meet santa and more randomness

we went and saw the real Santa yesterday! yep, he's the real deal from the famous NY thanksgiving day parade, traveled to the Macys here in a huge, expensive trailer so we could meet him! Saxon was having a pretty good time and loved getting his arm painted. when Santa first walked in, he yelled "Look Santa!" and tried to show him his arm through the crowds.Santa even told us the story "T'was the night before Christmas," from memory! Saxon even seemed to enjoy that.
BUT when it came Sax's turn to sit on Santa's lap, he... well...you can see even Santa was taken back in that first picture! haha. classic.at least another face painting of a "biwdy" cheered saxon up :)

Ok, now to add a bunch of other random, recent stuff...
as i was straightening my hair the other day and saxon wanted in... so this is what he looks like with straight hair! heeheesaxon looks so cool in my 3-D glasses! I got them when we saw "A Christmas Carol" in 3-D (which was way cool!)i think he looks like he's from scooby doo or something.
look at what your hands can do!saxon loves to build big, tall towers with his blocks, especially if they have a tunnel for his choo choo's to pass through.
saxon has been best friends with his cousin, Bella, lately. She's only 6 months older than him. I think Saxon is bigger though! He's so tall. They are joined at the hip when they are together, and when they're not fighting over toys:)

funny kiddo

just some random recent pictures of saxonas you can see here, he carries his markers everywhere he goes. he's a bit obsessed with them. but he's been drawing a lot of good stuff too! we like his drawings--except when they end up on the couch or other random objects.it's been fun to have some patches of days with snow. saxon is starting to get used to it again. i can't wait to take him sledding! last year he didn't know what was going on with the whole sledding thing very much. i think this year he'll love it!

horsin' around!

Our good friend Crystal Washburn invited Saxon and I up to Pleasant Grove to ride her horse! Isn't that nice? She is like the Horse Whisperer... she's so good with them.... Me? Well, lets just say she had to give me a lot of guidance. But after a while, I had learned to trot (correctly) on her horse! Awesome! Who would've know that trotting could actually feel pretty smooth?of course, Saxon LOVED it! He loved seeing all the other horses that were there too, and especially loved playing in the sand while I rode.it was a fun adventure! and another nice thing to do while chris was out of town.

we also got out and enjoyed the fall weather before it got too cold.. brr! it's cold outside now!
saxon loves to blow dandelions...or at least try!we've also really been enjoying the autumn leaves! Saxon loves to crunch crunch them and run through to make a little path!

my friend's wedding

my friend Andraya got married a little over a week ago! She is the one who got baptized about 6 months ago. She will be able to get sealed in the temple in another 6 months! It was fun to attend her wedding in Price, and it helped me take my mind off the fact that Chris was in Seattle for a week! It was so fun to see some of my girlfriends too! me with RiKelle and Maquette!Cora came up from St. George! so fun.saxon was dipping his binky in the "champagne" glass (sparkling cider). he loved it!he also loved the fact that we were at an airport. they turned the airport hangar into a beautiful reception area, and flew off into the night after it was all over. it was the best wedding exit ever!it was so exciting to see Andraya get married (finally! they'd been dating for years!) and to see my friends... we even got some dancing in at the reception! so fun.

seattle here we come!!

So.... some news! We are moving to Seattle!! this December! I am so excited! I'm also a little sad, cause I'll miss our families that both live here in Utah, and all of our wonderful ward members and friends. But we decided that we'll come back and visit often!
Chris got a great job in Seattle with his business partner, Dan (the Sno shack business partner) They are starting a division of Dan's dad's electric company. It will be an energy auditing company for corporations and businesses. Chris is very excited about it! Especially because we'll be making better money. But it is more expensive to live there! I've been looking for housing in the area every day.. if you know the area and have any advice on where to live, that would be great!

Oh, and everything with the car accident worked out (thanks to Chris) he spent like a whole week making sure everything was in order and got some additional witness statements, so the girl's insurance will pay for everything! YAY! A good week to follow the bad :)

taking care of mama

It's been a long week... I got in a car accident on Tuesday, (luckily it wasn't my fault-- a girl ran a red arrow light while I was going straight. and luckily, no one was hurt. my neck kind of hurts, but we're ok. I could go off right now forever about how frustrated I am because she is denying she did anything wrong and this is going to be a long, frustrating process---but I won't--anymore than I just did.).
Anyway, Saxon also got the flu this week, threw up all over his bed, our bed, and the living room.. but is feeling better now, thank goodness!
And then I got the flu. Hit me this morning. I'm so glad it was conference weekend and Chris could help out with Saxon! We'll see what tomorrow brings.. unfortunately, moms can't call in sick :)
BUT Saxon did the cutest thing tonight that somehow made everything all better for the moment. He wouldn't go to sleep, so we brought him to our room to lay down and cuddle and fall asleep. Well, sleep didn't happen, but he cuddled up next to me, and felt my cheek, which is hot from a fever. He said "hot" and then "i wan wipe" "i wann wipe", so i finally handed him one and he tried to wipe the hot off my face! He'd stop, then feel my cheek again, "hot", and continue to try to wipe away my fever for me.
As little and kind of silly as this sounds, it made me so happy that he wanted to take care of me.

a day at the museum

well... outside the museum anyway.
My mom came up from Price for an event at the Springville Art Museum, so Saxon and I went on down there too! We didn't actually go inside the museum (i've tried that before with Saxon at the BYU one--a no go!) but we had lots of fun walking around the beautiful gardens outside of it! what a beautiful place to visit, and so close.

the crazy pre-two's

saxon is getting so big! he loves to run run run around the house so fast! and is saying so many words and small sentences. he has so much energy! he wears me out (especially at the grocery store). he's my little buddy! we've had fun at the pool and messing around with a "hat"!
we had a fun time building a fort in the living room. Saxon was so crazy this day, and kept tearing down the fort for fun! but we still had a good time.bum in the face

you say tomato

As Saxon is wonderfully modeling along with his bucket hat, My garden tomatoes have been ripening and are so tasty! It makes me so happy to have grown something that actually worked (haha) and also tastes so good. and so fresh!
The best part is, after I got home from the hospital, Chris made a from-scratch homemade tomato soup, using garden tomatoes and my garden basil. It was the best tomato soup I've ever had! If only I had known sooner how well Chris can cook....

my appendicitis story

i never thought it would happen to me, but i guess i had pretty bad appendicitis. i've had these pretty bad stomach aches off and on, but then on Tuesday night, or rather Wed. morning at 2 a.m. I woke up with unbearable pain in my entire abdomen. I couldn't move--any movement made it much worse. After trying to deal with it for a while, I finally went to the E.R. with Chris (thank goodness his friend went and crashed on our couch cause Saxon was still there). After what seemed like FOREVER and crazy pain (I swear, worse than childbirth, or comparable), they gave me some morphine, and did some CAT scans and other tests, which involved things you'd probably not want to know about, and found out I had to have my appendix removed.
SO at about 9:30 a.m. I went in to surgery and, long story short--I was in the hospital (UVRMC) until today. I had a long stay (usually it's only 1 night) cause the surgeon said my appendix was super toxic and inflamed/enlarged, and was even adhered to my small intestine! So I guess they had to peel it off and then cut it off, then staple. Sorry if TMI!!
It was a hard few days in the hospital, with tons of pain and nausea. Tons of antibiotics, pain meds, anti-nausea meds, blood tests/pokes, etc!
It is SO GOOD TO BE HOME! I finally was discharged cause I was (kind of) able to keep down solid foods. I feel so much better than I did before, but still can't do much.
Chris has been incredibly amazing and tells me he really understands how much I do around the house now! He has been so awesome.
It's been hard to be away from Saxon, and I still can't lift him for a few weeks (how is that going to work??) but Chris' mom has been watching him a ton and is such a lifesaver!!
I'm so grateful for all the support from our ward with phone calls, meals, etc!
I'm so grateful to be able to look outside a big window from our couch. To be able to feel some fresh air! I picked my garden tomatoes tonight and was so happy!
But I'm especially grateful be be around Chris and Saxon more!

a well needed, and very well enjoyed vacation.. Washington!

Have you seen the movie "Sleepless in Seattle"? Well I think our trip should be named "Homesick-LESS in Seattle". We went on the best vacation ever and didn't want to leave! Here is a somewhat long but lovely post about our trip to Seattle and Chelan...
We stayed in Seattle for a few day's at Dan's parent's house. They live in a very beautiful, charming neighborhood. It was so nice! plus they had a sweet theatre room in the basement. I fell in love with Seattle the first day we were there. Even before we went on the boat ride--which sealed the deal. We got to see Seattle by boat, what a treat! We started on Lake Washington and then went through a channel to Lake Union, where we could see downtown Seattle, space needle and all.there were some amazing bridges to be seen! and many awesome houses that were right on the water.saxon crashed (asleep) on the boat so we got to enjoy the boat ride together! so nice.
Later, we went to Pike's Place right in Seattle. You might know it as the famous place where they throw and catch fish. It was a way cool place to visit. Totally a Seattle thing to do, I hear, and we loved the experience. After this, Dan's (awesome!) Dad took us to Ivar's and we ate the best seafood I have ever had! while overlooking the water of the Puget Sound. Saxon had so much fun seeing all the fun things from the stroller.don't you love saxon's smile in this one?Seattle in it's glory..
On our way to Lake Chelan, we stopped about in the middle of the 3 hour drive there and went on an amazing hike, Wallace Falls. It was so beautiful! While we were up there in the forest and greenery, I thought "this is my heaven". I love hikes and the mountains, and I especially loved this hike.Chris embraced the waters of life! Well, one of the waterfalls. He said it felt great! I bet it did after hauling Saxon all the way up :)
The Wonderful Chelan...where we spent most of the vacation and loved every minute of it.
This is the Fairbank's house at Lake Chelan.. the most beautiful, clear lake I have ever seen! We spent most of our vacation here, and it was heavenly! We LOVED it. This gives you an idea of just how close their house is to the water. It was so fun to go swimming and jump off the diving board on the dock, and have easy access to the jet skis!saxon wasn't sure about the boat for a few days, but ended up having fun on it! especially when Hannah came (background). He loved Hannah! She's Dan's little sister and was so great with Saxon. Saxon was soo good the whole trip. I think he loved it as much as we did.We had so much fun wakeboarding, and Chris got to try wakesurfing (not pictured). It had been around 3 years since we'd been wakeboarding, so we really enjoyed it. me, lovin it.Dan is actually an awesome wakeboarder! My camera died before I could get some pics of his sweet Tantrums (like backflips).
Although we didn't want to leave (and actually stayed a couple extra days), it was nice to get back home to Provo (especially after the 14 hr. drive)... we'll just have to go back there soon. hopefully!
Thankfully, the Surf N Slurp ran great without us, thanks to our amazing 16-yr-old manager Madelein. It was nice to get away and have everything taken care of.
This trip wouldn't have been possible without Dan's parents, who totally took care of us in every way. I want to be like them when we "grow up". :)