December

December....I was still sick, Topher was still taking care of EVERYTHING, and Grace was still being a pretty good girl for her sick-o mom.

My sisters and Mom and I did a Nikolaus swap (german tradition) and my sister Emily sent us this cute little "Elf on the Shelf" thing for Grace. I had never heard of this little "elf on the shelf" tradition that so many people do, but after reading the little book that came with the elf, getting a couple pointers from my sister and then doing extensive research online, Topher and I concluded that it was a tradition we could totally have a LOT of fun with and that Grace would really enjoy. Grace named her elf Oscar and he was a very fun Elf. He became her buddy from the beginning of December through Christmas Day. Some of his more memorable adventures were when he discovered Grace's barbies, took one unlucky barbie for a ride in her convertible, crashed it on Grace's little people car course and left barbie being doctored by Rex. He wrote Grace a mini note, assuring her that Barbie would be fine, and that sorry he had wrecked her Barbie car. He made her Elf pancakes one morning that were itty bitty. He tried to fly Topher's kites and got himself stuck up on the ceiling with all his Barbie fans watching. He hung her underwear up all over the Christmas Tree and hid all the stockings. He made Elf donuts for him and her Barbies to eat. He also hid away in her suitcase when we went out of town and helped with the Christmas eve festivities at her Grandparent's house. He was a fun little elf to have around and we're excited to see him again next December.

Even with fun Nikolaus stuff and Elf magic, Topher and I both got really homesick this month. We calculated several options to get us home for Christmas, but we just couldn't it afford it no matter what option we looked at.

Then one night we were talking on Skype with his family and his Dad asked us if we were coming home for the holidays, we told him no, we weren't, we were just going to spend the holidays at home and try to enjoy our first Christmas in our pretty new house. Well, his Dad saw right through us and asked if we wanted to come home for Christmas. Well, of course we do we said, we just couldn't afford it, maybe next year. Well, being his assertive, and overly generous self, he straight up said "No. You're coming home for Christmas. Alysia, find some flights, book it all, and here is my credit card info." My and Topher's jaws both dropped and then we laughed thinking he must be teasing. "No", he said, "we want you for Christmas. Get those flights, I don't care how much they are, come home and see us for Christmas."

Have I said lately how generous Topher's parents are? It's really ridiculous how kind they are to us. I'm so grateful for them.

So. We booked our flights and were set to be in Utah over Christmas and New Years. It was very exciting!! But the funnest part was that I decided to keep it a secret from my family. With the exception of my Mom and Emily because I needed some people on the inside keeping me updated on plans and where people would be and what not.

Topher's work had "Christmas stand down" for two weeks and so we were gone perfectly over those two weeks so he didn't miss teaching any classes or any other duties, so that was a huge blessing. And I was feeling a little bit better thanks to some heavy nausea medication my OBGYN prescribed for me. They didn't like that I was losing so much weight and couldn't keep anything down, so I got drugs! They helped a lot with the throwing up, but not with the just crummy feeling and exhaustion. But hey, I was thrilled to be a bit more functional.

We forgot our camera when we went to Utah, which is TOTALLY pathetic, I know, but we did. So the few pictures I have are when we remembered to use the camera Dacia lent us for the trip.

We got home to Utah on the 21st with 7 suitcases and arrived at Curtis and Venice's where we had been shipping all of our Christmas gifts for Grace and family, and found that we'd filled almost their whole bedroom with packages from Amazon. Ha!! Good times.

Some of the fun things we did while we were there were meet Topher's little brother's fiancee, go to the Zoo with Topher's family, have a Christmas potluck with my siblings, a bridal shower for our soon to be Sister-in-law, a big Christmas party with Topher's extended family, an awesome Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Topher's family, New Year's Eve at my sister's with Ovaltine Shakes, and lots and lots of family time!

It was so fun to be with Topher's family and see everyone. My favorite part of the whole 2 weeks though was surprising my family. I think I actually brought everyone, including myself to tears!! I felt so loved and like people actually missed me and wanted me there, and I of course had missed everyone so much I cried about it all the time. So seeing everyone in my family that first time and them being so excited to see us was just really really special to me.

We were all over with different family festivities the whole two weeks and just drove back and forth nearly every couple days between the Provo area and Kaysville, but it was so so wonderful to be with our families for Christmas and we will be forever grateful to Topher's family for making that possible. Thank you, thank you again!

November

Upfront, I'm going to tell you that this blog is long. And very "rambly". AND...there are not enough pictures documenting all the events. :( So, read on having been forewarned so you can't complain to me how long it is or how there's not enough pictures! You were warned! :)

It was in October that I discovered I was expecting, and by November that I felt ridiculously, hopelessly ILL. I was once again very sick with this pregnancy like I was with Grace, but the sickness for this pregnancy started about 3 weeks earlier, and I can say in hindsight now, the sickness lasted about 6 weeks LONGER as well. Lucky me. :)

So from November through about January I was completely dysfunctional. I could not do ANYTHING. I literally brought Grace to pre-school in my pajamas each day, went home, and passed out. I did not enter a grocery store even one time for over 2 months. Topher did all my grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, cleaning, dishes, and taking care of both myself and Grace. He was amazing. He really is like a super hero. I couldn't do anything but throw up, lie around feeling like I was going to throw up, and sleep. Then in swooshed my amazing husband and saved our house from complete disarray and Grace from insanity caused by boredom and my lack of attention. I am so so grateful for him.

Also, in hindsight I think that I was really blessed with Grace too. She let me sleep, A LOT. And although at the time I probably thought she was a little pest and still getting into too many things, it definitely could have been much much worse. She really was a trooper about being set up with a movie for basically the entire day, and living off of Chef Boyardee, Mac'n Cheese, Top Ramen and snacks for two months. Poor girl. :( But she was a sweet heart about it. She would bring me water, and play with my hair and pat my head, and very rarely did she tell me to get up and play with her. She really just told me how sorry she was that I was sick for the majority of the time. I should thank her for that and give her some hugs and kisses.

So, with Topher being my first life saver, and Grace being less of a nuisance, those first few months were much better than they could have been. But, what really saved me was my Mom. She came in right before Thanksgiving and she took care of me like only a Mommy can. I seriously adore that woman more than anyone else I know. She cleaned my house from TOP TO BOTTOM, and I mean that in the literal sense. Not ONE room was left untouched. She cleaned EVERYTHING. It was because of her that Topher was able to maintain a gorgeous house the rest of the time I was sick. Thanks to my mom, Topher didn't have any huge cleaning obstacles to tackle, which for us is REALLY saying something.

Not only did she take care of me and baby and coddle me, but she took care of Grace and actually fed my husband some real food. I'm not gonna lie, Topher lost about as much weight as I did those first few months because the poor boy was just not eating. :( So my mom reminded him what good food tastes like and loved on all of us. She is so wonderful.

If that wasn't enough, she also decorated my house for the holidays for me. She took down all of my Fall decor, and then put up my Christmas tree and all my Christmas decorations. She was so so so wonderful! And I was so grateful to have her.

I also have to mention so I don't forget, how sweet my siblings were as well. They called to check in on me on a daily basis, and both my sisters sent me care packages. They were so thoughtful and really tried to lighten my spirits as much as they could from across the country.

Sorry, that was a LOT of rambling. But, I want to remember how wonderful my little family was while I was sick. :)

So my Mom and Sam were here for about 5 or so days before Thanksgiving, and then started the real trial - a week long cruise with Topher's family over Thanksgiving. I KNOW! It's a cruise! It should be wonderful and relaxing and so much fun!! But, as much as I wanted to have a blast, I was so so sick, that it was nearly impossible to do anything except lay in our gorgeous cabin and whine. :( So so sad. Topher's family didn't know that I was pregnant at the beginning, so the first night we were all together Topher let his parents in on the news so they wouldn't think I was the biggest lame-o in the whole world! They were so excited and so so sweet to me, I just love his parents. Originally I had not wanted to tell his siblings yet, just because I was so nervous about losing another pregnancy and I didn't want to bust everyone's bubbles again. But, about halfway through the cruise we let everyone in on the secret. They were all really excited and much more understanding about my super lame-ness after that. :)

The cruise stopped at Jamaica, Grand Cayman and I think Puerta Maya was what the last place was called? I'm not positive. It was beautiful and Topher and I were royally spoiled by his much too generous parents, but I was definitely sick, sick and more sick for just about every moment on that boat. It is the first vacation of my life where I actually lost weight!

But, sickness aside, it was still beautiful, and there were moments, some long, some short, that I really felt ok and was able to enjoy myself.

Topher's siblings were really sweet to me, playing with Grace, coming in our cabin and watching movies with me and my sick butt and just being really sweet to me. I got to spend more time with his siblings and talk with them more than before and it was fun to be with them. Thanks guys for being so nice to me and taking care of Grace and making sure Topher had fun!

Some of the highlights for me were going to a Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman. Curtis took us to this little Turtle farm where there are tons and tons and TONS of sea turtles, in varying stages of life and size. Not only do you get to see them all, which would be cool in and of itself, but you got to HOLD them! And, to make it EVEN better, there were itty bitty baby sea turtles that fit in the palm of your hand and you could hold them!! Oh, it was so fun and they were so cute! Grace had one in each hand and would kiss them each in turn, then put them down and pick up new ones and coo at each of them. Yeah, I know, not very sanitary, but she was in Heaven and I couldn't blame her.

I also really really enjoyed one of the beaches we went to that I believe was also in Grand Cayman. The water was just crystal turquoise and so beautiful and the sand was this soft white fluff and it was just gorgeous to look at. Sadly, I was also very emotional so my happy moments sometimes smacked right into a crying fit, but, oh well! What can ya do?! Poor Topher had to put up with me and try to determine what my mood was before he ever approached me. :)

I couldn't do the excursion in Jamaica because of my pregnancy, so Curtis and Venice again spoiled me and made me go to the Spa. They refused to rub anything on my entire body except my face though, so instead of a massage I got an hour long facial. It. Was. AMAZING. Who woulda thought having your face rubbed for an hour could be so heavenly?? I had no idea.

We actually had a balcony cabin, (drool!) and so we slept with our balcony door open so we could hear the ocean every night and as much as the rocking made me sick, the fresh air and soothing sound was really nice.

The food was an interesting thing. I never knew what was going to make me sick so I would order almost everything on the menu and then try a bite of this and a bite of that and see what it did to my stomach. One night Anni and I got adventurous and had lobster. She looks a little nervous, I know, but Im not sure if she was nervous because of me or the lobster...hmmm.

I also really enjoyed New Orleans on the end side of our trip. Curtis took us on a walking tour of the area during the day and I really enjoyed seeing the different sights. I'm not gonna lie though, I might have enjoyed the amazing beignets and hot chocolate more than anything else in New Orleans. But only because they were seriously just THAT GOOD! Love them beignets! :) Sadly, I have no pictures of the fun in New Orleans or the yummy beignets.

In case I didn't say it enough at the time Curtis and Venice, I did love going on the cruise with you guys and I did have fun! And I'm sorry I was so sick and lame. :( Thanks for putting up with me, playing with Topher and Grace, spoiling us all rotten and loving on me despite my being a lame-o!!

When we came back from the cruise my mom came back for another 4 or 5 days and continued taking care of me and my little family.

It was a tumultuous month with all the being sick, but It was made so much better by loving family and friends that were kind and sweet to us. Thank you thank you for again showing me how blessed a family can be!

October 2011

October for us was a fun month also. About 6 months previously I made us camping reservations on Edisto Beach State Park. I made the reservations 6 months in advanced so we could actually get a "beach site" camp spot. We were not literally on the sandy beach, but all there was dividing us from the sandy beach was a little fence made of beach reeds and sticks. We could see the ocean from our table and hear it while we were sleeping and see Grace playing on the beach from our site as well.

I have never seen so many seashells! Edisto is known for the seashells, but there really were just tons everywhere you looked! We woke up early and watched the sunrise, and then Grace and I went to town collecting seashells. Later on, Topher dug his requisite tunnel. It seems we can't go to the beach anymore without him building some sort of tunnel. This one was pretty cool I thought. I don't know if you can tell but he built it up on a ledge of sand, and down onto the next level of sand, so it was almost like a slide/tunnel. You can see his legs hanging out up top and Grace sitting at the bottom.

It was a lot of fun, and the only regret we had was that we didn't make the reservation for 2 nights instead of 1.

The only other thing of note for the month was all the Halloween festivities. We went to Boone Hall Plantation to go to their pumpkin patch. Let's just say it was probably the most pathetic pumpkin patch we have ever seen. Evidently, pumpkins don't grow very well in South Carolina. The vast majority of the pumpkins were small, green and pretty soft. They told us that any pumpkins that looked good hadn't been grown there but imported from Virginia! Not only was their selection just sad, but it started to rain while we were there, and within 15 minutes of our arrival it was a complete downpour. We got soaked! But, at the least, it was very memorable and we all still had a ton of fun. Well, at least Grace and I did, after all, we were the ones with umbrellas. Topher was the one hauling Grace and the pumpkins around the field getting wet. :)

Aside from pumpkins, Grace was still in gymnastics at the time as well as a pre-school swap in our ward and her regular pre-school, so she got a lot of opportunities to dress up once it was Halloween time. We also had a ward trunk or treat, a neighbor had a Halloween party and then she went trick or treating with Topher around the neighborhood! So much candy! Well, we had so many dress up outfits that she liked wearing and so she wore a different costume for every event. I thought that made for a lot of fun! The only costume I didn't get a picture of was her costume for Gymnastics. I had wanted to put her in one of her cute costumes, but she wanted to be Vector, from Despicable Me. So, she wore her 'warm up suit', and went in to gymnastics telling everyone she was "committing crimes! wis bof direcson and mag-itude!". Too funny.

September 2011

In October of 2009 Topher's awesome little brother embarked on a 2 yr. service mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is a great little brother and he made an amazing missionary, teaching and serving those in and out of the Church and bringing the gospel to the people of Quartz Hill, California. We wrote him letters, he wrote us more, and we missed him like crazy. But the person that I'm pretty sure missed him the most, and hey, I think he missed her the most too, is my little Gracey. ;)

From the moment Grace first was held by Austin he has had a special bond with her and she just adores her Uncle Austin. He was always one of her preferred people to be with, play with and cuddle with and when he left I was so so sad that he wouldn't get to see her change throughout the next 2 yrs. But, we sent him pictures and updates and I think they both survived just fine. However, when it was time for him to come home, I made sure he knew that we expected him on our doorstep STAT! So, shortly after he returned home, he made his plans and was on his way!

We had such a great time with him too!! We took him to the beach, out to eat some good southern BBQ, took him Downtown to see some sights, but mostly we just hung out at home. We all missed just chilling, sleeping in, eating good food, watching movies way too late into the night and playing games together. So, we did a lot of hanging out. His Dad would have gone crazy!!! :) But, we loved it.

His visit was a week, but still too short for our taste! He claimed he had to hurry home to his new flame. Psh! Ridiculous. Especially since now she's his wife! Obviously he could've stayed longer, she wasn't going anywhere. ;)

I'll forgive him for leaving so soon since he and his new wife Mrs. Elise L'Don Andersen are coming back to visit next month.

In September I also got Grace into a community Gymnastics class and that was a lot of fun. It was nice for her to have an opportunity to get some wiggles out and I really enjoyed just watching her be involved in something and be so happy doing it. Later when my Mom came to visit in November she even brought some leotards she had made for Grace that were ADORABLE, and Grace's gym teacher tried to convince my Mom to sell them through the Gym! I can't find a picture of her in gymnastics...Hm. I'm a bad mom. My mom took some though, so If I get my hands on those I'll put those up here, because she really is a cutie in those leotards!

We still have our dog...September was not a good month for our dog...I think I wanted to kill her at least once a week. Hm. More on that later maybe. :)

But, that is the synopsis of September. :)

Possibly a hopeless attempt?

So, I have not blogged in a while. In a really loooong while. But, I'm going to attempt to play catch up. This is sort of how I "scrap book" or journal, and basically if I don't review the past few months, there won't be record of them anywhere. So, I'm going to try....

To put my own thoughts in order let me start by saying that September brought us a visit from Topher's little brother, Austin, who had just gotten back from serving an amazing 2 yr. mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That was the highlight of our September for sure!

October was of course Halloween, and we had some fun times with the week or so leading up to it with lots of Halloween parties and opportunities for Grace to dress up.

November brought my Mom and Sam visiting from Idaho and I was SOOO excited and relieved to have them and their help, (more on that later).

We also were lucky to go on a cruise with Topher's family over Thanksgiving.

In December we took a long 2 wk. hiatus and went to Utah for the Holidays. We were there over Christmas as well as New Years.

If that is not enough, in January we headed to the islands of Hawaii with most of my family for a mini family reunion, and as soon as we returned we did a 360 and went straight back to Utah for Austin's wedding!!

So...ALLL of THAT is what I'm going to try and detail more in the next several posts. It may take me a while. :) But, my memory is so bad, I've gotta do it or I won't remember anything a year from now!! Hopefully...it doesn't take me a year to do this. Hm. Yikes!

Anyway, don't feel compelled to follow along with my ramblings, but if you do, go you! :)

Role Reversal

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

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...

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

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...

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!