We wanted to do something fun today, something new. We decided to go bowling. We invited the Bakers to come too, with Wyatt being just a week old, Heather wanted to get out of the house and also spend some time with Preston (&Kevin), so they joined in on the fun too.  

 Good thing the bumpers were up...
And nope, the ball never made it down the lane. We had to get a little help from the workers to get it.

They gave us one of these little things for D to use....its the best invention for the little guys. 

 Serious business....

Drying their fingers.

And his hair....

Apparently I should of used one of those things to help me bowl.

 Because yes, my 2 year old son beat me. 

We played 2 games then headed out. It was getting close to lunch time, we all needed lunch and Deacon needed a nap. Deacon was NOT happy with us that we were leaving. 

{Sadly, Jason and I were cracking up.}

Guess we'll have to plan other trip another time.

He finally calmed down by the time when we got home. Even gave his Daddy a hug. 

(that's a carrot in his mouth)

Deacon LOVES to help. It doesn't matter what we're doing. He wants to help. 

Jason and I have a little weakness for Pinterest and often want to try new ideas we find from that website. We had some pallets at our house so found a cool idea of turing a pallet into a kids book shelf. 

Perfect.

We got started by taking out the nails.  And removing a few boards.

 

Then we realized we were going to need a saw to finish the rest and the saw we had wasn't going to work. So we took it over to Grandma and Grandpas. 

Only there is sits. Because the saw was at someone else's house. Here it is a week or so later and it's still over there. I'll update when we finish....

 I mostly thought Deacon looked so cute helping his Daddy, he even brought his own tools. 

The other day I had to run to JoAnns for some project I was working on. Deacon was being so good so I told him we could get him something. We went down the isle that has cheap, $1-$5 toys, and found a vintage/old school toy. It was an ice cream cone that the ice cream is attached to a string,  you can press a button and it will pop out of the cone. (See picture below.) I knew he'd think it was funny and like it. 

So we got it. 

A couple of days later I found him like this....

 "Mom, I stuck". 

Ha ha. I have Not a clue how he ended up like this. 

And again about a week later like this....

This little guy is going to expect a package every time he wakes up now. Trevor and Lauren sent Deacon another 'something' in the mail. With Deacon getting glasses they wanted to let him know that it was cool to wear glasses. How sweet are they. 

Thanks for thinking of him! Love you guys!

We have noticed for a few months that when D gets lost in thought or gets sleepy that his left eye decides to wander. It made us a little nervous {although his cousin Victor recently was prescribed glasses for the same thing} so went to the Doctor to check it out. They sent us to a specialist and they prescribed his some glasses. Honestly, it makes a little sad that he has to wear them, but we want it to help him, plus he looks pretty cute in them. Hopefully the doctor will be right and it will help correct and strengthen his eye. We're so grateful & blest that you are so healthy that this is the only thing we are worried about.

 

Enjoying a beautiful Arizona sunset...

 And looking at my beautiful (handsome) son...with a cheesy smile.

Mothers Day 2012

We are so grateful for the Wonderful Mothers in our lives, especially on this Mothers Days.

With us being lucky enough to live by both our families we wanted to spend time with both our moms. We decided to make our moms a delicious meal to treat them today. 

We had my parents over for lunch after church. They got a nice surprise when Kendilyn walked out of the hallway at my house.... With Kendal getting engaged--not officially (he hasn't gotten down on a knee and asked), but  officially, she decided to drop her semester in school at BYU-I and come home get a job and save to pay for her wedding. My mom just didn't know when exactly she'd be coming back to AZ. Kendilyn called me a week before so she'd have a ride from the airport. 

We had salads, my moms favorite type of food. Bagels and cream cheese, cinnamon chips with fruit salsa. Light and delicious. Followed by a good time spent talking and just being together.

I am so grateful to call her my mom and am so amazed by her. I love you Mom! 

{I cant believe I didn't get a picture with her.} 

 

 Afterward, well later that evening, we got to prepare and have dinner with the Ellsworth's, more importantly Valerie, as we celebrated her.  We made for her one of Jason's {currently} favorite meals (it was his choice what he wanted to do for her) its really light and delicious as well, we did Pita Pizzas. We had a great time spending it with them and enjoying spending time to together as a family.
Im grateful for Valerie and her love for me. She raised a wonderful son who Im glad to call my husband. We love you Valerie.  {Again, we didn't get a picture with J and his mom :( }

And finally, I am so incredibly grateful to be able to be a mom to this sweet boy. 

I am amazed everyday at how incredible he is. He is just a joy in my life, a blessing and a miracle.

I love how he'll run every time to me if I have my arms open to give me a big hug. I love the sweet things he says to me, "i love you mommy". I love that he likes to snuggle with me before he goes to bed. Thank you for coming to our family. For putting a smile on my face everyday. And letting me be your mommy. I love you Deacon.

It has been WAY too long since we'd gotten to with some of our friends..like New years eve.  With Heathers due date coming up, we set up a group date night. It was so fun to spend time with the Danielsons, the Bakers and the Jensens (soon to be Jensens, Jacob and Ranae are engaged!)  We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Nello's Pizza, Yum! Then miniature golfing at Golfland. And we had to cool off afterward cause it was still hot out so we enjoyed some dessert at Bahama Bucks. 

 

I wish we had gotten a picture or more pictures with all of us, but at least we got one with Justin. 

It was a well deserved night on the town with some great friends.

Grad school!

This past year (okay 2 years) have been a bit difficult for us. We're in that ridiculously not fun limbo stage. Trying to figure life out. Wanting to continue with school and poor Jason studying his heart & brain out all the time as he prepared for and took the Dental School Exam (DAT). He applied to dental schools, but didn't have any luck with that. So then he looked into being a Physician Assistant, that sounded great. Good hours, rarely, if ever on call, good pay. Perfect, So he prepared hard for that as well, studying all the time, working full time & shadowing. He took the GRE and applied to schools. Only one problem, he was applying a little too late. It's on a first come first serve kind of a basis. So the earlier you apply the better your chances are at getting an interview. We still applied and prayed from something to work out. 

Ironically something did, but it was not at all what we expected/thought. 

One day Jason was looking at Midwestern University's website, where he had applied to the PA program. They have a campus here, up in Glendale.  He was just browsing the website, looking at the colleges/programs they offered and stumbled on to "Cardiovascular Science/Perfusionist". 

What on earth is that??? Yah, we had not a clue.

He looked into it a little more. And became very intrigued. 

In laman's terms it is a profession that deals with open heart/lung surgery's. When the heart is stopped the blood still needs to be circulated and oxygenated throughout the body so it runs through a machine. That machine, well the person monitoring the machine, prevents bubbles (that could give the patient a stroke and die), oxygenates the blood and returns it to the body. And I'm sure lots more goes into it...

He decided to shadow a perfusionist and see how he liked it. He really enjoyed it. 

And decided he wanted to apply. We were hesitant with it being late in the applying season, and nervous to hear the outcome.... 

You see Midwestern has the largest class in the U.S., with only 30 openings. A couple of years ago the class size was 60. [Of course, in the words of my father in law, "Ellsworth Luck".]  UofA has a program, but their class size is only 3. Most of the programs are on the east coast with class sizes anywhere from 3-10. 

So with fingers crossed and lots and lots and lots of prayers, Jason applied. 

A couple of weeks later he got a phone call from the director of the program offering him an interview on Friday May 4th!!! 

We were so excited!!! 

A couple of weeks later Jason had his interview. He said it went really well. They gave him a tour of the campus and sat him down to interview him. He interviewed with 4 other applicants (although each was interview separately) and was interviewed by a couple of the professors. And thought the interview went well. 

We waited again for word of acceptance, or not....it felt like forever, but he got a phone call not even a week later, on Thursday May 10. Jason and I were out getting somethings for an upcoming YW event, we were at Michaels actually when Jason got the phone call. It was from the director of the program, Ed. 

He offered Jason a seat in the program!!!! 

with an official letter to come in the mail. 

We were thrilled!  {-although couldn't really react in the party supply section of the store.} 

YAY!!!

Jason gladly accepted. 

And starts school August 27th. 

That night he went to work. While he was gone Deacon and I made him a nice big sign. 

And we got to celebrate all weekend long.

And got him with silly string--although that freaked D out at first. He did not like it. But when he realized it was all in good fun, he had a good time getting Daddy. 

                                    

Jason, we're so, so Proud of you! You've worked hard at providing for us all and working to find the right career for you and us. Congratulations!!!! We love you!!