some interesting modern art. They used to be new, pretty, and recognizable as different models of the classic Cadillac. But, over the years, they have been stripped of seats, wheels, windows, and every scrap of body, most likely for souvenirs. They are no longer recognizable, not just for the lack of car left, but also because it has become tradition for people to spray paint things on the cars. One forum I read said that it was a must to leave your mark on the cars, but to take a picture quick, because before you know it, it'll be covered up by someone else's tag!
Well, we left our mark. :) There were spray paint cans everywhere, and it just seemed like that's what you were supposed to do. So, Topher and I became rebels, and even taught Grace how to do it too!! Not very rebellious when there's a sign that condones it though, huh? oh well!

Cadillac Ranch- You could smell the fumes of spray paint from where we parked along the freeway's frontage road.

Grace called them "funny caws." And thought it was very silly that they were in the ground. But even more silly, she thought, was that there were no seats. She got a kick out of that, and kept asking where they had gone.

The pair of happy taggers. :) TGA (Topher, Grace Alysia) Oh, and the heart of course. Now we left our mark! I wonder how long it will actually stay there before its covered again. There were literally dozens of spray paint cans all over the place!

We were there right before sunset and It was really beautiful.

After Cadillac Ranch we got some dinner at Dairy Queen and continued our drive to Weatherford, OK. We got there pretty late again and all fell asleep pretty quickly.
Pretty good day over all though, and we were happy to be done with the long stretch of barren ground, and on our way to the greener pastures of Oklahoma.
Miles Today: 473
Total Mileage: 974
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Road Trip Day #2

2011-03-10T08:36:00.001-08:00

Day #2 started with us in Moab. We debated going to Arches, (I thought it would be neat...but Toph said he'd seen it plenty of times. psh!) but decided to just head to Mesa Verde instead. Along the way we stopped at little sights along historic Route 66, like "Hole n the Rock".

We also stopped at an overlook for the Colorado River right past Arches National Park. The drive was all right, not much to report. Gracey was happy, then sad, then angry, then tired and quiet. Dealing with her roller coaster of emotions isn't the funnest thing when we are stuck in a confined space. But, oh well!

The drive to Mesa Verde was ok. Very windy and long to get to the villages that is for sure. All of them were closed for winter except Spruce Tree House, which Topher says is one of his favorites anyways. Grace LOVED it, and that might even be an understatement. She called it her "castle in the wocks". She was the Princess and she wanted to go inside the underground Kivas over and over again. She loved climbing down and then making up stories for what was down there. The air shaft in her opinion was actually a cage for animals, and it was not in her mind a religious place, as theorized, but a room, with a bed, and a wall for her babies to sleep on, and then of course the animal cage. Silly girl.

After Mesa Verde, we drove to Farmington New Mexico and had dinner, and then ended our day in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As it turns out in Albuquerque they hold the country's largest Balloon Festival. Our hotel was actually called the Holiday Inn Express--Balloon Festival. I wish we had been there for that! How cool to see the sky all covered in hot air balloons!
We made it to our hotel around 10 p.m. however the pool was open until 11 so we went down to the pool and let Grace play for about 35-40 minutes. I was tired, so I stayed in the hot tub. Topher got landed with Grace in the cold pool. :) Grace's 45 minutes was ENTIRELY passed running between the hot tub and the pool, back and forth and back again, jumping into the hot tub with me, then immediately climbing out and jumping into the pool to Topher. We had a good night and a good day at Mesa Verde. :)
Our total mileage thus far on the trip: 599 miles

Road Trip of All Road Trips...except we didn't start in CA....Day #1

2011-03-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday, March 8th, (Topher & my Anniversary btw!!! :) ) was the first day of our (almost) across the country exodus to move ourselves and probably roughly 300 lbs. of our belongings, from Utah to South Carolina where our new house is waiting.

Our plan was to leave around 2 or 3 and drive the 6 hours to Cortez, CO and then see Mesa Verde that evening or the next morning.

HA! When will we ever learn. Like we would ever actually leave when we plan!! So, we left at 4:30. From Farmington. Then we made a stop in Kaysville. A stop in Bountiful. And a stop in Salt Lake. . . . And by 7:30 we were finally passing Provo! *sigh*

We aren't so good at time management ok! We see that now.

Some tid bits from yesterday that I want to be sure and write down before I forget them are these:

When leaving Topher's parent's house they asked us to stop by the High School in Kaysville to try and say 'bye' to toph's little sister. The drive to the H.S. from their house is maybe a whole 5 minutes, if that. As soon as we were down his folks driveway, Grace wanted her coloring book, (thank you dad and karen btw!!) about 45 seconds later she wanted her fruit snacks (thank you dad and karen again!). When we parked at the H.S. she had just finished her fruit snacks. She handed me her fruit snack wrapper and said "Oh! We here! South Carolina!"

Uh-oh! If she thought 5 minutes was how long it took to get to S.C. then this is going to be a long trip!!

Topher and I cracked up and couldn't stop chuckling about that for a while. Obviously we drastically overestimated Grace's understanding of where we are going and how long it will take to get there.

To further that notion, for the rest of the drive her responses to our suggestions or questions went something like this: Us, "Grace do you need to go potty yet?" Grace, "No. I go in South Cayoyina. (that's how it sounds when she says it)". Us, "Grace, are you hungry? Should we get some dinner for you?" Grace, "Dats ok. I'll eat my dinner when we get to South Cayoyina."

When we told her we were staying in Moab last night and not South Carolina, she started bawling that she wanted to go to South Carolina, not "Mobe!"

Anyway, we had a good drive yesterday and other than Grace's confusion andannoyance that we didn't make it all the way to South Carolina in 4 hours, I'd say we did pretty good.

Since we didn't take any pictures yesterday though, I don't have any to share. So, instead I will post one of Toph and I because it was our anniversary!!!

On our way out of town he took me to Nielsen's Frozen Custard. Now, this may not seem romantic to you guys, but Topher knows me well, because a Raspberry Pecan concrete is INDEED, the way to my heart. It made me so so happy and I decided I may miss Nielsen's Raspberry concretes more than any other tangible thing (outside of my own family of course).

I then told Topher, after lots of hugs and kisses thank you, that our goal in Charleston would be to find ice cream that was a fraction as delicious as Nielsens. We definitely have our work cut out for us, wouldn't you say?

In case Topher ever reads this, I want him to know that I love him so so much. 5 weeks without him was bearable, but probably about as unenjoyable as having brillo pads in place of toilet paper. I missed him so so much. He is my best friend, my biggest fan, my wall to bounce thoughts off, (even when they're stupid), the person that laughs at all my lame jokes, thinks i'm pretty with no makeup, reminds me to be kind when I'm not, and to stand up for myself when I don't. He is my everything and without him, every day life is just not as fun. My family can be wonderful, and they make life fun too, but at some point they get sick of me and Gracey incessantly hanging around ya know? And frankly, on a day after day basis without Topher, life just starts to suck after a while. So, Topher, thank you for coming back! I know grace and I are needy and exhausting and pester you to utter frustration sometimes, but thank you for coming back, and even acting like you missed us. :) Thank you for taking care of us and loving us even with all our quirks. Thank you for asking me out 5 years ago, and for being so "stuck on me". I'm glad you didn't give me the chance to go out with anyone else, when you knew it would just be a waste of my time. :) I'm glad that you put the moves on early to ensure you'd "keep" me (topher's words, not mine!). I am glad I am yours and no one else's forever and eternity. Thank you for "keeping" me and marrying me and blessing us with such a beautiful, spunky daughter. I hope we can have more..but maybe the other ones could be just like you this time. ;) I love you. Happy Anniversary my love.

Anyway. Thanks for checking in! We love you all!

Thank you so much for keeping tabs on us!

Just Because

2011-02-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

Look at my adorable husband!!

But you have to admit, when you usually see pictures of men in military uniform, don't you agree that they are usually stern faced and serious looking? Don't you think it is all too fitting that for Topher he has a grin from ear to ear? I love it. It is so like him to be thrilled like a 5 yr. old that he gets to dress up as a Navy Officer. Only it's not dress up, so even better! He had to pay a pretty penny for his uniform and even had it specially tailored to him. I think he looks rather dashing.

I just wanted to post pictures of our house thus far. I think the exterior is done now! :) I couldn't be happier with how it looks!

Here is our backyard. See all that pretty fluffy looking green grass?? Yeah, they'll most likely get rid of all of it and replace it with 'landscaping' sod that is stiff and prickly and not soft to walk on at all. :( That's the way S.C. grass is: stiff, and prickly. *sigh*

But I am so excited about our house and about Topher! He is doing great at ODS and as I said before, he is enjoying himself in many ways.

He sent me these beautiful tulips on Valentines Day, what a sweetie!! I sent him a pkg. as well. I cut out tons of paper hearts and stuffed a flat rate envelope with them. I wrote love notes on them and made him a card. Well, as it turns out, any and all mail has to be 'inspected' by Topher's commanding officer. So, Topher's commanding officer had to inspect the hearts and make sure there was no candy in the pkg. When Topher stood up to leave some hearts fell out of the envelope, completely straight faced his Commanding Officer barked "Don't forget your hearts, sir."

LOL!!! I don't know why, but for some reason that REALLY cracks me up.

Anyway. We are doing all right. Grace still has 3 or so viruses fighting for top spot in little Grace's system. She has strep, a cough, a cold and a fever that just won't go away. She's had all of those for almost a week now!! Not fair!! This poor girl gets sick too easy already, its just sad how much this little girl has to take at once. And yet, do you think she is sad? Do you think she is pouting or whining about being sick? NO! Nothing keeps this little spitfire down. She is happy as ever and wouldn't believe you if you told her she was sick. Granted when she has coughing fits, she always looks at me and says very matter of factly "Mommy, its no fun to be sick". So, I guess she has an idea that there is something not right. But, she doesn't mind enough to slow down at all. :)

I'm so grateful for her strong, fighting spirit. This little girl is a trooper, and it amazes me, because she could easily be a wilting little flower that can't handle it...but she takes everything in stride and with a smile.

Thanks for checking in on us!

I miss my Hubby

2011-02-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

I know that there are thousands of women whose husbands have been, will be or are deployed. Some of them more than once, and ranging anywhere from 6 months to 1 yr. or more.

But just because it is so, does not mean that Topher being gone for only 6 weeks is easy.

Gosh darnit I love that boy and even 11 days without him sucks!

I have so much more respect and admiration for women whose husbands leave for months at a time. You are all strong, amazing and courageous women!! Whether you are suceeding, progressing, failing or floundering in your husband's absence, it makes no difference to me...If you and your children are still alive and breathing, I see that as a huge success.

(Isn't he handsome??!)

Anyway, I am not falling apart or anything without Topher...it's just the little things that I miss and its just occasional moments during the day where I just really miss his companionship.

I suppose that's a good thing though, I could be grateful he's gone and be living it up without him I suppose. So I'll be grateful that our relationship is such that I miss him and am not thriving in his absence.

Thinking about him though, I wanted to post a couple pictures of him cuz I love him so darn much.

If you don't care, then don't look at them! If you aren't interested, then you shouldn't have read the blog when you saw it was titled "i miss my hubby"!!

This is MY blog and I'm using it as MY journal entries, so I will post whatever pictures and sappy phrases that I want.

So there. :)

Isn't he cute? This is our little nephew Moroni and I happen to be smitten with him. I also love how adorable Topher is with him. He is such a sweet and kind Uncle, I love watching him with his neices and nephews.

Real quick, I also wanted to just update people as to how Toph is doing out there in frozen Newport.

It sounds like the first week was pretty intense; waking up at 4:15a.m., doing P.T. exercises, having several classes a day, having routine room inspections, getting yelled at continuously, , taking midnight watches in full uniform, having to stand in the back of the classroom if you start falling asleep, being timed while eating, having drills and salutes mandatory to sitting and being able to eat, having to make the bed with a ruler, getting in trouble for doing things correctly if he was one of the few who did so...

Now that he is 2 weeks in it sounds like he is actually enjoying himself in a strange boyish way. He marches everyday and does drills and salutes, listens to Naval History lectures from very dedicated Chiefs and Officers of the Navy and tonight he even got to go out to dinner at the Officer's Club, (a club for Officers ONLY). So he is somewhat enjoying himself, but he is very grateful its only for 6 weeks and not 13 like the guys in Officer Candidate School.

A funny story from his second week, they were having room inspections one day, so their rooms needed to be in tip top shape. They also had to have paperwork filled out for the room inspection to be done and this needed to be placed neatly on their desks. Well, Topher had everything done, filled out and ready for room inspection, but because out of the 51 men in his division only 6 of them did everything right, (including him), HE GOT IN TROUBLE!! I guess that if 6 of them fail, they're all supposed to fail, together as a team! So he got in trouble, for doing it RIGHT! To me, this seems ridiculous, and so unfair. But Topher said that the drill they put his whole division through because of the "failed" room inspection drill, was "kinda fun!". Silly boy. The commanding chiefs THRASHED his room for doing his room inspection properly. They overturned tables, beds, chairs, put his mattress on top of his closet, I mean seriously trashed his room. Then his whole division had to set up a mock room in a large hall, mess it up and then prepare it perfectly for a "inspection", when they didn't perfectly situate a chair, they had to then change into p.t. clothes and do it all over again...I don't see how any of that can in anyway be considered fun, but Topher swears that is was actually sort of entertaining. Such a boy.

So, as much as I would hate it, I guess it's a guy thing. Because he seems to actually be enjoying himself to some extent. Sure he misses us, but I think he is secretly enjoying himself too.

What's especially funny about all the stories he's told me is this: As I said, If I were in his shoes, I would be miserable. I would be hating life. Really. I would. But, I was reading emails from him to his Dad and writing about them to his little brother, and whaddya know? THEY WERE JEALOUS!!! They both thought it sounded like great fun, in fact, I think Toph's Dad's words were something like this "that is so cool! it's like he gets to play Army all day long!"

Anyway, we miss our Topher very much and are looking forward to see him in 25 more days.

Month of Change

2011-02-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

Aside from March 2008 when Grace was born, February 2011 is turning out to be the most overwhelming month since the beginning of our mini Andersen family. On January 30 Topher left the Salt Lake Airport at 1 a.m. bound for Rhode Island for his 5 week training at ODS (officer development school). He was to be there for 5 weeks, come home, be with me for a week, say goodbye to his family and friends, help us pack up and move out and then March 15th we would be in Charleston, SC closing on our new house.
That was the plan on January 30th.
Now, not even a week later, Topher isn't coming home anymore. He is flying straight to Charleston to close on our house earlier than anticipated and be there for the final walk through and signing.
I am moving without him now. He no longer gets to say goodbye to our house, our ward, our friends, his family, UTAH in general...
We are probably going to have the Navy just move us nowrather than doing it ourselves, and I'm just a little flustered.

Flustering aside...the end of January was also really neat. Topher got commissioned as an Officer in the Navy. He is now officially Ensign Christopher Andersen, (pronounced Enzin btw).

Yes, I did indeed notice Grace's hand is down her pants...it's lovely don't you think? I've raised such a charming little lady.

Topher also received his Diploma right before he left, so he is now a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering.

These were both such neat things and I am so grateful I was able to be a part of Topher's life for both those awesome occasions. I am so impressed by him, and you can say you hate the word "proud" but DARNIT I am PROUD OF MY HUSBAND!! He has worked hard, and I think he is so amazing. I'm so grateful to be married to him.

Before he left I also threw him a "Birthday Day". His birthday is actually on the 3rd, so our party was a bit early, but since we can't talk or be together or anything I wanted him to have a Birthday before he left. I woke up early, made him his favorite breakfast, set him up on the couch with his baby and a movie, later made him a yummy lunch, and his favorite dinner and a peanut butter ice cream pie. I figured he needed to fill up on my cooking before he was stuck with military food for 5 weeks. They're not allowed to have ANY SNACKS or food of any kind in their room, AND "there will be no desserts of any kind for the first 4 weeks"-as quoted from the manual. :) hahah!
We also went out to dinner with his familiy for his and his little sister's joint Birthday celebration, and I am so so glad we did that now since he won't be back to say official goodbyes.
Here is a picture of the progress on our house in Goose Creek, S.C.

Anyway. I am excited and nervous for this upcoming change in our lives. We will be in Charleston, SC as of March 11th and in our new house, and I couldn't be more mixed with my emotions.
Change, here we come!

Funny Story

2010-12-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It's been a while. A long while. Sorry.

We've been pretty busy.

I dunno. Stuff like TOPHER GRADUATING!!! and us BUYING A HOUSE IN SOUTH CAROLINA!!! seem to take up a lot of time and effort....but. ya know. No biggie. ;)

It's been a pretty busy couple of months though. So. My apologies for the long gap in writing.

Sadly, today isn't really going to be the day I update on our everyday happenings...

however, I have a really funny story to share.

Topher and I have been christmas shopping online the past couple of days and so Grace occasionally looks at the laptop and SEES our purchases or what we've been looking at. Well, for Christmas this year, Grace's big Christmas present is a play Kitchen. SHHHHH!!! DON'T TELL!!

Anyway, she happened to see some of the kitchens we had been looking at.

Her immediate response, "Mommy! Daddy!! I want that kitchen!!!"

Us-"I dunno Gracey. Have you been a good girl? Because Santa only brings kitchens to good girls."

Grace- "Yeah! I been a good girl!"

Us-"Oh, well that's good. But, did you write him a letter telling him you wanted a kitchen?"

Grace-"....oh. no. I didn't....I write him RIGHT NOW!"

Grace proceeds to go to the table grab a pen and a receipt and start scribbling on it, 4.5 seconds into it she lets out a big grunt and drops the pen in exasperation. "Ugh!...I just call him"

Picks up my phone. "Santa? Hello? I want a kitsen for kissmas. Ok. bye!.....Mommy! I did it!"

Me and Topher- mouth open in shock and laughing hysterically quickly stop laughing and say seriously "well, that's good grace. Very to the point."

Grace- "Daddy, I forgot to tell santa. What YOU want for kissmas?"

Topher responds and she immediately makes another call.

Seriously.

This girl cracks. me. up. so bad. She is hysterically funny.

Love her to pieces.

Also. In case you haven't seen Despicable Me. You should. We love it. Grace does too. She had only seen it once in the theater MONTHS ago, and then topher bought it a couple nights ago. At the end of the movie, Vector (bad guy) gets stuck on the moon. We are watching the movie and Grace says "he gonna say 'oh poop' now". Three seconds pass. Vector says "oh poop." Grace says "see!".

What? the? Heck? My daughter is psychic.

Oh, and now she runs around the house saying "He's so fluffy i'm gonna die!!" (Also from the movie)

Well. That's the end of my stories for today. Thanks for reading!

September Preview

2010-10-01T12:21:00.001-07:00

I'm going to post more in detail in a day or so of our September happenings...but in the meantime..I just thought I'd put up a quick preview of our latest activites/adventures. :)
We went to the Fair with Ellie and Rachel and their mommies.

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Gracey got to meet her new nephew.

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Gracey and I went to California with my sisters and her cousins. Spent a day at the Wild Animal Park, Sea World and the Beach.

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So that was the past month or so...stay tuned for the stories that go along with the pictures. :)
Thanks for checking in!

No Rejection. And some Memories.

2010-09-10T21:51:00.001-07:00

After 10 hours away from home, we were able to leave the hospital with a little Gracey in tow. The biopsy went well. They didn't have to balloon or stent open her aortic arch. The pressures have gotten a bit higher, but her function is still great. So, it will still hopefully be another couple of years before they have to do any corrective work on that front.

Recovery was pretty tough. We all know how energetic and stubborn Grace is, and they wanted her to actually lie down, flat for SIX hours. Can we say CRAZY!?? But by some miracle...we were able to do it. Yes, we. It was a team effort to keep her down.

Topher actually had to leave for school around 7:15, and Grace went in at 7:30, so I was alone for most of the day. When she came out at 10:00, Topher came back for about 30 minutes inbetween his classes to see her, and then it was just me again until about 2:00. We took a nap, watched t.v., told stories...and then there was of course a few moments where we had to fight and argue because she did not want to hold still and she did not want to lie flat, and she especially did not want to be told 'No' a hundred times to all her requests. But somehow, we made it through.

After some throwing up, lots of good vitals, prayers and patience, we made it and were able to head home around 3:00. She has been pretty drowsy and out of it. Sadly though, no silly drunken Grace has emerged like last year to entertain us. Bummer! :)

I do however have some funny phrases from the day:

At 5:30 a.m. this morning, driving to the hospital...

"Mommy, where we going?"

Mommy says, "To the Doctor"

Gracey- "Have my biopee. I not scared."

cue my jaw dropping. Did my 2 yr. old seriously just say biopsy???! I never taught her that word!! Talk about a good listener.

When they gave her an oximeter on her thumb to measure her oxygen levels...they told her they gave her a pretty red light...

"Mommy, who gave me dat?"- pointing to the red light

"Your nurse Tammy did."

"Oh. Dank you Tammy."

After throwing up from drinking too much juice, begging for more, and my saying we need to wait a couple minutes...

"We need to give your tummy a chance to rest sweetie"

"But momma, I want my juice so bad. I won't frow up. Pomise. I not be sick."

After doing her third time throwing up...she flashes me a HUGE smile...

"Mommy! I all done! Feel bettuh now! All done!"

After she woke up from her nap...

"Mommy! Had my biopee! All done now! Cap for me! "(cue her clapping with an exuberant smile on her face.)

When Topher came back from being at school..."Daddy! You back! Good job daddy! Oh, you have your lunch?! You no forget? Good job Daddy!" (cue clapping again)

At home, giving her a meager diet of food, to transition her tummy...Topher hands her 1/3 of a banana...Grace eyes it with raised eye brows, then says very skeptically...

"Dad...is that my dinner??"

"Yup"

"ok". and runs off to play happily.

What a stinking cute.I love her to pieces.

Some other things that crossed my mind today were just memories of where we've been and how far we've come. I had quite a bit of time on my hands during her biopsy, and I decided to use it up by wandering the hospital aimlessly. My wanderings took me to the 4th floor where the Newborn Intensive Care Unit is located. I couldn't stop the tears from coming as I walked down the hall, truly realizing just how far we have come as a little family, as individuals, and especially how far my little Grace has come. It was only 2 years ago that I thought the whole thing would never end and that I thought a solution would never exist that would give us happiness and fulfillment with our baby. I remembered all the feelings of hopelessness, but then remembered how each of those moments of feeling helpless were tempered with the kind mercy of Heavenly Father. He truly watched over us and kept us under his wing through that first 5 months of her life, and past that as well. To this day, I still can't actually believe that we made it through what we did. People I barely know will stop and tell us how amazed they are at us, but I always feel so ridiculous and undeserving. I didn't do any of it on my own. Everything was done with Heavenly Father holding my hand, pushing or pulling me, and sometimes carrying me completely.Topher and I would have melted in a heaping ball of tears if we had done it on our own. We would have given up. More so, not only would we have not made it through, but we would never have grown in any way.

I am truly amazed at Heavenly Father. At the love he has for us. At his endless mercy. At his infinite knowledge of our nature and capacity to endure and potential to grow.I am so grateful that he loves me so much, and that he has never deserted me. I'm so grateful he has stayed with me through thick and thin. He was with us in every room, and floor of the hospital, through every surgery, biopsy, cath lab, echo, blood draw, ng placement, long night of feeds or fussiness. He has never left us. And I am truly humbled and amazed that anyone could love me that much.

I apologize this post has turned into a mouthful of testimony. But I am overwhelmed at the moment at how blessed my little family truly is.

All of this is what I came to a realization of today while wandering through the hospital waiting to see my baby's sweet face again.

Once again we were blessed with perfect results. The hospital called and Grace has no rejection. None whatsoever. She could not be healthier.

Now, medicine and science say that that will not last forever. She can't live on this one borrowed heart forever. But my faith in God's love for me says that Grace will be just fine. She will continue to grow and flourish, to smile and love and to pout and sass. No matter what we have to face in the coming years, she will be o.k. because our Heavenly Father loves us.

Im grateful for my family and little girl that is so beautiful and sweet, and such a miracle. And Im grateful for the reminder. I needed it. Makes me wish biopsies were more than once a year. ;) Or......

maybe not. :)

Biopsy Day 2010

2010-09-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hello all. It is that time of year again. No, not for the beautiful fall weather, but for Gracey's annual heart biopsy. We woke up at five, got to Primary's at six, and grace just went back with the team at 7:30.
She did not go back happily either. In fact, she was crying, bawling, and begging me to not leave. It broke my heart, but i waited to start crying until she couldn't see me anymore.
I think that is some thing that is so unfair and hard. Acting strong for her so she is less frightened, when really I am shaking in my boots and want to cry for my mommy as well.
I sure hope it helps her a little to see a smile on my face instead of tears.
Anyway. The whole biopsy will probably take about 3hrs. There is the potential of her aorta condition having worsened, in which case they would need to place a balloon or stent, and then the procedure would take longer.
Afterwards, she'll go into recovery, hopefully wake up happy and then we'll also need to do an Echo and a visit with Dr. Norlin.
So. Prayers would be very much welcomed today.
Thanks so much for your concern for us, and for little Graces well being.
We love you all,
Alysia & Topher
And of course Gracey

Funny Things of Lately

2010-06-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, I played piano at the Conference Center. I remember that when I left, I had my purse, a bag of piano music and my sunglasses.

The next day, Grace was in the process of putting her Daddy to sleep (really this means Topher was laying HER down for a nap...but Grace is usually way more successful in her attempts to lull daddy to sleep) when I walked into her room. She quickly lay back down, sure I was about to reprimand her for putting Daddy to sleep again while mischievously waiting to crawl out of bed and cause havoc...but alas, I was tired, so I just sat down next to an almost asleep Topher and snuggled. Grace, seeing this was very relieved and excited at the implication she could get up and play. So, she hopped out of bed, went to her little purse, slung it over her shoulder, grabbed her sunglasses, put them on, and informed us "Ok, I go buh bye now. I go pay pano. I come home see you later. Love you. Bye." And proceeded to walk out of her room. Topher and I had our mouths gaping open in pure astonishment of how grown up and adorable she sounded. It was so so cute. About 45 seconds later, she reappeared in her room. "I come home see you! You miss me?! Daddy, you good girl, I bring you treat." - at this point she reached into her purse and pulled out 1 piece of popcorn from our movie earlier that day. She handed it to Topher and again told him he was a good girl, so she brought him a treat. Then, "Mommy, you a good girl?" Me: "I think so". Gracey: "I bring you treat too mommy" - and pulls out another piece of popcorn.

How cute is that?!!!

Then today, we went to a Ward function...my 2nd ward function of 3 1/2 yrs. of being in the Ward...I know I'm not so great at them. Anyway, I was by myself with Grace and felt pretty awkward and like a loser, as I usually do at Ward functions and I was basically just really grateful I had Gracey to be my security blanket. We were sitting outside the church on the grass by ourselves, my feeling totally vulnerable, and Grace hops off my lap and says she will see me later, she wants to go play. What?! No! You stay with me!! So, I gave her my best pouty lip and said please don't go! I will miss you!! She looked at me very seriously and said "Mommy, its ok. I come back soon. I miss you too. It's ok." She then kissed my cheek, hugged me, and ran off.

This evening, we were feeding her dinner and Topher was struggling getting her to take the last few bites. She put her hand on her tummy and said, with a pouty lip, "My tummy hurts. Cant eat it. My tummy owie. I need a doctor. Check my heart. Check my tummy. I need my medicine. Take me to Doctor." This was all on her own!! No encouragement or anything!! Seriously?! Wow. It was hilarious.

Pretty much, Grace is just getting more and more personality by the day. She is so happy and loves life so so much. She loves her cousins and her best friend Emma and just loves to play and be with those she loves...which is about everyone she knows. :) She is just so happy and full of joy and I love being her mommy so much right now. :) She is a cutie and we love her and I just had to share these cute little moments from our past few days. :)

Thanks for checking in!

Love the Andersens

Summer Vacation

2010-05-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

Topher's Spring Semester of school ended the first week of May. But, his Summer Semester started exactly one week later. So, we decided we really needed to take advantage of our one week of Summer and try to do some fun things. My dad was sweet enough to invite us to Capitol Reef with 2 of my other siblings, and generous enough to extend the invitation for free lodging as well. :) He worked out a great deal on a fabulous cabin in Grover, Utah. (Really hopping place...lemme tell you. I think the population MIGHT be 25) The cabin had a huge kitchen, bathrooms for the couples, a large living area, a fire pit, and a gorgeous view of a small lake and picturesque farming valley. It was breathtaking at sunrise.We headed down there late on Thursday night. My Dad, sister & I all caravanned down, arriving somewhere around 10 or 11. After a couple rounds of Password, played half asleep, we finally hit the sack.

We woke up the next morning, had a tasty breakfast and headed into the park.

Of course, pictures by the sign are mandatory.

After our photo-op we went to the visitor center where we sat forever because my Dad needed a 'quick' potty break. Yeah, right. ;) It's obviously not quick, if every other person waiting for you says you took forever Daddy. :)

While waiting in the Visitor Center Topher and I traded off caring for, (which means chasing after) our kicking, screaming & biting daughter. She would NOT hold still or let us hold her. She wanted to get down and run amok! She wanted to pull all the books off the shelves, take as many treats as possible from the register counter and shove them under her arms, stand on the kids table and jump until tipping, run around and into people's legs, and throw her head back and scream at the top of her lungs each time we picked her up. Yes, it was a joy. Which is why she eventually ended up outside on my lap, trying to eat dirt.

After we finally left the Visitor Center we headed down the street to a cute little country homestead that they have turned into a mini museum/pie pantry. We got some home made berry pie (thanks daddy!) and ate our lunches. Yes, you heard that right, lunches. We spent most of the morning doing nothing but deciding what to do. :)

After this, we headed to a small overlook of the inner valley. We went and climbed rocks, played hide and seek and learned from my Dad that, "you can't run all over. and you can't get so close to the edge of that cliff. if you fall off, you'll be dead". One doesn't often hear such loving words from a parent. Rachel then proceeded to inform me and Topher that she can't fall off any rocks, because then she'd be dead. *chuckle*.

We spent the good part of the next couple hours just going to various overlooks or viewpoints, taking little 1/10 of a mile "hikes".

Eventually we met up with Joey, Dacia & Ellie Belly to do the Great Wash hike.

This one was actually a few miles and had a bit more scenery. It was such a neat walk/hike! It went right in between two canyon walls and was just a lot of fun. The walls were fairly steep and some were a very pretty red rock. There were some wild flowers, various fun little caves and some awesome echo canyons. I have never in my life heard echoes as cool as the ones we made in that canyon. So fun!! You could actually hear your entire sentence repeated back to you a couple seconds after you initially shouted it out.

We took our time in the canyon, letting the kids explore all the little caves, taking pictures of all the wildflowers and shouting at various canyon walls.

After the hike, Topher and I went and had a very pricey outing to the town's ONE and only grocery store (so overpriced!!!) and headed back to the lodge to make dinner.

We had a great night eating dinner, building a fire, roasting marshmallows, and later Topher even did some stargazing and told the older boys some campfire stories.

I don't think I had ever really enjoyed campfires until I met Topher. I used to really not like the smell or the smoke, or even the heat. It was all just a little much. But, for some reason when I'm with Topher a fire is so much fun. I love the way it smells and love being with him. I even wanted to sleep in his sweatshirt for the next couple days after the fire just because of the way it smelled!

Anyway, the next morning we left around 11 to make it back in time for Toph's little sister Anni's STATE track meet! She is extremely talented in Track, esp. the 800 meter and we were determined to be back to support her in her race. We made it with plenty of time to walk around and take in the atmosphere and energy and then watched Anni run and do a great job! She got a new personal record, way to go Anni!! And we were really happy we got to be there for her. :)

So. That was our weekend vacation of fun before school and I'm so glad we got to do it! We really want to go back to capitol Reef again sometime this Summer. Maybe in the Fall? Supposedly they have some pretty awesome orchard picking going on in the Fall and I think that would be a lot of fun. Any takers? :)

Thanks for reading our latest adventure! I'll try to be better at updating! But in the meantime, thanks for checking in!!

Love the Andersens

Happy Birthday to My Baby!!

2010-03-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

My sweet little spit-fire turned TWO the other day. March 18th to be more specific. :)
It was SO MUCH FUN!! She was such a doll on her Birthday and we had so much fun!! Topher took the day off school, just to stay home and play with his baby girl! She loved it, and of course so did I. We just relaxed, played at home and enjoyed each other. My Mom was also in town and it was awesome to have her come visit as well.
We gave her a few little surprises throughout the day that she loved and we sang to her a lot. As a matter of fact, I woke her up by singing Happy Birthday to her. She looked at me like I was crazy, and kinda scary and asked for her Daddy. haha!! She warmed up to me later on that day though and really liked that we were spoiling her, showering her with attention and singing and clapping to her throughout the whole day. :)

So, the party, music, family, presents and friends didn't actually happen until the day AFTER her Birthday because we wanted as many people there as possible from our two families and Friday worked better than Thursday. Sadly, her fantastic attitude and demeanor sort of wore off by Friday. :( So she wasn't as happy for her Birthday party...but hey..she was still cute and happy and excited, probably just a little overwhelmed.

We decided to do a Princess Theme because lately Grace has been obsessed with Disney Princesses, more specifically Belle. My mom and I undertook a Princess Cake. One of the funnest things I've ever done!! We had Princess decorations, Princess music, balloons, tablecloths, banners, flowers, the whole works!! I've never had so much fun decorating in my life!! My mom thinks I did the princess party for me more than Grace...it is entirely possible that I had as much FUN as Grace...but I did actually do it for her. :)
My Mom and I stayed up past midnight baking cakes, decorating towers and talking and then spent almost the whole next day artfully crafting our masterpiece palace-cake. Then we made CDs, got food items together, and spent the early evening decorating my amazingly accomodating in-laws home for the party.

The cake turned out amazing if I may say so myself. : ) Thank you mommy!! You're the BEST!!
For the Dinner my sister Dacia had this FABULOUS idea from out of no where that we serve Grace's ACTUAL favorite foods, rather than real crowd-pleasing food. She may have been kidding, but I decided that sounded AWESOME! We ended up doing side dishes all around the table of all her favorite foods: Oreos, Pickles, Cheese, Grapes, Cocoa Puffs, Yogurt Melts, Cheese Puffs, Cinnamon Sugar Bread, Carrots w/Ranch, and a few others. So we surrounded the table with her favorite things and then did Spaghetti as the main dish, which is also one of her favorites. No doubt, the dinner was a hit, and then we had a lot of fun just playing games, enjoying each other's company and opening a TON of gifts. My goodness, that girl came away with way too many presents!!

So those are all the details of our super fun Princess Party and now I just really wanted to do something my sister always does for her boys' Birthdays. Sort of like a survey of Grace's personality at age 2.
1. Height and Weight: 23.6 lbs. & 33 inches

2. Fave Color: she doesn't know. obviously i need to work on colors more. hah! she does tend to pick brighter colors for things though. yellows and pinks.

3. Fave Movie: Beauty & The Beast, Shrek, Toy Story & Princess & the Frog

4. Fave TV Show: Mickey Mouse Club House

5. Fave Food: Pickles, Cheese, Bananas, Spaghetti

6. Fave Restaurant: Probably Texas Roadhouse because for her Birthday they let her ride their saddle. She LOVED it. She cried when they made her get off.

7. Fave Treat: Oreos. Any and all candy. Any and all chocolate.

8. Fave Toy: Baby dolls, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Barbies, baby stroller

9. Fave Outfit: her Princess nightie. Yeah, I realize it's not an outfit she'd really be out in public in...but it's what she always wants to wear. Tied with the nightie however, would probably just be her 'birthday suit'. This girl LOVES to be naked. Or "nay-e!!" as she calls it.

10. Fave Activity: Playing outside. Loves to swing and slide. Loves to run around. Loves to play with anyone and everyone, most esp. her Daddy. Aside from that, she likes to watch Beauty and the Beast and have her Daddy TELL her the Beauty and the Beast story.

11. Fave Subject in School: this isn't really too applicable right now. :) My guess is that it'll be recess. :)

12. What do you want to be when you grow up: My guess for her right now...would be a mommy. Cuz she likes to do everything. And Mommies are the only ones that do it all. :)

13. What makes you happy: "Daddy happy" "My Joey". "Duh-ies! Wah! Wah!" "Swing. Sie. Ou-Sie". "Shower with Mommy Daddy." Translation: Daddy makes me happy. Joey. Duckies that go "quack quack". Being outside on the swing and the slide. Showering with Mommy & Daddy.

14. What makes you Sad: "Bi Nake! Git me! Eat me!" "My Joey!" "My pa-eh cut"
Translation: Big Snake! Gonna get me!! Gonna eat me!! This is new btw. As of last week when we went to the Living Aquarium, this is her biggest fear. The Joey one is pretty obvious. The last one, would be paper cut. She got a paper cut about TWO WEEKS ago, and still wants us to kiss it better more than once a day.

15. Best Friend(s): "Ellie Belly Boo" "Joey" "Maya". I would add her aunt meggie, and aunt Anni, and her cousins.

16. One Wish or Dream you have for yourself: "Eat Eat". "Eat eat Daddy".

17. Personality Traits: Affectionate. Crazy. Silly. Independent. Needy. Funny. Mischievous. Diva. Aggressive. Dramatic. Smart. Quick. Creative. Forgiving. Helpful. Friendly. Defiant. Energetic. Stubborn.

18. Your Testimony: "Jesus kie mommy daddy sad. Jesus ha-ie Mommy Daddy ha-ie." "Jesus pretty picture." Translation for that one is "Jesus cries when I make Mommy & Daddy sad. Jesus is happy when I make Mommy & Daddy happy." I taught her that. :) The last one is "Jesus is pretty in pictures.". She points at every picture of Jesus in our house and knows exactly who it is. Where the pretty came from, not sure. But she thinks he's very pretty. :)

19. Thoughts on you from the last year: Where to begin!! You are such a funny little girl!! You constantly make me laugh out loud, and probably just as often make me want to pull my hair out. :) You are a very energetic vibrant little girl and are constantly bouncing between extreme happiness and extreme sadness. You love to be outside, even if just in our ridiculous excuse for grass behind our apartment, running around finding birds. You love to play. You always want to make new friends. We took you to Nursery for the first time about a month and a half ago and even though it was a totally new envioronment with people you'd never met or seen, you probably hugged about two different little girls and were always very concerned if anyone cried. You love to laugh, you constantly make jokes and then clap at your cleverness. The other day we couldn't find your binki, people asked you where you put it and what happened to it, you said "Anni hide it". Then you smiled mischievously and laughed with your head thrown back. You are so defiant sometimes. This irritates the snot outta me, but at the same time, if we can learn to harness your defiance at the correct things and teach you to be stubborn about the right things, it might just make you a force to be reckoned with for good. You are very smart and catch on quickly. It makes me so happy inside when you see pictures of Jesus and know exactly who it is. You know how to pray, how to fold your arms and bow your head. Even though, the other day, Grandma says she peeked at you during prayer and you opened one eye, looked around to make sure no one was looking and stole a piece of dinner before the prayer was over!! You are so fun to be around. You definitely tire people out. But once people spend a good two STRAIGHT days with you, they get the gist of your personality and fall head over heels in love with you. You love to play tag...only you really call it "git me!!" or "I git you!!" You love to give hugs and kisses and always insist on getting kisses better when you get owies. Grace...I love you to pieces.

I want you to know I love you so so much little grace. And there really is nothing else I should be doing besides learning to care for and love you. You make my life so much more fun and full. You make me a better person and make me realize it's ok to rely on a 2 yr. old to be my best friend. I want you to know that that is something I look forward to: someday, maybe not too far from now, we will be the best of friends and you will hopefully love me as much as I love my Mom. I love you little Gracey!! Keep growing, learning and having fun! You've been given a second chance at life and I'm so grateful you are living it to the fullest!
Happy Birthday!

Happy Anniversary To Us!

2010-03-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Today is my and Topher's Three Year Anniversary! Yay for us! We celebrated last weekend since Topher has school this week...that and I'm going to Vegas tomorrow. (yay!)
We were lucky enough to have my Dad's wife Karen watch Grace for an overnight, (Thank you so much!!!) and so we went to the Anniversary Inn - a definite favorite of ours. We have probably been about 6 times and we love it. Especially the Logan one. And this may sound silly, but one of the prime reasons I love going to Anniversary Inn so much, is not their awesome jetted tubs, or huge showers, or fun themed rooms....no no, its much better than all that. It's the food. Seriously. Moan. They have the best breakfasts in this whole world! They have these home-made ham and cheese filled croissants, and home-made raspberry cream filled croissants. Then this awesome yogurt with fresh fruit and granola. And your choice of 2 drinks per person. It doesn't get better than that. Well, it does. It's delivered to your room, whenever you want. Awesome!! Then there's the fact that there's an iced bottle of sparkling cider and 2 cheesecakes waiting for you in your room when you check in. Seriously? So sweet.
Yes, that is what I was looking forward to on our overnight more than anything else. :)
We also went out to dinner at the Olive Garden, and the next day, we drove home, hung out, cleaned our house (minus a gracey!!! so nice...) and went to dinner at the Melting Pot. We have always wanted to try this restaurant. Because we like Fondue, because it looked/sounded fancy, and just out of curiosity. Well, it was definitely good, but I don't know about $100 good!!! That was our first ever $100 meal!!! We have never even been close to that before!! It was crazy!! I mean, it was good...but not THAT good. Oh well. Our curiosity has now been satisfied. :)
All in all, it was an awesome way for us to celebrate our fabulous, fun and stress filled 3 years and I love my hubby so much.
He really is so perfect for me, and that is obvious for everyone to see. Anyone who knows us as a couple and knows us individually, knows that we compliment each other just right. We are "equally yolked" as someone said in church yesterday. We fulfill each other's needs, challenge each other to be better and support each other in every goal, no matter how lofty.
I love my Topher so much and am so grateful he saw past all my flaws and decided to marry me. We have our hard times, but I know no one could make me happier and make me feel more loved.
Happy Anniversary Topher!! Thanks for the past 3 years! I'm excited for all the ones to follow. Thank you for our beautiful little girl! She is so fun!
Love you Sweetie!

Lengthy Ode to My Love

2010-02-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

Today is a very special day. :) It is my Topher's 26th Birthday!
The love of my life is one year older (wiser too perhaps?). And yes, I try to be appreciative of him on a daily basis, not just on his Birthday, and yes I COULD write blogs about how much I love him on a regular basis, but...people would most likely get annoyed, and no longer read my sappy blog. And Topher would be embarassed. Those of you who know him know he has quite the adorable pink cheeks when embarassed. BUT, since it is his actual birthday today, I can go all out. Write just how much I love and adore him and no one can complain, and he only has to be embarassed for a few short minutes. :)

Anyone who knows me, my dating history, and Topher, KNOWS that Christopher Curtis Andersen marrying me, is well, a miracle!! For me, his being my husband is the most powerful confirmation of God's love for me. There is no way He would send me someone as AMAZING as Topher, unless he loved me A LOT.

That aside, I just want to take a minute, for Topher and for me and my kids in the future that read this....to just name some of the many reasons I love my Husband so very much.
Topher is a trooper. This week we have ALL been sick. It started with Grace being sick. Then Topher and I both caught it a day or so later. As of yesterday, Grace was getting a little bit better, and Topher and I were both getting worse. Now...it's his Birthday week people. But, has he once complained about being sick? NO! He has stayed home a whole day from school (which is a HUGE deal for him at this point in school) JUST to be with me. Yes, he rested a little, but mostly he cooked, cleaned and babied me and Grace. On top of that, yesterday he let me lie around moping and feeling sorry for myself, while once again, he cleaned and babied me and Grace. He put movies on for us, tucked us into bed together, put laundry away, brought us drinks. And let me remind you, he IS STILL SICK.
I know, I know, my family is thinking that I'm the worst wife ever. And that may be. But, Topher doesn't think so!! I know!! What is the MATTER with him!! He says he loves me. But, I'm still wondering if my parents are secretly paying him. ;)
If that is not reason enough to love him to pieces, then let's add on to that the fact that I have been INSANELY grumpy the past few days. I have been crying randomly and sad constantly, un-motivated, whiny, and completely un-helpful. I know for a fact, that I would drive myself and many others crazy. I feel that I should have been driving Topher crazy. But instead, he told me how much he loves me and how beautiful I am. This is with no make up, 3 days of unwashed hair, no deodorant, a fever, a cough, and a tissue up my nose, while whining and being self-centered.
See why I think he is being paid??!
He is such a sweet heart. I wish I deserved such a Prince, but deserving or not, I am SO GRATEFUL HE IS MINE!!!
Not only is he a wonderful husband who for some reason adores me, and loves me unconditionally, he is the most loving, affectionate, and attentive Daddy.

He is so sweet with Grace and everyone who knows us, knows that Grace's favorite person in the whole world is her Daddy. And it's not hard to guess why.
He plays with her, tickles her, lets her give him kiss after kiss, even when she has a snotty nose. He'll watch Shrek three times in a row for her, or 10 minutes each of Mulan, Shrek, Toy Story, & Peter Pan before she decides that really she just wants to eat. He plays hide and seek with her, takes her outside on adventures, plays "1-2-3 wee!" over and over and over. He helps her feed, change, and put her baby dolls down for naps.

He makes her favorite TinkerBell and Buzz Lightyear characters with his Mr. Potato Head stash. He reads her stories, dances with her, sings to her, even when its out of key. He has no problem changing diapers, even if it's Grace's 3rd in 25 minutes. He lets her put him to sleep, even when he is trying to put HER to sleep. And he is so so patient with her. Little Grace can be such a handful sometimes, and most of the time when she is whining, crying, screaming or even screaming her Graceysaurus shrieks, he can just smile and think she's adorable.

So, yes, he is an amazing family man. But it doesn't stop there.

I had a lot more written out here, but, re-reading it, it was too much to share in such a public blog. So....although this has already been quite the ode to my man...I'm going to lengthen it a little more and name my 10 most favorite Topher qualities. :)
1. I love how smart he is. He is dedicated and works hard in school and personally, I think he's a genius. Even if he CAN'T keep track of his phone or car keys. :)
2. I love that he is in the Navy. Maybe it's because I grew up in a military family, maybe it's because military to me means masculine. ;) But I love that he has taken our lives in the direction of the Navy and all it has to offer us. :)
3. I love that he wants to be a Doctor and go to Medical School. It's going to be a LOOOONG road and definitely hard. But so rewarding. And I think he'll be amazing.
4. I love how much fun we have together. He is a genius yes, but he has no problem acting like a big nerd with me. We laugh so much together and I love that.
5. I love how much he loves the outdoors. I know we'll never have a summer without multiple vacations that include camping, kayaking, picnics and kite flying. I love that he takes us on adventures and gets us outside.
6. I love that he is adventurous. He always wants to try new things and just about everything he tries, he's good at. This summer he finally did kite-boarding lessons and it was a blast for him and for me to watch.
7. I love that he plays games with me!!! We have about a bazillion games, and we play games constantly. We like to take a day off from everything, watch movies and play games and it's the greatest!
8. I love how much he loves me, and Grace. And I love knowing that he would do anything for our little family's well being.
9. I love his testimony and strength in the gospel. He is such an example to me and I love having that in my life. He always brings a strong spirit into our home no matter what and that means the world to me.
10. I love that he loves my cooking!!! He thinks I'm the best cook ever! And what wife doesn't like to hear that??!!
and 11. because I need a #11...I love that my husband is a babe!! I love that he can grow a beard and it grows in red!! How awesome is that!!? I think he has the sweetest most perfect face, (esp. his nose!!) and I love that my head fits perfectly in the nook on his shoulder. :)
I love you Topher!!!!!!! You are my everything!! Thank you for being the perfect Husband for me! No one could love me better!
Happy Birthday!! I'm so excited to celebrate you!

Clean House!!

2010-01-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

Now, you may be thinking that a post about a clean house is not blog worthy...and if that's the case... well then you really don't know me. Because an ENTIRELY clean house...is DEFINITELY blog worthy in my world.
We have been so all over the place since about...mmm....the beginning of Summer??...that our house has dearly suffered the consequences. It has not been completely clean since...well, I can't even remember.
Now, I don't do well with messes. They make me angry, and frustrated and grumpy. So, eventually we always cave in and clean. But, with a problem called "Gracey", we never get further than 1 or 2 rooms....1 or 2 loads of dishes and clothes. The house is always half clean.
Well, this time, we really got down and dirty. We cleaned the WHOLE HOUSE!! BOOM BABY!!
It was wonderful. I am so happy.
So, to document this momentous occasion...I'm blogging about it.
Including pictures.
Don't worry, i'll throw in a cute picture of Grace too. Just for giggles. :)
Would you look at that??? Clean dining room....living room. Ooh! Ooh! And you can see the floor in our bedroom!! The WHOLE floor!! There isn't even a basket of clean clothes waiting to be put away! Go me! Oh! And my desk?! It RARELY gets to be that clean. So nice.

And here is my adorably beautiful baby. She's happy the house is clean too. :)

And....another one. Because I can. And...she's too cute for only one photo of that smile. :)

The great thing about a clean house...is that when I wake up in the morning...I don't have to dread trying to clean my house with my ankle biter. Instead....I can focus on her, and me. And us having a good time together doing things that are way more important than cleaning...like having tickle wars and watching Shrek 4 1/2 times.

Getting Better...

2010-01-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning, Grace was still really sick. Her fever had persisted for over 7 days, as had her cough, cold and diarrhea. So we decided to go into the Dr. again. Just to double check that things were o.k.
They did a viral panel, which she HATED. We got the results back on Sunday and YAY! She tested positive for R.S.V. We lovingly passed this along to our neice Maya (so so sorry misty!!) and I may have also passed it on to Ellie unknowingly!! Ugh! I hate getting people sick!
We have no idea where it came from...but for now...I'm going to blame Caden. :) He was the only person sick at Christmas time (afte which grace got sick) and it makes you feel so much better to point fingers doesn't it?? Ok, fine, maybe not. :) I love you Caden!
But anyway, she tested positive for R.S.V.
However, R.S.V. really is just like any other common cold. Just about everyone has had R.S.V. at some point, they just don't know it because it was a mild case. We are scared of the diagnosis R.S.V. because we hear about all the kids in the hospital with it. BUT, the kids in the hospital with it have the RARE bad luck of having a more severe case of the virus. So, since Grace's condition was normal and nothing severe, they offered no extra advice, no medication. Just that we stay home and take care of her there, unless her condition worsened, and mostly, if her breathing became labored. So...we are at home, waiting out this nasty virus.
The good news though, is that it finally seems to be going away!! She has had it now for 2 weeks but it seems to be making its exit. She hasn't had a fever for almost 2 days, the cough is less persistent, the diaper changes are less frequent and disgusting...so this is good!! We are on our way back to our healthy girl.

Along with her health, her personality is also returning. She wanted to take a bath yesterday and was all smiles and silliness for me. So so sweet.

Also, I think part of the reason she's been getting better is thanks to her many naps. She has taken about three every day for the past week or so, and in some unusual places too. :)
We love her so so much and just think she is the sweetest thing. Sneaky yes. Shockingly defiant, yes. Dinosaur Tantrum thrower, yes. But so so sweet too. Yesterday I realized more than ever just how much I love her little face. It is so sweet and beautiful and I just love it. She completely abused this however because she did all sorts of mischeivous things yesterday and then she'd look at me with this BIG mischievous grin and those beautiful blue eyes, and when I'd say "that's not ok, we don't do that", she would giggle and say "okay", with the mischievous grin and eyes that say..."ok...I won't...at least not when you're looking...."
We love and adore her and are so glad she is getting better.
Topher's first day of school was yesterday. It seemed to go well. It was a long day, he didn't even get home until almost 6:30 and had left at 7:30 that morning. But, I think he'll do great. He is capable of so many amazing things and I'm looking forward to the semester more than I thought I could. After all, this is our second to last semester!!!
I just hope I can be the wife he needs me to be. I've learned that a lot of how Topher performs and does in school, is a result of the support I give him. Whether it me keeping Grace out of his hair, feeding him, getting him up in the morning, or getting him to go to bed, getting him focused on homework or just giving him pep-talks...I really do influence him a lot! Wow, huh? So, I hope I can be helpful to him as much as possible, and not be a detriment in any way.
Anywho...that's all for now...oh, unless perhaps you were wondering...
YES I DID WATCH CHUCK ON SUNDAY!! The season 3 premiere was on Sunday, and let me just say it has not budged as my favorite show ever!!! I also watched it again in its usual time slot last night. It is such a great show! I love it! And I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Mondays. NBC. 7p.m. Be there or be square. :)
Ok...there's my Chuck fan moment for you. :)
And BTW thank you everyone for your sweet comments last post. I didn't mean to sound down. But it was really nice to have all the thoughtful comments saying to keep posting what I want and need to write. Thanks so much. You guys are all great. :)
Lots of love
the Andersen Family

Don't Know Where To Start

2010-01-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

I keep falling behind in blogging. Sometimes I wonder if I should just give up! Every time I post, there's a good five weeks to catch up on...so each entry is a re-cap rather than daily happenings... or for that matter even weekly happenings. Geesh.

The last post I did was talking about the end of October and all of November. The post before that was our entire summer in one post. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail because too many of my family members COMPLAIN. So. In short.

I put our tree up after our Thanksgiving in Preston Idaho with Topher's family.

This picture is from Nikolaus.

Finals happened. Winter Break came. We went to Temple square with Mum & Sam.

We left for Idaho on the 17th of December and stayed for a week. Did Christmas with them and a day after Christmas party with Sam's kids.

Christmas Day in Idaho. With our matching pj pants from my Mom.

We left two days after Christmas and did Christmas with Topher's parents. Then did Christmas with my Dad and family. And New Years was with the Andersen family.

I'm so sorry this is coming off very impersonal and uncaring. I am feeling pretty hopeless that I'm so behind in updating. This is supposed to be my journal in a way, and I hardly ever write!! And I sure don't write in my regular journal any more than I write here, so, Im just sad that I've done so poorly at making and keeping a record.

I need to be better. I hate New Years resolutions...but maybe this should be an exception and I should make a resolution to write weekly...or at least every other week. Who knows.

At the moment, Grace is sick. She has been since last Friday. She has a fever, sore throat, cough, cold, diarrhea. The whole works. We already went to the hospital, and she wasn't dehydrated, so, all we can do is take care of her at home. But that was Tuesday and it still won't go away!!! Our poor baby. The saddest part is that she tries to be such a trooper but it is so very evident that she is miserable. Oh well. This too shall pass. This is her snuggling her daddy with her two new stuffed teddies the nurses gave her while waiting for labs.

We, or maybe just I, am dreading Monday when Topher goes back to school. Its been so wonderful to have him 24-7 for the past 3 weeks. This semester promises to be even more work than last and that is too overwhelming to even think about.

Aside from Grace being sick...I was able to do actual PIG TAILS on her about a week ago. You may be thinking that this isn't blog worthy...ooooohhh but it is. She has hardly any hair, and what she does have is kinda wispy and not worth mentioning...but I was able to do pig tails the other day. I personally thought it was adorable. Took about 10 pictures of the back of her head.

Anyway. Not really sure what to mention. Too many family members complain about my insanely long posts...so I don't want to do another re-cap that just puts people to sleep. So. yeah. The Christmas holiday was fun, tiring, full of wonderful family, involved sisters, tearful farewells, good food and lots of driving as well as some relaxing.

I'll try to do better at updating more frequently. But as i've said before, no promises here. :)

We're Alive!!!

2009-12-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

Geesh I have not blogged in a LONG time. Most likely because the last two months have been insanely busy. Everything from bed bugs to Disney World and everything in between. Definitely a lot has happened. I would love to go into detail about everything but that would probably take an incredibly long post which I know a lot of my family is not interested in reading through to the end. To start with though, back in October I was supposed to go to my sister Emily's house in Vegas. However, my neice on Topher's side got the swine flu and passed it along to Grace, who then unknowingly exposed all my brother's kids as well as my sister Dacia's little girl. All three of us and our kids were planning on traveling to Emily's house, but because we were all potentially sick and exposed to Swine Flu, the trip was cancelled. :(
We were so disappointed and sad, but, again, Heavenly Father demonstrated his all knowing and we were actually being given an answer to prayer. Those of you who have seen Grace at any point since EASTER, know that she has consistently had a rash. Not just any old rash either. It was terrible. Red, itchy bumps took over her entire face, neck arms, legs and sometimes her tummy. It was awful. She didn't even look like a beautiful little baby. She looked diseased, and sick and she would itch all the time and it was just awful. We had been to dermatologists, pediatricians, cardiologists and family doctors about the rash numerous times. Everyone who saw her had a different idea of what the rash might be, from chicken pox to rosacea. A dermatologist we like had prescribed a cream for her that would sometimes work, sometimes not. We had been praying for months that this rash would subside, or that we would be able to discover what was causing it...but we never thought the answer would come in the form of Swine Flu!
When Grace came down with the Swine Flu, I decided it was time for a deep cleaning of her room. I sanitize it frequently, wash the sheets frequently and lysol her toys a lot also. But I hadn't stripped her bed completely and washed the whole frame or the surrounding floor and walls in quite a while, so I decided I would do that to try and get her room really sanitary again.
I took off the blankets and pillows, then I went for the bumpers around her crib. I undid each tie around the posts of the crib, and found this...

not just one of this either...but in extreme numbers. Each tie of a post was undone only to unleash over 15 bugs that would scatter all over her bed. I remember being frozen in shock for a split second, and then I screamed, then I gagged, and then I cried. Bed bugs in my baby's bed! TONS of bed bugs in my baby's bed! Disgusting, creepy big bugs! It still gives me the heebeejeebies.
It was a horrible couple of days, however, we were so grateful that we were finally able to discover what was causing Grace's rash (which was in actuality bed bugs, eating my baby's flesh every night) and then put a stop to it.
Yes Grace got swine flu, as did Topher and I. But Grace was sick for a total of a day and a half. As soon as we found the bed bugs, and Topher and his Dad gave her a blessing, she was back to herself by that evening. So miraculous. Swine flu SHOULD have put her in the hospital. But all it did was serve as a means to an end. It was the only way I would have found those bugs, and so it was the only way Heavenly Father could answer our prayers.
We had an exterminator come that same night and spray the entire house. Curtis and Topher also took over 9 jumbo size garbage bags to the laundromat because the exterminating company said that any laundry around or near Grace's and our bed needed to be washed at extreme high heat to get rid of any possible bugs/eggs/feces.

It was an exhausting and upsetting couple of weeks what with cleaning and being sick. The day after we found the bed bugs, I came down with the swine flu, and the next day Topher did as well. However, we came to realize even more how very blessed we are with loving, helpful and supportive family and friends. Our "adopted" sister Francesca, AND her mom came over to our house the night we found the bed bugs and brought us dinner. They also took some laundry for us and then stayed to clean and sanitize different rooms in the house. Toph's dad came twice to give us all blessings. My adorable sister came and brought us about 10 bottles of juice and snacks and medicine. My sweet sister in law also came, bearing medicine and pie. She also took Grace in the days that followed so I could recuperate and clean. And my even dropped off soup and medicine. We felt very loved and are still so grateful that we had friends and family so willing to help. Thanks to all of you! You are wonderful!
After the laundry, coughs, fevers, and bugs had subsided, we were left with a destroyed house, which kept me too busy to ever post about the adventures we'd had.
Then came Halloween with my family, (my awesome sister even came up from Vegas!!) Grace was a "Fairy Witch". Topher and I decided she needed to be something that fit her personality. My sister's adorable angelic baby Ellie was being a fairy, and Daysh said we should do the same thing so they could be fairies together. But...you see, Ellie is angelic....Grace is destructo girl. So it didn't fit right. But when we added the adorable little witch part...it suited her just right. Adorable, yet sassy. My mom and I made the costume together, which was a blast, and it turned out so so adorable and fun.

A trip to my Mom's (including the Tetons)

Thanksgiving in St. George (which included a 5k with my whole family!! Dacia & Joe participated as well but left early to get dibs on the shower),

Thanksgiving in Preston and a Thanksgiving in Farmington (yeah...probably gained about 10 pounds that week)
and finally this last week...DISNEY WORLD (!!!) with my Dad, Karen and Rachel.

I am finally home again. And hopefully will be for a while. It would be nice to finally get my house in order and get back on a schedule.
Here's a couple of my favorite moments of late though...
In St. George there was a sweet garage sale...I got matching dresses for all the little Johnson girls, new shoes for me, and they had a stack of barbies and a barbie car. I asked "how much for all of this?" She answered "2 bucks for the whole stash." In my mind I was jumping up and down like a school girl, on my face I was the image of absolute maturity. So I bought them all for Grace, then went back to the St. George condo we had, and gave them all a bath in soap and lysol, washed their hair, brushed and styled their hair, dressed them with Barbie clothes I just happened to have in my trunk and then let Grace play with them. I only creeped out about every person that walked past the bathroom and saw me primping and styling my barbies. hahaha.
To put it simply, Grace has found a new love. And that's her barbies. She loves them, hugs them, kisses them, rocks them, puts them to sleep in a shoebox we fashioned into a bed and carries them around everywhere saying "baby baby". She is so cute.
Also, her newfound talent....snorting. She has always snorted if you get her laughing hard enough. And it was made me laugh hysterically. But she has finally reached that age where she loves to make me laugh, so she'll do it on command now, just to make people laugh.
I got this video of her for your viewing enjoyment. Sorry it's so dark, but the noises its what you want anyway.

She is so adorable and I love her so much. She was so good at Disney World. I Really wanted to go and I felt fine about taking her, but that didn't stop the worries and fretting over if she would scream the whole plane ride, or if she'd sleep and eat enough, or if I'd be able to keep her clean and healthy, but she was an angel. Or, at least, she was on her best impish Gracey behavior. She was still her sneaky mischievous adorable self, but she was so happy and energetic and sweet too. No tantrums (except when I took her off the carousel),
hardly any whining, she ate well, slept well and was just a joy to be with. It felt like a mommy daughter date that was too good to be true for 4 days. I loved it!

This is her on the carousel. It was easily her favorite ride. She loved being on it and each time I took her off the ride she would go nuts. I asked my brilliant dad to take a video of me taking her off the ride at the end because I just had to show Topher how much Grace loved it. Somehow...there was a communication break down between my Dad and myself. So when I handed him the camera, he thought it was recording. I thought it made sense that I just had the camera on the record setting...but not recording when the ride wasn't started yet, and I was handing it to my Dad...but that aside...the best tantrum thrown the whole trip...was not actually caught on video because Dad was not recording as he thought he was. So, she used up all her could fetal position screams and shaking in anger for nothing. So, when we went to put her on the ride AGAIN, she was a little less energetic. So, watch this video and then imagine her being three times as upset. Because that's what the norm was. :) Knees locked up against her chest, arms at her sides shaking, and screaming in distress. That was how powerful this little girl's love was for her horsie. haha

Her two new favorite words of late are "wee" and "side". She absolutely loves to swing and slide. This video is really cute, its her saying her two favorite words, and then also talking about ellie and dacia who were in the room with us. It was also a demonstration of her ability to clap for herself when she eats. Such an over achiever. Her favorite food is bananas and we clap when she eats, so she was trying to remind me to clap for her. When we were in St. George there was a little playground in the back yard of sorts, and the slide was all she ever wanted while we were there. Day in and day out, she would ask for it.

I love this picture of her on the carousel. It should have a title like "baby on cloud 9" or something.

When we tell her to smile, she goes "eeeeeeee" with this big cheesy grin.

Disney World was so neat with the Christmas decorations. The castle was all lit up in icicle lights that made it look so neat and frosted! It would change color too which was awesome.

Karen and I were the model of poise and maturity during our Disney vacation.

My dad, seriously, he needed a time out every now and then. Seriously.

Or maybe...its just that the picture of Karen and I is one of a series of pictures that became less and less poised and mature looking....hmmmm....
This is my favorite picture of her lately. Her skin is finally getting back to the baby softness that its supposed to be. And I just think she is so pretty and so adorable. I love those eyes and that perfect little nose. I just love this little girl so much!
Anyway...that's about all the time I have to post...so...although this is a very random post, I'm gonna be done now.
Just know that we are alive and well and having fun with our ever growing and adorable little Gracelyn. :)
I will try to post again soon! Thanks for keeping updated on our little family!

End of Summer At a Glance

2009-10-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finally gave up trying to find the cable for my camera. I ran to the store in my pjs with grace bundled up with me and got a card reader.
So, I had over 650 pictures to upload onto the computer and all of them were from the last 2 weeks of July to now! That's a lot of pictures. And all those pictures have a story behind them.
Since I knew it would take me months to tell all the stories of the rest of the summer, I decided to this instead. A quickie glance of our happenings. Perhaps later, I will be able to go more into detail on some of the events. Like Grace's Heart Birthday and how special it was to be with Topher's family. Or about our surfing adventures, and my actually being able to get up! Or maybe the very fun weekend at my mom's house where Grace discovered her wigs. There's also the amazing Girl's Weekend my sisters and I were able to pull off. Lots of beading, movies and good food. As well as a lack of personal hygeine. ;) But, since these all could merit a blog of their own, this will have to do for now. :)
For those of you who always want more pictures...ENJOY! This is just for you!
ANDDDDD....since I can't figure out how to make the collages show up on here bigger...click on them and it will take you to a larger view. :) I have text on them you won't be able to read unless you view it larger. :)

July had some fun outings. California with Austin. Girls Weekend with the ladies in St. George. Camping at Utah Lake with the Andersens. Kite Outings. I'd say we were home a total of 2 weeks...off and on.

Disneyland with the Andersens. Trips to see mom in Idaho. Again, a busy and VERY fun month!

September was slower since school had started up. We were able to get away for one fun weekend with Daysh and Joe though! We mainly went for the food....and the boat. ;)
Thanks for checking in!
Now that I have my camera AND a method of depositing pics. onto the computer, there will be many more pictures and posts to come!

Sedation=Drunkeness

2009-09-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

Before your imagination gets carried away, no, none of our household was drunk. At least not literally. But in a manner of speaking? Perhaps.

I mentioned that Grace had her Biopsy in late August. Although it went really well, Grace's Dr. (Dr. Everitt) said they wanted a more clear picture of her ascending aorta, because the gradients/pressures were shown to be a bit uneven. They weren't particularly worried, but just wanted to be safe. So we scheduled a sedated echo for a month after her Biopsy. That was just a couple of days ago and boy oh boy, it was quite a day.

When Grace goes in for a sedated echo, she has to be fed differently beforehand, so I set an alarm on my phone for the day before, so I would remember to feed her differently. But, setting it the day early proved to be too early, as I had forgotten by the time her evening meal rolled around and promptly fed her a bottle. Her echo was supposed to be at 8:30a.m, but since she had the bottle the night before, we couldn't do the 8:30 echo anymore. Which was a bummer, because it would have been much easier to not feed her the night before and all night long. She doesn't typically wake for midnight snacks. But, our rescheduled echo time was 2:30... now I'd have to keep her hungry all morning and afternoon. I knew it would put her in great spirits for the echo... starving and mad. I tried to postpone breakfast as long as possible, and made sure we ate the same thing, so she couldn't ask for something else. Raspberry Jell-o and apple juice isn't the best breakfast in the world. But, oh well.

We got to the Dr. at 1:30 and she was angelic. Completely the opposite of how she usually behaves for echos. She is always kicking and screaming and sprawling all over, but this time she was so good!! She insisted on holding her baby doll, and she would rub its head and give it kisses and tell people around her to "shhhh" because baby was asleep. She was so sweet.

For the first 15 minutes.

The doctors felt like she was pretty cooperative, but not "still" enough, so they figured they would try to just give her half of the sedation dose. Just the feel of the medicine going into her vein sent her over the edge. Strange, I know, but its true. How she doesn't love cold liquid streaming through her arm is beyond me. She didn't like that feeling one bit. So, they had to give her the full dose, plus a dissociative, (relaxant). I had to hold her in my arms because no one could restrain her little body on the bed as she kicked, screamed, arched her back and tried to roll away from everyone. Holding her little body in my arms as different parts lost complete control was so hard!! She was fighting me with every fiber of her being, but was slowly losing control of her head, and her eyelids, and so on. Poor thing, even once her eyes were closed and she couldn't lift her head anymore she was still pushing against me. It took her a good 10 minutes until we could put her back on the bed, and even then, she continued to whimper in her sleep, just to show she was still protesting.

They said that most babies will stay asleep for 2 hours, and not to wake them early, because they will be very very grumpy. Since Grace can so easily have a mean streak, I really didn't want her to wake up early. However, I also knew that if Grace had any say in the matter she'd wake up the second her eyes could open, whether the rest of her body was ready or not.

And that's just what she did. Exactly 45 minutes after they'd administered the sedatives, and only 2 minutes after finishing the echo, she started to wake up. Go figure they were moving her upstairs in a bed, so her floppily trying to sit up in the bed was NOT a good thing. She smacked her head into the side railing, then on the oximeter and was just all over the place. When we got to the post-op floor she was writhing in my arms, with no head strength mind you, and her eyes rolled back into her head, and moaning loudly. Of course, for comic relief, she was doing all of this verrrryyyyy sllllooooooowwwlyyyyy. Sort of like someone had hit the slo-mo button. I would ask her a question, and she would nod "yes", but when she lifted her head up, it would roll back and stay for a second, then she'd push it forward, and it would roll way forward onto her chest and be stuck there until I held it against my chest. So I decided to stop asking her questions.

They got her a warm blanket (they have these amazing blanket ovens) and put it over her, she immediately responded with "aahhhhhht" "aaahhhhhht". "Yes baby, its hot, huh?" Then another nod of the head, locked backwards, and then locked forward. "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht". It was so hysterically adorable, and sad at the same time!

Even though her eyes were still practically closed, she wanted to get down from my lap and walk around. They warned me she would be VERY dizzy, uncoordinated and to watch her very closely. I underestimated their meaning. She had NO coordination WHAT SO EVER.

So, back on to my lap she went, complaining, and moaning the whole time.

She tried to drink a bottle of juice, but drooled a lot of it out. Also very funny. And finally was happy with oreos. Most of the filling ended up up her nose, because she couldn't use her hands. She had a big band aid on one from the labs they drew, and an i.v. in the other one, (which means the cardboard up her hand) and so she had no control of her hands and where they were putting the cookie. So, up her nose they went. But she was happy anyway.

When they said we could be discharged from post-op and head downstairs for clinic, Grace was completely awake, but still very loopy.

But she insisted on walking. Gratefully, Topher was with us by this point and could help her. But, she didn't want any help. She wanted to walk and dang it, she didn't want Dad's help. He would try to hold her hand, and she would shove his fingers away from hers, and begin to walk. She couldn't put one foot in front of the other without tripping over it, and couldn't walk even one step straight. She swayed this way and that, tripped over this foot and then the other one. Fell over, then tried to get up and fell back wards. Then cried for help, and started all over again. But she didn't lose her grip on the Oreos in her hand.

The rest of clinic had to be performed in the hallways of Cardiology because she was not about to sit on some hospital bed in a hospital room. She was done sitting. She wanted to be walking around putting on her best impersonation of a tipsy 18 month old. Everyone that saw her laughed hysterically. Her Doctor could barely get out a sentence before having to pause and just laugh at Grace's attempts to walk without tipping over.

When they sent us home they said she would need constant supervision, and that she would be grumpy and clumsy at least until the next morning.

She slept on the way home and another 40 minutes once we got home. When she woke up and I went in to get her out of bed, she was leaning her arms and head against the railing of her bed, crying. But, she was crying very slowly, and in a much lower tone than usual. It was crying in slow motion! Once she saw me, she gave me a crooked smile, reached her arms up for me.....and fell backwards into her bed.

I pulled her little body up, and took her into the living room, where she of course, just wanted down. I put her down......and she fell over into the movie case. So, I decided to just put her in her spot on the couch. I tucked her as far back as she goes, put pillows around her and put a movie on. In the time it took me to lean away from the couch and push play, she had tried to turn around and climb off the couch. Instead, she managed to fall off the couch and land on her back. So, I propped her up, between the couch, and the coffee table, while I went to push play again. This time.....she fell over side ways, hitting her head on the coffee table leg, AND the chaise. And since she never cried after any of her falls (she just looked very, very confused each time she fell), Topher and I didn't have to feel guilty for chuckling.... perhaps even laughing hysterically. each time she tipped over.

The poor thing had such a hard night. On top of the clumsiness she was also EXTREMELY grumpy. So, it was a good thing there were things to laugh at every once and a while, or we might have gone crazy with such a grump on our hands.

Anyway, I just had to post about this. As I've said before, this is a form of journaling for me, and I don't want to forget how hysterically cute she was that whole day.

I wish more than anything I had had my camera. Pictures wouldn't have done the day justice, but video for sure would have. But, alas, its still at my sister's. However, they said these sedated echos will be a twice a year occurrence...so next time, I am GOING to have my camera in hand, ready to capture my stubborn and tipsy Grace.

Grace is 18 months old!

2009-09-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't finished my California Dreamin' posts, however, I still can't find my camera cable, and now, to further the situation, I've left my camera at my sister's house. So, it may be a while before my trip diaries are completed.
But, since this is a form of journaling for me, I couldn't let another day go by without mentioning that my baby is 18 months old!! On the 18th, actually. So, I'm a little late. But, that's nothing of a surprise.
Grace never ceases to amaze me. She is constantly growing and changing, and very slowly, she is turning into a little toddler. I no longer feel like I can call her my baby. Babies are not as active, energetic, affectionate, silly or stubborn. She has always had a strong personality. No one can dispute that. She has definitely had all the same characteristics since she was born, but she can express them much more now.

She is into EVERYTHING, and I don't even try to keep up with her anymore. She makes messes faster than I even find them. Such as this morning, she found my food coloring. Let me just say that the cupboard the food coloring was in, was supposed to be baby proofed. She found a way around that. Found a way to get the lid off the food coloring and proceeded to turn her face green. Only once I saw her did I also see that she'd emptied out all my pancake mix onto the floor, the nesquik mix, the plastic cups, (now placed strategically AND individually all over the kitchen floor), the cereal, and the crackers. Along with everything being on the floor, she also had a handful of said foods in each hand, and lumps in each cheek.
What joy.
Honestly though, I wish I could have put on a straight face and scolded her, just so she'd know I meant business. But all I could do was laugh. So I turned and walked away so she wouldn't see me laughing hysterically at her mischief.
When I came back she had a look of such elation. Grinning from ear to ear, but at the same time, pausing every couple seconds to look at me for confirmation that she wasn't in trouble.
See, that is why I can't call her my baby anymore. Babies don't make that much of a mess!! Only toddlers on their way to being terrible twos.
Some other new things Grace is learning, is how to spin in a circle when she dances. She has always loved dancing, shaking her hips and such, but the spinning in a circle is definitely a new acheivement. Of course, I should mention she gets thrown off balance before a whole rotation and usually runs into an adjacent wall or falls down. But it is adorable to watch none the less.

She also has started trying very hard to take care of her baby dolls. She rocks them, puts blankets on them, tells us "shhh", becuse they're sleeping, and carries them all over the house. She also is trying not to bite their fingers and toes as much anymore, (I think this is because she bit her cousin Ellie's toes the other day, and Ellie didn't like it so much).
She wants to watch movies, ALL THE TIME. It used to be that when we got her up in the mornings, she wouldn't leave us alone until she was fed. She would grab our faces, pull them towards her and tell us hungry in sign language REPEATEDLY until we got out of bed and to the kitchen.
Now, she gets in bed with us and yells "Wa! Wa! Wa!" (To mean Watch of course) We tell her to pick out a movie, and she brings us one, exclaiming again "Wa! Wa!" We of course like to repeat this sequence a few times, to give ourselves a few more minutes to snooze while she is putting one movie back and picking a new one. But she is constantly wanting to watch movies. Yes, sadly, she may be becoming a couch potato. Although, she only watches any given movie a maximum of 15 minutes, then she wants a different one, or some food.
She hugs, kisses, tickles and blows raspberries on EVERY BABY SHE SEES. And this includes PICTURES of babies. It's a bit awkward when I don't even KNOW the victim of a baby, or their parental units, and I then have to apologize for my daughter's over excessive display of affection.
One thing that has completely changed is her favorite food. That's not to say she doesn't still like oreos, cheese and berries. However, none of these match up to Bananas. She can down an entire 'nana' in about 5 minutes. With oreos, she has discovered how to twist them to separate top from bottom, and she now just licks out the cream filling. Smart girl that Gracey. I didn't even teach her how to do that!!

Anyway. That is my girl. She is adorable. And a large majority of the time, she is a big pain in the pants. But I love her to pieces. Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is feeding her, giving her a place to sleep and changing her diapers. But then she does little things, without being prompted, to show me that I might just be teaching her some things. Like wanting to say prayers at night, listening to her primary lullabys, saying please, thank you, and sorry, giving hugs and kisses to people that come or go, and sometimes just knowing when I need her to calm down and just let me hold her. Those are the moments I can console myself with thinking that maybe, just maybe I'm doing a few things right.

Anyway. Thanks for reading! Grace is growing fast into a healthy, strong, beautiful, and happy little daughter of God and we are so thankful for her and the time we've been blessed to have with her. Thanks for checking in on us and for all the love and support!
By the way, my apologies for all the pictures being so out dated. Once I get my camera back, and the right cable, I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures of our beautiful girl. She has definitely changed a lot!

California Dreamin'

2009-08-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

California was definitely a theme for us this Summer. We visited the great Golden State a total of FOUR times this Summer. Which, maybe for some of you isn't much, but in my opinion, that's a LOT! Sea World was the first, and I have already posted about that, the Reunion was the second, and I have also posted about that. The 3rd was our Celebrate Little Brother Austin trip. Where we went to California for the sole purpose of lounging on the beach. In all honesty however, Austin got burned our first whole day there, and didn't want to go back after that. Haha! Instead, we relaxed in the Hotel, re-applying aloe vera every couple of hours. Ha! Good times. We did in all actuality spend most of the time at the beach, it just wasn't quite what I imagine Austin had expected.

We drove down to Las Vegas on a Thursday after Austin got off work. We were worried about the long drive, but Austin managed to keep Grace entertained with his....um....im not sure what to call it. Yes, that's saran wrap. But don't ask me where he got it. I didn't give it to him...

But it entertained Grace. She managed to entertain him quite a bit too. Then they wore each other out and ended up like this.

We arrived quite late at my sister's lovely abode and crashed there for the night. The next morning we left relatively early to finish the drive towards Seal Beach/Long Beach. We just had to make one short pit stop along the way.

Yup. A Surf Board. Neither of them had ever surfed. But, it was only 50$! So they decided it was worth it to try and teach themselves.
Austin and Topher had arranged to take some kiteboarding lessons while down there, so once at the beach, Austin got right into his lesson. When he wasn't worried about how his muscles were showing up on camera, he did a really good job. hehe

Topher had already taken the first lesson (see Hood River post) and so he busied himself with skim-boarding, and perfecting the art of face planting in the waves. I'd say he got it pretty down pat. The video gets funnier each time you watch it by the way...

So, that was our first evening in Seal Beach. The next morning we went to a local Beach where Topher and Austin tried out their new Surf Board, and where Austin learned just how much you get fried from falling asleep on the Beach and refusing Alysia's offers of sunscreen. Lobster. That is the word I'm using to describe Austin's back, arms, neck, legs after his little nap.

Grace also took a nap on the Beach and that gave me lots of uninterrupted reading time. yay!
I would LOVE to finish this post...however i can't find my camera cable anywhere to get the pictures onto the computer...so...that is the first 2 days of our trip, and as soon as I find a way to get the pictures on the computer, you will get the last 2 days. As well as our last few trips of the Summer.
On another note, Grace had her biopsy last Friday. She had her Heart Birthday on August 21. And she is doing better than anyone ever could have hoped for. The Biopsy went well, really well. The results came back great, no rejection and we are thrilled.
I have tons of things to post about, but no pictures to include, so hopefully soon that will change.
Thanks for checking in!

Summer Re-Cap Anyone?

2009-08-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

I looked at a calendar this morning and saw that school starts in 4 weeks. That's when it dawned on me: Summer is almost over. Let me just say that again for emphasis. SUMMER IS ALMOST OVER! Can you believe that? It's quite depressing for me. Not because I LOVE summer time and will miss barbecues and holidays and the incessant heat...no. But because Summer is when I get to spend the most time with my husband, my family, and on vacations. I will definitely miss the vacations and constant companionship of Topher.

Along with the realization that Summer is almost over, came the realization that I haven't posted about a single trip we've had this Summer! And there have definitely been a few. In fact, I feel like one or the other of us hasn't been home for longer than two weeks at a time!

So...I will post about our first major trip of the Summer (excluding of course the California/Sea World/Disney Land Trip... that came first) Anywho...The First Trip of the Summer was for my extended family's Reunion. We have one every other year and they are always huge, loud, hectic, far away ....and lots of fun. This one didn't feel quite as crazy, but it was definitely still all of the other things! The reunion was held in Grant's Pass, Oregon, and for us was going to be about a 13 hour drive. Not really the most appealing factor when you have a 15 month old who'd rather have her blood drawn than sit in her car seat for even five minutes. So, we decided to break the drive up into sections. A LOT of sections. We left a full 4 days before the reunion even started so we'd have plenty of time to get there. We also purchased Harry Potter Book 6 on CD so we'd have something fun to listen to/do on the way there and back.

The first day our plan was to make it to Caldwell Idaho, right on the border of Idaho and Oregon. However, thanks to Harry Potter and Jim Dale's captivating reading performance, we got so distracted we ended up an hour and a half into Oregon before we noticed we'd completely missed our exit. Good thing we had decided NOT to make reservations at that campsite! So, we hunted for a campground, ANY campground, and finally found a state recreation area around 11 o'clock and set up camp there.

We woke up to an obnoxious 5:45 a.m. sunrise and cows mooing in what seemed way too close of proximity to our tent. Silver lining, we got an early start. So we continued on to our next destination of Hood River way ahead of schedule. :) Topher has always wanted to learn Kite Boarding, and Hood River is known for ALWAYS being windy and has about 6 different companies offering kite boarding lessons.

Our campsite was across the Columbia River from Hood River and was a really fun stay for us. It was literally right on the shore of the River, but between us and the river was a railroad track. A very, very, very regularly used railroad track, where Trains were going every hour on the hour, in both directions, and having to blow their whistles each time they approached the bridge....also right next to our campground. As you can imagine...we didn't get much sleep. Not just because it was noisy, but because Grace would absolutely lose it each time the train would come past. It really was not even a rock's throw away from us, and it scared her so so badly. Poor thing. She would just crumple into tears and huddle between our legs sobbing each time it went.

Other than the trains, the campsite was really clean and well kept, and we were 1 of only 2 people camping there. So it was very private and nice. It also had the really nice, clean bathrooms and showers. They only cost 25 cents for every two and a half minutes!!

We wandered around down town Hood River almost the whole afternoon, just going into all the kite and bike shops, and boutiquey toy stores. It's an awesome location and a lot of fun, sort of like a downtown Jackson.

We decided just because we were camping didn't mean we had to eat canned Tomato Soup, so we went out and bought steaks, mashed potatoes, veggies, kabobs, and all the supplies/utilities needed to make a good dinner. I grilled steaks on the little campsite grill and made mashed potatoes and vegetables with our newly purchased camping stove and we had an awesome dinner together.

The next morning was Topher's kiteboarding lesson. It was plenty windy and Topher had a blast learning the tricks of the trade. He was a natural at everything and picked up 3 lessons worth of material in less than 2 hours. He just didn't have the energy to try getting up on the board after 4 hours of kiting and body dragging in the choppy Columbia River.

After Topher's lesson we headed for the Columbia River Gorge to meet up with my siblings who had finally caught up to us on our way to Grant's Pass. We did a couple of hikes along the way and had a lot of fun watching Grace interact with all her cousins who she absolutely adores. I couldn't resist these pictures of Gavin and Anya that I took. Even if their mothers don't love em', I just love these pictures. They are both so perfect and innocent looking in these pictures!

We even all went out to dinner at Red Robin to celebrate my brother's Birthday! It was 9:30 at night, but hey, that's standard for Johnson family dinners anyway. :)

We stayed at my wonderful Aunt Sheila's house for the night, went to a Ward in her neighborhood the following Sunday morning and then continued on towards Grant's Pass. Topher's family has done numerous vacations along the Oregon Coast, and as a result of these he loves the Pacific Coast Highway. It goes right along the Ocean front and so we couldn't miss taking this route to our next destination of Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. It was definitely the "scenic" route, and not just for the views, but also because it took much longer. But it was worth it just to see the smile of contentment on Topher's face the second the Ocean came into view.

Even though the reunion didn't start until Monday Evening, nearly the entire family had gotten tent sites that Sunday night at Umpqua and so we pretty much started the reunion a day early. We got to the campsite relatively late in the evening but still had a lot of fun camped right in the middle of my siblings and among all my cousins and Aunts/Uncles.

The next morning we went to the Beach where Topher flew his kite, we played in the sand, ate sand, ate food with sand in it, and tried to keep from eating our hair as well. It was a really beautiful beach, and we did have fun...but I've decided if a beach is "perfect" for flying Topher's kite, than it's not perfect for Grace and I to play.

The days of the reunion have kind of blurred together for me because we didn't do any of the big family events. (Topher was a lame-o head and didn't want to...don't get me started on why not...I don't know!) Everyone else went Rafting, Zip-lining...and we always stayed back at the Lodge...with practically no company. :(

We did have fun, don't get me wrong, but most of our fun was at night when people were actually there, or related to my brother-in-law Joe's having brought his awesome dirt bikes. I loved riding his little 50 around. So what if my 6 yr. old nephew can ride it too? It's still fun! Even Emily got in on the action, and that's saying something. ;) In other happenings, my sisters and I made a big dinner for everyone and that was a lot of fun. The girls all did a card exchange. We played a huge game of Family Jeopardy where everyone got in on the debates that ensued after every. single. question. We did our routine Johnson Family Photo session...and I was amazed by how little arguing there was in comparison to years past, as well as how much FASTER we were than in years past! Only two hours vs. the usual 4 where everyone is yelling in exasperation that they're going to leave if one more person says, "oh wait, my camera too!" *sigh* Thank goodness for Alan and his declaration that his would be the only camera, and he the only photographer.

Topher and I did branch off one afternoon to go do a little hike that was down across town. It was supposed to be a "Botanical" walk that showed all the different terrains and climates across Washington. I was a bit skeptical at the start...everything was dead..and we were going over bridges where there was nothing but a dry rock bed. But I was soon in love with the little Botanical Nature Walk. There were sections that looked like rain forests, high meadows, pine forests...

I of course loved all the sections where there were waterfalls, esp. because they were all relatively small and we could climb on them and get Grace really up close and personal to them.

The Lodge that my Dad and his siblings found for the Reunion was great, and so fun for us all to spend time at and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with everyone.

For our drive home we decided to try and stick with my siblings. They were going to head to Crater Lake and the Redwoods and we thought both these options sounded like a lot fun.

We did a hike down to the lake and that was quite the adventure. Nearly straight down, the hike was said to take approximately an hour to an hour and a half. We discovered by the end of the hike, that this was 15 minutes for the way down, and an hour for the way back up!

The next day we did another waterfall highway type of drive and that was just awesome. We stopped by 3 or 4 different waterfalls, (we would have gone to a lot more...but we had a very avid nature photographer who needed at least 50 shots from every angle ;) ) we took the little walks or hikes to each one and just really enjoyed the scenery and being together.

I am always floored when I hang out with my siblings. I know they are my best friends, and I know I love to be with them. But then, when the time comes, and we are all together, I am overcome with how much I absolutely LOVE to spend time with them. I feel very blessed to have my family be my closest friends and even more blessed to have gotten to spend so much time with them this Summer.

Anyway...I am getting side tracked. After our waterfall scenic highway evening...we stayed in a hotel all together that was actually an hour NORTH of Grant's Pass. (This is opposite the direction we were wanting to go to get home...) Yes...we planned this. I just didn't realize how big of a detour we were really taking. A whole 2 days of traveling just to end up an hour North of where we started. I'd say its worth a chuckle. Even if it was "planned".

The plan for the next day was to head toward the Redwoods. And again, Harry Potter messed up our plans and we ended up way past our destination. So much so, that we would have to drive an extra 2 hours back the way we came to meet up with my siblings again...or we could continue on towards home. As much as neither of us wanted to miss the Redwoods, Grace was starting to act sick, and neither of us was feeling all that great either. So, we decided to head home. A little depressing, but we were getting a little home sick anyway. We drove all the rest of the day without stopping until we got to Reno, where we stayed at a Ramada my Mum and Sam had recommended.

The next day, we all felt pretty congested and sick so we drove all the way home. No stops at lake Tahoe or anywhere else scenic for that matter...just all the way home. Where we of course drove right past the exit for our house and went straight to the Andersen's for Gracey to see her Grandma and Grandpa whom she hadn't seen in nearly three weeks. :) We went home late that night, and it was so very wonderful to be home in our own beds. Granted, Grace only gave us a total of 4 days before we were in the Hospital with her nasty virus and dehydration. Maybe that counts as a vacation too...?

Are you still with me?!! If you are...I'm impressed. You just made it through the entire long, and drawn out recapitulation of our Washington/Oregon Summer Vacation. Stay Tuned for our next post California Dreamin'. All about the next trip of our summer...to guess where? Yup. California.

2009-07-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

As a quick update. We made it home. We have a few more doctors visits in the next few days, to continue to check on grace, and most importantly to make sure that her medicine levels are all under control. But, we are no longer residents of the hospital, for now.

I guess that the terrible spiral that we got into that led us to the hospital is that grace will start to feel sick and won't eat as much and get dehydrated, and this means that her medicine will be more potent which makes her kidney function drop way down, and her imune system to turn off even more, and makes her sicker, and less willing to eat, and so pretty soon she can be in a pretty bad shape. She is all re-hydrated, and nourished now, and on a reduced dose of imune-suppresents. Hopefully now she will get much better, and we will soon have our happy little grace back

As a quick story: Just before going home today, grace was in a better mood and finally wanted to get down and explore her room. She was still hooked to an i.v. however, so we would wheel the i.v. stand out into the middle of the room and let her walk around a little. She soon descovered that the i.v. stand was on wheels, and a great thing to push around as she went, so we had our little tiny grace, in her hospital shirt, with i.v.s and tape and bandages all over, holding on to this giant I.V. stand, walking around, it was quite a pitiful/cute/funny little thing to see. At one point she even grabbed her little bag of treats and thew it on to the i.v. stand to wheel around with her, she was pretty cute.

It is good to be home. Thank you for your love and support everyone!

Hospital Nostalgia

2009-07-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

We got back from our 11 day Road Trip to Oregon about a week and a half ago. Aside from beautiful pictures, some souvenirs and lots of mosquito bites we also came home sick. I with my cold and cough, Topher with a cold, (now has turned into a sore throat as well) and Grace with a variety of stuff. Starting with our first day home, Grace just had a cold. The next day it was a fever of 102. The next, a fever of 103. The 4th and 5th days fever of 104. Let me just input here that when I say fever I don't mean one fever that lasts until the Tylenol kicks in and it breaks leaving us a happier baby. Im talking a fever of 104 for nearly a straight 48 hours. We gave little Grace tylenol around the clock for about 4 days. Her fever would never "break". But just come down a degree, maybe two, after THREE hours. In another hour, the Tylenol would wear off and she'd be back to 104.

On the 3rd and 4th days of her being sick we went to the little IHC Instacare down the street from us to have her looked at. The first time by the Family Doctor, the second time by the Pediatrician. Each time we did tests for Strep, for Ear Infections, for Bladder Infections, and the second day we did a Viral Respiratory panel. SO fun. Lemme tell you. It involves Topher holding Grace's head down, me holding her arms and legs down, and the nurse spraying a load of saline up Grace's nose and then using those brain suckers to suck out as much snot as possible. Let me just say Grace was so angry her face was purple and she was barely breathing by the time they were done. ugh.

So, each time we went in to the Instacares, the immediate results of all the tests was negative. There was nothing they could give her, we were to just tough it out with the Tylenol. It can probably be understood that Topher and I did not really sleep for those 4 or 5 nights. But were more like zombies, trying to keep Grace comfortable, trying to break her fever with Essential Oils and wash cloths, refilling the Humidifier, rocking her, singing to her, trying to keep her hydrated.

Anyway by Sunday her fever had started to go away, she was at a low grade 99 or so and we were starting to think she was going to turn around and get better now. But alas, we were wrong. The fever traded places with a cough. A really nasty cough. And a stuffy nose. And a bloody noses. And eyes so puffy and pus encrusted she sometimes couldn't open them.

Tuesday morning Grace's cardiologist called to see how she was doing, we said she had pretty much turned the corner with the Fever but now had a bad cough.

They worried it might be Pneumonia or Influenza, or possibly even that she had the Swine Flu, even though the test came back negative.

So Tuesday I woke Grace up and took her to the E.R. We waited in a room in the E.R. from 11:30 to 5:00. Being seen every half hour or so by someone different wanting to check this or that. Grace screaming every time one of them came in the room.

Anyway, long story a little less long, it was determined she was massively dehydrated, had a virus they couldn't identify, and because of the dehydration, her immunosuppressant was having free reign, affecting her kidneys at three times the desired level, and so her kidneys were down to half function.

It's now Thursday, and we're in the Hospital for our third morning now. Grace just doesn't seem to want to get better. The cough is still there, the crusty eyes, and the cold is still there. She is fully hydrated now after 2 1/2 days of I.V. fluids. But she has no desire to eat whatsoever. Grace! Who LOVES eating at home, and who is constantly saying she is hungry, and who if we let her would eat all day long, junk and more junk!

Maybe I should rephrase...she won't take any fluids...and won't eat anything that would actually have nutritious value for her. She won't drink anything...we've tried Gatorade, Pedialyte, Milk, apple juice, chocolate milk, grape juice, water...

And all she'll eat is nibbles of cheese, and yogurt melts.

At this rate we're never going to get to go home. :(

So, coming back to the title of my blog however. I will say that when we first came to the hospital and got admitted, I actually had a few moments of nostalgia. I actually missed being here. I realized I had missed the hospital smell, and being up with her all night snuggling, and I definitely missed the food. Cheap and oh so very tasty.

Anyway, hospital nostalgia aside, we are ready to go home. We have proven time and time again that Grace always does better at home. She sleeps better, eats better and recovers more quickly. So, please, pray for Grace to eat something beneficial so we'll get the green flag to head out. That would be so wonderful. Especially since on Tuesday, when we originally drove here, it was with the intention of coming home that very evening. Haha. How I had forgotten Hospital procedure.

Anyway. Sorry the post has been so long. Just wanted to update.

Thanks for you thoughts, concerns, and prayers, please keep them coming!

Love Alysia, Topher and Gracelyn

Road Trip!

2009-06-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

School was out for both Topher and myself the first week of May! Yay for us! We had decided a while back that once Semester was over, we wanted to take a little trip together. But more importantly, we wanted to Grace on her first trip. Our planning was a little sketchy and we didn't actually decide exactly where we were going to go until 4 days before our desired departure date. :)

We decided a trip to the West Coast would be a lot of fun, and we'd throw in some stops along the way. We headed out the morning after Topher's last Final and drove to Vegas. My awesome sister lives there with her adorable 3 boys and elusive husband (haha, he just works a lot), and so we stayed with her that evening and played with her family the next morning. We mostly just relaxed; watched t.v., ate good food. Grace loved chasing the boys around and once caught she loved hugging and tackling them.

Emily took us to this great park that her neighborhood had- the Splash Pad- just a really fun park, but all the toys are water toys. Everything sprays, squirts, sprinkles, spews, or dumps water and it is a lot of fun. I was so excited for this! I thought Grace would love it, and I figured I'd like it to, because let's face it, Vegas doesn't have the most comfortable climate.

But, I was very surprised to see that Grace hated it!

The second she saw it she was whimpering and struggling to go the opposite direction from the park. And the moment she got a drop of the cold water on even her toes, she went berserk. She screamed and cried, collapsed in a heap on the ground...it was hilarious and sad, and also just down right disappointing. We determined Grace is a big scaredy cat when it comes to anything not medically related. I mean, how come she can handle open heart surgeries, cath labs, blood draws and oral medicines but not a Splash Pad???

After the Splash Pad and some lunch we headed out and continued on our way to Sandiego. The drive wasn't too bad. We had actually made a DVD for Grace, just of pictures. Pictures of her, her parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course, more her...and she loved it. Toph added music to it, and she watched the 30 minute DVD about 4 times in a row before she'd get bored. We got to Sandiego that evening around 9:30/10 and got nice and rested.

The next morning, OFF TO SEAWORLD!!!!

Because of Topher's being in the navy, we were able to both get in for FREE!!!! It was wonderful! We all had a lot of fun, and Grace even enjoyed seeing quite a few of the animals. She loved to point at all the sea lions, and Toph says she really ejoyed watching all the Dolphins swim by. I wouldn't know, I was the 21 yr. old hanging over the waist high wall, trying desperately to touch one. I was successful by the way. In fact I was the only person in the entire crowd surrounding the dolphin exhibit that ever got the dolphins to swim past me and let me rub them from mouth all the way to tail fin!!! wahoo!! I even had one that looked like it was going to eat my hand...hmmm

The shows were fun, and luckily it was an overcast day and school was still in session, so it wasn't nearly as crowded as we had thought it might be.

Topher surprised me by saying I could do the Dolphin Encounter if I so desired...of course I very much desired!!! So we paid the outrageous amount of money and I was able to get up close and personal with not one, but three beautiful dolphins. (It was supposed to just be one, but ours kept misbehaving, so we got to meet three :) )

It wasn't quite what I had expected, no swimming with them or riding on their backs or jumping up in the air or anything like what you see in the shows. Instead, a fairly grumpy trainer telling you to "Stay against the wall!" "keep your hands at your side" "smile for the camera! ok, now hands down!! back to the wall!"

But it was definitely a lot of fun and I'm grateful my husband loves me so much to try and appease my giddy 10 yr. old love of dolphins.

Half way through the day we went to Coronado Island to go the rather large Naval Base there. It was such a nice base and we especially loved the Navy Pride store. To be frank, we went a little crazy there. But, we had to show our appreciation for SeaWorld! No?

We then headed to the private military beach, so Topher could use his new boogie board. It was overcast, and 6 at night, so we actually had the entire beach to ourselves. It was pretty cool!

Topher was probably the only person in the water on the whole island! (It was pretty cold). But, maybe because of the lack of people, or maybe just because Topher is so cute and fish-like...a grouping of 4 or 5 dolphins thought it would be really fun to swim with him while he body surfed the waves. I'm serious! At one point he came back to shore yelled at me to look out at the waves, and right there where topher had been catching waves, dolphins, jumping in and out of the water, swimming right there with Topher!! So, I got to touch the dolphins for an enormous fee, and Topher got to surf with them....for free. :)

Instead of going to a fancy restaurant as originally planned, (it was too late, and we practically used the whole travel budget for me to do my Dolphin encounter ;) ) we drove around trying to find what I was in the mood to eat. After stopping in the parking lot of a few places, and then determining that no, this would not hit the spot, we settled for KFC. Which is strange because I really don't like KFC. But, surprisingly, it hit the spot. We got a ton of food, went back to our Hotel, (which btw was ON the harbor, you looked out your window, and you were on the water, and there were boats, a rock's throw from the window. My rock's throw, not topher's. He can throw a lot further) and ate KFC on the bed and watched T.V. It was a really fun, relaxing and wonderful night.

The next day was Sunday and we left relatively early to drive to Los Angeles. Topher's sweet, hospitable, wonderful and adorable Aunt & Uncle and kids live there and we had to stop and see them to make our trip complete. (Thank you SO much Kristen & Tyler!! You guys are wonderful!) It was Mother's Day so we went to Church with them and I thoroughly enjoyed one of the talks on Motherhood, it made me realize just how important every mother is, no matter how different from one another, and no matter their mothering style/techniques. They are all special. Even me! yay! We also got extremely delectable red velvet cupcakes. Uncle Tyler says they're famous in California, and I thoroughly enjoyed mine, but I'm not sure I enjoyed eating it as much as I enjoyed watching Grace shove her face in it. :)

Grandma and Grandpa had also been in the area for the past week so they were at Church with us and accompanied all of us to the Beach right by Santa Monica Pier. It was a lot of fun for Topher to get another chance to boogie board, and my Dad, his wife Karen, and their little girl were even down there, and were able to meet us at the beach as well.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but Grace also hated the Beach. When we went to the private military beach, she screamed as soon as she saw the ocean and was hysterical if you ever tried to touch her toes to even the sand. It was the same situation here at the beach in Los Angeles and she just could not handle the waves, the water, the sand, nothing. However, my Dad made it his goal to get her comfortable and spent probably a good 30 minutes going up and down in the sand and water, trying to make it a game for her. She didn't think it was fun. Not at all. But we did go from a screaming hysterical Grace, to a Grace that could tolerate it. Not love it, or even like it. But tolerate it....while holding her breath. :)

Aunt Kristen made us delicious meatball lasagne, home made key-lime pie! And they got us to-die-for cream puff pastries and an awesome Mexican Breakfast, played games with us and even made us sleep in their bed! It was a lot of fun to spend time with them and their ADORABLE kids, play games, laugh and eat awesome food.

Monday after breakfast and some directions, we began our trek home again. (We stopped at Trader Joe's btw...can I just say i LOVE Trader Joe's!?) We thought that Grace had done so well for 4-6 hour drives, why push her limit with an 11 hour drive home? So we determined to drive to DisneyLand where my sister Emily was, pick up her house key, and stay in Vegas again that night on the way home. She said to call when we got there and she'd come out of the park to give us the keys...

But then it happened....

we drove under the sign, just the sign to the parking Lot! It said "Welcome to DisneyLand!"

And then I lost all control.

"Topher!! We should go to Disneyland!"

"Buggy....no. We can't go to Disneyland"

whining and moaning and gnashing of teeth ensued

"but please Topher! We're already here, and it's DISNEYLAND!!!"

Long story short, Topher couldn't resist my feminine charm. And we went to Disneyland! My sister and her family were there. My dad and his family were there! It was so fun!

I love Disneyland. I love Disney World. It truly does make you feel like a kid again. Ahhhhh.

But for all of you that are thinking we are crazy and insane for taking our precious Grace to the most child infested place on Earth, fear not. We did go prepared.

We both had Lysol in EACH pocket. We sanitized before and after each ride. We lysoled children that came close. We lysoled nephews that looked in Grace's direction. And 75% of the time, we had Grace in a cocoon of safety...her jogging stroller

It was a lot of fun, and Grace really only went on three rides, which we deep sanitized, and none of which she actually enjoyed. Something about darkness and water, scared her a lot. :)

But we had a blast and Grace was an angel and I'm so glad we went.

After a fun filled day at Disneyland, we left at 8:00 and headed for Vegas! Got there around 1:30 in the morning, slept, woke up at 7:30 and left at 8:30!

Got home after a long and grueling drive where Grace wasn't so great, and then I went straight to a concert with my beautimous sister Dacia! (This also was a lot of fun...but perhaps more details at later date...this post has already become extremely lengthy...) (and pictures to come)

Ellie Burr!!

2009-04-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

I just have to take a minute and welcome my new niece to the world!!!

My beautiful sister Dacia had her baby girl this past Tuesday, (at 1 in the moring!!) and it is so so wonderfully exciting!

They named her Ellie Naomi Brewer, but I like to call her Ellie Burr. hehe

She is itty-bitty, at least to me, weighing only 6 lbs. 15 oz. and she has a head full of beautiful little tufts of soft dark blonde hair.

I have gotten the privilege of seeing her every day since she was born and also of holding her quite a few times. I love baby snuggles!! I have to say, she makes the cutest little noises.... contented little sighs, little whimpers & squeaks. It is the most adorable thing. Even her crying is cute.

Anyway, this is her and her adorableness. :)

Just had to shout "hurray!" for my new niece! So so cute & sweet.

Oh, and btw, just because it's funny, Grace adores her, even though she's not allowed to touch her right now...who knows if she still has a runny/stuffy nose etc...

But Grace sees her and points, then furiously signs "please", while grunting in Ellie's direction...

I see a pair of 'best friends' in the making. Or at least, I can only hope so. :)

What better than to have your baby be best friend's with your best friend's baby, right???

Grace hits the 1 year mark!

2009-03-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

just so you are prepared...this post has a lot of pictures, and they're all very messily spread around. i'm having issues with blogger at the moment. but, hopefully you can still enjoy the post.
also, i realize she is now 13 months old. i know. i suck at posting. but, better late than never right???

Gracelyn's Birthday was on March 18th! Can you believe it?! Our little girl is already 1 yr. old!! It is so unbelievable. To think that we have had her in our lives for a whole year...wow. Sometimes it feels like its dragged on, day by day, by day...by day...but then, miraculously, it all the sudden has been 1 yr. and you realize that it truly has flown by.

We started our journey with this.

life flight & a lovely i.v. in her beautiful noggen!

and this in the middle...

definitely all cause for stress...

however, we've also had these...

moments like these, have made the difficult patches all worth it...

and most recently...we've had this...a little walker. who walks EVERYWHERE. and gets into almost everything...there's still time for that i suppose

Our feisty little Gracey-lou has been a challenge and a blessing, all rolled into a chubby little ball with big blue eyes & a giggle to melt your heart.

I liked this survey...so I'll think we'll use it for Grace too!

1. Height & Weight: 18.76lbs. & 26in....i think

2. Fav. Color: She is constantly pointing at the pink fish on our shower curtain...but I would say she really loves bright colors.

3. Fav. Movie: She is always very attentive for Veggie Tales...and also Muppets...although i'm trying to lay some baby einstein on her. make her educated. :)

4. Fav. TV Show: probably Veggie Tales. although her favorite thing to see on the t.v. screen is pictures of herself....

5. Fav. Food: Her favorite baby food is the Apples & Cherries. But, let's be honest...she doesn't actually believe in eating baby food for me. she loves baby cheetos and also is constantly getting adult foods. So, she loves ranch, bread, cheetos, orange juice.

6. Fav. Treat: The girl loves oreos. And I recently discovered she also has a thing for nilla cakesters...must run in our womanly genes

7. Fav. Toy: Mommy & Daddy's cell phones...remotes..however, since she ruined a remote, and a charger...we have tried to keep these away from her. Her newest favorite toy is her dolly. Her Grandma Venice bought it for her for her Birthday, and it giggles when you press it's belly. Grace adores this little dolly. She laughs, smiles & giggles right along with it, and we are constantly catching her hugging it, kissing it, picking it up and snuggling it. She just loves it.

8. Fav. Outfit: She hates getting dressed, AND undressed. Her fav. outfit is her Birthday Suit.

9. Fav. Activity: Following around mommy & Daddy and crying until they pick me up. Also, taking all the movies off the shelves and THROWING them behind me. Making a mess. Whining. Ok, a more realistic one...Grace really loves to be outside; going on walks, getting the mail, taking out the trash...any excuse to be outside.

10. Fav. Subject in School: Well, she's not in school, but I imagine she'll love music & dance. She is always dancing to music and shaking her booty. The girl has rhythm.

11. What do you want to be when you grow up? Topher said "just like her mommy"....I

roll my eyes at this...and say that she probably always wants to be Daddy's little girl. We want her to be whatever her little heart desires.

12. What makes you happy?: Cheetos, the outdoors, cuddling with Daddy, playing with Daddy, making a mess, pictures of herself or cousins, looking in the mirror

13. What makes you sad?: Being alone, when mommy & Daddy leave or won't hold me, when I have to eat, when I have to take a nap

14. Best Friend: Daddy, daddy, daddy. And if I had to choose other people....her cousins, Uncle Austin, Grandpa Curtis

15. Personality Traits: FEISTY, STUBBORN, silly, sweet, independent (she can do it all herself...), dependent (her happiness depends on you being RIGHT THERE ALL THE TIME), cuddly (as of late...she loves to give hugs, esp. to her cousins), funny, cautious, energetic

16. Special Stories about you from the past year: Since people really already know the gist of Grace's journey...rather than get super sentimental...because that's what every post is...I'm going to share with you a little it of Grace's fun personality...

She loves to make faces. They make everyone around her laugh out loud.

She has one where she clenches her whole face, with her mouth open & stretched out, and then she shakes her whole body...almost seizure like...but it is hilarious!

Another face, she does pouty/kissy lips, tilts up her chin, and breathes REALLY loud through her nose, while spontaneously blowing snot out. It may sound gross, but it also is really funny.

She loves music & loves to dance. ANYTIME that music comes on, she will start to wiggle. Doesn't matter if its a phone ringer, a commercial, or a full out song, she'll shake her bottom back and forth, raise an arm in the air and shake her booty, bounce up & down. It is so so cute to watch.

She loves little kids & babies. She can't keep her hands off them, always wants to hug them, and if just passing one by on a walk or in the store, she'll wave at them furiously until they see her and wave back. If she ever sees one crying, she'll make a sad face and blow kisses to them.

She frequently falls asleep with her butt in the air.

Everytime we change her diaper, she thinks its time to run away. Once the diaper is off, she'll immediately flip over and crawl away at lightning baby speed, sometimes attempting a dive right off the bed, and of course, she is giggling the entire time.

This little girl is resilient. She can overcome so many things & be so tough. When she had her heart transplant, she sat up by herself for the first time a week later, in the hospital.

She has developed so quickly physically, and not let anything hold her back. We are constantly amazed by her & her ability to overcome challenges & obstacles.

We are anxious, nervous & I guess excited, ;) to see what this next year holds for us!

Happy Birthday Gracey-lyn-lou!

Here are some pictures of her Birthday for your viewing enjoyment!
This was the start of our beautiful baby and her lady bug

cake...

She started out fairly timid...not so sure about this sticky red stuff on her hands...

And she became more daring as the night wore on

Soon you have this sweet face...

And of course Topher and I did NOT encourage her to put her gooey hands on her head...that would be completely mean of us...

And you end with this. Isn't it a work of art? It turned the entire bath tub pink too. She had such a fun time mawling that cake. It was hilarious to watch....I think I may have snorted a few times from extreme laughter..luckily that didn't end up on film.

Anyway, it has been an adventure of a year. But it's becoming more and more normal feeling rather than high maintenance health concerns every way you look. Its an amazing feeling to finally think Grace is going to be ok, and that she is here for the long haul. But I think that after a year of ups and downs, that feeling is finally here to stay.
Thank you to everyone who keeps updated on Grace & how she is doing. We appreciate so much the support we get from so many people, even the people whom we have never met or even spoken to in person. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers & support! Grace has needed & been blessed by every bit!

Our Family Birthday

2009-03-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize this post should have been done nearly 3 weeks ago, however, its still important! And I really wanted to let people know how much I LOVE my sweet husband, and cherish being married to him. :)
I'm copying my sister-in-law who did this same type of post, and maybe she copied it from my sister, and who knows who she may have copied it from. ;)

1) Height and Weight: combined, that would be 11.2 ft and 285 lbs.

2) Fave Color: Purple, Blue, Green

3) Fave Movie: Meet the Robinsons, Lord of the Rings, Over the Hedge, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

4) Fave TV show: Chuck!

5) Fave Food: Korean Food ,Cafe Rio, Sushi, Pasta...ok fine, so Topher and I like everything.
6) Fave Treat: Vanilla Ice Cream, frozen yogurt from Yogurt Stop, fruit pizza

7) Fave Toy: our cameras and bikes

8) Fave Outfit: pajamas on ourselves. topher loves me in skirts/dresses. i love him in CLEAN, dark blue jeans and a nice collared shirt with his hair done. ahhhh my hubby is a babe.
9) Fave Activity: Playing games! WE LOVE to play games. our current favorites are Shadows over Camelot, Munchkin Quest, & Ticket to Ride

10) Fave Subject in School: We both seem to like biology a lot. He obviously is big into engineering and computer programming, I like art and writing more.

11) What do you Want to be when you Grow up: What do I NOT want to be is a better question. I find myself wanting to try everything and be everything. Topher wants to be a biomedical engineer, and possibly a Dr. But we both want to be fabulous parents!!
12) What Makes you Happy: Being together. Playing games, relaxing, eating good food, watching Chuck or a good movie. We also like to go on short and sweet hikes...preferably to a waterfall please.

13) What makes you Sad: When we are not together. When Grace is sick or in the hospital. When we don't get alone time. When Topher is always at school!!

14) Best Friend: First and foremost, Each other. Our favorite people to hang out with as a family though, would be Dacia & Joe, and Austin, or in other words, our families. They are the best!
15) One Wish or Dream you Have for yourself: That we can continue to build a healthy, happy family. That we will always have each other and our babies,and to someday have a beautiful happy home with Topher in job that makes him happy.
16) Personality Traits: klutzy, scatter-brained, Loving, Affectionate, silly, fun-loving, kind-hearted, and Topher is uber smart. :)
17) Special Stories about You from the Past Year: We have had quite a year. Starting with my giving birth to our little Gracelyn, and culminating in her 1 yr. Birthday! It has held many ups and downs. Times of worry, pain, sadness, but to balance them all out, immense happiness, and hope. We have been emotionally, spiritually and even physically, stretched throughout the last year. I know there is most assuredly more to come, but at least now we have a sure knowledge that Heavenly Father will be right there with us through it all, to help us, to lead us, and often times to carry us.
The central things that have happened are obviously, that Grace was born, had an open heart surgery at 5 days old, and then had a heart transplant at 5 months. No biggie right? :) But some other things, that are still very special/important to us are that Topher joined the Navy. This has been such an exciting thing. We never thought it was a path we would go down, but it has been such a blessing for us, and the real work hasn't even begun!! 2 more years exactly, and we'll be in South Carolina! Then the real adventure will begin, right?
Also, I have begun going back to school. Its been so nice for me to have something that is just for me, and that helps me build confidence in myself. I also ran a triathlon, which took a lot of training, and personal butt-kicking, but it was so worth it. I actually participated in the triathlon the day after Grace's heart transplant!! So, she was motivation to finish.
It's been a crazy, hectic, and beautiful year where we have grown as a family and come to love each other as husband and wife more than we ever thought we could a year ago.

Topher is such an amazing husband and best friend. He treats me like a princess, even when i don't get to shower for 3 days! lol. He gives me sweet priesthood blessings when I just don't think I can endure another day of motherhood.
He cereal and orange juice in bed, and always takes out the garbage, (even if it is with a LOT of aggressive encouragement). He reminds us to read scriptures and never leaves for school in the morning without offering a word of prayer with my hand in his. He has an enormous work load for school, and yet always comes home ready to play with his baby girl. He is all I could have ever dreamt of, and I am so grateful he is the rock of our family. He has made this past year so much easier for us with his constant smiles and optimistic perspective. I love him so! And am so grateful to be married to him!
Happy 2 year Birthday to our little Andersen Family!!

new post coming soon....

2009-03-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

But...not quite yet.
I spent all morning re-doing my blog while listening dejectedly to my daughter scream her guts out the whole time...
think she's coming down with something again.
so lovely.
anyway...
i will post again soon.
in all honesty, I have been so leery of posting again, because I just feel like our good news is so....well, its just always great news, and I actually feel guilty posting about how 'great' life is, when so many others are having such difficulties.
I dunno.
Anyway...my husband, and step-sister, and a few other people have convinced me that people need to hear good news too, especially among all the sad news, so that there is something to smile about, and not just to cry over.
So, I will post about our good news, and a few other things, as soon as I get a free minute.
As for right now...I have to go get dressed.
It is, after all, 4:00 in the afternoon, so, I should probably get out of my pajamas.
Thanks to those of you who still check in on us to see how we're doing.
Don't give up on us just yet!
I promise to post tonight or tomorrow!!
The picture is purely to make this post worth reading. :)

"Goodnight Gracie"

2009-03-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

11 month old Gracie Gledhill said 'goodnight' to her family last night. She is an amazing little girl, and has touched so many lives with her own. Her family continues to be strong and faithful, and will be an example of courage to so many, especially in this difficult time. Tom Gledhill, Gracie's Dad, has written a very sweet post to say goodbye to his sweet angel Gracie, and it is very worth reading, to gain his insight, and also to say a few words to this sweet family, who although they are showing strength, and sharing testimony, must undoubtedly be going through much pain as well.
Please say a prayer for Gracie and her sweet family today.

Sweet Gracie Gledhill

2009-03-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

The amazing Gledhill family is most likely letting their sweet little baby girl go today. They have tried everything, and to no avail. The Berlin heart is no longer an option for her, she cannot receive a new heart, and her little heart is just not strong enough to come off ecmo.
This sweet family has tried everything, and has watched their little girl fight with all her might through it all.
They posted last night, saying today would be the day they let their children say goodbye, and then they would do the same. They will be donating any healthy organs. What a sweet sacrifice, although it does break my heart that this will shorten their time to just hold her. My heart aches for them. This family is just so amazing to me. They are so strong and faithful. Such an uplifting example to all of us. I will be eternally grateful to this family and especially little Gracie's fighting spirit, and the impact they have had on my testimony, and on so many hundreds of others.
Please pray for this family continually today. They need all the love, comfort, peace and strength possible today.
All our love,
the andersens

Major setbacks

2009-02-22T19:33:00.000-08:00

Gracie's transplant is NOT going well.

There have been some serious set backs.

Please please please PRAY HARD.

There have been numerous problems, the heart didn't get there fast enough, Gracie was on bypass a little longer than planned, the heart's left ventricle is not functioning well enough, her body is rejecting the heart.

It is heartbreaking to go through so many emotions is one day. Overwhelming joy, is turning into despair. and i can't even believe what this sweet family is feeling and going through.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRAY FOR GRACIE GLEDHILL AND FAMILY.

her blog is linked on the right side as Gracie HLHS. keep updated, share some thoughts or encouragement, but most of all, please pray and keep the faith of another miracle strong.

the andersens

Miracle of Miracles!!!!

2009-02-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

with tears of joy running down my face, i am writing this quick blog.

its a MIRACLE. GRACIE GLEDHILL IS GETTING HER HEART!!

I have not been so ecstatic since our own sweet Grace received her heart.

She has only been listed for an incredible three days!!!

if this is not considered a miracle, than i'm sure the term would not even exist.

I am so happy for this amazingly sweet family.

My heart also goes out to the selfless family who has donated this amazing gift, to not only Grace, but also to all those whose lives Gracie has, and, will now continue, to touch.

Please pray for both of these amazing families.

For the surgery to go well, and for Gracie to take her new heart beautifully.

And for the sweet family that is no doubt feeling and immense loss right now, that they will find comfort.

Pray pray, and pray some more!!!

Thank you so much!

Love you all!!

The andersens

p.s. and thank you amy for the text!!

Update

2009-02-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

So, I apologize for not letting everyone know about the rest of the test results...
but we did get the results back for Parvovirus (Fifth's Disease) and that also came back negative.
So, we know she had to have had some sort of virus...but it went away, and she is even healthier now than before.
She has been eating really well the past three days in a row!! Its been wonderful!! She has been eating record amounts (for her), and I couldn't be more thrilled.
So, just to let everyone know, she is healthy, happy and doing well.
:)
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. :)
Love the Andersens

Updating

2009-02-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

We heard back on the results now of most of the tests. Grace does not have influenza or RSV, and there was no rejection to worry about with her heart. So so far everything has been really great news! Her heart is functioning well, and has no rejection issues. We haven't heard back about the fifths disease yet, but that is the only one that we are waiting for now.

Home

2009-02-13T15:33:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a really quick post.

Because I am tired.

And so is Topher, and Gracelyn.

So...her fever spiked at 40 degrees celsius. REALLY REALLY HIGH.

and Tylenol did not make it come down at ALL.

So, the Doctors broke the cardinal "no ibuprofen" rule and after that her fever came down to about 38.1 over an hour and a half period.

They did do some tests to check for a.) Fifths Disease b.)R.S.V. c.)Influenza, and any other related diseases/viruses, but we won't get the results back until tonight at the earliest or possibly tomorrow morning.

We also will not get the Biopsy results back until tonight.

So, for now, we are home, with a sleepy, cuddly and somewhat irritable Grace, but so grateful to be home, and grateful for our spunky girl.

Thank you so much for all your prayers.

Love the Andersens

Update

2009-02-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

Gracey has couple of issues to deal with at the moment. This is Emily, Buggy's sister posting. Bugs just called me and said that about 15 minutes after she was snuggling with Toph, they came to take her temperature and it was really high. Plus she's been throwing up, she's very irritable and her white cell count is down, which usually indicates a virus. They gave her some Ibuprofen to bring her fever down, but it's still going up. There's some worry that she may have been exposed to Fifth's Disease over the weekend and her symptoms seem to be in line with that, but again, that's just speculation at this point. We're confident that she'll be fine, but right now she's super grumpy and irritable and her fever really needs to come down so she just needs some prayers to help her calm down and maybe sleep and some prayers for her mommy and daddy that are worried like always. I'm sure Bugs will update again as soon as the fever starts coming down or we know what kind of a virus we're dealing with. Thanks everybody for the prayers and support!

quick update

2009-02-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

Grace is out of her procedure. Everything went well and she is snuggling in her Daddy's arms.

All of her pressures looked good, blood flow and everything looked good also.

We won't hear back on the actual biopsy results until later this afternoon.

But if the news is good, the schedule is to leave the hospital around 1:30 or 2:00.

Quite possibly our shortest hospital stay EVER!

Thank you for your prayers!

Love the Andersens

At the hospital again

2009-02-13T08:00:00.001-08:00

It is Grace's biopsy this morning. We are now in the waiting room, just having left Grace about 30 minutes ago. She was pretty tired (like us) having had to wake up at 5:30 in the morning. She was also very calm and cuddly, but not so much that she couldn't coo at her Daddy for a good 30 minutes, and wave at the little baby behind us. She seemed a little unsure, but still OK when we gave her to the nurse to go into the cath lab....but they're are all so great, we know we have nothing to worry about, except someone stealing Grace's fancy over us ;).

We feel confident everything will go according to plan and Grace will come out heart healthy, and happy.

It will probably be about another 2 hours. Possibly less, as with last time; it was supposed to be 2 1/2 hours, it ended up being about 1 1/2. So we shall see.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, we appreciate them so much.

Topher and I, as well as our families, all feel so tremendously blessed to have things going so well with Grace. She is a miracle in the most literal sense. Things have gone so smoothly and ideally for her in almost every way, and we are eternally grateful to our Father in Heaven and to our many friends and family who are always praying in our behalf.

Thank you thank you!

We'll post later after we have some news.

Please continue your prayers for the other families I mentioned yesterday, the Gourley's and the Gledhill's.

Thank you.

The Andersens

PRAYERS PLEASE!!!

2009-02-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I am grumpy and stressed because I feel that my life is so far from ideal. I feel pessimistic and worn out with our situation, and especially disappointed for my daughter's life. I want her to be healthy, and normal like all the other babies in my family. I cry, and complain, and feel miserable far too often. Then, I read a few blogs belonging to other 'heart' babies, and immediately feel ashamed.
This seems to be a frequent thing with me, and I feel very embarassed to admit it. However, it is the truth, so what can you do?
Compared to so so so many other 'heart' babies, we have it easy. So, overwhelmingly easy.
Grace's life has not been like a normal, healthy baby's, HOWEVER, for a 'heart' baby, she has had a miraculously smooth ride. She never really looked sick, or 'blue'. She always ate relatively well, slept relatively well, never had to have sporadic runs to the hospital. Her need for Hospital care was definitely the bare minimum. Looking at so many other people's blogs though, I now realize just how blessed we were, and still are.
Heavenly Father must have known where my limits were, and he never pushed me past them.
Grace's Biopsy is tomorrow, and so yes, I would love if you could keep her in your prayers.
But, there are some people that need your prayers so much more than us.
Gracie Gledhill, another HLHS baby, has had a tough tough road. Any of you that have read her blog (it is listed to the right btw), know how hard their journey has been thus far, and yet, it is only getting harder. They have just been told that Gracie is no longer a candidate for the 3 stage surgeries, (she was to have her Glenn this weekend). She is now being considered for a Heart Transplant. How overwhelming this must be for their family. They are still in the midst of getting it cleared with their Insurance company and getting all of her tests done.
But please, please pray for them. Although a Transplant is the definition of 'bittersweet', it is the most amazing blessing and would be so wonderful for them. If anyone can deserve a heart transplant, it is this little girl.
Also, little Gracie Gourley is having a hard time as well, recovering from her procedure, and eating. Please pray for her.
Bela Benson is having the same issues as Grace with eating and also could use some extra prayers.
But, the more I think about people who need prayers and support, the more I am overwhelmed with just how many heart families that are out there, all in need of prayers and support.
*SIGH*
Please for for these families that are all in their trying situations.
Thank you for the prayers that I know will be offered in our little Grace's behalf this weekend.
We feel confident that everything will go well. Grace has been such a fighter this far, we know she's not giving up any time soon. She will most likely do very well, and we won't even have to spend the night, the same can not be said for so many others.
We'll post to let everyone know how it went.
Thank you again
much love
the Andersens

Gracey Movie!!

2009-02-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Failed New Years Resolution #1

2009-02-05T20:34:00.001-08:00

Writing a blog on a weekly basis......FAILED

But don't say I didn't try....its my blasted computer that has cut me off at each attempt..(so what if there were only 2 attempts).

All in all, over the past month and a half a lot has happened, and yet at the same time, nothing has changed.

Grace continues in her up and down ways of eating, not eating, gorging, starving, gain 1/2

pound, lose 1/2 a pound. She is just a one woman roller coaster with her eating habits.

She was getting a G Tube, then she wasn't, she was eating like crazy, gaining weight...then she ate nearly nothing for 3 days.

Grace just loves to keep everyone guessing. "Will she have any milk today? Will she spit all her food out at me and clench her

face til' it turns purple again? Will I lose it and

throw diced peaches at her? Will she eat anything at all?"

And every day, the answer is a little bit different than the day before. Some days better, some days worse, but never the same.

She needs to be eating FORMULA 5-6 times a day, 5 oz. each time. She eats 2 oz. 5-6 times a day. She needs to be eating 3-4 oz. BABY FOOD 3-4 times a day. She eats 2 oz. MAYBE twice a day.

She doesn't have a scheduled G-Tube Appt. as of yet, but it is very likely to take place in the next couple of weeks. Topher and I have fought it for the past few months, because we have seen Grace eat like this and then very gradually, she's eating the full amount she needs, and gaining weight. But this time there is no progress whatsoever. She is just at a stand still and sometimes she's only going backwards.

Also, Grace has her annual biopsy coming up next weekend. Hopefully there won't be any rejection like last time, and we can stay off of Lock-Down/House-Arrest.

There you have yourself a medical and dietary update.

Off the stressful, and somewhat boring topic of Grace's eating habits...In every other area she is doing amazingly well. She continues to excel in every way developmentally. She has been crawling for almost 2 weeks now. Pulling herself up on everything to stand for about 2 months. And just as of a couple days ago, she can actually stand without holding on to anyone/thing. Note that she doesn't necessarily do this willingly. In fact, it scares the squeals outta her. But, she can do it! We find her sitting and standing up in her crib constantly. Also, she still says Mama, Dada and numerous other gibberish words. But she most definitely knows what those first two mean.

She can also say "please" in sign language. And wave hello and bye. It is so much fun to see her learn new things, make new faces, or sounds.

I feel like I'm starting to enjoy motherhood. Its a wonderful feeling.

Grace is no less high maintenance however.

She cries if you are more that 1 ft. away from her,a and even then sometimes cries until she is on your lap, with your full attention, and toys. She screams and hyperventilates if you leave the room. Refuses to crawl after you, even though she can, because

she knows she can be picked up if she says "please" (darn those beautiful blue eyes). Covers her mouth when you offer her food. Shoves bottles away, and grabs for YOUR cup, then proceeds to "drink" 3/4 of it down her shirt. HUGHPH.

She is a handful.

And I whine and complain constantly. All of our family and friends undoubtedly have some serious doubts about my mothering skills...and esp. about my maternal instincts. So do I sometimes. Sometimes I think that if Heavenly Father didn't know me better than anyone else does, he'd probably think I couldn't stand my daughter. But luckily, he knows my mind, and my heart...and knows there's nothing in the world that I love like my Gracelyn.

She is spunky, fun, entertaining, playful, energetic, curious, smart, and sometimes when I am very very very lucky, she gives me split-second cuddles.

Really, I've got it so so good. I just need to remember that more often and be thankful for who she is. Even if it's not what I had expected, that is ok, because I never could have dreamed up someone so wonderful anyway. She is her own person, and I need to love her for it more, and complain about it less. She is our little angel with a BIG attitude and we love her to pieces. No really, I do. I love my daughter more than I could possibly, ever explain. I really do. But that doesn't mean she can't drive me nuts every once and a while. ;)

So anyway...life is good.

Grace is growing way too fast. Not eating anywhere near enough, but we are A.O.K.

Topher is still going to school, working hard.

I started taking a couple of night classes also...and I'm hardly working. hehe. ok I'm enjoying myself also.

We've had some fun birthdays this last month or so.

Happy Birthday to My AMAZING husband just a couple days ago, and also to the lovely Misty, my sister-in-law whose Birthday is the same day.

We also welcomed Misty's new baby, and our new niece, Almaya.

She is beautiful and oh so sweet. But something about these Andersen grand babies...they don't like to eat. Please pray for little Maya's appetite!

And Happy late Birthday to Daddy, Rachel, and Anya!

We love you all!

p.s. I had some videos where Grace is just being cute and making faces...but they were too big for blogger to upload. So i will edit them and upload them tomorrow... for now....goodnight. :)