A very long post!

I was doing so good on my catching up and then one evening I got a big blog post ready, hit publish post, and the entire thing was lost. So, I get frustrated and stopped posting for a bit. So here we go with the updating ... again! I think I might just do a whole bunch of posts tonight to get it done so I can be up-to-date again. I feel like there is so much going on that I want to post, but I can't because I am too far behind. So I am going to finish out posting on everything from 2008 so I can start on 2009. First, I have to tell about one thing...

Last week Cayden had to have four teeth pulled out. He was a trooper and one tough little guy. It took us two hours to get the bleeding to stop and after that he was back to his normal happy energetic self. The next morning he came in to tell me he had received the $5.00 from the easter bunny and he wanted to tell me thank you. (Cayden learned about the Easter Bunny in kindergarten after reading a book about fairies that said they were make believe... go figure). Anyway, he also told me that he felt he had received too much money so he put half of it in our disneyland money bucket. He said since he is the oldest he felt it was his responsibility to raise the most money and he asked me to please not sneak him back the money. Can I just say I love this kid. He has got the kindest heart and I am such a lucky mom to have him!

Okay, now I will do a catch up. The day after Christmas last year Bryce and Gavyn both had to go have their tonsils and adenoids out and get tubes put in their ears. Here are some pictures from the day.

This is before the surgery in the waiting room. We had to be there by 6 am so the boys were pretty tired.

Here they are practicing their breathing. Bryce loved it. Gavyn was not so sure.

Gavyn went back to surgery first. He was nervous, but he did really well.

Bryce was bored so he kept himself occupied by doing back bends on the bed.

This is daddy and grandpa while they were back in surgery.

I couldn't take pictures afterwards because both Curtis and I were in lay back chairs holding the boys. I had Bryce and Curtis had Gavyn. G-man came out of the surgery really well. Within a day he felt great. He still was having a hard time sleeping through the night because his throat would get dry. That went on for about two weeks.

Bryce on the other hand had a horrible time recovering. He had a bad reaction to the meds and was constantly throwing up. His poor little throat was so raw. He lost more weight than he should have and he just looked terrible. It took him about two weeks just to get over the pain from the surgery. He spent his entire Christmas vacation in bed playing DS and watching movies. Good thing we pampered him maybe too much to make up for it.

This was the morning after the first night both boys slept through the night again. I was so excited I made us get pictures right after we got out of bed. You can see in this picture how tiny Bryce got.

And here the boys are with momma. I love these little guys so much!

A couple of weeks later when we were having a family home evening we decided to make home made mini pizza's. The boys loved making their own pizza's.

Here they are enjoying their work. Or at least pretending to.

This is another night of just having fun with the camera. Apparently I did not want Curtis in this picture. :)

One last thing happened in 2008. On December 30 my man turned 31. Curtis is an absolutely amazing person and I feel lucky every day to have him by my side for time and all eternity. We have been through a lot together and I am grateful for every trial we have had because it has brought us closer together each time. Here are 31 things about the love of my life in no order whatsoever.

1. His favorite food is stroganoff.
2. His favorite color is black.
3. His favorite chore is mowing the lawn. He is very meticulous about our yard and always wants it looking good.

4. Curtis was recognized as the best goalie in the state when he was a sophomore in high school.
5. He took dance and ballet to better his coordination when he was younger.
6. Curtis is a very good swimmer, but he hates to swim.
7. He is not a fan of camping either.
8. Curtis loves to go for rides in the car just to relax.
9. He is a very good cleaner.
10. Curtis likes to clean when he feels frustrated.
11. He has one sibling, his sister Christine.
12. He went on a mission to Carlsbad, California.
13. When Curtis was on his mission he left the first week in January and came home two days before Christmas so he only missed one Christmas.
14. Curtis loves riding his bike with the little boys.
15. Curtis loves kids and kids always tend to gravitate towards him.
16. He is a big kid at heart…which probably explains the item above.
17. He is amazing at recalling scriptures and can tell you any story mentioned in them.
18. Curtis loves to serve others and is always ready and willing when he is called.
19. He loves having little boys to wrestle and rough house with.
20. Curtis is an amazing daddy.
21. Curtis used to be a gymnastics spotter.

22. He also loves being able to buy our homes unfinished and finishing them with his own hands.
23. Curtis loves watching movies and his idea of a perfect date is dinner and a movie.
24. Curtis is very good at writing poetry. He wrote a poem about the Holy Ghost and read it at his missionary farewell. This is a talent he keeps hidden most of the time.
25. The one item Curtis cannot wait to purchase is a pool table.
26. Whenever Curtis gets hurt (ex. Almost cutting his finger off two different times) he heals strangely fast. The first time it took two days after the ER visit and there was not even a scar left. The second time it took a week to heal completely, but that was after his chemo and them telling him it would affect his healing time.
27. Curtis is a cancer survivor of 2.5 years.
28. Curtis is a very organized person. He always knows where everything is.
29. He is also a romantic. This is also something he likes to keep hidden. Sorry hon, the secret is out!
30. Curtis loves playing just about any sport from basketball to golf to racquetball to croquet. I think the only sport he does not like is swimming.
31. Curtis is the best husband a girl could ever ask for!

I love you babe and am so grateful for everything you do for me and the boys. Thank you for being such a good example to me and to them. I hope our boys grow up to be just like their daddy!